Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Frentsch, Marco
• Stark, Regina
• Matzmohr, Nadine
• Meier, Sarah
• Durlanik, Sibel
• Schulz, Axel R.
• Stervbo, Ulrik
• Jürchott, Karsten
• Gebhardt, Friedemann
• Heine, Guido
• Reuter, Morgan A.
• Betts, Michael R.
• Busch, Dirk
• Thiel, Andreas

Titel

CD40L expression permits CD8+ T cells to execute immunologic helper functions

Ist Teil von

• Blood, 2013-07, Vol.122 (3), p.405-412

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• CD8+ T cells play an essential role in immunity against intracellular pathogens, with cytotoxicity being considered their major effector mechanism. However, we here demonstrate that a major part of central and effector memory CD8+ T cells expresses CD40L, one key molecule for CD4+ T-cell–mediated help. CD40L+ CD8+ T cells are detectable among human antigen-specific immune responses, including pathogens such as influenza and yellow fever virus. CD40L+ CD8+ T cells display potent helper functions in vitro and in vivo, such as activation of antigen-presenting cells, and exhibit a cytokine expression signature similar to CD4+ T cells and unrelated to cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. The broad occurrence of CD40L+ CD8+ T cells in cellular immunity implicates that helper functions are not only executed by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II–restricted CD4+ helper T cells but are also a common feature of MHC class I–restricted CD8+ T cell responses. Due to their versatile functional capacities, human CD40L+ CD8+ T cells are promising candidate cells for immune therapies, particularly when CD4+ T-cell help or pathogen-associated molecular pattern signals are limited. •A major part of CD8+ memory T cells expresses CD40L, the key molecule for T-cell–dependent help.•CD40L-expressing CD8+ T cells resemble functional CD4+ helper T cells.