Uneven T cell division linked to better vaccine responses
People in an influenza vaccine trial had better responses when their dividing T cells shared cellular recycling machinery more unequally.
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Mechanisms- Studied:
- Study in people
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Human CD8 T cells, a type of immune cell, passed structures involved in cellular recycling unequally to daughter cells in experiments on cell division. This process, called asymmetric cell division, produced daughter cells with different patterns of gene activity and different functions.
In an influenza vaccine trial, the rate of cellular recycling followed the rise and fall in numbers of T cells that recognized the vaccine target. People whose T cells had greater capacity for asymmetric division had better vaccine responses. The authors identified unequal inheritance of cellular recycling machinery as a potential target for improving vaccine outcomes.
Why it matters
Long-term immune memory matters for protection throughout life. The work addresses how T cells generate and maintain that memory.
Caveats
The comparison between people with different cell-division capacities leaves open whether other differences in their immune systems contributed to their vaccine responses.
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