Open AccessConvergent clonal selection of donor- and recipient-derived CMV-specific T cells in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients
Author(s) -
Jami R. Erickson,
Terry Stevens-Ayers,
Florian Mair,
Bradley Edmison,
Michael Boeckh,
Philip Bradley,
Martin Prlic
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2117031119
Subject(s) - biology , t cell , memory t cell , immunology , stem cell , population , epitope , immunodominance , virology , antigen , immune system , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , environmental health
Significance An existing memory T cell population specific for a single epitope is sufficient to effectively curtail responses to any new antigens if the original epitope is present in a vaccination regimen or heterologous infections. We asked if T cell competition precludes recruitment of any new, naïve T cells to an existing memory T cell pool in context of cytomegalovirus-specific T cell responses in a cohort of transplant patients. Our data indicate that competition does not prevent recruitment of naïve T cells into the memory T cell pool but selects for T cells with nearly or fully congruent T cell receptor specificities. We discuss the implications of rejuvenating a memory T cell pool while preserving the T cell receptor repertoire.