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Antigen-specific TH17 cells offset the age-related decline in durable T cell immunity
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DOI：10.1126/sciadv.aea7131.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Older adults are susceptible to infections in part due to waning of immune memory. To uncover mechanisms of a long-lasting immune memory, we contrasted varicella zoster virus antigen–specific memory T cell responses in adults vaccinated at young (<20 years) or older age (>50 years) with a live-attenuated vaccine conferring durable protection only when given at young age or with an adjuvanted component vaccine eliciting long-lasting immunity in older adults. Unlike VZV-specific CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells exhibited profound age-sensitive changes including memory subset shifts, reduced T cell receptor diversity, and loss of stem-like features. Vaccination of older adults with the adjuvanted vaccine did not restore CD8+ defects but selectively enhanced T helper 17 (TH17) CD4+ T cells and prevented their conversion into regulatory T cells, likely through lipid metabolic regulation. Thus, durable vaccine efficacy with aging relies on antigen-specific TH17 cells that compensate for CD8+ T cell defects.
Keywords:
TH17 cells
CD8+ T cells
immune memory
aging
vaccine efficacy