Newly Published Research in the Brehm and Davis Labs Uncovered New Memory T Cells Data
The UMass Chan Diabetes Center of Excellence (DCOE) labs of Michael Brehm, PhD and Roger Davis, PhD, collaborated on newly published research data in The Journal of Immunology.
Abstract
Apoptosis of CD8 T cells is an essential mechanism that maintains immune system homeostasis, prevents autoimmunity, and reduces immunopathology. CD8 T cell death also occurs early during the response to both inflammation and costimulation blockade (CoB). This study investigated the effects of a combined deficiency of Fas (extrinsic pathway) and Bim (intrinsic pathway) on early T cell attrition in response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection and during CoB during transplantation. Loss of Fas and Bim function in Bcl2l11−/−Faslpr/lpr mice inhibited apoptosis of T cells and prevented the early T cell attrition resulting from lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection. Bcl2l11−/−Faslpr/lpr mice were also resistant to prolonged allograft survival induced by CoB targeting the CD40-CD154 pathway. These results demonstrate that both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways function concurrently to regulate T cell homeostasis during the early stages of immune responses and allograft survival during CoB.