Revised Model for Early Memory T-Cell Protection Against Respiratory Virus Challenge

Abstract

Evaluation of: Kohlmeier JE, Miller SC, Smith J et al.: The chemokine receptor CCR5 plays a key role in the early memory CD8+ T cell response to respiratory virus infections. Immunity 29(1), 101–113 (2008). Following primary respiratory virus infection, a portion of memory T cells remain in the lung to serve to limit virus replication. However, the systemic population of these memory T cells gradually converts from effector memory T cells to central memory T cells, resulting in a gradual loss of the memory T-cell population in the lung airways, a feature that coincides with decline of the early recall response to virus infection. Kohlmeier and colleagues have identified a crucial role for the C-C chemokine receptor (CCR5) in the accelerated recruitment of memory CD8+ T cells in the lungs of virally infected mice. Their findings redefine the current model for early memory T-cell protection against respiratory virus challenge, and are important for rationale design of cell-mediated vaccines.