Combating chronic T-cell exhaustion

SnapShot: T Cell Exhaustion

Redefining Chronic Toxoplasmosis—A T Cell Exhaustion Perspective

Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), an obligate intercellular protozoan, is considered to be a leading cause of foodborne mortality in the United States (www.cdc.gov). Even in the post-HAART era, fatal toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) due to reactivation of chronic Toxoplasma infection remains a major problem in Toxoplasma-seropositive AIDS patients in developing countries [1]. ...

Blimp-1–mediated CD4 T cell exhaustion causes CD8 T cell dysfunction during chronic toxoplasmosis

CD8, but not CD4, T cells are considered critical for control of chronic toxoplasmosis. Although CD8 exhaustion has been previously reported in Toxoplasma encephalitis (TE)-susceptible model, our current work demonstrates that CD4 not only become exhausted during chronic toxoplasmosis but this dysfunction is more pronounced than CD8 T cells. Exhausted CD4 population expressed elevated levels of...

Inhibitory Receptors Beyond T Cell Exhaustion

Inhibitory receptors (iRs) are frequently associated with "T cell exhaustion". However, the expression of iRs is also dependent on T cell differentiation and activation. Therapeutic blockade of various iRs, also referred to as "checkpoint blockade", is showing -unprecedented results in the treatment of cancer patients. Consequently, the clinical potential in this field is broad, calling for inc...

T-cell exhaustion: characteristics, causes and conversion.

T-cell exhaustion is characterized by the stepwise and progressive loss of T-cell functions and can culminate in the physical deletion of the responding cells. Exhaustion is well-defined during chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection and commonly develops under conditions of antigen-persistence, which occur following many chronic infections that are of significant public health con...