Cellular Size as a Means of Tracking mTOR Activity and Cell Fate of CD4+ T Cells upon Antigen Recognition

PLoS One

Chirag H. Patel¹  Kristen N. Pollizzi¹  Im Hong Sun¹  Adam T. Waickman¹  Jonathan D. Powell¹ 

[1] Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

关键词: T cells;    Cell metabolism;    Regulatory T cells;    Flow cytometry;    Antigen processing and recognition;    Cell cycle and cell division;    Cell differentiation;    Memory T cells;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.pone.0121710

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

mTOR is a central integrator of metabolic and immunological stimuli, dictating immune cell activation, proliferation and differentiation. In this study, we demonstrate that within a clonal population of activated T cells, there exist both mTORhi and mTORlo cells exhibiting highly divergent metabolic and immunologic functions. By taking advantage of the role of mTOR activation in controlling cellular size, we demonstrate that upon antigen recognition, mTORhi CD4+ T cells are destined to become highly glycolytic effector cells. Conversely, mTORlo T cells preferentially develop into long-lived cells that express high levels of Bcl-2, CD25, and CD62L. Furthermore, mTORlo T cells have a greater propensity to differentiate into suppressive Foxp3+ T regulatory cells, and this paradigm was also observed in human CD4+ T cells. Overall, these studies provide the opportunity to track the development of effector and memory T cells from naïve precursors, as well as facilitate the interrogation of immunologic and metabolic programs that inform these fates.

【 授权许可】

CC BY