High Efficiency of Antiviral CD4+ Killer T Cells

Steven K Hildemann, Jens Eberlein, Bennett Davenport, Tom T Nguyen, Francisco Victorino and Dirk Homann

PLOS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: The destruction of infected cells by cytotxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is integral to the effective control of viral and bacterial diseases, and CTL function at large has long been regarded as a distinctive property of the CD8+T cell subset. In contrast, and despite their first description more than three decades ago, the precise contribution of cytotoxic CD4+T cells to the resolution of infectious diseases has remained a matter of debate. In particular, the CTL activity of pathogen-specific CD4+ “helper” T cells constitutes a single trait among a diverse array of other T cell functionalities, and overall appears considerably weaker than the cytolytic capacity of CD8+ effector T cells. Here, using an in vivo CTL assay, we report that cytotoxic CD4+T cells are readily generated against both viral and bacterial pathogens, and that the efficiency of MHC-II-restricted CD4+T cell killing adjusted for effector:target cell ratios, precise specificities and functional avidities is comparable in magnitude to that of CD8+T cells. In fact, the only difference between specific CD4+ and CD8+T cells pertains to the slightly delayed killing kinetics of the former demonstrating that potent CTL function is a cardinal property of both antiviral CD8+ and CD4+T cells.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0060420

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060420

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