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Origins of CD4+ effector and central memory T cells

Nature Immunology volume 12, pages 467–471 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lineage-committed effector CD4+ T cells are generated at the peak of the primary response and are followed by heterogeneous populations of central and effector memory cells. Here we review the evidence that T helper type 1 (TH1) effector cells survive the contraction phase of the primary response and become effector memory cells. We discuss the applicability of this idea to the TH2 cell, TH17 helper T cell, follicular helper T cell (TFH cell) and induced regulatory T cell lineages. We also discuss how central memory cells are formed, with an emphasis on the role of B cells in this process.

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Figure 1: Simultaneous generation of TEM and TCM cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Pagán and J. Taylor for discussions.

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  1. Department of Microbiology and the Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Marion Pepper & Marc K Jenkins

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Correspondence to Marc K Jenkins.

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Pepper, M., Jenkins, M. Origins of CD4+ effector and central memory T cells. Nat Immunol 12, 467–471 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.2038

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