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eUREkA! T cells answer nature’s call

Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2023)Cite this article

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Nitrogen is critical for cell growth, proliferation, and function. Amino acid (AA) catabolism is a major source of intracellular nitrogen for biosynthesis but also generates the nitrogen-containing molecule ammonia (NH3+), which can accumulate to toxic levels in a cell if not exported to the circulation and detoxified by the urea cycle in the liver. In a recent paper in Nature Immunology, Tang et al. [1] discovered a functional urea cycle in memory T cells, which metabolizes ammonia, prevents its toxic accumulation, and consequently promotes the maintenance of this long-lived cell type critical for recall responses to infection and cancer.

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  1. Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute of Immunotherapy, Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Beth Kelly & Erika L. Pearce

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  1. Beth Kelly
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  2. Erika L. Pearce
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Correspondence to Beth Kelly or Erika L. Pearce.

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Kelly, B., Pearce, E.L. eUREkA! T cells answer nature’s call. Cell Mol Immunol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-023-00994-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-023-00994-2

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