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Atherosclerosis

Clonal expansion of CD8+ T cells in aged mice linked to pro-atherogenic phenotype

Nature Reviews Cardiology volume 21, page 73 (2024)Cite this article

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In aged mice, but not young mice, with atherosclerosis, depletion of CD8+ T cells significantly reduces atherosclerotic lesion size and necrotic core area. This finding, published in Nature Aging, highlights the potential of CD8+ T cells as therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis in the context of ageing.

“The original ideas for this research were based on the premise that the majority of chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis, are diseases of [older individuals],” explains Daniel Tyrrell, the lead investigator of the study. Previous studies have reported that depletion of CD8+ T cells significantly reduces atherosclerotic plaque size in Apoe–/– mice aged 6–8 weeks and in Ldlr–/– mice aged 8–10 weeks. “Given that T cells change considerably during ageing and atherosclerosis primarily affects older people, we sought to explore how the effects of age on CD8+ T cells contribute to atherosclerosis,” Tyrrell adds.

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Original article

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  • Saigusa, R. et al. T cell subsets and functions in atherosclerosis. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 17, 387–401 (2020)

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  • Tyrell, D. et al. Ageing and atherosclerosis: vascular intrinsic and extrinsic factors and potential role of IL-6. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 18, 58–68 (2021)

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  1. Nature Reviews Cardiology http://www.nature.com/nrcardio/

    Karina Huynh

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  1. Karina Huynh
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Correspondence to Karina Huynh.

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Huynh, K. Clonal expansion of CD8+ T cells in aged mice linked to pro-atherogenic phenotype. Nat Rev Cardiol 21, 73 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-023-00981-0

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