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IMMUNE CELL PROTEOMICS

The active inner life of naive T cells

Nature Immunology volume 21, pages 827–828 (2020)Cite this article

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Quantitative systems-level proteomics is cleverly used to reveal a dynamic program of protein turnover in naive and memory CD4+ T cells that, alongside a stockpile of metabolic protein machinery, poises the cells for activation.

Inherent to our understanding of adaptive immunity is that naive T cells with a broad repertoire of antigen receptors patrol the body, remaining in a quiescent, resting state until they encounter their target antigen. Upon recognition of their target antigen they undergo a massive shift in metabolism and biosynthesis, driving an approximate tripling in size over the first day or so, followed by a burst of rapid proliferation and differentiation to produce effector cells that then clear the invading pathogen. In the face of the massive changes that occur during activation, naive T cells are frequently overlooked as being inactive, indolent and inert. In the current issue of Nature Immunology, Wolf and colleagues1 bust the myth of the ‘quiescent’ naive T cell, revealing that they have rapid turnover of key transcription factors, cytokine receptors and adhesion molecules, and an idling reservoir of translational protein machinery and glycolytic enzymes, which dynamically maintain the naive cells in a state prepared for activation.

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Fig. 1: Translational dynamics and protein synthetic capacity of naive and activating T cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cell Signalling and Immunology Division, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Julia M. Marchingo & Doreen A. Cantrell

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  1. Julia M. Marchingo
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  2. Doreen A. Cantrell
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Correspondence to Doreen A. Cantrell.

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Marchingo, J.M., Cantrell, D.A. The active inner life of naive T cells. Nat Immunol 21, 827–828 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-020-0726-1

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