The polyfunctionality of memory CD8+ T cells in response to chronic and acute viral infections is not influenced by age (105.49)

Abstract As humans age, they experience a progressive loss of thymic function and a corresponding shift in the nature of the circulating CD8+ T cell population from naïve to memory phenotype. These alterations are believed to result in impaired development of CD8+ T cell immunity in older individuals; however evidence that these global changes impair antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses in the elderly is lacking. To address this possibility, …