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[0] Gorski, Jack [1] Generation and Decay of Memory T cells in Young, Old and Immunocompromised Populations [2] Blood Center of Wisconsin [3] NO1-AI-50032* [4] 
The generation of T cell memory is the basis of immunity to repeat pathogen exposure and is the goal of vaccination. How this memory is generated in man is still poorly understood. We have observed that robust T cell memory to influenza in man involves the generation of complex memory repertoires for both class I and class II restricted responses. A detailed longitudinal analysis of T cell memory in healthy adults is being currently conducted. Our objectives in this contract are to expand our study of T cell memory repertoires to include an aging population in which the repertoires may be decaying as well as to children who should still be in the process of generating memory repertoires. These studies will provide data about the age dynamics of memory repertoires. In addition to healthy children, we will examine flu-specific memory repertoires in children with autoimmune diseases who are undergoing mild immunosuppression. This should describe the effects of immunosuppressive therapy on memory formation and function. We will also investigate the extent to which the memory repertoires in these sample populations contain regulatory T cells and T cells with natural killer-like phenotypes. The role of these subsets in immune memory is still poorly understood yet is very likely to be important. The data obtained from these studies, which all include an longitudinal sampling component, should provide important insights into what constitutes a robust memory repertoire that protects an individual from influenza, and how aspects of such memory differ in the young, old and the immunocompromised.
ImmPort: Immunology Database and Analysis Portal
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