The Role of Il-12 and Type I Interferon in Governing the Magnitude of CD8 T Cell Responses

• Published in: Advances in experimental medicine and biology Vol. 850; p. 31
• Main Authors: Starbeck-Miller, Gabriel R, Harty, John T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 2015
• Subjects: Animals; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; B-Lymphocytes - pathology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - pathology; Cell Proliferation; Communicable Diseases - genetics; Communicable Diseases - immunology; Communicable Diseases - metabolism; Communicable Diseases - pathology; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Inflammation - genetics; Inflammation - immunology; Inflammation - metabolism; Inflammation - pathology; Interferon-alpha - genetics; Interferon-alpha - immunology; Interferon-beta - genetics; Interferon-beta - immunology; Interferon-gamma - genetics; Interferon-gamma - immunology; Interleukin-12 - genetics; Interleukin-12 - immunology; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; Signal Transduction
• ISSN: 0065-2598
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-15774-0_3

Antigen-specific CD8 T cells provide an important protective role in response to infection by viruses, intracellular bacteria, and parasites. Pathogen-specific CD8 T cells render this protection by undergoing robust expansion in numbers while gaining the ability to produce cytokines and cytolytic machinery. Creating optimal CD8 T cell responses to infection can be critical for raising sufficient armament to provide protection against invading intracellular pathogens. Although CD8 T cells have protective value, many vaccine strategies tend to focus on creating productive B cell antibody responses to promote immunological protection. Even though antibody responses can be highly protective, coupling optimal CD8 T cell responses with suboptimal B cell responses could provide higher orders of protection than either one on their own. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the pathways that ultimately guide the magnitude of CD8 T cell responses is required to explore this potential therapeutic benefit. The following chapter highlights our current understanding of how inflammatory cytokines regulate the magnitude of CD8 T cell responses.