Fig. 2: Re-establishment of asymmetric cell division in CD8⁺ T cells from aged mice correlates with increased memory potential.

A Experimental setup (illustration by MB). Naive P14 cells from aged mice were stimulated in vitro on α-CD3, α-CD28 and human Fc-ICAM-1 coated wells in presence or absence of transient rapamycin (R) treatment, harvested after 36 h, and adoptively transferred into young and naive wild-type recipients. Each recipient mouse received 1 × 10⁴ cells and was infected intravenously with LCMV-WE > 30 days later. B Frequencies of P14 cells within the CD8⁺ T-cell population in the blood. C Frequency and numbers of adoptively transferred P14 cells within CD8⁺ T cells in the spleens of recipient mice. D Frequencies and numbers of KLRG1^hi IL-7Rα^lo or KLRG1^lo IL-7Rα^hi P14 cells in the spleens of recipient mice. E Frequencies and numbers of splenic IFNγ and TNF P14 producing cells. F Frequencies and numbers of adoptively transferred P14 cells within CD8⁺ T cells in the inguinal lymph nodes of recipient mice. G Representative flow cytometry plots of KLRG1 and IL-7Rα expression in P14 cells in the lymph nodes of recipient mice 30 days after LCMV-WE challenge (left panel); percentages and numbers of KLRG1^hi IL-7Rα^lo and KLRG1^lo IL-7Rα^hi P14 cells in the lymph nodes of recipient mice (right panel). Representative data (n = 5 per group) from one out of two experiments. Aged P14 animals used for adoptive cell transfer: 95 weeks (experiment 1); 71 weeks (experiment 2). Data are depicted as mean + SEM. Statistical analysis was performed using the unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test (B–E, G, week 3) or when data did not pass the normality test, the unpaired two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test (F, G, #KLRG1^hi IL-7Rα^lo). Exact P values are depicted in the figure.