Fig. 9: Model summarizing aging trajectories of EBV antigen-specific CD8+ T cells.
From: Antigen specificity shapes distinct aging trajectories of memory CD8⁺ T cells
T cells primed early in life acquire highly heterogeneous phenotypes depending on the antigenic exposure. These memory T cells undergo phenotypic and transcriptional changes with age, although to varying extents and depending on their initial phenotypes. Age-related changes commonly occurring in most investigated antigen-specific T cell populations are limited to a loss in stem-like cells and/or traits, and a gain in NK-like, cytotoxic features. Most age-related changes selectively occur in certain T cell populations and include a gain in TEMRA cells, loss in MAIT cells, changes in NFkB and survival signaling, and changes in TCR avidity, diversity, and/or clonality.
