CR may be able to improve maintenance of naive T-cells in old Rhesus Macaques
Janko Nikolich-Zugich
Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute,
and the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center,
Oregon Health & Science University, West Campus,
505 NW 185th Ave.,
Beaverton, OR 97006
Rhesus Macaques (RM, Macacca mulata) are an outstanding model of human
infection and immunity. Given the widely acknowledged decline of immunity in senscence, we set out to investigate the parameters of immune aging in RM and to dissect whether caloric restriction (CR) can ammeliorate or reverse the symptoms of immune aging. Results on a cohort of NIA animals undergoing short-term calorie restriction suggest the folowing points related to polyclonal T-cell activation: 1. Old RM T-cells appear less sensitive to costimulation in a proliferation assay; 2. Old T-cells contain an extremely large number of cells in an effector or effector-memory state, ready to perform effector functions immediately upon being stimulated via the TCR; this is consistent with repeated and rapid exposure to antigen. and 3. CR may be able to improve maintenance of naive T-cells in old RM.
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