Expanding the role of metabolism in T cells

D O'Sullivan, EL Pearce - Science, 2015 - science.org
D O'Sullivan, EL Pearce
Science, 2015science.org
Understanding the mechanistic processes that govern T cell responses is crucial to
enhancing immunotherapies against human disease. Naïve CD8 T cells extensively
proliferate in response to antigen, creating a large pool of effector T cells that clear tumors or
infected cells. During this process, T cells metabolically reprogram to meet energy demands
and supply biosynthetic precursors necessary for proliferation. On page 995 of this issue,
Okoye et al. identify lymphocyte expansion molecule (LEM), a protein that targets T cell …
Understanding the mechanistic processes that govern T cell responses is crucial to enhancing immunotherapies against human disease. Naïve CD8 T cells extensively proliferate in response to antigen, creating a large pool of effector T cells that clear tumors or infected cells. During this process, T cells metabolically reprogram to meet energy demands and supply biosynthetic precursors necessary for proliferation . On page 995 of this issue, Okoye et al. identify lymphocyte expansion molecule (LEM), a protein that targets T cell metabolism and enhances proliferation. LEM improved CD8 T cell–mediated viral and tumor clearance and boosted memory T cell numbers. These findings suggest that modulating T cell metabolism by targeting LEM could alter the course of cancer, autoimmunity, or infection.
AAAS