Human Effector and Memory CD8+ T Cell Responses to Smallpox and Yellow Fever Vaccines.
Miller, Joseph D. 1,2; van der Most, Robbert G. 1,2; Akondy, Rama S. 1; Glidewell, John T. 1; Albott, Sophia 1; Masopust, David 1; Murali-Krishna, Kaja 1; Mahar, Patryce L. 1; Edupuganti, Srilatha 1; Lalor, Susan 1; Germon, Stephanie 1; Del Rio, Carlos 1; Mulligan, Mark J. 1; Staprans, Silvija I. 1,3; Altman, John D. 1; Feinberg, Mark B. 1,3; Ahmed, Rafi 1,*
[Article] Immunity. 28(5):710-722, May 2008.

(Format: HTML, PDF)

: To explore the human T cell response to acute viral infection, we performed a longitudinal analysis of CD8 T cells responding to the live yellow fever virus and smallpox vaccines-two highly successful human vaccines. Our results show that both vaccines generated a brisk primary effector CD8 T cell response of substantial magnitude that could be readily quantitated with a simple set of four phenotypic markers. Secondly, the vaccine-induced T cell response was highly specific with minimal bystander effects. Thirdly, virus-specific CD8 T cells passed through an obligate effector phase, contracted more than 90% and gradually differentiated into long-lived memory cells. Finally, these memory cells were highly functional and underwent a memory differentiation program distinct from that described for human CD8 T cells specific for persistent viruses. These results provide a benchmark for CD8 T cell responses induced by two of the most effective vaccines ever developed.

(C) 2008Elsevier, Inc.