ArticlePLoS biology2018
Human TSCM cell dynamics in vivo are compatible with long-lived immunological memory and stemness.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed.
- Reference range of naïve T and T memory lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of healthy adult.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2022Trial
- CD8Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Review
- Three immunoregulatory signatures define non-productive HIV infection in stem cell memory CD4Nature communications · 2026Article
- Functions and features of circulating memory T cells.Immunity · 2026Review
- Three immunoregulatory signatures define non-productive HIV infection in CD4bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Single-Cell Profiling Across Immune Tissues and Organs Reveals Immunosenescence Signatures in Male Rhesus Monkeys.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Antigen-specific TScience advances · 2026Article
- Multiscale physiologically-based model of age-dependent CD4+ T-lymphocyte homeostasis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- A variational deep-learning approach to modeling memory T cell dynamics.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Tissue-resident memory CD4eLife · 2025Article
- Two distinct subpopulations of human stem-like memory T cells exhibit complementary roles in self-renewal and clonal longevity.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- The impact of model assumptions in interpreting cell kinetic studies.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- GFI1-driven transcriptional and epigenetic programs maintain CD8Nature immunology · 2025Article
- Immune Memory: A New Frontier in Treating Recurrent Inflammatory Skin Diseases.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025Review
- A variational deep-learning approach to modeling memory T cell dynamics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Alginate-based artificial antigen presenting cells expand functional CD8Biomaterials · 2025Article
- Proliferation makes a substantive contribution to the maintenance of airway resident memory T-cell subsets in young pigs.Discovery immunology · 2025Article
- Deuterated water (Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- A guide to adaptive immune memory.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2024Review
- The dynamics and longevity of circulating CD4+ memory T cells depend on cell age and not the chronological age of the host.PLoS biology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Adaptive immunity relies on the generation and maintenance of memory T cells to provide protection against repeated antigen exposure. It has been hypothesised that a self-renewing population of T cells, named stem cell-like memory T (TSCM) cells, are responsible for maintaining memory. However, it is not clear if the dynamics of TSCM cells in vivo are compatible with this hypothesis. To address this issue, we investigated the dynamics of TSCM cells under physiological conditions in humans in vivo using a multidisciplinary approach that combines mathematical modelling, stable isotope labelling, telomere length analysis, and cross-sectional data from vaccine recipients. We show that, unexpectedly, the average longevity of a TSCM clone is very short (half-life < 1 year, degree of self-renewal = 430 days): far too short to constitute a stem cell population. However, we also find that the TSCM population is comprised of at least 2 kinetically distinct subpopulations that turn over at different rates. Whilst one subpopulation is rapidly replaced (half-life = 5 months) and explains the rapid average turnover of the bulk TSCM population, the half-life of the other TSCM subpopulation is approximately 9 years, consistent with the longevity of the recall response. We also show that this latter population exhibited a high degree of self-renewal, with a cell residing without dying or differentiating for 15% of our lifetime. Finally, although small, the population was not subject to excessive stochasticity. We conclude that the majority of TSCM cells are not stem cell-like but that there is a subpopulation of TSCM cells whose dynamics are compatible with their putative role in the maintenance of T cell memory.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.