Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33317695›Full record

ArticleeLife2020

Autophagy in T cells from aged donors is maintained by spermidine and correlates with function and vaccine responses.

Ghada Alsaleh, Isabel Panse, Leo Swadling, Hanlin Zhang, Felix Clemens Richter, Alain Meyer, Janet Lord, Eleanor Barnes, Paul Klenerman, Christopher Green and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed
8.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

76 citing papers in PubMed, 113 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
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  4. Targeting TMED4 enhances CD8Science advances · 2026
    Article
  5. Lifelong Exercise as a Modulator of CD4European journal of clinical investigation · 2026
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Links Between Autophagy and Healthy Aging.Journal of molecular biology · 2026
    Review
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  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
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  20. Review

16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Ghada Alsaleh *The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, NDORMS, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-4211-3420
Isabel Panse *The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, NDORMS, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Leo SwadlingDivision of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Hanlin ZhangThe Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, NDORMS, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Felix Clemens RichterThe Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, NDORMS, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Alain MeyerFédération de médecine translationnelle Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Janet LordMRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Eleanor BarnesPeter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research,Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Paul KlenermanPeter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research,Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-4307-9161
Christopher GreenOxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Anna Katharina SimonThe Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, NDORMS, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
University of Oxford · GBJohn Radcliffe Hospital · GBArthritis UK · GBUniversité de Strasbourg · FRUniversity College London · GB

Funding

MRF_ MRF-044-0001-RG-SWADLWellcome WT109665MAWellcome Trust 109965/Z/15/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vaccines are powerful tools to develop immune memory to infectious diseases and prevent excess mortality. In older adults, however vaccines are generally less efficacious and the molecular mechanisms that underpin this remain largely unknown. Autophagy, a process known to prevent aging, is critical for the maintenance of immune memory in mice. Here, we show that autophagy is specifically induced in vaccine-induced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in healthy human volunteers. In addition, reduced IFNγ secretion by RSV-induced T cells in older vaccinees correlates with low autophagy levels. We demonstrate that levels of the endogenous autophagy-inducing metabolite spermidine fall in human T cells with age. Spermidine supplementation in T cells from old donors recovers their autophagy level and function, similar to young donors' cells, in which spermidine biosynthesis has been inhibited. Finally, our data show that endogenous spermidine maintains autophagy via the translation factor eIF5A and transcription factor TFEB. In summary, we have provided evidence for the importance of autophagy in vaccine immunogenicity in older humans and uncovered two novel drug targets that may increase vaccination efficiency in the aging context.

Indexed as

Adjuvants, ImmunologicAdultAgedAgingAnimalsAutophagyBasic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription FactorsCD8-Positive T-LymphocytesCell Line, TumorEukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 5AHumansImmunologic MemoryInterferon-gammaJurkat CellsMiceMice, Inbred C57BLAdjuvants, ImmunologicBasic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription FactorsEukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 5AIFNG protein, humanInterferon-gammaPeptide Initiation FactorsRespiratory Syncytial Virus VaccinesRNA-Binding ProteinsSpermidineTFEB protein, humanautophagyhumanhuman T cellsimmunologyinflammationspermidineTFEBvaccine

Identifiers

PMID33317695
PMCPMC7744099
OpenAlexW3112391596

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.