Characterizing Innate-like CD8⁺ T Cells in Early Life

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Presentation Time: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
Poster Board Number: B1025
Abstract ID: 5809

Presenting Author:
Adam B Geber , Graduate student at Univ. of Rochester Sch. of Med. & Dent., UR Med.

Abstract:

The immune system is classically divided into categories of "innate" and "adaptive", where the former responds rapidly and nonspecifically and the latter does so more slowly, precisely, and with greater speed and specificity over time. These conceptual distinctions are most appropriate for adult humans, who have a substantial repertoire of mature naïve lymphocytes that can establish immunological memory to protect against reinfection. Because the infant immune system continues to develop after birth and does not yet have an archive of memory cells, it must be capable of rapid and often nonspecific responses to signals of danger and damage. T cells are crucial to proper functioning of the adaptive immune system and are responsible for recruiting and coordinating immune cells, shaping future responses, and directly killing infected or cancerous cells. CD8⁺ T cells are canonically known for their cytolytic functions but can also produce cytokines under certain inflammatory conditions. In recent decades an array of lymphoid cells have been described as having innate-type functions and/or a strongly restricted capacity for recognizing foreign antigens. We have found evidence for a subset of CD8⁺ T cells that arise in utero during the second trimester, persist variably into adulthood, and behave in an innate-like manner. We report the initial characterization of the phenotype and function of putative fetal innate-like CD8⁺ T cells (FITs) derived from cord blood samples.