Maintenance of size and function of influenza virus hemagglutinin specific transgenic T-cell clone during life.

Immunization induces less protective immunity against infectious diseases in old compared to young subjects. We have studied the effect of age on the in vitro and in vivo function of murine transgenic T cells expressing a receptor for influenza hemagglutinin 110-120 peptide. During aging the transgenic T cells undergo the age-associated shift from naive to memory phenotype but maintain, despite thymic involution, their number as well as their cytokine production and proliferative responses induced by the hemagglutinin 110-120 peptide in vitro. The maintenance of the size and functions of transgenic T cells during the aging may be related to low expression of CTLA-4 molecules known to exhibit a negative regulatory effect subsequent to interaction with costimulatory molecules as well as of stimulation of T cells by unknown cross reactive endogenous factors but not by nominal antigen since innate immunity prevents natural infection with influenza virus of murine species. This suggests that the impaired immunity induced by immunization in old subjects reflects defects in the development and maintenance of T cell memory and not in the expression of effector activity.