Immunotherapeutic Potential of T Memory Stem Cells

Yujie Li; Dengqiang Wu; Xuejia Yang; Sufang Zhou

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.723888

Immunotherapeutic Potential of T Memory Stem Cells

Front Oncol. 2021 Sep 17:11:723888. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.723888. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yujie Li¹, Dengqiang Wu², Xuejia Yang², Sufang Zhou^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Pre-Clinical Science, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
² National Center for International Research of Bio-targeting Theranostics, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Bio-targeting Theranostics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.

Abstract

Memory T cells include T memory stem cells (T_SCM) and central memory T cells (T_CM). Compared with effector memory T cells (T_EM) and effector T cells (T_EFF), they have better durability and anti-tumor immunity. Recent studies have shown that although T_SCM has excellent self-renewal ability and versatility, if it is often exposed to antigens and inflammatory signals, T_SCM will behave as a variety of inhibitory receptors such as PD-1, TIM-3 and LAG-3 expression, and metabolic changes from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis. These changes can lead to the exhaustion of T cells. Cumulative evidence in animal experiments shows that it is the least differentiated cell in the memory T lymphocyte system and is a central participant in many physiological and pathological processes in humans. It has a good clinical application prospect, so it is more and more important to study the factors affecting the formation of T_SCM. This article summarizes and prospects the phenotypic and functional characteristics of T_SCM, the regulation mechanism of formation, and its application in treatment of clinical diseases.

Keywords: HIV; T memory stem cells; autoimmune diseases; stemness; tumor immunotherapy.

Publication types

Review