Distinct Mechanisms Control Human Naive and Antigen-Experienced CD8+ T Lymphocyte Proliferation

Abstract

Human Ag-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes are heterogeneous and include functionally distinct populations. In this study, we report that at least two distinct mechanisms control the expansion of circulating naive, memory, and effector CD8+ T lymphocytes when exposed to mitogen or Ag stimulation. The first one leads to apoptosis and occurs shortly after in vitro stimulation. Susceptibility to cell death is prominent among primed T cell subsets, and it is inversely correlated with the size of the ex vivo Bcl-2high population within these subsets. Importantly, the Bcl-2high phenotype is associated to the proportion of responsive CD8+ T cells, independently of their differentiation stage. The second one depends on the expression of newly synthesized cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4a that occurs in a significant fraction of T cells that had been actively cycling, leading to their cell cycle arrest upon stimulation. Strikingly, accumulation of p16INK4a protein preferentially occurs in naive as opposed to primed derived T lymphocytes and is not related to apoptosis. Significant levels of p16 are readily detectable in a small number of ex vivo CD8+ T cells. Our observations reveal that activation-induced p16 expression represents an alternative process to apoptosis, limiting the proliferation potential of activated naive derived T lymphocytes.