CD4 T cells are required for CD8 T cell memory generation

Abstract

Whereas the role of CD4 T cells in B cell memory generation is well established and unequivocal, the role that CD4 T cells play in CD8 responses was until recently far more elusive and controversial. A series of recent reports, however, have re-assessed the role of CD4 help on CD8 responses and have given rise to surprisingly unambiguous conclusions. While studying very different systems, they demonstrated that CD4 T cells are absolutely required for the generation of bona fide CD8 memory cells; the reports allow, for the first time, strong analogies to be made between B and CD8 memory cell generation. These data invite us to drastically change our idea of CD4 help on CD8 responses because they show that the old dichotomy - Th-dependent versus Th-independent CD8 responses - is no longer accurate.