Self-recognition drives the preferential accumulation of promiscuous CD4+ t-cells in aged mice

Abstract

T-cell recognition of self and foreign peptide antigens presented in major histocompatibility complex molecules (pMHC) is essential for life-long immunity. How the ability of the CD4 + T-cell compartment to bind self- and foreign-pMHC changes over the lifespan remains a fundamental aspect of T-cell biology that is largely unexplored. We report that, while old mice (18–22 months) contain fewer CD4 + T-cells compared with adults (8–12 weeks), those that remain have a higher intrinsic affinity for self-pMHC, as measured by CD5 expression. Old mice also have more cells that bind individual or multiple distinct foreign-pMHCs, and the fold increase in pMHCbinding populations is directly related to their CD5 levels. These data demonstrate that the CD4 + T-cell compartment preferentially accumulates promiscuous constituents with age as a consequence of higher affinity T-cell receptor interactions with self-pMHC.