Editorial: The Impact of Immunosenescence and Senescence of Immune Cells on Responses to Infection and Vaccination
Anshu Agrawal, Birgit Weinberger
Abstract
CMV and EBV. Periodical reactivation of these viruses shapes the evolution of the T cell repertoire in aging which becomes less diverse. The general dogma is that the T cell memory responses generated early in life remain stable as we age. Thus, one of the proposed strategies to improve vaccine responses in elderly is to vaccinate early before these changes. However, Lanfermeijer et al. show that the T cell repertoire for CMV and EBV loses stability with age becoming less diverse. Furthermore, the CD8 T cells show signs of terminal differentiation In summary, these articles provide novel insights into the alterations and the underlying mechanisms associated with T cell alterations in aging. Studies focused on other immune cells are needed to design better vaccine and therapeutics for the older population to improve the quality of life.