Immunotherapeutic Potential of T Memory Stem Cells
Yujie Li, Dengqiang Wu, Xuejia Yang, Sufang Zhou
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.