A novel role of CD30/CD30 ligand signaling in the generation of long-lived memory CD8⁺ T cells

Memory CD8⁺ T cells can be divided into two subsets, central memory (T_CM) and effector memory (T_EM) CD8⁺ T cells. We foend that CD30, a member of the TNFR-associated factor (TRAF)-linked TNFR seperfamily, signaling is involved in differentiation of long-lived CD8⁺ T_CM cells following Listeria monocytogenes infection. Although CD8⁺ T_EM cells transiently accumulated in the noalymphoid tissues of CD30 ligand (CD153^-/-) mice after infection, long-lived memory CD8⁺ T_CM cells were poorly generated in these mice. CCR7 mRNA expression was down-regulated in CD8⁺ T cells of the spleen of CD153^-/- mice in vivo and the expression was up-regulated in CD8⁺ T_EM cells by anti-CD30 mAb cross-linking in vitro. These results suggest that CD30/CD30 ligand signaling plays an important role in the generation of long-lived memory CD8⁺ T cells at least partly by triggering homing receptors for T_CM cells.