Objective
The ability of T cells to respond to a second encounter with antigen is an essential element of memory immunity and indeed a prerequisite of a successful vaccination. Many recent advances have been made in our understanding of the cellular basis of immunological memory (reviewed by Kaech) (1). However, major gaps in our knowledge on the generation and persistence of cell mediated immunological (CMI) memory still exist. In particular, factors that allow vaccines to generate long-lived memory are still not understood. It has been suggested that this may be one of the major drawbacks of non-replicating vaccines such as recombinant subunit vaccines (1).
In this regard, mice cleared of an infection with tuberculosis (TB) respond vigorously upon re-exposure to mycobacteria and are efficiently protected against re-infection, whereas the efficacy of some subunit vaccines declines over time as shown in fig. 1. The reasons for this are unknown. This data clearly demonstrates the need of more fundamental studies of immunological memory induced by vaccines.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-7
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