Role of Telomere And Telomerase In Human Lymphocyte Function and Aging

Aging

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Abstract

Accumulation of CD28-CD8+ T cells that are defective in response to antigenic stimulation is a hallmark of age-associated decline in T cell function. However, the underlying mechanism of this age-associated change is not fully understood. We recently analyzed the global gene expression profiles of CD8+ T cell subsets from nave to memory (CD28+ to CD28-) cells and the growth of CD28+ and CD28- CD8+ memory T cells in response to homeostatic cytokine interleukin 15 (IL-15). At the gene expression level, one of the most striking changes is the altered expression of some co-stimulatory receptors and various NK cell receptors in CD28-CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, CD28-CD8+ T cells appear to have a normal proliferation response to IL-15 in vitro. Interestingly, IL-15 is also capable of inducing stable loss of CD28 expression in actively dividing CD28+CD8+ memory T cells. Together, these findings provide the gene expression features of CD28-CD8+ T cells that differ from their CD28+ counterparts and suggest a possible role of IL-15 in the increase of CD28-CD8+ T cells that occurs with aging.[unreadable] Caregivers of Alzheimers disease (AD) patients endure chronic stress associated with a decline of immune function. To assess the psychological and immunological changes of caregivers, we compared depressive symptoms, peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) composition, in vitro activation induced proliferation and cytokine production, and telomere length and telomerase activity of 82 individuals (41 caregivers and 41 age- and gender-matched controls). We found depressive symptoms were significantly higher in caregivers than in controls (p<0.001). Correspondingly, caregivers had significantly lower T cell proliferation but higher production of immune-regulatory cytokines (TNF- and IL-10) than controls in response to stimulation in vitro. We examined the impact of these changes on cellular replicative lifespan and found that caregivers had significantly shorter telomere lengths in PBMC than controls (6.2 and 6.4 Kb, respectively, p<0.05) with similar shortening in isolated T cells and monocytes and that this telomere attrition in caregivers was not due to an increase of shorter telomere possessing T cell subsets in PBMC. Finally, we showed that basal telomerase activity in PBMC and T cells was significantly higher in caregivers than in controls (p<0.0001), pointing to an unsuccessful attempt of cells to compensate the excessive loss of telomeres in caregivers. These findings demonstrate that chronic stress is associated with altered T-cell function and accelerated immune cell aging as suggested by excessive telomere loss.