Anti-viral T cell memory is generated following an initial infection, persists longterm in vivo, and can provide protective immunity to viral challenge. The role of virus-specific memory CDS T cells in protective anti-viral responses has been well-characterized; however, considerably less is known about the function of memory CD4 T cells in anti-viral immunity. Memory CD4 T cells can play multifarious roles in coordinating secondary responses via their direct effector functions, and their ability to
Elucidation of the mechanisms by which memory CD4 T cells coordinate secondary anti-viral responses and control viral clearance and immunopathology has strong clinical relevance for improving anti-viral immunity in vaccines, and for designing novel therapies to optimize immune responses to pathogenic viruses such as influenza, where the immune mechanisms leading to viral clearance can also generate pathological reactions, now recognized as the leading cause of death and morbidity from pandemic influenza strains.
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