Antigen-specific CD8+ T cell clonal expansions develop from memory T cell pools established by acute respiratory virus infections

Increasing age is associated with the development of CD8(+) T cell clonal expansions (TCE) that can dominate the peripheral T cell repertoire and interfere with immune responses to infection and vaccination. Some TCE are driven by chronic infections, consistent with dysregulated outgrowth of T cell clones in response to persistent antigenic stimulation. However, a second class of TCE develops with age in the absence of chronic infections and is poorly understood in terms of origin or Ag dependence. In this study, we present evidence that Ag-specific TCE develop at high frequencies from conventional memory CD8(+) T cell pools elicited by nonpersistent influenza and parainfluenza virus infections. Putative TCE occurred in both the central- and effector-memory CD8(+) T cell populations and did not require Ag for their maintenance. In addition, they were similar to normal memory T cells in terms of phenotype and function, suggesting that they develop stochastically from the memory T cell pool. These data suggest that memory T cell pools become progressively dysregulated over time and this may have a significant impact on immune responsiveness in the aged.