Abstract
Respiratory infections from influenza A virus (IAV) cause substantial morbidity and mortality in children relative to adults. T cells play a critical role in the host response to IAV by supporting the innate and humoral responses,mediating cytotoxic activity, and promoting recovery. There are age-dependent differences in the number, subsets, and localization of T cells, which impact the host response to pathogens. In this article, we first review how T cells recognize IAV and examine differences in the resting T-cell populations between juveniles and adults. Next, we describe how the juvenile CD4+, CD8+, and regulatory T-cell responses compare with those in adults and discuss the potential physiologic and clinical consequences of the differences. Finally, we explore the roles of two unconventional T-cell types in the juvenile response to influenza, natural-killer T cells and γδ T cells. A clear understanding of age-dependent differences in the T-cell response is essential to developing therapies to prevent or reverse the deleterious effects of IAV in children.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 415-423 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2020 |
Keywords
- Agedependent
- Influenza
- Juvenile
- T cell
- Viral pneumonia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Cell Biology