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Published online before print February 3, 2006
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9/V
2 T cells


,1
* Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Università di Palermo, Italy;
Institut für Immunologie, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany; and
Biochemisches Institut, Infektiologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany
1Correspondence at current address: Institute of Cell Biology, Baltzerstrasse 4, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: meberl{at}izb.unibe.ch
ABSTRACT
V
9/V
2 T cells constitute a minor proportion of human peripheral blood T cells that can expand rapidly upon infection with microbial pathogens. V
9/V
2 T cell numbers change characteristically with age, rising from birth to puberty and gradually decreasing again beyond 30 years of age. In adults, female blood donors have significantly higher levels than males, implying that circulating V
9/V
2 T cells in women remain elevated for a longer period in life and drop less strikingly than in men. This loss in men is accompanied by a substantial depletion of CD27CD45RA and CD27CD45RA+ effector T cells and a parallel increase in CD27+CD45RA central memory T cells while in women, the distribution of V
9/V
2 T cell subsets remains virtually unchanged. The phenotypical conversion in men older than 30 years is mirrored by an increased proliferative response of V
9/V
2 T cells and a reduced interferon-
secretion upon stimulation with isopentenyl pyrophosphate in vitro.
Key Words: 
T lymphocytes memory subsets male immune system gender-related bias aging IPP
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