Murine models are somewhat limited in terms of studying CD8 T cell replicative senescence in the context of immunosenescence. Although mice do undergo immunosenescence and their T cells show age-related reduced proliferative activity
in vitro, the dynamics of both processes do not correlate with those of humans, even if one takes relative lifespan into account [
51]. Additionally, human immunological aging is believed to be influenced by competition for space over several decades by lymphocytes that are specific for a variety of previously-encountered antigens [
52], a situation that cannot be replicated in short lived animals that are subjected to minimal antigenic exposure, particularly with respect to persistent viral infections.
With current technology, there is no way to definitively prove that CD8 T cell replicative senescence occurs
in vivo. Instead, researchers have conducted cross-sectional comparisons between young and old persons and short-term longitudinal studies with elderly cohorts to examine phenotypic and functional differences in selected cell populations and determine correlation to endpoints, such as morbidity and mortality. T cell replicative senescence probably occurs
in vivo in an incremental fashion over the course of decades, and in a dynamic environment that molds cellular phenotype, making it difficult to pinpoint what exactly a senescent cell is, when senescence occurs, or the functionality of these cells. Indeed, whereas permanent
in vitro loss of CD28 gene transcription is widely documented as a reliable indicator of senescence,
in vivo, CD28− T cells represent a heterogenous population of cells, some of which still exhibit modest proliferative potential [
16]. As stated above, for the purpose of this review replicative senescence will be used to describe
in vivo late-differentiated cells implicated in immunosenescence that share features with their
in vitro counterparts, which have undergone irreversible cell-cycle arrest, with the caveat that
in vivo, such cells may not have reached strict terminal differentiation or completely exhausted their proliferative potential
Consistent with
in vitro replicative senescence observations, perhaps the strongest indicator that CD8 T cell senescence occurs
in vivo is the age-associated increase in T cells lacking CD28 expression. At birth, nearly 100% of human T cells express CD28 [
53,
54]. As we age, the CD8+CD28− T cell population steadily increases, albeit at a variable rate, so that by age 80 these cells constitute up to 50%–60% of the peripheral blood CD8 T cell pool [
55]. Cell culture and
ex vivo work has clearly demonstrated that the CD28− population is derived from more early stage (CD28+) cells that have undergone multiple rounds of antigen-driven cellular division [
56]. High proportions of CD8+CD28− T cells are correlated with reduced response to vaccinations in the elderly [
57] and with autoimmune disease [
58–
60], providing evidence that their presence is an indicator, if not a cause, of dysregulated immunity. Moreover, despite the fact that CD28− T cells are not a homogeneous population, overall telomere length of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) has been shown to be significantly negatively correlated with the proportion of CD8+CD28− T cells [
61]. Thus, the proportion of these late-differentiated (possibly senescent) T cells can serve as a surrogate marker for PBMC telomere length.
Cultures initiated from purified populations of CD8+CD28− T cells isolated
ex vivo share multiple features with CD8+CD28− cells that arise in long-term repeatedly stimulated
in vitro cultures. The signature feature of replicative senescence in cell culture is inability to enter the cell cycle, and
ex vivo experiments on purified CD8+CD28− T cells isolated from peripheral blood are unable to proliferate
in vitro, either in response to antigenic stimulation via the TCR or in response to mitogens, such as PMA and ionomycin [
62]. Similar to CD8+CD28− cells that reach senescence
in vitro, lymphocytes from elderly persons show attenuation in the molecular chaperone system hsp70, in steroid binding hsp90, and the chaperonin hsp60 [
63], implicating reduced ability to respond to stress.
Ex-vivo CD8+CD28− cell are also resistant to apoptosis, similar to their
in vitro counterparts [
56].
As stated earlier, CD8+CD28− T cells
in vivo represent a very heterogeneous population, and it has been hypothesized that suppression of CD28 gene expression occurs prior to the ultimate state of differentiation/senescence [
16]. Using analysis on
ex vivo CD8 T cell populations, researchers have identified two other cell-surface markers, CD57 and CD27, which, when used in conjunction with loss of CD28, represent what is believed to be the most differentiated/senescent cell populations.
CD57 is an adhesion molecule, found on many cell types, that is believed to only be expressed on CD8 T cells that have undergone chronic proliferative activation, be it due to aging, persistent viral infection, autoimmune disease or cancer [
64]. The CD8+CD57+ population increases with age, has been shown to have strong intracytoplasmic expression of cytotoxic granules [
64], and has the shortest telomere lengths of any CD8 T cell subpopulation [
65], indicative of an extensive proliferative history and a differentiative state close to replicative senescence. Short term culturing of CD8+CD57+ T cells indicates these cells respond to TCR stimulation with INFy production, but are unable to proliferate [
65]. T-cell receptor excision circle analysis documents that these cells have undergone more proliferative generations than other cell subtypes [
65], consistent with the telomere length data. The frequency of CD8+CD57+ cells has been shown to increase in conditions associated with immune dysregulation, including HIV and CMV infection and autoimmune diseases [
66]. These data constitute a compelling argument that CD8+CD57+ T cells have undergone proliferation-induced differentiation and replicative senescence.
CD8 T cells that have lost surface expression of the costimulatory molecule CD27 in conjunction with CD28 are also believed to be very late-differentiated/senescent cells.
Ex-vivo experiments examining subpopulations of CD8+CD28+, CD8+CD28−CD27+ and CD8+CD28−CD27− T cells indicated that the CD28−CD27−-subpopulation had the shortest telomeres, lowest telomerase activity, lowest IL-2 upregulation and highest IFNγ levels [
67]. Despite being unable to proliferate or produce IL-2, primary CD28−CD27− CD8 T cells demonstrated high levels of cytotoxic molecules and enhanced toxicity
in vitro [
16,
68]. Initially it was believed such high cytotoxicity was a beneficial adaptation to fight infections, but recent studies have indicated the presence of CD28−/CD27− CD8 T cells is associated with poor disease control in persons infected with HIV and CMV [
68,
69]. Interestingly, HIV-specific CD8 memory T cells have been shown to be predominately CD28−CD27+, whereas CMV-specific CD8 memory T cells are predominately CD28−CD27− [
70]. This implies that different persistent viral infections drive memory T cells to different set-points, and that CMV may drive cells furthest along the path to replicative senescence, a notion to be addressed in depth later in this review.