Stand by me(mory): Chronic infection diminishes memory pool via IL-6/STAT1

Despite great efforts to eradicate chronic viral infections, they still remain a global health problem. In this issue, Barnstorf et al. (2019. J. Exp. Med. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20181589) show that virus-unspecific bystander memory T cells are highly affected during chronic viral infection via IL-6/STAT1. Bystander memory T cells are strongly decimated in numbers and change in phenotype and function during chronic viral infection. These data provide new explanations for immune-mediated problems during chronic virus infections.

Source: The Journal of Experimental Medicine - March 3, 2019 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Lang, P. A., Lang, K. S. Tags: Infectious Disease and Host Defense Insights Source Type: research