What this means
Ageing is an important determinant of immune function across the lifespan, yet it remains underappreciated in the design and interpretation of much basic T cell research. As the immune system ages, T cell responses become less diverse, less efficient, and less adaptable, with consequences for infection control, vaccine responsiveness, cancer immunosurveillance, and the performance of T cell-based immunotherapies.
A plain-English summary is on its way. Until then, this is the start of the authors' own summary.
- Who it was tested in
- Not stated
- Kind of research
- A study
The science
- Original title
- T cell metabolic ageing as a factor for therapeutic research.
- Authors
- King E, Zinali Sohanaki B, Schurich A
- Journal
- Clinical and experimental immunology
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
- Study type
- Study
- PMID
- 42935129 ↗
Abstract
Ageing is an important determinant of immune function across the lifespan, yet it remains underappreciated in the design and interpretation of much basic T cell research. As the immune system ages, T cell responses become less diverse, less efficient, and less adaptable, with consequences for infection control, vaccine responsiveness, cancer immunosurveillance, and the performance of T cell-based immunotherapies. This issue is particularly acute because many fundamental studies still rely on T cells from, mostly, healthy young donors. These controls are indispensable, but the field has built much of its pre-clinical logic on immune systems that are younger, fitter, and biologically distinct from the patients for whom T cell therapies are intended. We argue that this mismatch between experimental systems and clinical reality could be overcome by considering age as a routine variable from the start.
King E, Zinali Sohanaki B, Schurich A T cell metabolic ageing as a factor for therapeutic research. Clinical and experimental immunology. 2026. doi:10.1093/cei/uxag066. PMID: 42935129. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42935129/