Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

IMMUNOMETABOLISM

Sugar fuels T-cell memory

Nature Cell Biology volume 20, pages 2–3 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Previous work has highlighted the role of metabolic shifts in regulating the formation of memory T cells, which are generated during a primary infection to provide long-lasting immunity. A study now shows that memory T cells rely on a gluconeogenesis–glycogenolysis cycle to provide antioxidant defence and support their survival.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: The role of glycogen metabolism in the formation and maintenance of memory T cells.

References

  1. Kaech, S. M. & Cui, W. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 12, 749–761 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Pollizzi, K. N. & Powell, J. D. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 14, 435–446 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. MacIver, N. J., Michalek, R. D. & Rathmell, J. C. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 31, 259–283 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Buck, M. D., Sowell, R. T., Kaech, S. M. & Pearce, E. L. Cell 169, 570–586 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ma, R. et al. Nat. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-017-0002-2 (2017).

  6. Chandel, N. S. Navigating Metabolism (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 2015).

  7. Cui, G. et al. Cell 161, 750–761 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. O’Sullivan, D. et al. Immunity 41, 75–88 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Thwe, P. M. et al. Cell Metab. 26, 558–567e5 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics & Complex Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Joanna Olivas & Tiffany Horng

Authors
  1. Joanna Olivas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tiffany Horng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiffany Horng.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Olivas, J., Horng, T. Sugar fuels T-cell memory. Nat Cell Biol 20, 2–3 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-017-0014-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-017-0014-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing