Figure 1.
The Differentiation Continuum and Defining Phenotype of Steady-State CD8+ T cells. CD8+ TVM cells are a semi-differentiated yet antigenically naïve T cell population, indicating the potential for antigen-independent T cell differentiation and representing a link between antigen naïve (yellow shaded) and antigen-experienced (red shaded) memory T cells. TVM cells have historically been phenotypically included within (a) the TCM cell population in mice, and (b) the TEMRA cell population in humans. Lineage-defining markers (in bold), in conjunction with other additional markers, demarcate TVM cells and reinforce their phenotypic and functional uniqueness.