Re-evaluating CD57 as a marker of T cell senescence: implications for immune ageing and differentiation
Autaa, Gaëlle Korenkov, Daniil van Beek, Josine Pellegrin, Isabelle Parfait, Béatrice van Baarle, Debbie Launay, Odile Tartour, Eric Appay, Victor
Autaa, Gaëlle
Korenkov, Daniil
van Beek, Josine
Pellegrin, Isabelle
Parfait, Béatrice
van Baarle, Debbie
Launay, Odile
Tartour, Eric
Appay, Victor
Series / Report no.
Open Access
Type
Journal Article
Article
Article
Language
en
Date
2025-10-31
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Title
Re-evaluating CD57 as a marker of T cell senescence: implications for immune ageing and differentiation
Translated Title
Published in
Immun Ageing 2025; 22(1):47
Abstract
Ageing is accompanied by a decline in immune function, associated with susceptibility to infections and malignancies, and reduced vaccine efficacy. These immunological changes, affect multiple components of the immune system, particularly T lymphocytes, which exhibit altered subset distributions and accumulate senescent features. CD57, a surface glycoprotein expressed on T cells, has emerged as a potential marker of terminal differentiation and senescence used for immunomonitoring in infection or cancer contexts. However, the use of CD57 as a marker of T cell senescence remains unclear. To investigate this, we analyzed CD57 expression on CD8 and CD4 T cells in healthy donors from two independent cohorts, considering cellular differentiation, age, cytomegalovirus status, and other senescence markers. Our findings reinforce the association between CD57 expression, T cell differentiation, and CMV seropositivity, but not with chronological age. Although CD57 is associated with altered proliferation and survival in all T cell differentiation subsets, it does not fully align with a senescent phenotype. Therefore, we propose that CD57 may be better appreciated as a marker of immunological age. Moreover, the interpretation of CD57 expression must account for CMV serostatus to avoid misleading conclusions, especially in oncology and ageing research.