Repetitive antigen stimulation by prime-boost vaccination or pathogen reencounter increases memory CD8(+) T cell numbers, but the impact on memory CD8(+) T cell differentiation is unknown. Here we showed that repetitive antigen stimulations induced accumulation of memory CD8(+) T cells with uniform effector memory characteristics. However, genome-wide microarray analyses revealed that each additional antigen challenge resulted in the differential regulation of several hundred new genes in the ensuing memory CD8(+) T cell populations and, therefore, in stepwise diversification of CD8(+) T cell transcriptomes. Thus, primary and repeatedly stimulated (secondary, tertiary, and quaternary) memory CD8(+) T cells differed substantially in their molecular signature while sharing expression of a small group of genes and biological pathways, which may constitute a core signature of memory differentiation. These results reveal the complex regulation of memory CD8(+) T cell differentiation and identify potential new molecular targets to dissect the function of memory cells generated by repeated antigen stimulation.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 July 2025.
All research outputs
#10,601,049
of 34,115,020 outputs
Outputs from Immunity
#4,369
of 5,689 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#54,785
of 149,743 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Immunity
#19
of 32 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,115,020 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,689 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 33.2. This one is in the 20th percentile – i.e., 20% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 149,743 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 32 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 31st percentile – i.e., 31% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
