New Insights into Lymphocyte Differentiation and Aging from Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity Measurements.

αβ CD8+, γδ, and NK lymphocytes are fundamental effector cells against viruses and tumors. These cells can be divided into multiple subsets according to their phenotype. Based on progressive telomere attrition from naive to late effector memory cells, human CD8+ T cell subsets have been positioned along a pathway of differentiation, which is also considered as a process of lymphocyte aging or senescence. A similar categorization has not been clearly established for γδ and NK cell populations. Moreover, the distinction between the aging of these populations due to cellular differentiation or due to the chronological age of the donor has not been formally considered. In this study, we performed systematic measurements of telomere length and telomerase activity in human αβ CD8+, γδ, and NK lymphocytes based on subset division and across age to address these points and better understand the dichotomy between differentiation and temporal aging. This approach enables us to position phenotypically distinct γδ or NK subsets along a putative pathway of differentiation, such as for CD8+ T cells. Moreover, our data show that both cellular differentiation and donor aging have profound but independent effects on telomere length and telomerase activity of lymphocyte subpopulations, implying distinct mechanisms and consequences on the immune system.