Persistence of Memory T Cells Explained

Long-term memory T cells, which can remember an infection for decades before rousing themselves to action as needed, should the infection reoccur, are great sleepers. They are in some respects like ordinary memory cells, from which they are derived, but they enter a quiescent state, dividing less frequently than once every year and living more than 10 times longer than the average T cell. And while these slumbering T cells may superficially resemble ordinary T cells, innocent of infection, they