Antigen Persistence Is Required for Dendritic Cell Licensing and CD8+ T Cell Cross-Priming

It has been demonstrated that CD4 + T cells require Ag persistence to achieve effective priming, whereas CD8 + T cells are on “autopilot” after only a brief exposure. This finding presents a disturbing conundrum as it does not account for situations in which CD8 + T cells require CD4 + T cell help. We used a physiologic in vivo model to study the requirement of Ag persistence for the cross-priming of minor histocompatibility Ag-specific CD8 + T cells. We report inefficient cross-priming in situations in which male cells are rapidly cleared. Strikingly, the failure to achieve robust CD8 + T cell activation is not due to a problem with cross-presentation. In fact, by providing “extra help” in the form of dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with MHC class II peptide, it was possible to achieve robust activation of CD8 + T cells. Our data suggest that the “licensing” of cross-presenting DCs does not occur during their initial encounter with CD4 + T cells, thus accounting for the requirement for Ag persistence and suggesting that DCs make multiple interactions with CD8 + T cells during the priming phase. These findings imply that long-lived Ag is critical for efficient vaccination protocols in which the CD8 + T cell response is helper-dependent.