Whereas
acute CD8 + T cell
effector responses are enhanced in DGKζ - deficient mice postinfection with intracellular pathogens, persistent
memory formation is impaired, most dramatically when both DGKζ and DGKα, the other isoform of DGK that metabolizes DAG downstream of the TCR in T cells, are deleted (35, 36).
Consistent with prior reports on
effector cells (35), we observed that, among CD8 + T cells specific for the dominant epitope of LCMV (GP33), the percentages of short - lived
effector cells (KLRG1 + CD127 −) were increased, and the percentages of
memory precursor cells (KLRG1 + CD127 +) were decreased in the peripheral blood of DGKζ − / −, Cbl - b − / −, and DKO mice relative to WT mice after
acute infection (Fig. 5A).