Fueling Immunity: Insights into Metabolism and Lymphocyte Function

Lymphocyte Metabolism Lymphocytes are highly dynamic cells, undergoing extensive proliferation upon infection and then reducing in number upon pathogen clearance. Lymphocytes also circulate through many different tissue environments that vary in their nutrient and oxygen availability. Recent studies have revealed changes in metabolic programming that facilitate this dynamic behavior. How these changes occur and the specific effects that they have on lymphocyte function and on the ultimate outcome of an infection are not well understood. Pearce et al. ( 1242454 ) review recent progress in this area, suggest how parallels might be found in studying the metabolic changes seen in tumor cells, and propose challenges for the future.