CD4+ virtual memory: Antigen-inexperienced T cells reside in the naïve, regulatory, and memory T cell compartments at similar frequencies, implications for autoimmunity
Antigen-inexperienced CD4+ T cells comprise a portion of the memory repertoire. CD4+ T cells can display a memory phenotype without clonal expansion to an antigen. Our study supports the existence of CD4+ virtual memory T cells. These findings posit a new paradigm for T cell maturation.