Regulatory circuits of mitophagy restricts cell death for mounting memory CD8+ T cell formation

Mitophagy, a central guarding process to maintain mitochondrial quality, is commonly impaired in human diseases, but its impacts in adaptive immunity remains unclear. Here, we found that Parkinson’s patients have reduced CD8+ memory T cell abundance and failed to form memory T cells upon COVID-19 vaccination. We further unveiled that regulators of mitophagy, including Parkin and NIX, were upregulated in response to IL-15 for supporting memory T cell formation. Our results indicate that the mitophagy machinery orchestrate survival and metabolic dynamics required for memory T cell formation.