AGED CD8+ T CELLS DRIVE COGNITIVE DECLINE VIA GZMK

Changes in peripheral CD8+ T cells are a prominent hallmark of immune aging. While infiltrating CD8+ T cells are implicated in aging and neurodegenerative disease-related pathology in the brain, the role of aged non-infiltrating CD8+ T cells has yet to be fully defined. Here, we show that targeting activated aged peripheral CD8+ T cells rescues age-related cognitive decline. Using heterochronic parabiosis and single cell transcriptomics analysis we observed that aged peripheral CD8+ T cells maintain properties intrinsic to their age, being refractory to the effects of a young or aged systemic milieu. Systemic exposure of young mice to aged CD8+ T cells elicited synaptic-related aging transcriptional signatures in the hippocampus and impaired cognition. Inhibiting migration of aged peripheral CD8+ T cells to lymph nodes mitigated pro-aging effects on the young hippocampus. Conversely, targeting aged CD8+ T cells restored synaptic-related signatures in the aged hippocampus and ameliorated cognitive impairments. Mechanistically, we identified granzyme k (GZMK) as a secreted age-associated CD8+ T cell-derived factor that impairs cognitive function. Together, our data identify activated aged CD8+ T cells and their secreted factors as potential therapeutic targets to rescue cognition in old age.