{"doi":"10.1101/2022.08.26.505402","title":"Ketolysis is a metabolic driver of CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cell effector function through histone acetylation","abstract":"Abstract Environmental nutrient availability influences T cell metabolism, impacting T cell function and shaping immune outcomes. However, the metabolic pathways critical for optimal T cell responses remain poorly understood. Here, we identify ketone bodies (KBs) – including β-hydroxybutyrate (βOHB) and acetoacetate (AcAc) – as essential fuels supporting CD8 + T cell metabolism and effector function. Ketolysis is an intrinsic feature of highly functional CD8 + T effector (Teff) cells and βOHB directly increases CD8 + Teff cell IFN-γ production and cytolytic activity. Using metabolic tracers, we establish that CD8 + Teff cells preferentially use KBs over glucose to fuel the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in vitro and in vivo . KBs directly boost the respiratory capacity of CD8 + T cells and TCA cycle-dependent metabolic pathways that fuel T cell growth. Mechanistically, we find that βOHB is a major substrate for acetyl-CoA production in CD8 + T cells and regulates effector responses through effects on histone acetylation. Together, our results identify cell-intrinsic ketolysis as a metabolic and epigenetic driver of optimal CD8 + T cell effector responses. One Sentence summary Ketone bodies promote CD8 + T cell metabolism and effector function through regulation of epigenetic programming","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2022,"id":301763,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9627,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":496128,"name":"Susan M. 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Luda","orcid":"0000-0002-6647-3981","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":75,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:32:06.309890Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}