Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells continuously patrol skin epithelia to quickly recognize local antigen.

ABSTRACT: Recent work has demonstrated that following the clearance of infection a stable population of memory T cells remains present in peripheral organs and contributes to the control of secondary infections. However, little is known about how tissue-resident memory T cells behave in situ and how they encounter newly infected target cells. Here we demonstrate that antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells that remain in skin following herpes simplex virus infection show a steady-state crawling behavior in between keratinocytes. Spatially explicit simulations of the migration of these tissue-resident memory T cells indicate that the migratory dendritic behavior of these cells allows the detection of antigen-expressing target cells in physiologically relevant time frames of minutes to hours. Furthermore, we

SUBMITTER: Ariotti S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3511734 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature