Targeted Expansion of Tissue-Resident CD8⁺ T Cells to Boost Cellular Immunity in the Skin.

ABSTRACT: Tissue-resident memory (T_RM) CD8⁺ T cells are positioned within environmental barrier tissues to provide a first line of defense against pathogen entry, but whether these specialized T cell populations can be readily boosted to increase protective immunity is ill defined. Here, we demonstrate that repeated activation of rare, endogenous T_RM CD8⁺ T cells, using only topical application of antigenic peptide causes delayed-type hypersensitivity and increases the number of antigen-specific T_RM CD8⁺ T cells, specifically in the challenged skin by ∼15-fold. Expanded T_RM CD8⁺ T cells in the skin are derived from memory T cells recruited out of the circulation that became CD69⁺ tissue residents follo

SUBMITTER: Hobbs SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6914228 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature