Antigen discovery unveils resident memory and migratory cell roles in antifungal resistance.

ABSTRACT: Priming at the site of natural infection typically elicits a protective T cell response against subsequent pathogen encounter. Here, we report the identification of a novel fungal antigen that we harnessed for mucosal vaccination and tetramer generation to test whether we can elicit protective, antigen-specific tissue-resident memory (Trm) CD4⁺ T cells in the lung parenchyma. In contrast to expectations, CD69⁺, CXCR3⁺, CD103^- Trm cells failed to protect against a lethal pulmonary fungal infection. Surprisingly, systemic vaccination induced a population of tetramer⁺ CD4⁺ T cells enriched within the pulmonary vasculature, and expressing CXCR3 and CX3CR1, that migrated to the lung tissue upon challenge and efficiently protected

SUBMITTER: Dobson HE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7183437 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature