biostudies-literatureRamirez SINIAID NIH HHS630-636https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11895801biostudies-literatureUnknown632(8025)The upper airway is an important site of infection, but immune memory in the human upper airway is poorly understood, with implications for COVID-19 and many other human diseases^1-4. Here we demonstrate that nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs can be used to obtain insights into these challenging problems, and define distinct immune cell populations, including antigen-specific memory B cells and T cells, in two adjacent anatomical sites in the upper airway. Upper airway immune cell populations seemed stable over time in healthy adults undergoing monthly swabs for more than 1 year, and prominent tissue resident memory T (T_RM) cell and B (B_RM) cell populations were defined. Unexpectedly, germinal centre cells were identified consistently in many nasopharyngeal swaNatureImmunological memory diversity in the human upper airway.PMC11895801T32 AI007036U19 AI142742Levi GLopez PGKim HJRamirez SIHastie KMSutton HJMashoof SStacey HDFaraji FHills LBGoodwin BCrotty SYan CHDeConde ASSaphire EOfalseImmunological memory diversity in the human upper airway.The upper airway is an important site of infection, but immune memory in the human upper airway is poorly understood, with implications for COVID-19 and many other human diseases^1-4. Here we demonstrate that nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs can be used to obtain insights into these challenging problems, and define distinct immune cell populations, including antigen-specific memory B cells and T cells, in two adjacent anatomical sites in the upper airway. Upper airway immune cell populations seemed stable over time in healthy adults undergoing monthly swabs for more than 1 year, and prominent tissue resident memory T (T_RM) cell and B (B_RM) cell populations were defined. Unexpectedly, germinal centre cells were identified consistently in many nasopharyngeal swa2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Aug2026-04-24T03:21:30.509Z2025-04-06T22:16:28.938ZS-EPMC118958013908560510.1038/s41586-024-07748-8