Project description:Leishmaniasis causes a significant disease burden worldwide. Although Leishmania-infected patients become refractory to reinfection following disease resolution, effective immune protection has not yet been achieved by human vaccines. While circulating Leishmania-specific T cells are known to play a critical role in immunity, the role of memory T cells present in peripheral tissues has not been explored. Here, we identify a population of skin-resident Leishmania-specific memory CD4+ T cells. These cells produce IFNγ, and remain resident in the skin when transplanted by skin graft onto naïve mice. They function to recruit circulating T cells to the skin in a CXCR3 dependent manner, resulting in better control of the parasites. Our findings are the first to demonstrate that CD4+ TRM cells form in response to a parasitic infection, and indicate that optimal protective immunity to Leishmania, and thus the success of a vaccine, may depend on generating both circulating and skin-resident memory T cells. Two conditions were analyzed. For each condition, four mice were used, resulting in eight samples in total.
Project description:Leishmaniasis causes a significant disease burden worldwide. Although Leishmania-infected patients become refractory to reinfection following disease resolution, effective immune protection has not yet been achieved by human vaccines. While circulating Leishmania-specific T cells are known to play a critical role in immunity, the role of memory T cells present in peripheral tissues has not been explored. Here, we identify a population of skin-resident Leishmania-specific memory CD4+ T cells. These cells produce IFNγ, and remain resident in the skin when transplanted by skin graft onto naïve mice. They function to recruit circulating T cells to the skin in a CXCR3 dependent manner, resulting in better control of the parasites. Our findings are the first to demonstrate that CD4+ TRM cells form in response to a parasitic infection, and indicate that optimal protective immunity to Leishmania, and thus the success of a vaccine, may depend on generating both circulating and skin-resident memory T cells.
Project description:Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) are a non-circulating subset of memory that are maintained at sites of pathogen entry and mediate optimal protection against reinfection. Lung TRM can be generated in response to respiratory infection or vaccination, however, the molecular pathways involved in CD4+TRM establishment have not been defined. Here, we performed transcriptional profiling of influenza-specific lung CD4+TRM following influenza infection to identify pathways implicated in CD4+TRM generation and homeostasis. Lung CD4+TRM displayed a unique transcriptional profile distinct from spleen memory, including up-regulation of a gene network induced by the transcription factor IRF4, a known regulator of effector T cell differentiation.
Project description:Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common intrauterine infection, leading to infant neurodevelopmental disabilities. An improved knowledge of correlates of protection against cCMV is needed to guide prevention strategies. Here, we employed a unique ex vivo model of human CMV (HCMV) infection in decidual tissues of women with and without preconception immunity, recapitulating nonprimary versus primary infection at the authentic maternofetal transmission site. We showed that decidual tissues of women with preconception immunity exhibited intrinsic resistance to HCMV, mounting a rapid activation of tissue resident memory CD8+ and CD4+ T cells upon nonprimary infection. We further revealed the role of HCMV-specific decidual-tissue resident CD8+ T cells in local protection against nonprimary HCMV infection. The findings could inform the development of vaccine against cCMV, and provide insights for further studies of the integrity of immune defense against cCMV and other pathogens in the human maternal-fetal interface.
Project description:Tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) provide superior protection against infection localised to extra-lymphoid compartments in the body. Here we show that CD103+CD8+ TRM cells develop in skin from killer cell lectin-like receptor (KLR)G1-negative precursors that selectively infiltrate the epithelial layer. In the skin, a combination of chemokine-guided epithelial entry, local interleukin (IL)-15 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling is required for formation and survival of these long-lived memory cells. Importantly, TRM differentiation results in the gradual acquisition of a unique transcriptional profile that differs from that expressed by memory cells in the circulation and other types of skin-resident intra-epithelial T cells, such as the dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC). We provide a comprehensive molecular and developmental framework for the local differentiation of a distinct type of peripheral memory T cell that contributes to an important first-line of immune defence in barrier tissues such as skin and mucosa.
Project description:Skin from Balb/c mice after Leishmania major infection. Promastigote forms of the protozoon were inoculated in mice footpads. The skin biopsies were analyzed after 60 days of infection.
Project description:Tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) provide superior protection against infection localised to extra-lymphoid compartments in the body. Here we show that CD103+CD8+ TRM cells develop in skin from killer cell lectin-like receptor (KLR)G1-negative precursors that selectively infiltrate the epithelial layer. In the skin, a combination of chemokine-guided epithelial entry, local interleukin (IL)-15 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling is required for formation and survival of these long-lived memory cells. Importantly, TRM differentiation results in the gradual acquisition of a unique transcriptional profile that differs from that expressed by memory cells in the circulation and other types of skin-resident intra-epithelial T cells, such as the dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC). We provide a comprehensive molecular and developmental framework for the local differentiation of a distinct type of peripheral memory T cell that contributes to an important first-line of immune defence in barrier tissues such as skin and mucosa. 24 samples were analyzed: 3 replicates of memory gB-T CD8+. CD103+ T cells isolated from the skin of C57/BL6 mice on day 30 p.i. with HSV KOS. 3 replicates of memory P14 CD8+ T cells isolated from gut of mice on day 60 p.i. with LCMV Armstrong. 3 replicates of memory gB-T CD8+ T cells from the lung of mice on day 30 p.i. with influenza WSN. 3 replicates of memory CD62L high CD8+ T cells from the spleen of mice on day 30 p.i. with HSV KOS. 3 replicates of memory CD62L low CD8+ T cells from the spleen of mice of day 30 p.i. with HSV KOS. 3 replicates of γδ-DETC isolated from the skin of C57/BL6 mice on day 30 p.i. with HSV KOS. 3 replicates of αβ-DETC from naive TCRδ-/- mice; and 3 replicates of naive gB-T CD8+ T cells from the spleen of naive gB-T transgenic mice.
Project description:Numerous lymphocytes seed the body surfaces of metazoans promoting tissue protection and integrity. These tissue-resident populations differ substantially from circulating lymphocytes, as they adopt a unique phenotype and do not recirculate. They span the innate-adaptive continuum, ranging from innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) to unconventional T cells (NKT, MAIT, γδT cells and IELs) and tissue-resident memory (TRM) T cells, and while differ in the particulars of their biology, all contribute to barrier immunity, tissue homeostasis, and immune regulation. Although they share the same microenvironment, little is known about how these tissue-resident lymphocyte populations interact with each other and with the non-lymphoid cellular environment. As such, there is an emerging view of tissues as varied ‘‘ ecosystems ’’, whereby protection against inflammatory challenges is orchestrated through the interplay between tissue-resident and infiltrating-lymphocyte subtypes. In mice, barrier tissues are populated during early life by innate-like γδT lymphocytes. These cells provide tissue protection, including limiting conventional T cell-driven inflammation. Therefore, elucidating the contributions of tissue-resident T cells, particularly γδT cells, to the basic pathophysiology of tissue function and protection against infection, inflammation, and cancer is a priority. To this aim, we have induced allergic contact dermatitis in the back skin of different strains and we analyzed the behavior of γδT cells
Project description:Memory antigen-specific CD4+ T cells against Chlamydia trachomatis are necessary for protection against secondary genital tract infection. While it is known that naïve antigen-specific CD4+ T cells can traffic to the genital tract in an antigen-specific manner, these T cells are not protective during primary infection. Here, we sought to compare the differences between memory and naïve antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in the same mouse following secondary infection using transgenic CD4+ T cells (NR1 T cells). Using RNA sequencing, we found that there were subtle but distinct differences between these two T cell populations. Naïve NR1 T cells significantly upregulated cell cycle genes and were more proliferative than memory NR1 T cells in the draining lymph node. In contrast, memory NR1 T cells were more activated than naïve NR1 T cells and were enriched in the genital tract. Together, our data provide insight into the differences between memory and naïve antigen-specific CD4+ T cells during C. trachomatis infection.