• A E Oja, B Piet, C Helbig, R Stark, D van der Zwan, H Blaauwgeers, E B M Remmerswaal, D Amsen, R E Jonkers, P D Moerland, M A Nolte, R A W van Lier, and P Hombrink.
• Department of Hematopoiesis, Sanquin Research and Landsteiner Laboratory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Mucosal Immunol. 2018 May 1; 11 (3): 654-667.

AbstractResident memory T cells (TRM) reside in the lung epithelium and mediate protective immunity against respiratory pathogens. Although lung CD8+ TRM have been extensively characterized, the properties of CD4+ TRM remain unclear. Here we determined the transcriptional signature of CD4+ TRM, identified by the expression of CD103, retrieved from human lung resection material. Various tissue homing molecules were specifically upregulated on CD4+ TRM, whereas expression of tissue egress and lymph node homing molecules were low. CD103+ TRM expressed low levels of T-bet, only a small portion expressed Eomesodermin (Eomes), and although the mRNA levels for Hobit were increased, protein expression was absent. On the other hand, the CD103+ TRM showed a Notch signature. CD4+CD103+ TRM constitutively expressed high transcript levels of numerous cytotoxic mediators that was functionally reflected by a fast recall response, magnitude of cytokine production, and a high degree of polyfunctionality. Interestingly, the superior cytokine production appears to be because of an accessible interferon-γ (IFNγ) locus and was partially because of rapid translation of preformed mRNA. Our studies provide a molecular understanding of the maintenance and potential function of CD4+ TRM in the human lung. Understanding the specific properties of CD4+ TRM is required to rationally improve vaccine design.

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