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Making new memories

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, page 667 (2018)Cite this article

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Although the existence of memory T cells in peripheral tissues had long been recognized, it was not known for many years whether these cells were truly tissue resident. Memory T cells had classically been divided into effector memory T (TEM) cells and central memory T (TCM) cells, and it was largely thought that tissue T cells comprised TEM cells in transit through the body. However, it was postulated by David Masopust, Leo Lefrançois and colleagues in 2001 that memory T cells in tissues “either continuously recirculate through peripheral tissues or permanently reside in them” (Masopust et al., 2001). Landmark papers by Gebhardt et al. and Masopust et al., published in 2009 and 2010, signified the advent of tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells as a distinct T cell subset.

These two studies extended the TEM and TCM cell paradigm by showing that tissue T cells exist in disequilibrium with the circulating T cell populations. They showed that antigen-specific CD8+ T cells with a unique phenotype persist at the site of previous infection — namely, the dorsal root ganglia and skin of herpes simplex virus-infected mice or the intestinal epithelium following infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Coincidentally, figure 5 of both papers is central, showing that TRM cells can persist for several weeks as an autonomous population following tissue transplantation. Other studies had provided evidence in support of tissue residency (Boyman et al., 2004), but it was the study by Gebhardt et al. that showed that these TRM cells afford enhanced local protection, which is the defining feature of immunological memory.

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References

Original articles

  • Gebhardt, T. et al. Memory T cells in nonlymphoid tissue that provide enhanced local immunity during infection with herpes simplex virus. Nat. Immunol. 10, 524–530 (2009)

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  • Masopust, D. et al. Dynamic T cell migration program provides resident memory within intestinal epithelium. J. Exp. Med. 207, 553–564 (2010)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Further reading

  • Masopust, D. et al. Preferential localization of effector memory cells in nonlymphoid tissue. Science 291, 2413–2417 (2001)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boyman, O. et al. Spontaneous development of psoriasis in a new animal model shows an essential role for resident T cells and tumor necrosis factor-α. J. Exp. Med. 199, 731–736 (2004)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Laura K. Mackay

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  1. Laura K. Mackay
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Correspondence to Laura K. Mackay.

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The author declares no competing interests

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Mackay, L.K. Making new memories. Nat Rev Immunol 18, 667 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-018-0064-9

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