CD103+ CD8 T Cells in the Toxoplasma-Infected Brain Exhibit a Tissue-Resident Memory Transcriptional Profile

Front Immunol. 2017 Mar 29;8:335. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00335. eCollection 2017.

Landrith TA¹, Sureshchandra S¹, Rivera A¹, Jang JC¹, Rais M¹, Nair MG¹, Messaoudi I¹, Wilson EH¹.

During chronic infection, memory T cells acquire a unique phenotype and become dependent on different survival signals than those needed for memory T cells generated during an acute infection. The distinction between the role of effector and memory T cells in an environment of persistent antigen remains unclear. Here, in the context of chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection, we demonstrate that a population of CD8 T cells exhibiting a tissue-resident memory (T_RM) phenotype accumulates within the brain. We show that this population is distributed throughout the brain in both parenchymal and extraparenchymal spaces. Furthermore, this population is transcriptionally distinct and exhibits a transcriptional signature consistent with the T_RM observed in acute viral infections. Finally, we establish that the CD103⁺ T_RM population has an intrinsic capacity to produce both IFN-γ and TNF-α, cytokines critical for parasite control within the central nervous system (CNS). The contribution of this population to pro-inflammatory cytokine production suggests an important role for T_RM in protective and ongoing immune responses in the infected CNS. Accession number: GSE95105.

KEYWORDS:

CD103; CD8+ T cell memory; Toxoplasma gondii; chronic infection; neuroimmunology; tissue-resident memory cells

PMID:

28424687

PMCID:

PMC5372813

DOI:

10.3389/fimmu.2017.00335