Resident memory T cells sound the alarm

Abstract

T Cell Memory Immunological memory protects against reinfection. Resident memory T cells (TRM) are long-lived and remain in the tissues where they first encountered a pathogen (see the Perspective by Carbone and Gebhardt). Schenkel et al. and Ariotti et al. found that CD8+ TRM cells act like first responders in the female reproductive tissue or the skin of mice upon antigen reencounter. By secreting inflammatory proteins, TRM cells rapidly activated local immune cells to respond, so much so that they protected against infection with an unrelated pathogen. Iijima and Iwasaki found that CD4+ TRM cells protected mice against reinfection with intravaginal herpes simplex virus 2. Science , this issue p. [98][1], p. [101][2], p. [93][3]; see also p. [40][4] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1254536 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1254803 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1257530 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1259925