Tissue-resident memory T cell signatures from single-cell analysis associated with better melanoma prognosis

Abstract

Tissue-resident memory Tcells (TRM) are a specialized Tcell population residing in peripheral tissues. The presence and potential impact of TRM in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) remain to be elucidated. Here, we systematically investigated the relationship between TRM and melanoma TIME based on multiple clinical single-cell RNA-seq datasets and developed signatures indicative of TRM infiltration. TRM infiltration is associated with longer overall survival and abundance of Tcells, NK cells, M1 macrophages, and memory B cells in the TIME. A 22-gene TRM-derived risk score was further developed to effectively classify patients into low- and high-risk categories, distinguishing overall survival and immune activation, particularly in Tcell-mediated responses. Altogether, our analysis suggests that TRM abundance is associated with melanoma TIME activation and patient survival, and the TRM-based machine learning model can potentially predict prognosis in melanoma patients.