Enhanced survival of lung tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells during infection with influenza virus due to selective expression of IFITM3

• Published in: Nature immunology Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 238 - 245
• Main Authors: Wakim, Linda M, Gupta, Nishma, Mintern, Justine D, Villadangos, Jose A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.03.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/250/1619/554/1834; 631/250/2152/1566/1571; 631/250/255/2514; 631/250/347; Animals; Biomedicine; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - virology; DNA Methylation; Immunologic Memory; Immunology; Infectious Diseases; Interferon-alpha - metabolism; Lung - immunology; Lung - virology; Membrane Proteins - immunology; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Orthomyxoviridae - immunology; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - immunology; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - metabolism; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - virology; Pathogens; Respiratory Mucosa - immunology; Respiratory Mucosa - virology; RNA Interference; RNA, Small Interfering
• DOI: 10.1038/ni.2525
• ISSN: 1529-2908

Villadangos and colleagues show that lung resident memory CD8 + T cells selectively maintain expression of IFITM3, a protein that confers broad resistance to viral infection. Infection with influenza virus results in the deposition of anti-influenza CD8 + resident memory T cells (T RM cells) in the lung. As a consequence of their location in the lung mucosal tissue, these cells are exposed to cytopathic pathogens over the life of the organism and may themselves be susceptible to infection. Here we found that lung T RM cells selectively maintained expression of the interferon-induced transmembrane protein IFITM3, a protein that confers broad resistance to viral infection. Lung T RM cells that lacked IFITM3 expression were more susceptible to infection than were their normal counterparts and were selectively lost during a secondary bout of infection. Thus, lung T RM cells were programmed to retain IFITM3 expression, which facilitated their survival and protection from viral infection during subsequent exposures.