Preferential Localization of Effector Memory Cells in Nonlymphoid Tissue

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 291; no. 5512; pp. 2413 - 2417
• Main Authors: Masopust, David, Vezys, Vaiva, Marzo, Amanda L., Lefrançois, Leo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 23.03.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; CD8 lymphocytes; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Cell differentiation; Cell Movement; Cells; Cells, Cultured; Differentiation; Feedback (Response); Flow Cytometry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; H-2 Antigens - immunology; Immunobiology; Immunologic Memory; Infections; Intestine, Small - immunology; Kinetics; Listeria monocytogenes - genetics; Listeria monocytogenes - immunology; Listeriosis - immunology; Liver; Liver - immunology; Lung - immunology; Lungs; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes; Lymphoid cells: ontogeny, maturation, markers, receptors, circulation and recirculation; Lymphoid tissue; Lymphoid Tissue - immunology; Machine learning; Memory; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Migration Patterns; Numbers; Ovalbumin - immunology; Pathogens; Phenotype; Physiological aspects; Protein synthesis; Rhabdoviridae Infections - immunology; Spleen; T cells; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; Tissues; Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus - immunology; Immunological memory; Immune response; Migration; Rodentia; Listeria monocytogenes; Tissue specificity; Host agent relation; Cell subpopulation; Virus; Vesicular stomatitis virus; Mononegavirales; Vertebrata; Vesiculovirus; Mammalia; Mouse; Rhabdoviridae; T-Lymphocyte; Bacteria; Organ specificity
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1058867

Many intracellular pathogens infect a broad range of host tissues, but the importance of T cells for immunity in these sites is unclear because most of our understanding of antimicrobial T cell responses comes from analyses of lymphoid tissue. Here, we show that in response to viral or bacterial infection, antigen-specific CD8 T cells migrated to nonlymphoid tissues and were present as long-lived memory cells. Strikingly, CD8 memory T cells isolated from nonlymphoid tissues exhibited effector levels of lytic activity directly ex vivo, in contrast to their splenic counterparts. These results point to the existence of a population of extralymphoid effector memory T cells poised for immediate response to infection.