ADHESION AND DEGRANULATION PROMOTING ADAPTER PROTEIN (ADAP) PROMOTES CD8 T CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND RESIDENT MEMORY FORMATION AND FUNCTION DURING AN ACUTE INFECTION1

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 197; no. 6; pp. 2079 - 2089
• Main Authors: Fiege, Jessica K., Beura, Lalit K., Burbach, Brandon J., Shimizu, Yoji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 12.08.2016
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1501805

During acute infections, naïve antigen-specific CD8 T cells are activated and differentiate into effector T cells, the majority of which undergo contraction after pathogen clearance. A small population of CD8 T cells persists as memory to protect against future infections. We investigated the role of adhesion and degranulation promoting adapter protein (ADAP) in promoting CD8 T cell responses to a systemic infection. Naïve antigen-specific CD8 T cells lacking ADAP exhibited a modest expansion defect early after Listeria monocytogenes or vesicular stomatitis virus infection but comparable cytolytic function at the peak of response. However, reduced numbers of ADAP-deficient CD8 T cells were present in the spleen after the peak of the response. ADAP deficiency resulted in a greater frequency of CD127 + CD8 memory precursors in secondary lymphoid organs during the contraction phase. Reduced numbers of ADAP-deficient KLRG1 − resident memory CD8 T cell (T RM ) precursors were present in a variety of non-lymphoid tissues at the peak of the immune response, and consequently the total numbers of ADAP-deficient T RM were reduced at memory time points. T RM cells that did form in the absence of ADAP were defective in effector molecule expression. ADAP-deficient T RM cells exhibited impaired effector function after Ag re-challenge, correlating with defects in their ability to form T:APC conjugates. However, ADAP-deficient T RM cells responded to TGFβ signals and recruited circulating memory CD8 T cells. Thus, ADAP regulates CD8 T cell differentiation events following acute pathogen challenge that are critical for the formation and select functions of T RM cells in non-lymphoid tissues.