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Airway-resident memory CD4 T cell activation accelerates antigen presentation and T cell priming in draining lymph nodes
Caroline M. Finn, Kunal Dhume, Eugene Baffoe, Lauren A. Kimball, Tara M. Strutt, K. Kai McKinstry
Caroline M. Finn, Kunal Dhume, Eugene Baffoe, Lauren A. Kimball, Tara M. Strutt, K. Kai McKinstry
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Research Article Immunology Inflammation

Airway-resident memory CD4 T cell activation accelerates antigen presentation and T cell priming in draining lymph nodes

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Abstract

Specialized memory CD4 T cells that reside long-term within tissues are critical components of immunity at portals of pathogen entry. In the lung, such tissue-resident memory (Trm) cells are activated rapidly after infection and promote local inflammation to control pathogen levels before circulating T cells can respond. However, optimal clearance of Influenza A virus can require Trm and responses by other virus-specific T cells that reach the lung only several days after their activation in secondary lymphoid organs. Whether local CD4 Trm sentinel activity can affect the efficiency of T cell activation in secondary lymphoid organs is not clear. Here, we found that recognition of antigen by influenza-primed Trm in the airways promoted more rapid migration of highly activated antigen-bearing DC to the draining lymph nodes. This in turn accelerated the priming of naive T cells recognizing the same antigen, resulting in newly activated effector T cells reaching the lungs earlier than in mice not harboring Trm. Our findings, thus, reveal a circuit linking local and regional immunity whereby antigen recognition by Trm improves effector T cell recruitment to the site of infection though enhancing the efficiency of antigen presentation in the draining lymph node.

Authors

Caroline M. Finn, Kunal Dhume, Eugene Baffoe, Lauren A. Kimball, Tara M. Strutt, K. Kai McKinstry

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Figure 6

Airway CD4 Trm promote lung trafficking by newly activated T cells.

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Airway CD4 Trm promote lung trafficking by newly activated T cells.
CD45...
CD45.1+ B6 mice receiving naive CD45.2+ CD90.2+ OT-II cells i.v. with or without CD45.2+CD90.1+CD90.2+ OT-II Trm i.n. were then challenged i.n. with 50 μg of FITC-OVA. (A) Representative staining to identify donor OT-II subsets. (B) Number of naive OT-II responders in lungs after 4 days. (C) Representative IFN-γ and IL-2 staining in mice without or without Trm, and frequencies of IFN-γ+ cells derived from naive donors; n = 4/group; 1 of 3 experiments. Separate mice received naive OT-I cells with or without OT-II Trm. (D and E) Number of OT-I responders in lungs (D) and IFN-γ+ OT-I cells 4 days after FITC-OVA administration (E); n = 5/group; 1 of 2 experiments. (F) Representative CD69 expression by Trm 20 hours after i.n. challenge with 50, 0.5., or 0.05 μg of FITC-OVA. (G and H) Representative Ki67 and CFSE expression by naive OT-II responders in dLN of mice harboring OT-II Trm given 0.5 μg FITC-OVA or PBS (left) and numbers of CFSEloKi67hi cells in dLN of mice harboring Trm or not at day 3 (right) (G), and in lungs at day 4 (H); n = 4/group; 1 of 3 experiments for each time point. Mice receiving naive donor cells and Trm were treated with CXCR3 blocking or control Ab prior to FITC-OVA administration. (I) Number of cells derived from naive OT-II (left) and OT-I (right) donors in lungs after 4 days; n = 3/group; 1 of 2 experiments. (J) Unprimed mice receiving CFSE-labeled naive OT-II cells with or without Trm were challenged with PR8-OVAII. (K) Gating to identify effector cells derived from naive donors. (L) Number of CFSE–Ki67hi effectors at 4 dpi in stated organs; n = 7/group; pooled from 2 experiments. Student’s t test was used for pairwise comparison in all panels except H, where 1-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test was used. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001.

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