Functional heterogeneity of human skin-resident memory T cells in health and disease

Johanna Strobl; Muzlifah Haniffa

doi:10.1111/imr.13213

Functional heterogeneity of human skin-resident memory T cells in health and disease

Immunol Rev. 2023 Jul;316(1):104-119. doi: 10.1111/imr.13213. Epub 2023 May 5.

Authors

Johanna Strobl^{1

2}, Muzlifah Haniffa^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
² CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
³ Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ Department of Dermatology and NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
⁵ Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Abstract

The human skin is populated by a diverse pool of memory T cells, which can act rapidly in response to pathogens and cancer antigens. Tissue-resident memory T cells (T_RM ) have been implicated in range of allergic, autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases. Clonal expansion of cells with T_RM properties is also known to contribute to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Here, we review the heterogeneous phenotypes, transcriptional programs, and effector functions of skin T_RM . We summarize recent studies on T_RM formation, longevity, plasticity, and retrograde migration and contextualize the findings to skin T_RM and their role in maintaining skin homeostasis and altered functions in skin disease.

Keywords: adaptive barrier immunity; allergy; cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; inflammatory skin diseases; skin cancer; tissue-resident memory T cells.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
Humans
Immunologic Memory
Memory T Cells*
Neoplasms*
Phenotype
Skin

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding