Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Lymphocyte lineages

Resident memory T cells develop regional dialects

Nature Immunology volume 24, pages 209–210 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Human resident memory T (TRM) cells clonally segregate in distinct tissues, with gene expression signatures tailored to those sites. Hence, beyond a shared language of residency, TRM cells may acquire local dialects to provide site-specific immunity.

The ability of memory T cells to coordinate and provide swift recall responses makes this population critical to maintenance of immunity. But memory T cells are not homogenous, instead forming diverse subsets that surveil distinct anatomic compartments: a key division is between memory cells that circulate through the blood and lymph, with the potential for active recruitment into tissues, versus memory cells that commit to long-term residency within a tissue site1. However, it is unclear whether the same T cell clones contribute proportionately to circulating and resident memory T (TRM) cell populations, or whether these pools are, predominantly, distinct. Furthermore, although TRM cells from diverse tissues share a core transcriptional program2,3, the impact that site-specific adaptation has on the functional capacity of these cells is poorly understood. In this issue of Nature Immunology, Poon et al.4 report the use of cutting-edge technologies to demonstrate that the differentiation programs of human TRM cells are tailored to distinct anatomic sites, through both clonal segregation and altered gene expression.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1

References

  1. Jameson, S. C. & Masopust, D. Immunity 48, 214–226 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kumar, B. V. et al. Cell Rep. 20, 2921–2934 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Milner, J. J. et al. Nature 552, 253–257 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Poon, M. M. L. et al. Nat. Immunol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01395-9 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Thome, J. J. et al. Cell 159, 814–828 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tabula Sapiens, C. et al. Science 376, eabl4896 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Dominguez Conde, C. et al. Science 376, eabl5197 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Crowl, J. T. et al. Nat. Immunol. 23, 1121–1131 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Fonseca, R. et al. Nat. Immunol. 23, 1236–1245 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Korsunsky, I. et al. Nat. Methods 16, 1289–1296 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Wijeyesinghe, S. et al. Nature 592, 457–462 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Browaeys, R., Saelens, W. & Saeys, Y. Nat. Methods 17, 159–162 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Nicholas J. Maurice & Stephen C. Jameson

Authors
  1. Nicholas J. Maurice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen C. Jameson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen C. Jameson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maurice, N.J., Jameson, S.C. Resident memory T cells develop regional dialects. Nat Immunol 24, 209–210 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01416-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01416-7

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing