RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Tissue-resident CD4<sup>+</sup> T helper cells assist the development of protective respiratory B and CD8<sup>+</sup> T cell memory responses
JF Science Immunology
JO Sci. Immunol.
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eabb6852
DO 10.1126/sciimmunol.abb6852
VO 6
IS 55
A1 Son, Young Min
A1 Cheon, In Su
A1 Wu, Yue
A1 Li, Chaofan
A1 Wang, Zheng
A1 Gao, Xiaochen
A1 Chen, Yao
A1 Takahashi, Yoshimasa
A1 Fu, Yang-Xin
A1 Dent, Alexander L.
A1 Kaplan, Mark H.
A1 Taylor, Justin J.
A1 Cui, Weiguo
A1 Sun, Jie
YR 2021
UL http://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/6/55/eabb6852.abstract
AB Memory T cells take up residence in the lung after respiratory virus infection to facilitate rapid and localized immune responses during reinfection. Two studies in this week’s issue identify a population of CD4+ tissue–resident helper T cells in mice that are BCL6-dependent and support antiviral B cell responses within inducible bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue after influenza infection. Swarnalekha et al. used single-cell RNA sequencing of antigen-specific T cells across different tissues to characterize lung T resident helper cells and demonstrated that their development also requires B cells. Son et al. showed that T resident helper cells rely on Bhlhe40 for their survival and support protective CD8+ T cell responses by producing IL-21. These studies provide insight into the function of mucosal tissue-resident CD4+ T cells during viral infection. See related Research Article by Swarnalekha et al. and Focus by Schattgen et al. in this issue.Much remains unknown about the roles of CD4+ T helper cells in shaping localized memory B cell and CD8+ T cell immunity in the mucosal tissues. Here, we report that lung T helper cells provide local assistance for the optimal development of tissue-resident memory B and CD8+ T cells after the resolution of primary influenza virus infection. We have identified a population of T cells in the lung that exhibit characteristics of both follicular T helper and TRM cells, and we have termed these cells as resident helper T (TRH) cells. Optimal TRH cell formation was dependent on transcription factors involved in T follicular helper and resident memory T cell development including BCL6 and Bhlhe40. We show that TRH cells deliver local help to CD8+ T cells through IL-21–dependent mechanisms. Our data have uncovered the presence of a tissue-resident helper T cell population in the lung that plays a critical role in promoting the development of protective B cell and CD8+ T cell responses.