AUTHOR=Steinbach Karin , Vincenti Ilena , Merkler Doron 

TITLE=Resident-Memory T Cells in Tissue-Restricted Immune Responses: For Better or Worse?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.02827

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2018.02827

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Tissue-resident-memory CD8+ T cells (T<sub>RM</sub>) have been described as a non-circulating memory T cell subset that persists at sites of previous infection. While T<sub>RM</sub> in all non-lymphoid organs probably share a core signature differentiation pathway, certain aspects of their maintenance and effector functions may vary. It is well-established that T<sub>RM</sub> provide long-lived protective immunity through immediate effector function and accelerated recruitment of circulating immune cells. Besides immune defense against pathogens, other immunological roles of T<sub>RM</sub> are less well-studied. Likewise, evidence of a putative detrimental role of T<sub>RM</sub> for inflammatory diseases is only beginning to emerge. In this review, we discuss the protective and harmful role of T<sub>RM</sub> in organ-specific immunity and immunopathology as well as prospective implications for immunomodulatory therapy.</p>