AUTHOR=von Werdt Diego , Gungor Bilgi , Barreto de Albuquerque Juliana , Gruber Thomas , Zysset Daniel , Kwong Chung Cheong K. C. , Corrêa-Ferreira Antonia , Berchtold Regina , Page Nicolas , Schenk Mirjam , Kehrl John H. , Merkler Doron , Imhof Beat A. , Stein Jens V. , Abe Jun , Turchinovich Gleb , Finke Daniela , Hayday Adrian C. , Corazza Nadia , Mueller Christoph TITLE=Regulator of G-protein signaling 1 critically supports CD8+ TRM cell-mediated intestinal immunity JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1085895 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2023.1085895 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Members of the Regulator of G-protein signaling (Rgs) family regulate the extent and timing of G protein signaling by increasing the GTPase activity of Gα protein subunits. The Rgs family member Rgs1 is one of the most up-regulated genes in tissue-resident memory (T_RM) T cells when compared to their circulating T cell counterparts. Functionally, Rgs1 preferentially deactivates Gαq, and Gαi protein subunits and can therefore also attenuate chemokine receptor-mediated immune cell trafficking. The impact of Rgs1 expression on tissue-resident T cell generation, their maintenance, and the immunosurveillance of barrier tissues, however, is only incompletely understood. Here we report that Rgs1 expression is readily induced in naïve OT-I T cells in vivo following intestinal infection with Listeria monocytogenes-OVA. In bone marrow chimeras, Rgs1^-/- and Rgs1^+/+ T cells were generally present in comparable frequencies in distinct T cell subsets of the intestinal mucosa, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleen. After intestinal infection with Listeria monocytogenes-OVA, however, OT-I Rgs1^+/+ T cells outnumbered the co-transferred OT-I Rgs1^-^/- T cells in the small intestinal mucosa already early after infection. The underrepresentation of the OT-I Rgs1^-/- T cells persisted to become even more pronounced during the memory phase (d30 post-infection). Remarkably, upon intestinal reinfection, mice with intestinal OT-I Rgs1^+/+ T_RM cells were able to prevent the systemic dissemination of the pathogen more efficiently than those with OT-I Rgs1^-/- T_RM cells. While the underlying mechanisms are not fully elucidated yet, these data thus identify Rgs1 as a critical regulator for the generation and maintenance of tissue-resident CD8⁺ T cells as a prerequisite for efficient local immunosurveillance in barrier tissues in case of reinfections with potential pathogens.