Skin-Resident Memory T Cells: Pathogenesis and Implication for the Treatment of Psoriasis

Tissue-resident memory T cells (T<sub>RM</sub>) stay in the peripheral tissues for long periods of time, do not recirculate, and provide the first line of adaptive immune response in the residing tissues. Although T<sub>RM</sub> originate from circulating T cells, T<sub>...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Trung T. Vu, Hanako Koguchi-Yoshioka, Rei Watanabe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Journal of Clinical Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/17/3822
Description
Summary:Tissue-resident memory T cells (T<sub>RM</sub>) stay in the peripheral tissues for long periods of time, do not recirculate, and provide the first line of adaptive immune response in the residing tissues. Although T<sub>RM</sub> originate from circulating T cells, T<sub>RM</sub> are physiologically distinct from circulating T cells with the expression of tissue-residency markers, such as CD69 and CD103, and the characteristic profile of transcription factors. Besides defense against pathogens, the functional skew of skin T<sub>RM</sub> is indicated in chronic skin inflammatory diseases. In psoriasis, IL-17A-producing CD8<sup>+</sup> T<sub>RM</sub> are regarded as one of the pathogenic populations in skin. Although no licensed drugs that directly and specifically inhibit the activity of skin T<sub>RM</sub> are available to date, psoriatic skin T<sub>RM</sub> are affected in the current treatments of psoriasis. Targeting skin T<sub>RM</sub> or using T<sub>RM</sub> as a potential index for disease severity can be an attractive strategy in psoriasis.
ISSN:2077-0383