Abstract-Human

Resident memory T (Trm) cells stably occupy tissues and cannot be sampled in superficial venous blood. Trm cells are heterogeneous but collectively constitute the most abundant memory T cell subset. Trm cells form an integral part of the immune sensing network, monitor for local perturbations in homeostasis throughout the body, participate in protection from infection and cancer, and likely promote autoimmunity, allergy, and inflammatory diseases and impede successful transplantation. Thus Trm cells are major candidates for therapeutic manipulation. Here we review CD8+ and CD4+ Trm ontogeny, maintenance, function, and distribution within lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues and strategies for their study. We briefly discuss other resident leukocyte populations, including innate lymphoid cells, macrophages, natural killer and natural killer T cells, nonclassical T cells, and memory B cells. Lastly, we highlight major gaps in knowledge and propose ways in which a deeper understanding could result in new methods to prevent or treat diverse human diseases.

Rationale Cardiomyocytes differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are increasingly being used for cardiovascular research including disease modeling and hold promise for clinical applications. Current cardiac differentiation protocols exhibit variable success across different PSC lines and are primarily based on the application of growth factors. However, extracellular matrix (ECM) is also fundamentally involved in cardiac development from the earliest morphogenetic events such as gastrulation. Objective We sought to develop a more effective protocol for cardiac differentiation of human PSCs by using ECM in combination with growth factors known to promote cardiogenesis. Methods and Results PSCs were cultured as monolayers on Matrigel, an ECM preparation, and subsequently overlayed with Matrigel. The matrix sandwich promoted an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition as in gastrulation with the generation of N-cadherin+ mesenchymal cells. Combining the matrix sandwich with sequential application of growth factors (Activin A, BMP4, and bFGF) generated cardiomyocytes with high purity (up to 98%) and yield (up to 11 cardiomyocytes/input PSC) from multiple PSC lines. The resulting cardiomyocytes progressively mature over 30 days in culture based on myofilament expression pattern and mitotic activity. Action potentials typical of embryonic nodal, atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes were observed, and monolayers of electrically coupled cardiomyocytes modeled cardiac tissue and basic arrhythmia mechanisms. Conclusions Dynamic ECM application promoted EMT of human PSCs and complemented growth factor signaling to enable robust cardiac differentiation.

The differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into cardiomyocytes (CMs) using embryoid bodies (EBs) is relatively inefficient and highly variable. Formation of EBs using standard enzymatic disaggregation techniques results in a wide range of sizes and geometries of EBs. Use of a 3-D cuboidal microwell system to culture hESCs in colonies of defined dimensions, 100 to 500 μm in lateral dimensions and 120 μm in depth, enabled formation of more uniform sized EBs. The 300 μm microwells produced highest percentage of contracting EBs, but flow cytometry for myosin light chain 2A (MLC2a) expressing cells revealed a similar percentage (~3%) of cardiomyocytes formed in EBs from 100 μm and 300 μm microwells. These data, and immunolabeling with anti- Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Neutralizing Abs target the receptor binding domain of the spike (S) protein, a focus of successful vaccine efforts. Concerns have arisen that S-specific vaccine immunity may fail to neutralize emerging variants. We show that vaccination with a human adenovirus type 5 vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein can establish protective immunity, defined by reduced weight loss and viral load, in both Syrian hamsters and K18-hACE2 mice. Challenge of vaccinated mice was associated with rapid N-specific T cell recall responses in the respiratory mucosa. This study supports the rationale for including additional viral Ags in SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, even if they are not a target of neutralizing Abs, to broaden epitope coverage and immune effector mechanisms.

Numerous observations indicate that resident memory T cells (TRM) undergo unusually rapid attrition within the lung. Here we demonstrate that contraction of lung CD8+ T cell responses after influenza infection is contemporized with egress of CD69+/CD103+ CD8+ T cells to the draining mediastinal LN via the lymphatic vessels, which we term retrograde migration. Cells within the draining LN retained canonical markers of lung TRM, including CD103 and CD69, lacked Ly6C expression (also a feature of lung TRM), maintained granzyme B expression, and did not equilibrate among immunized parabiotic mice. Investigations of bystander infection or removal of the TCR from established memory cells revealed that the induction of the TRM phenotype was dependent on antigen recognition; however, maintenance was independent. Thus, local lung infection induces CD8+ T cells with a TRM phenotype that nevertheless undergo retrograde migration, yet remain durably committed to the residency program within the draining LN, where they provide longer-lived regional memory while chronicling previous upstream antigen experiences.

Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) limit autoimmunity and immunopathology using a variety of suppressive mechanisms, but their roles during pathogen-directed immune responses remain unclear. Following Herpes Simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infection, mice lacking Tregs fail to control viral replication, pointing to a role for Tregs in facilitating productive immune responses. Using adoptive transfer of TCR transgenic CD4 T-cells into Treg-sufficient or Treg-depleted mice prior to HSV-2 infection, we found that Tregs are required for timely accumulation of HSV-2-specific CD4 T-cells within the infected tissues. Further, Tregs are critical for appropriate trafficking of dendritic cells (DCs) from the vaginal mucosa to the dLN, which results in fully effective CD4 T-cell priming, activation, and ultimately migration to the infected tissues. Using CTLA-4 conditional knockout mice, we demonstrate that Tregs impact DC migration through a CTLA-4-mediated mechanism. Together, our data highlight the critical role of Tregs in proper potentiation of adaptive immune responses to microbial infection.

The magnitude of SARS-CoV-2–specific T cell responses correlates inversely with human disease severity, suggesting T cell involvement in primary control. Whereas many COVID-19 vaccines focus on establishing humoral immunity to viral spike protein, vaccine-elicited T cell immunity may bolster durable protection or cross-reactivity with viral variants. To better enable mechanistic and vaccination studies in mice, we identified a dominant CD8 T cell SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein epitope. Infection of human ACE2 transgenic mice with SARS-CoV-2 elicited robust responses to H2-Db/N219-227, and 40% of HLA-A*02+ COVID-19 PBMC samples isolated from hospitalized patients responded to this peptide in culture. In mice, i.m. prime-boost nucleoprotein vaccination with heterologous vectors favored systemic CD8 T cell responses, whereas intranasal boosting favored respiratory immunity. In contrast, a single i.v. immunization with recombinant adenovirus established robust CD8 T cell memory both systemically and in the respiratory mucosa.