Our current understanding of immunology was largely defined in laboratory mice because of experimental advantages including inbred homogeneity, tools for genetic manipulation, the ability to perform kinetic tissue analyses starting with the onset of disease, and tractable models. Comparably reductionist experiments are neither technically nor ethically possible in humans. Despite revealing many fundamental principals of immunology, there is growing concern that mice fail to capture relevant aspects of the human immune system, which may account for failures to translate disease treatments from bench to bedside1–8. Laboratory mice live in abnormally hygienic “specific pathogen free” (SPF) barrier facilities. Here we show that the standard practice of laboratory mouse husbandry has profound effects on the immune system and that environmental changes result in better recapitulation of features of adult humans. Laboratory mice lack effector-differentiated and mucosally distributed memory T cells, which more closely resembles neonatal than adult humans. These cell populations were present in free-living barn populations of feral mice, pet store mice with diverse microbial experience, and were induced in laboratory mice after co-housing with pet store mice, suggesting a role for environment. Consequences of altering mouse housing profoundly impacted the cellular composition of the innate and adaptive immune system and resulted in global changes in blood cell gene expression patterns that more closely aligned with immune signatures of adult humans rather than neonates, altered the mouse’s resistance to infection, and impacted T cell differentiation to a de novo viral infection. These data highlight the impact of environment on the basal immune state and response to infection and suggest that restoring physiological microbial exposure in laboratory mice could provide a relevant tool for modeling immunological events in free-living organisms, including humans.

Differentiation and maintenance of recirculating effector memory CD8 T cells (TEM) depends on prolonged cognate antigen stimulation. Whether similar pathways of differentiation exist for recently identified tissue-resident effector memory T cells (TRM), which contribute to rapid local protection upon pathogen re-exposure, is unknown. Memory CD8αβ+ T cells within small intestine epithelium are well-characterized examples of TRM and they maintain a long-lived effector-like phenotype that is highly suggestive of persistent antigen stimulation. This study sought to define the sources and requirements for prolonged Ag-stimulation in programming this differentiation state, including local stimulation via cognate or cross-reactive antigens derived from pathogens, microbial flora, or dietary proteins. Contrary to expectations, we found that prolonged cognate Ag-stimulation was dispensable for intestinal TRM ontogeny. In fact, chronic antigenic stimulation skewed differentiation away from the canonical intestinal T cell phenotype. Resident memory signatures, CD69 and CD103, were expressed in many non-lymphoid tissues including intestine, stomach, kidney, reproductive tract, pancreas, brain, heart, and salivary gland, and could be driven by cytokines. Moreover, TGFβ driven CD103 expression was required for TRM maintenance within intestinal epithelium in vivo. Thus, induction and maintenance of long-lived effector-like intestinal TRM differed from classic models of TEM ontogeny, and were programmed through a novel location-dependent pathway that was required for the persistence of local immunological memory.

Summary Memory CD8 T cells protect against intracellular pathogens by scanning host cell surfaces, thus infection detection rates depend on memory cell number and distribution. Population analyses rely on isolation from whole organs and interpretation is predicated on presumptions of near complete cell recovery. Paradigmatically, memory is parsed into central, effector, and resident subsets, ostensibly defined by immunosurveillance patterns, but in practice identified by phenotypic markers. Because isolation methods ultimately inform models of memory T cell differentiation, protection, and vaccine translation, we tested their validity via parabiosis and quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy of a mouse memory CD8 T cell population. We report three major findings: lymphocyte isolation fails to recover most cells and biases against certain subsets, residents greatly outnumber recirculating cells within nonlymphoid tissues, and memory subset homing to inflammation does not conform to previously hypothesized migration patterns. These results indicate that most host cells are surveyed for reinfection by segregated residents rather than by recirculating cells that migrate throughout the blood and body.

The pathogen recognition theory dictates that upon viral infection, the innate immune system first detects microbial products, and then responds by providing instructions to adaptive CD8 T cells. Here, we show in mice that resident memory CD8 T cells (TRM), non-recirculating cells located at common sites of infection, can achieve near sterilizing immunity against viral infections by reversing this flow of information. Upon antigen re-sensitization within the mouse female reproductive mucosae, CD8+ TRM secrete cytokines that trigger rapid adaptive and innate immune responses including local humoral responses, maturation of local dendritic cells, and activation of natural killer cells. This provided near sterilizing immunity against an antigenically unrelated viral infection. Thus, CD8+ TRM rapidly trigger an antiviral state by amplifying receptor-derived signals from previously encountered pathogens.

Migration to intestinal mucosa putatively depends on local activation because gastrointestinal lymphoid tissue induces expression of intestinal homing molecules, whereas skin-draining lymph nodes do not. This paradigm is difficult to reconcile with reports of intestinal T cell responses after alternative routes of immunization. We reconcile this discrepancy by demonstrating that activation within spleen results in intermediate induction of homing potential to the intestinal mucosa. We further demonstrate that memory T cells within small intestine epithelium do not routinely recirculate with memory T cells in other tissues, and we provide evidence that homing is similarly dynamic in humans after subcutaneous live yellow fever vaccine immunization. These data explain why systemic immunization routes induce local cell-mediated immunity within the intestine and indicate that this tissue must be seeded with memory T cell precursors shortly after activation.

CD8+ T cells eliminate intracellular infections through two contact-dependent effector functions: cytolysis and antiviral cytokine secretion. Here, we identify an additional function for memory CD8+ T cells persisting at frontline sites of microbial exposure: as local sensors of previously encountered antigens that precipitate innate-like alarm signals and draw circulating memory CD8+ T cells into the tissue. When memory CD8+ T cells residing in the female reproductive tract encountered cognate antigen, they expressed interferon-γ (IFN-γ), potentiated robust local inflammatory chemokine expression and induced rapid recruitment of circulating memory CD8+ T cells. Anamnestic responses in frontline tissues are thus an integrated collaboration between frontline and circulating populations of memory CD8+ T cells, and vaccines should establish both populations to maximize rapid responses.

Exposure to inhaled allergens generates T helper 2 (Th2) CD4+ T cells that contribute to episodes of inflammation associated with asthma. Little is known about allergen-specific Th2 memory cells and their contribution to airway inflammation. We generated reagents to understand how endogenous CD4+ T cells specific for a house dust mite (HDM) allergen form and function. After allergen exposure, HDM-specific memory cells persisted as central memory cells in the lymphoid organs and tissue resident memory (Trm) cells in the lung. Experimental blockade of lymphocyte migration demonstrated that lung resident cells were sufficient to induce airway hyper-responsiveness, which depended upon CD4+ T cells. Investigation into the differentiation of pathogenic Trm cells revealed that interleukin-2 (IL-2) signaling was required for residency and directed a program of tissue homing migrational cues. These studies thus identify IL-2-dependent resident Th2 memory cells as drivers of lung allergic responses.

Resident memory CD8 T cells (TRM) comprise a non-recirculating subset positioned in non-lymphoid tissues (NLT) to provide early responses to re-infection. While TRM are associated with NLT, we asked whether they populated secondary lymphoid organs (SLO). We show that a subset of virus specific memory CD8 T cells in SLO exhibit phenotypic signatures associated with TRM, including CD69 expression. Parabiosis revealed that SLO CD69+ memory CD8 T cells do not circulate, defining them as TRM. SLO TRM were overrepresented in IL-15 deficient mice, suggesting independent regulation compared to TCM and TEM. These cells were positioned at SLO entry points for peripheral antigens: the splenic marginal zone, red pulp, and lymph node sinuses. Consistent with a potential role in guarding SLO pathogen entry points, SLO TRM did not vacate their position in response to peripheral alarm signals. These data extend the range of tissue resident memory to SLO.