Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells cooperate with CD4+ T cells to drive compartmentalized immunopathology in the CNS

In chronic inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), immune cells persisting behind the blood-brain barrier are supposed to promulgate local tissue destruction. The drivers of such compartmentalized inflammation remain unclear, but tissue-resident memory T cells (T-RM) represent a potentially important cellular player in this process. Here, we investigated whether resting CD8(+) T-RM persisting after cleared infection with attenuated lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) can initiate immune responses directed against cognate self-antigen in the CNS. We demonstrated that time-delayed conditional expression of the LCMV glycoprotein as neo-self-antigen by glia cells reactivated CD8(+) T-RM. Subsequently, CD8(+) T-RM expanded and initiated CNS inflammation and immunopathology in an organ-autonomous manner independently of circulating CD8(+) T cells. However, in the absence of CD4(+) T cells, TCF-1(+) CD8(+) T-RM failed to expand and differentiate into terminal effectors. Similarly, in human demyelinating CNS autoimmune lesions, we found CD8 + T cells expressing TCF-1 that predominantly exhibited a T-RM-like phenotype. Together, our study provides evidence for CD8(+) T-RM-driven CNS immunopathology and sheds light on why inflammatory processes may evade current immunomodulatory treatments in chronic autoimmune CNS conditions.

Automated summary

The study reveals that tissue-resident memory T cells (T-RM) may initiate CNS inflammation and immunopathology in chronic inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), independent of circulating CD8(+) T cells. In the absence of CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells fail to expand and differentiate into terminal effectors. This sheds light on why inflammatory processes may evade current immunomodulatory treatments in chronic autoimmune CNS conditions.