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Review
. 2023 Jul;316(1):104-119.
doi: 10.1111/imr.13213. Epub 2023 May 5.

Functional heterogeneity of human skin-resident memory T cells in health and disease

Johanna Strobl  1   2 , Muzlifah Haniffa  3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Functional heterogeneity of human skin-resident memory T cells in health and disease

Johanna Strobl et al. Immunol Rev. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

The human skin is populated by a diverse pool of memory T cells, which can act rapidly in response to pathogens and cancer antigens. Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM ) have been implicated in range of allergic, autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases. Clonal expansion of cells with TRM properties is also known to contribute to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Here, we review the heterogeneous phenotypes, transcriptional programs, and effector functions of skin TRM . We summarize recent studies on TRM formation, longevity, plasticity, and retrograde migration and contextualize the findings to skin TRM and their role in maintaining skin homeostasis and altered functions in skin disease.

Keywords: adaptive barrier immunity; allergy; cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; inflammatory skin diseases; skin cancer; tissue-resident memory T cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential commercial or financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Heterogeneity of TRM in developing and adult human skin. Schematic showing commonly expressed surface receptors and transcription factors of dermal and epidermal T‐cell populations in developing human skin and healthy adult skin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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