Bone marrow contains tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells

Martijn Nolte and his group demonstrated that the bone marrow contains an expandable population of poly-functional tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells, which develop against various pathogens, independently of local infection or antigen recognition.

These cells may constitute an attractive target for protective vaccination strategies. His paper in the European Journal of Immunology comes with a very nice Editorial Commentary from Christian Munz. 

Munz Explains:  "CD8⁺ T cell tissue residency after lung infection, for example by the influenza A virus. Infections in the lung prime CD8⁺ T cell responses in the draining lymph nodes. Some of these home into the lung and establish tissue residency after the infection has been cleared. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology first author Maria Fernanda Pascutti et al. demonstrate that some of the primed CD8⁺ T cells also establish tissue residency in the BM and continue IFN‐γ production at this site."