Editorial: Bone Marrow T Cells at the Center Stage in Immunological Memory

Sialokinin in mosquito saliva shifts human immune responses towards intracellular pathogens

Mosquito saliva is a mix of numerous proteins that are injected into the skin while the mosquito searches for a blood meal. While mosquito saliva is known to be immunogenic, the salivary components driving these immune responses, as well as the types of immune responses that occur, are not well characterized. We investigated the effects of one potential immunomodulatory mosquito saliva protein, sialokinin, on the human immune response. We used flow cytometry to compare human immune cell populations between humanized mice bitten by sialokinin knockout mosquitoes or injected with sialokinin, and compared them to those bitten by wild-type mosquitoes, unbitten, or saline-injected control mice. Humanized mice received 4 mosquito bites or a single injection, were euthanized after 7 days, and skin, spleen, bone marrow, and blood were harvested for immune cell profiling. Our results show that bites from sialokinin knockout mosquitoes induced monocyte and macrophage populations in the skin, blood, bone marrow, and spleens, and primarily affected CD11c- cell populations. Other increased immune cells included plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the blood, natural killer cells in the skin and blood, and CD4+ T cells in all samples analyzed. Conversely, we observed that mice bitten with sialokinin knockout mosquitoes had decreased NKT cell populations in the skin, and fewer B cells in the blood, spleen, and bone marrow. Taken together, we demonstrated that sialokinin knockout saliva induces elements of a TH1 cellular immune response, suggesting that the sialokinin peptide is inducing a TH2 cellular immune response during wild-type mosquito biting. These findings are an important step towards understanding how mosquito saliva modulates the human immune system and which components of saliva may be critical for arboviral infection. By identifying immunomodulatory salivary proteins, such as sialokinin, we can develop vaccines against mosquito saliva components and direct efforts towards blocking arboviral infections.

The Bone Marrow as Sanctuary for Plasma Cells and Memory T-Cells: Implications for Adaptive Immunity and Vaccinology

The bone marrow (BM) is key to protective immunological memory because it harbors a major fraction of the body’s plasma cells, memory CD4+ and memory CD8+ T-cells. Despite its paramount significance for the human immune system, many aspects of how the BM enables decade-long immunity against pathogens are still poorly understood. In this review, we discuss the relationship between BM survival niches and long-lasting humoral immunity, how intrinsic and extrinsic factors define memory cell longevity and show that the BM is also capable of adopting many responsibilities of a secondary lymphoid organ. Additionally, with more and more data on the differentiation and maintenance of memory T-cells and plasma cells upon vaccination in humans being reported, we discuss what factors determine the establishment of long-lasting immunological memory in the BM and what we can learn for vaccination technologies and antigen design. Finally, using these insights, we touch on how this holistic understanding of the BM is necessary for the development of modern and efficient vaccines against the pandemic SARS-CoV-2.

Frontline Science: Exhaustion and senescence marker profiles on human T cells in BRGSF-A2 humanized mice resemble those in human samples

This work sought to confirm the human-like expression of exhaustion and senescence markers in a mouse model with a humanized immune system (HIS): the Balb/c Rag2^KO IL2rgc^KO Sirpα^NOD Flk2^KO HLA-A2^HHD (BRGSF-A2) mouse reconstituted with human CD34⁺ cord blood cells. With regard to senescence markers, the percentage of CD57⁺ T cells was higher in the bone marrow (BM) than in the spleen or blood. The same was true for KLRG1⁺ hCD8⁺ T cells. With regard to exhaustion markers, the percentage of programmed death 1 (PD-1⁺ ) T cells was higher in the BM than in the spleen or blood; the same was true for TIGIT⁺ hCD4⁺ cells. These tissue-specific differences were related to both higher proportions of memory T cells in BM and intrinsic differences in expression within the memory fraction. In blood samples from HIS mice and healthy human donors (HDs), we found that the percentage of KLRG1⁺ cells among hCD8⁺ T cells was lower in HIS compared to HDs. The opposite was true for CD4⁺ T cells. Unexpectedly, a high frequency of KLRG1⁺ cells was observed among naive T cells in HIS mice. CD57 expression on T cells was similar in blood samples from HIS mice and HDs. Likewise, PD-1 expression was similar in the two systems, although a relatively low proportion of HIS hCD4⁺ T cells expressed TIGIT. The BRGSF-A2 HIS mouse's exhaustion and senescence profile was tissue specific and relatively human like; hence, this mouse might be a valuable tool for determining the preclinical efficacy of immunotherapies.

Immunological memories of the bone marrow

Memory for antigens once encountered is a hallmark of the immune system of vertebrates, providing us with an immunity adapted to pathogens of our environment. Despite its fundamental relevance, the cells and genes representing immunological memory are still poorly understood. Here we discuss the concept of a circulating, proliferating, and ubiquitous population of effector lymphocytes vs concepts of resting and dormant populations of dedicated memory lymphocytes, distinct from effector lymphocytes and residing in defined tissues, particularly in barrier tissues and in the bone marrow. The lifestyle of memory plasma cells of the bone marrow may serve as a paradigm, showing that persistence of memory lymphocytes is not defined by intrinsic "half-lives", but rather conditional on distinct survival signals provided by dedicated niches. These niches are organized by individual mesenchymal stromal cells. They define the capacity of immunological memory and regulate its homeostasis.