# New mechanisms governing skin tissue residency memory T cells

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $757,027

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Given the recent SARS CoV2 pandemic, and monkeypox outbreak, there is an urgent unmet need to understand
immunity in our barrier tissues (e.g. skin, lung, and gut) where viruses are encountered. Tissue specific memory
is needed for long-lived protective immunity, including immunization strategies that target infections and cancers
of the tissue. T resident memory cells are long-lived memory populations generated by infections, cancers, and
vaccines. Tissue resident memory T cells maintain long-term protective immunity to re-encountered pathogens
(which include CoV2 and influenza in lung, and herpes, monkeypox, and smallpox in skin). Tissue resident
memory T cells also survey against primary cancers and metastases. However, in pathogenic contexts tissue
resident memory cells drive autoimmune memory recall. This proposal tests intervenable regulatory mechanisms
when skin-specific T resident memory cells are formed, maintained, and governed, and a regulatory axis with
local tissue Dendritic Cells. Our goal is foundational: to understand the basic principles by which barrier immunity,
and T cell receptor repertoire is generated and shaped in the tissues, like skin. We apply our findings to important
and relevant in vivo mouse models for infection and test the consequences for tissue inflammation, autoimmunity,
and protective memory recall. Establishing a mechanistic groundwork and robust preclinical modeling is needed
to later test interventions. This work is also likely to offer basic insight into the foundational mechanisms by which
specific immune-modulatory drugs drive tissue-specific toxicities in the skin and other peripheral organs of
patients, known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10897536
- **Project number:** 1R01AR083208-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Niroshana Anandasabapathy
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $757,027
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10897536

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10897536, New mechanisms governing skin tissue residency memory T cells (1R01AR083208-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10897536. Licensed CC0.

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