Neural-Cadherin Influences the Homing of Terminally Differentiated Memory CD8 T Cells to the Lymph Nodes and Bone Marrow

Memory T (T) cells play an important role in the long-term defense against pathogen reinvasion. However, it is still unclear how these cells receive the crucial signals necessary for their longevity and homeostatic turnover. To understand how T cells receive these signals, we infected mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and examined the expression sites of neural cadherin (N-cadherin) by immunofluorescence microscopy. We found that N-cadherin was expressed in the surroundings of the white pulps of the spleen and medulla of lymph nodes (LNs). Moreover, T cells expressing high levels of killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1), a ligand of N-cadherin, were co-localized with N-cadherin cells in the spleen but not in LNs. We then blocked N-cadherin to investigate whether it regulates the formation or function of T cells. The numbers of CD127CD62L T cells in the spleen of memory P14 chimeric mice declined when N-cadherin was blocked during the contraction phase, without functional impairment of these cells. In addition, when CD127KLRG1 T cells were adoptively transferred into anti-N-cadherin-treated mice compared with control mice, the number of these cells was reduced in the bone marrow and LNs, without functional loss. Taken together, our results suggest that N-cadherin participates in the development of CD127CD62L T cells and homing of CD127KLRG1 T cells to lymphoid organs.