Developing Human Fetal Skin Demonstrates a Unique Lymphocyte Signature

    June 2020 in “ bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) ”
    Miqdad O. Dhariwala, Dhuvarakesh Karthikeyan, Kimberly S. Vasquez, Sepideh Farhat, Keyon Taravati, Elizabeth Leitner, Mariela Pauli, Margaret M. Lowe, Michael D. Rosenblum, Tiffany C. Scharschmidt
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    Studysummary In this study, researchers identified unique prenatal lymphocyte features in human fetal skin, including proliferative naive T cells and memory-like T cells, which may influence antigen and allergen responses in utero and infancy. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
    The study utilized mass and flow cytometry to investigate early human skin immunity, revealing a unique lymphocyte signature in fetal skin. Most conventional αβ T cells in fetal skin exhibited a naïve, proliferative phenotype, but some CD4+ and CD8+ cells showed memory-like features and a tendency for IFNγ production. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) accumulated dynamically during the second trimester, correlating with hair follicle development, and displayed an effector memory phenotype distinct from adult Tregs. These findings highlighted prenatal skin lymphocyte characteristics that could impact understanding of antigen and allergen exposure in utero and infancy.
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