PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Jennifer L Vella AU - Aleksey Molodtsov AU - Christina V Angeles AU - Bruce R Branchini AU - Mary Jo Turk AU - Yina H Huang TI - Dendritic cells maintain anti-tumor immunity by positioning CD8 skin-resident memory T cells AID - 10.26508/lsa.202101056 DP - 2021 Oct 01 TA - Life Science Alliance PG - e202101056 VI - 4 IP - 10 4099 - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/10/e202101056.short 4100 - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/10/e202101056.full SO - Life Sci. Alliance2021 Oct 01; 4 AB - Tissue-resident memory (TRM) T cells are emerging as critical components of the immune response to cancer; yet, requirements for their ongoing function and maintenance remain unclear. APCs promote TRM cell differentiation and re-activation but have not been implicated in sustaining TRM cell responses. Here, we identified a novel role for dendritic cells in supporting TRM to melanoma. We showed that CD8 TRM cells remain in close proximity to dendritic cells in the skin. Depletion of CD11c+ cells results in rapid disaggregation and eventual loss of melanoma-specific TRM cells. In addition, we determined that TRM migration and/or persistence requires chemotaxis and adhesion mediated by the CXCR6/CXCL16 axis. The interaction between CXCR6-expressing TRM cells and CXCL16-expressing APCs was found to be critical for sustaining TRM cell–mediated tumor protection. These findings substantially expand our knowledge of APC functions in TRM T-cell homeostasis and longevity.