REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. T Cell Biology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1605972
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Function and Regulation of T Cell Subsets in Inflammatory DiseaseView all 15 articles
Epigenetic Control of Tissue Resident Memory T Cells
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 2Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) represent a heterogeneous population of T cells that exhibit both effector and memory functionalities. They express specific gene signatures that enable them to occupy tissues without recirculating, thus providing a first response against reencountered pathogens or antigens. TRM have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including autoimmune disorders, infections, and cancers. This has prompted interest in targeting TRM as a potential therapeutic strategy. Epigenetic modifications, which frequently occur in immune cells across various disease states, play a significant role not only in tissue homeostasis but also in disease progression. Emerging evidence suggests that the epigenetic landscape of TRM is altered in pathogenic conditions, impacting their differentiation, maintenance, and function. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms remain poorly understood. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the epigenetic regulation of TRM, focusing on key areas such as chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs. Importantly, a deeper understanding of these epigenetic mechanisms will pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies, such as modulating TRM activity in autoimmune diseases, enhancing tissue-specific immunity through vaccines, or improving immunotherapeutic efficacy in cancer.
Keywords: Tissue resident memory T cells, epigenetics, chromatin accessibility, DNA Methylation, histone modification, non-coding RNAs
Received: 04 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lan, Chen, Yang, Liu, Li, Shi and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuling Shi, Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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