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Resident memory T cells (TRM) reside in the lung epithelium and mediate protective immunity against respiratory pathogens. Although lung CD8(+) TRM have been extensively characterized, the properties of CD4(+) TRM remain unclear. Here we determined the transcriptional signature of CD4(+) TRM, identified by the expression of CD103, retrieved from human lung resection material. Various tissue homing molecules were specifically upregulated on CD4(+) TRM, whereas expression of tissue egress and lymph node homing molecules were low. CD103(+) TRM expressed low levels of T-bet, only a small portion expressed Eomesodermin (Eomes), and although the mRNA levels for Hobit were increased, protein expression was absent. On the other hand, the CD103(+) TRM showed a Notch signature. CD4(+)CD103(+) TRM constitutively expressed high transcript levels of numerous cytotoxic mediators that was functionally reflected by a fast recall response, magnitude of cytokine production, and a high degree of polyfunctionality. Interestingly, the superior cytokine production appears to be because of an accessible interferon-γ (IFNγ) locus and was partially because of rapid translation of preformed mRNA. Our studies provide a molecular understanding of the maintenance and potential function of CD4(+) TRM in the human lung. Understanding the specific properties of CD4(+) TRM is required to rationally improve vaccine design.Mucosal Immunology advance online publication 15 November 2017; doi:10.1038/mi.2017.94

Resident memory T cells (T

Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18: E369E372 Abstract Recently, the first outbreak of clonally related VIM-2 metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Dutch tertiary-care centre was described. Subsequently, a nationwide surveillance study was performed in 2010-2011, which identified the presence of VIM-2 MBL-producing P. aeruginosa in 11 different hospitals. Genotyping by multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) showed that the majority of the 82 MBL-producing isolates found belonged to a single MLVA type (n = 70, 85%), identified as ST111 by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). As MBL-producing isolates cause serious infections that are difficult to treat, the presence of clonally related isolates in various hospitals throughout the Netherlands is of nationwide concern.

Although the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) is widely used to monitor disease progression and drug efficacy, no attempts have been made to evaluate its scientific and clinical quality. Poor clinical sensibility of items in the activities of daily living (ADL) section and redundancy of items in the motor examination (ME) section prompted us to determine if the number of items in these sections could be reduced to a smaller, equally sensitive set that would describe the data as reliably as did the original set of items. Therefore, we assessed 111 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease on the UPDRS and Hoehn and Yahr staging scales. Our results show that the ADL (13 items) and ME (14 items) sections can be reduced to 8 items each without loss of reliability or validity. Our report is preliminary and needs validation.