Reciprocal and dynamic control of CD8 T cell homing by dendritic cells from skin- and gut-associated lymphoid tissues

T cell activation by intestinal dendritic cells (DC) induces gut-tropism. We show that, reciprocally, DC from peripheral lymph nodes (PLN-DC) induce homing receptors promoting CD8 T cell accumulation in inflamed skin, particularly ligands for P- and E-selectin. Differential imprinting of tissue-tropism was independent of Th1/Th2 cytokines and not restricted to particular DC subsets. Fixed PLN-DC retained the capacity to induce selectin ligands on T cells, which was suppressed by addition of live intestinal DC. By contrast, fixed intestinal DC failed to promote gut-tropism and instead induced skin-homing receptors. Moreover, the induction of selectin ligands driven by antigen-pulsed PLN-DC could be suppressed “in trans” by adding live intestinal DC, but PLN-DC did not suppress gut-homing receptors induced by intestinal DC. Reactivation of tissue-committed memory cells modified their tissue-tropism according to the last activating DC's origin. Thus, CD8 T cells activated by DC acquire selectin ligands by default unless they encounter fixation-sensitive signal(s) for gut-tropism from intestinal DC. Memory T cells remain responsive to these signals, allowing for dynamic migratory reprogramming by skin- and gut-associated DC.