Adhesion- and degranulation-promoting adapter protein promotes CD8 T cell differentiation and resident memory formation and function during an acute infection

During acute infections, naive Ag-specific CD8 T cells are activated and differentiate into effector T cells, most of which undergo contraction after pathogen clearance. A small population of CD8 T cells persists as memory to protect against future infections.We investigated the role of adhesion- and degranulation-promoting adapter protein (ADAP) in promoting CD8 T cell responses to a systemic infection. Naive Ag-specific CD8 T cells lacking ADAP exhibited a modest expansion defect early after Listeria monocytogenes or vesicular stomatitis virus infection but comparable cytolytic function at the peak of response. However, reduced numbers of ADAP-deficient CD8 T cells were present in the spleen after the peak of the response. ADAP deficiency resulted in a greater frequency of CD127+ CD8 memory precursors in secondary lymphoid organs during the contraction phase. Reduced numbers of ADAP-deficient killer cell lectin-like receptor G12 CD8 resident memory T (TRM) cell precursors were present in a variety of nonlymphoid tissues at the peak of the immune response, and consequently the total numbers of ADAP-deficient TRM cells were reduced at memory time points. TRM cells that did form in the absence of ADAP were defective in effector molecule expression. ADAP-deficient TRM cells exhibited impaired effector function after Ag rechallenge, correlating with defects in their ability to form T cell-APC conjugates. However, ADAP-deficient TRM cells responded to TGF-b signals and recruited circulating memory CD8 T cells. Thus, ADAP regulates CD8 T cell differentiation events following acute pathogen challenge that are critical for the formation and selected functions of TRM cells in nonlymphoid tissues.