Vitiligo Skin Is Imprinted with Resident Memory CD8 T Cells Expressing CXCR3

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune depigmenting skin disorder that results from a loss of melanocytes. Multiple combinatorial factors have been involved in disease development, with a prominent role of the immune system, in particular T cells. After repigmentation, vitiligo frequently recurs in the same area, suggesting that vitiligo could involve the presence of resident memory T cells (TRM). We sought to perform a thorough characterization of the phenotype and function of skin memory T cells in vitiligo. We show that stable and active vitiligo perilesional skin is enriched with a population of CD8 TRM expressing both CD69 and CD103 compared with psoriasis and control unaffected skin. CD8 TRM expressing CD103 are mainly localized in the epidermis. Expression of CXCR3 is observed on most CD8 TRM in vitiligo, including the population of melanocyte-specific CD8 T cells. CD8 TRM displayed increased production of IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α with moderate cytotoxic activity. Our study highlights the presence of functional CD8 TRM in both stable and active vitiligo, reinforcing the concept of vitiligo as an immune memory skin disease. The CD8 TRM that remain in stable disease could play a role during disease flares, emphasizing the interest in targeting this cell subset in vitiligo.