scholarly journals Single-cell transcriptomics reveals expansion of cytotoxic CD4 T cells in supercentenarians

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (48) ◽  
pp. 24242-24251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kosuke Hashimoto ◽  
Tsukasa Kouno ◽  
Tomokatsu Ikawa ◽  
Norihito Hayatsu ◽  
Yurina Miyajima ◽  
...  

Supercentenarians, people who have reached 110 y of age, are a great model of healthy aging. Their characteristics of delayed onset of age-related diseases and compression of morbidity imply that their immune system remains functional. Here we performed single-cell transcriptome analysis of 61,202 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), derived from 7 supercentenarians and 5 younger controls. We identified a marked increase of cytotoxic CD4 T cells (CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes [CTLs]) as a signature of supercentenarians. Furthermore, single-cell T cell receptor sequencing of 2 supercentenarians revealed that CD4 CTLs had accumulated through massive clonal expansion, with the most frequent clonotypes accounting for 15 to 35% of the entire CD4 T cell population. The CD4 CTLs exhibited substantial heterogeneity in their degree of cytotoxicity as well as a nearly identical transcriptome to that of CD8 CTLs. This indicates that CD4 CTLs utilize the transcriptional program of the CD8 lineage while retaining CD4 expression. Indeed, CD4 CTLs extracted from supercentenarians produced IFN-γ and TNF-α upon ex vivo stimulation. Our study reveals that supercentenarians have unique characteristics in their circulating lymphocytes, which may represent an essential adaptation to achieve exceptional longevity by sustaining immune responses to infections and diseases.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kosuke Hashimoto ◽  
Tsukasa Kouno ◽  
Tomokatsu Ikawa ◽  
Norihito Hayatsu ◽  
Yurina Miyajima ◽  
...  

AbstractSupercentenarians, people who have reached 110 years of age, are a great model of healthy aging. Their characteristics of delayed onset of age-related diseases and compression of morbidity imply that their immune system remains functional. Here we performed single-cell transcriptome analysis of 61,202 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), derived from seven supercentenarians and five younger controls. We identified a marked increase of cytotoxic CD4 T-cells (CD4 CTLs) coupled with a substantial reduction of B-cells as a novel signature of supercentenarians. Furthermore, single-cell T-cell receptor sequencing of two supercentenarians revealed that CD4 CTLs had accumulated through massive clonal expansion, with the most frequent clonotypes accounting for 15% to 35% of the entire CD4 T-cell population. The CD4 CTLs exhibited substantial heterogeneity in their degree of cytotoxicity as well as a nearly identical transcriptome to that of CD8 CTLs. This indicates that CD4 CTLs utilize the transcriptional program of the CD8 lineage while retaining CD4 expression. Our study reveals that supercentenarians have unique characteristics in their circulating lymphocytes, which may represent an essential adaptation to achieve exceptional longevity by sustaining immune responses to infections and diseases.SignificanceExceptionally long-lived people such as supercentenarians tend to spend their entire lives in good health, implying that their immune system remains active to protect against infections and tumors. However, their immunological condition has been largely unexplored. We profiled thousands of circulating immune cells from supercentenarians at single-cell resolution, and identified a large number of CD4 T-cells that have cytotoxic features. This characteristic is very unique to supercentenarians, because generally CD4 T-cells have helper, but not cytotoxic, functions under physiological conditions. We further profiled their T-cell receptors, and revealed that the cytotoxic CD4 T-cells were accumulated through clonal expansion. The conversion of helper CD4 T-cells to a cytotoxic variety might be an adaptation to the late stage of aging.


2005 ◽  
Vol 201 (6) ◽  
pp. 845-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Haynes ◽  
Sheri M. Eaton ◽  
Eve M. Burns ◽  
Troy D. Randall ◽  
Susan L. Swain

Using a T cell receptor transgenic (TCR Tg) mouse model, we have shown that TCR Tg CD4 cells from aged mice retain a naive phenotype, but exhibit reduced proliferation and IL-2 production in response to the antigen compared with cells from young mice. We hypothesize that age-related decreases in T cell function may be partly related to the age of the T cells. Because thymic output is decreased with age, peripheral T cells in older individuals are likely to be older than those in younger individuals. To investigate this possibility, we have manipulated the age of CD4 T cells in the periphery of young and aged mice. The production of new T cells was induced by depleting peripheral CD4 T cells or by creating bone marrow chimeras. In both young and aged individuals where we induced the production of new T cells, these newly generated cells exhibited robust responses to antigen ex vivo and in vivo, exhibiting good expansion, IL-2 production, and cognate helper function. Our results suggest that age-related defects in response to antigenic stimulation, in part, are caused by the age of the CD4 T cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A204-A204
Author(s):  
Jack Reid ◽  
Shihong Zhang ◽  
Ariunaa Munkhbat ◽  
Matyas Ecsedi ◽  
Megan McAfee ◽  
...  

BackgroundT Cell Receptor (TCR)-T cell therapies have shown some promising results in cancer clinical trials, however the efficacy of treatment remains suboptimal. Outcomes could potentially be improved by utilizing highly functional TCRs for future trials. Current TCR discovery methods are relatively low throughput and rely on synthesis and screening of individual TCRs based on tetramer binding and peptide specificity, which is costly and labor intensive. We have developed and validated a pooled approach relying on directly cloned TCRs transduced into a fluorescent Jurkat reporter system (figure 1). This approach provides an unbiased, high-throughput method for TCR discovery.MethodsAs a model for POTS, T cells specific for a peptide derived adenovirus structural protein were sorted on tetramer and subjected to 10x single cell VDJ analysis. Pools of randomly paired TCR alpha and beta chains were cloned from the 10x cDNA into a lentiviral vector and transduced into a Jurkat reporter cells. Consecutive stimulations with cognate antigen followed by cell sorts were performed to enrich for functional TCRs. Full length TCRab pools were sequenced by Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and compared to a 10x dataset to find naturally paired TCRs.ResultsComparison between the ex vivo single cell VDJ sequencing and ONT sequencing of the transduced antigen specific TCRs showed more than 99% of the TCR pairs found in reporter positive Jurkat cells were naturally paired TCRs. The functionality of 8 TCR clonotypes discovered using POTS were compared and clone #2 showed the strongest response. Of the selected clonotypes, clone #2 showed a low frequency of 0.9% in the ex vivo single cell VDJ sequencing. After the first round of stimulation and sequencing, clone #2 takes up of 5% of all reporter-positive clones. The abundance of clone #2 further increased to 17% after another round of stimulation, sorting and sequencing, suggesting this method can retrieve and enrich for highly functional antigen specific TCRs.Abstract 192 Figure 1Outline of the POTS workflow.ConclusionsPOTS provides a high-throughput method for discovery of naturally paired, high-avidity T cell receptors. This method mitigates bias introduced by T cell differentiation state by screening TCRs in a clonal reporter system. Additionally, POTS allows for screening of low abundance clones when compared with traditional TCR discovery techniques. Pooled TCRs could also be screened in vivo with primary T cells in a mouse model to screen for the most functional and physiologically fit TCR for cancer treatment.


2000 ◽  
Vol 191 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. Alderson ◽  
Teresa Bement ◽  
Craig H. Day ◽  
Liqing Zhu ◽  
David Molesh ◽  
...  

Development of a subunit vaccine for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is likely to be dependent on the identification of T cell antigens that induce strong proliferation and interferon γ production from healthy purified protein derivative (PPD)+ donors. We have developed a sensitive and rapid technique for screening an Mtb genomic library expressed in Escherichia coli using Mtb-specific CD4+ T cells. Using this technique, we identified a family of highly related Mtb antigens. The gene of one family member encodes a 9.9-kD antigen, termed Mtb9.9A. Recombinant Mtb9.9A protein, expressed and purified from E. coli, elicited strong T cell proliferation and IFN-γ production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from PPD+ but not PPD− individuals. Southern blot analysis and examination of the Mtb genome sequence revealed a family of highly related genes. A T cell line from a PPD+ donor that failed to react with recombinant Mtb9.9A recognized one of the other family members, Mtb9.9C. Synthetic peptides were used to map the T cell epitope recognized by this line, and revealed a single amino acid substitution in this region when compared with Mtb9.9A. The direct identification of antigens using T cells from immune donors will undoubtedly be critical for the development of vaccines to several intracellular pathogens.


Author(s):  
Derek J Hanson ◽  
Hu Xie ◽  
Danielle M Zerr ◽  
Wendy M Leisenring ◽  
Keith R Jerome ◽  
...  

Abstract We sought to determine whether donor-derived human herpesvirus (HHV) 6B–specific CD4+ T-cell abundance is correlated with HHV-6B detection after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. We identified 33 patients who received HLA-matched, non–T-cell–depleted, myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation and underwent weekly plasma polymerase chain reaction testing for HHV-6B for 100 days thereafter. We tested donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells for HHV-6B–specific CD4+ T cells. Patients with HHV-6B detection above the median peak viral load (200 copies/mL) received approximately 10-fold fewer donor-derived total or HHV-6B–specific CD4+ T cells than those with peak HHV-6B detection at ≤200 copies/mL or with no HHV-6B detection. These data suggest the importance of donor-derived immunity for controlling HHV-6B reactivation.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 109 (9) ◽  
pp. 3873-3880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley White ◽  
Subramaniam Krishnan ◽  
Natasa Strbo ◽  
Huanliang Liu ◽  
Michael A. Kolber ◽  
...  

Abstract An urgent need exists to devise strategies to augment antiviral immune responses in patients with HIV who are virologically well controlled and immunologically stable on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The objective of this study was to compare the immunomodulatory effects of the cytokines interleukin (IL)–21 with IL-15 on CD8 T cells in patients with HIV RNA of less than 50 copies/mL and CD4 counts greater than 200 cells/mm.3 Patient CD8 T cells displayed skewed maturation and decreased perforin expression compared with healthy controls. Culture of freshly isolated patient peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for 5 hours to 5 days with IL-21 resulted in up-regulation of perforin in CD8 T cells, including memory and effector subsets and virus-specific T cells. IL-21 did not induce T-cell activation or proliferation, nor did it augment T-cell receptor (TCR)–induced degranulation. Treatment of patient PBMCs with IL-15 resulted in induction of perforin in association with lymphocyte proliferation and augmentation of TCR-induced degranulation. Patient CD8 T cells were more responsive to cytokine effects than the cells of healthy volunteers. We conclude that CD8 T cells of patients with HIV can be modulated by IL-21 to increase perforin expression without undergoing overt cellular activation. IL-21 could potentially be useful for its perforin-enhancing properties in anti-HIV immunotherapy.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 1730-1730
Author(s):  
Izumi Masamoto ◽  
Sawako Horai ◽  
Tomohiro Kozako ◽  
Makoto Yoshimitsu ◽  
Junko Niimoto ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 1730 Human T-lymphotropic virus type-1(HTLV-1) is the causative agent of adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). HTLV-1 infected T cell growth or leukemogenesis in ATL is controlled by various host immune surveillance systems. Among them, CD70 on HTLV-1 infected T cells coupled with CD27 on virus specific cytotoxic T cells has been suggested to play an important role in ATL leukemogenesis. The CD70 molecule is the only known ligand for CD27, a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily 7. This negative immunoregulatory pathway downregulates cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity against CD70-expressing virus infected cells. In the present study, we examined CD70 expression on primary lymphocytes of HTLV-1 carriers and ATL patients, its relationship with HTLV-1 Tax protein expression, and the effect on CTL induction. CD70 expression was higher on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HTLV-1 infected carriers compared with healthy donors (p = 0.021, n = 21, Mann-Whitney U test), and higher in ATL patients compared to carriers (p = 0.045, n = 38, Mann-Whitney U test). CD70 expression may be observed in CD4 T cells, as well as B cells, but not in CD8 T cells or monocytes. CD70 expression in CD4 T cells is related to HTLV-1 infection, because of increased detection of HTLV-1 Tax protein during over night culture of CD70-expressing cells. Experiments using an ATL cell line, in which Tax expression is inducible by doxycycline stimulation, demonstrated enhanced CD70 expression when Tax protein was induced in HTLV-1 infected cells. Anti-CD70 antibody enhanced CD107a mobilization, a marker of recent cytotoxic degranulation, in HTLV-1 Tax specific CTLs in PBMCs from asymptomatic carriers in vitro, suggesting that the CD70/CD27 pathway plays an important role in the immune response to HTLV-1 infection in carriers, as well as ATL patients. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


1997 ◽  
Vol 93 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Haynes ◽  
Phyllis-Jean Linton ◽  
Susan L Swain

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 1963-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Kavanagh ◽  
Daniel E. Kaufmann ◽  
Sherzana Sunderji ◽  
Nicole Frahm ◽  
Sylvie Le Gall ◽  
...  

Transfection with synthetic mRNA is a safe and efficient method of delivering antigens to dendritic cells for immunotherapy. Targeting antigens to the lysosome can sometimes enhance the CD4+ T-cell response. We transfected antigen-presenting cells (APCs) with mRNA encoding Gag-p24 and cytoplasmic, lysosomal, and secreted forms of Nef. Antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells were able to lyse the majority of transfected targets, indicating that transfection was efficient. Transfection of APCs with a Nef construct bearing lysosomal targeting signals produced rapid and prolonged antigen presentation to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Polyclonal CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell lines recognizing multiple distinct epitopes were expanded by coculture of transfected dendritic cells with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from viremic and aviremic HIV-infected subjects. Importantly, lysosome-targeted antigen drove a significantly greater expansion of Nef-specific CD4+ T cells than cytoplasmic antigen. The frequency of recognition of CD8 but not CD4 epitopes by mRNA-expanded T cells was inversely proportional to sequence entropy and was similar to ex vivo responses from a large chronic cohort. Thus human dendritic cells transfected with mRNA encoding lysosome-targeted HIV antigen can expand a broad, polyclonal repertoire of antiviral T cells, offering a promising approach to HIV immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Xu ◽  
Furong Qi ◽  
Hanjie Li ◽  
Qianting Yang ◽  
Haiyan Wang ◽  
...  

Understanding the mechanism that leads to immune dysfunction induced by SARS-CoV2 virus is crucial to develop treatment for severe COVID-19. Here, using single cell RNA-seq, we characterized the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from uninfected controls and COVID-19 patients, and cells in paired broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF). We found a close association of decreased dendritic cells (DC) and increased monocytes resembling myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) which correlated with lymphopenia and inflammation in the blood of severe COVID-19 patients. Those MDSC-like monocytes were immune-paralyzed. In contrast, monocyte-macrophages in BALFs of COVID-19 patients produced massive amounts of cytokines and chemokines, but secreted little interferons. The frequencies of peripheral T cells and NK cells were significantly decreased in severe COVID-19 patients, especially for innate-like T and various CD8+ T cell subsets, compared to health controls. In contrast, the proportions of various activated CD4+ T cell subsets, including Th1, Th2 and Th17-like cells were increased and more clonally expanded in severe COVID-19 patients. Patients' peripheral T cells showed no sign of exhaustion or augmented cell death, whereas T cells in BALFs produced higher levels of IFNG, TNF, CCL4 and CCL5 etc. Paired TCR tracking indicated abundant recruitment of peripheral T cells to the patients' lung. Together, this study comprehensively depicts how the immune cell landscape is perturbed in severe COVID-19.


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