scholarly journals Early precursors and molecular determinants of tissue-resident memory CD8+ T lymphocytes revealed by single-cell RNA sequencing

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (47) ◽  
pp. eaaz6894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia S. Kurd ◽  
Zhaoren He ◽  
Tiani L. Louis ◽  
J. Justin Milner ◽  
Kyla D. Omilusik ◽  
...  

During an immune response to microbial infection, CD8+ T cells give rise to distinct classes of cellular progeny that coordinately mediate clearance of the pathogen and provide long-lasting protection against reinfection, including a subset of noncirculating tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells that mediate potent protection within nonlymphoid tissues. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to examine the gene expression patterns of individual CD8+ T cells in the spleen and small intestine intraepithelial lymphocyte (siIEL) compartment throughout the course of their differentiation in response to viral infection. These analyses revealed previously unknown transcriptional heterogeneity within the siIEL CD8+ T cell population at several stages of differentiation, representing functionally distinct TRM cell subsets and a subset of TRM cell precursors within the tissue early in infection. Together, these findings may inform strategies to optimize CD8+ T cell responses to protect against microbial infection and cancer.

Author(s):  
Nadia S. Kurd ◽  
Zhaoren He ◽  
J. Justin Milner ◽  
Kyla D. Omilusik ◽  
Tiani L. Louis ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring an immune response to microbial infection, CD8+ T cells give rise to distinct classes of cellular progeny that coordinately mediate clearance of the pathogen and provide long-lasting protection against reinfection, including a subset of non-circulating tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells that mediate potent protection within non-lymphoid tissues. Here, we utilized single-cell RNA-sequencing to examine the gene expression patterns of individual CD8+ T cells in the spleen and small intestine intraepithelial lymphocyte (siIEL) compartment throughout the course of their differentiation in response to viral infection. These analyses revealed previously unknown transcriptional heterogeneity within the siIEL CD8+ T cell population at several states of differentiation, representing functionally distinct TRM cell subsets as well as a subset of TRM cell precursors within the tissue early in infection. Taken together, these findings may inform strategies to optimize CD8+ T cell responses to protect against microbial infection and cancer.One sentence summaryHere, we applied single-cell RNA-sequencing to elucidate the gene expression patterns of individual CD8+ T cells differentiating throughout the course of infection in the spleen and small intestinal epithelium, which revealed previously unidentified molecular determinants of tissue-resident T cell differentiation as well as functional heterogeneity within the tissue-resident CD8+ T cell population.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen E. Pauken ◽  
Osmaan Shahid ◽  
Kaitlyn A. Lagattuta ◽  
Kelly M. Mahuron ◽  
Jacob M. Luber ◽  
...  

AbstractThe ability to monitor anti-tumor CD8+ T cell responses in the blood has tremendous therapeutic potential. Here, we used paired single-cell RNA sequencing and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing to detect and characterize “tumor matching” (TM) CD8+ T cells in the blood of mice with MC38 tumors and melanoma patients using the TCR as a molecular barcode. TM cells showed increased activation compared to non-matching T cells in blood, and appeared less exhausted than matching counterparts in tumor. Importantly, PD-1, which has been used to identify putative circulating anti-tumor CD8+ T cells, showed poor sensitivity for identifying TM cells. By leveraging the transcriptome we identified candidate cell surface marker panels for TM cells in mice and melanoma patients, and validated NKG2D, CD39, and CX3CR1 in mice. These data demonstrate that the TCR can be used to identify tumor-relevant populations for comprehensive characterization, reveal unique transcriptional properties of TM cells, and develop marker panels for tracking and analysis of these cells.SummaryUsing single-cell RNA-sequencing coupled with TCR sequencing, we detected CD8+ T cell clones shared between blood and tumor in mice and melanoma patients, characterized these matching clones in blood and tumor, and identified potential biomarkers for their isolation in blood.


Author(s):  
Holger Winkels ◽  
Dennis Wolf

The infiltration and accumulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory leukocytes within the intimal layer of the arterial wall is a hallmark of developing and progressing atherosclerosis. While traditionally perceived as macrophage- and foam cell-dominated disease, it is now established that atherosclerosis is a partial autoimmune disease that involves the recognition of peptides from ApoB (apolipoprotein B), the core protein of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol particles, by CD4 + T-helper cells and autoantibodies against LDL and ApoB. Autoimmunity in the atherosclerotic plaque has long been understood as a pathogenic T-helper type-1 driven response with proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Recent developments in high-parametric cell immunophenotyping by mass cytometry, single-cell RNA-sequencing, and in tools exploring antigen-specificity have established the existence of several unforeseen layers of T cell diversity with mixed T H 1 and T regulatory cells transcriptional programs and unpredicted fates. These findings suggest that pathogenic ApoB-reactive T cells evolve from atheroprotective and immunosuppressive CD4 + T regulatory cells that lose their protective properties over time. Here, we discuss T cell heterogeneity in atherosclerosis with a focus on plasticity, antigen-specificity, exhaustion, maturation, tissue residency, and its potential use in clinical prediction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i39-i39
Author(s):  
Aaron Mochizuki ◽  
Sneha Ramakrishna ◽  
Zina Good ◽  
Shabnum Patel ◽  
Harshini Chinnasamy ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction We are conducting a Phase I clinical trial utilizing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting GD2 (NCT04196413) for H3K27M-mutant diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and spinal cord diffuse midline glioma (DMG). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is collected for correlative studies at the time of routine intracranial pressure monitoring via Ommaya catheter. Here we present single cell RNA-sequencing results from the first 3 subjects. Methods Single cell RNA-sequencing was performed utilizing 10X Genomics on cells isolated from CSF at various time points before and after CAR T-cell administration and on the CAR T-cell product. Output was aligned with Cell Ranger and analyzed in R. Results As detailed in the Majzner et al. abstract presented at this meeting, three of four subjects treated at dose-level one exhibited clear radiographic and/or clinical benefit. We have to date completed single cell RNA-sequencing for three of these four subjects (two with benefit, one without). After filtering out low-quality signals and doublets, 89,604 cells across 3 subjects were analyzed. Of these, 4,122 cells represent cells isolated from CSF and 85,482 cells represent CAR T-cell product. Two subjects who demonstrated clear clinical and radiographic improvement exhibited fewer S100A8+S100A9+ myeloid suppressor-cells and CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T-cells in the CSF pre-infusion compared to the subject who did not derive a therapeutic response. In one subject with DIPG who demonstrated improvement, polyclonal CAR T-cells detectable in CSF at Day +14 demonstrated enrichment of CD8A, GZMA, GNLY and PDCD1 compared to the pre-infusion CAR T-cells by trajectory analysis, suggesting differentiation toward a cytotoxic phenotype; the same subject exhibited increasing numbers of S100A8+S100A9+ myeloid cells and CX3CR1+P2RY12+ microglia over time. Further analyses will be presented as data become available. Conclusions The presence of immunosuppressive myeloid populations, detectable in CSF, may correlate to clinical response in CAR T cell therapy for DIPG/DMG.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuefei Wang ◽  
Xiangru Shen ◽  
Shan Chen ◽  
Hongyi Liu ◽  
Ni Hong ◽  
...  

AbstractClassic T cell subsets are defined by a small set of cell surface markers, while single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) clusters cells using genome-wide gene expression profiles. The relationship between scRNA-seq Clustered-Populations (scCPops) and cell surface marker-defined classic T cell subsets remain unclear. Here, we interrogated 6 bead-enriched T cell subsets with 62,235 single cell transcriptomes and re-grouped them into 9 scCPops. Bead-enriched CD4 Naïve and CD8 Naïve were mainly clustered into their scCPop counterparts, while cells from the other T cell subsets were assigned to multiple scCPops including mucosal-associated invariant T cells and natural killer T cells. The multiple T cell subsets that form a single scCPop exhibited similar expression pattern, but not vice versa, indicating scCPops are much homogeneous cell populations with similar cell states. Interestingly, we discovered and named IFNhi T, a new T cell subpopulation that highly expressed Interferon Signaling Associated Genes (ISAGs). We further enriched IFNhi T by FACS sorting of BST2 for scRNA-seq analyses. IFNhi T cluster disappeared on tSNE plot after removing ISAGs, while IFNhi T cluster showed up by tSNE analyses of ISAGs alone, indicating ISAGs are the major contributor of IFNhi T cluster. BST2+ T cells and BST2− T cells showing different efficiencies of T cell activation indicates high level of ISAGs may contribute to quick immune responses.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaked Afik ◽  
Kathleen B. Yates ◽  
Kevin Bi ◽  
Samuel Darko ◽  
Jernej Godec ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe T cell compartment must contain diversity in both TCR repertoire and cell state to provide effective immunity against pathogens1,2. However, it remains unclear how differences in the TCR contribute to heterogeneity in T cell state at the single cell level because most analysis of the TCR repertoire has, to date, aggregated information from populations of cells. Single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) can allow simultaneous measurement of TCR sequence and global transcriptional profile from single cells. However, current protocols to directly sequence the TCR require the use of long sequencing reads, increasing the cost and decreasing the number of cells that can be feasibly analyzed. Here we present a tool that can efficiently extract TCR sequence information from standard, short-read scRNA-seq libraries of T cells: TCR Reconstruction Algorithm for Paired-End Single cell (TRAPeS). We apply it to investigate heterogeneity in the CD8+T cell response in humans and mice, and show that it is accurate and more sensitive than previous approaches3,4. We applied TRAPeS to single cell RNA-seq of CD8+T cells specific for a single epitope from Yellow Fever Virus5. We show that the recently-described "naive-like" memory population of YFV-specific CD8+T cells have significantly longer CDR3 regions and greater divergence from germline sequence than do effector-memory phenotype CD8+T cells specific for YFV. This suggests that TCR usage contributes to heterogeneity in the differentiation state of the CD8+T cell response to YFV. TRAPeS is publicly available, and can be readily used to investigate the relationship between the TCR repertoire and cellular phenotype.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manman Dai ◽  
Min Feng ◽  
Ziwei Li ◽  
Weisan Chen ◽  
Ming Liao

ABSTRACTChicken peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) exhibit wide-ranging cell types, but current understanding of their subclasses, immune cell classification, and function is limited and incomplete. Previously, we found that viremia caused by avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV‐J) was eliminated by 21 days post infection (DPI), accompanied by increased CD8+ T cell ratio in PBLs and low antibody levels. Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of PBLs in ALV-J infected and control chickens at 21 DPI to determine chicken PBL subsets and their specific molecular and cellular characteristics, before and after viral infection. Eight cell clusters and their potential marker genes were identified in chicken PBLs. T cell populations (clusters 6 and 7) had the strongest response to ALV-J infection at 21 DPI, based on detection of the largest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). T cell populations of clusters 6 and 7 could be further divided into four subsets: activated CD4+ T cells (cluster A0), Th1-like cells (cluster A2), Th2-like cells (cluster A1), and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Hallmark genes for each T cell subset response to viral infection were initially identified. Furthermore, pseudotime analysis results suggested that chicken CD4+ T cells could potentially differentiate into Th1-like and Th2-like cells. Moreover, ALV-J infection probably induced CD4+ T cell differentiation into Th1-like cells in which the most immune related DEGs were detected. With respect to the control group, ALV-J infection also had an obvious impact on PBL cell composition. B cells showed inconspicuous response and their numbers decreased in PBLs of the ALV-J infected chickens at 21 DPI. Percentages of cytotoxic Th1-like cells and CD8+ T cells were increased in the T cell population of PBLs from ALV-J infected chicken, which were potentially key mitigating factors against ALV-J infection. More importantly, our results provided a rich resource of gene expression profiles of chicken PBL subsets for a systems-level understanding of their function in homeostatic condition as well as in response to viral infection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi9-vi9
Author(s):  
Oleg Yegorov ◽  
Changlin Yang ◽  
Maryam Rahman ◽  
Ashley Ghiaseddin ◽  
Anjelika Dechkovskaia ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND The application of single cell sequencing as a novel immune monitoring platform can enhance the ability to interrogate at unprecedented depth the single-cell level dynamic phenotypic and functional attributes of immune cells in patients undergoing cancer immunotherapy treatment. We applied single-cell sequencing analysis of PBMCs in a patient with newly-diagnosed GBM enrolled on the ATTAC II clinical trial (FDA IND BB-16530) who experienced a sustained complete radiographic response to autologous CMV pp65-LAMP RNA-pulsed DC vaccines plus GM-CSF and tetanus-diphtheria booster administered during adjuvant cycles of dose-intensified TMZ. METHODS We constructed 5’ gene expression libraries and T cell receptor enriched libraries for 10x Genomics single-cell sequencing, generated from PBMCs collected prior to and during patient immunization using dendritic cells loaded with RNA encoding the CMV matrix protein pp65 conjugated with the lysosomal associated membrane protein (LAMP) sequence. RESULTS RNA-Seq revealed dynamic changes in immune cell subsets over course of first three vaccines, including increases in cytotoxic T cells and memory T cell subsets. Increased markers of T cell activation were observed during vaccination including enhanced T cell signaling pathways, proliferative signals, and cytokine production. We found that proportion of cytotoxic T cells increased from 3.42% to 11.74% in whole PBMCs after immunization. Surprisingly, we observed very high level of frequency natural killer T (NKT) cells comprising 4.75 % of this patient’s PBMCs at baseline. After three DC vaccines, the level of NKT cells in PBMC increased up to 10%. CONCLUSIONS Single cell RNA sequencing of a patient with sustained complete response to DC vaccination during cycles of dose-intensified TMZ reveals dynamic immune activation and expansion within the cytotoxic T cells and NKT compartments. These results emphasize the importance of subset specific profiling to achieve higher resolution in monitoring immune responses compared with bulk expression profiling in patients receiving immunotherapeutic treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Rindler ◽  
Wolfgang M. Bauer ◽  
Constanze Jonak ◽  
Matthias Wielscher ◽  
Lisa E. Shaw ◽  
...  

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. While initially restricted to the skin, malignant cells can appear in blood, bone marrow and secondary lymphoid organs in later disease stages. However, only little is known about phenotypic and functional properties of malignant T cells in relationship to tissue environments over the course of disease progression. We thus profiled the tumor micromilieu in skin, blood and lymph node in a patient with advanced MF using single-cell RNA sequencing combined with V-D-J T-cell receptor sequencing. In skin, we identified clonally expanded T-cells with characteristic features of tissue-resident memory T-cells (TRM, CD69+CD27-NR4A1+RGS1+AHR+). In blood and lymph node, the malignant clones displayed a transcriptional program reminiscent of a more central memory-like phenotype (KLF2+TCF7+S1PR1+SELL+CCR7+), while retaining tissue-homing receptors (CLA, CCR10). The skin tumor microenvironment contained potentially tumor-permissive myeloid cells producing regulatory (IDO1) and Th2-associated mediators (CCL13, CCL17, CCL22). Given their expression of PVR, TNFRSF14 and CD80/CD86, they might be under direct control by TIGIT+CTLA4+CSF2+TNFSF14+ tumor cells. In sum, this study highlights the adaptive phenotypic and functional plasticity of MF tumor cell clones. Thus, the TRM-like phenotype enables long-term skin residence of MF cells. Their switch to a TCM-like phenotype with persistent skin homing molecule expression in the circulation might explain the multi-focal nature of MF.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhas Sureshchandra ◽  
Norma Mendoza ◽  
Allen Jankeel ◽  
Randall M. Wilson ◽  
Nicole E. Marshall ◽  
...  

Pregravid obesity has been shown to disrupt the development of the offspring’s immune system and increase susceptibility to infection. While the mechanisms underlying the impact of maternal obesity on fetal myeloid cells are emerging, the consequences for T cells remain poorly defined. In this study, we collected umbilical cord blood samples from infants born to lean mothers and mothers with obesity and profiled CD4 T cells using flow cytometry and single cell RNA sequencing at resting and following ex vivo polyclonal stimulation. We report that maternal obesity is associated with higher frequencies of memory CD4 T cells suggestive of in vivo activation. Moreover, single cell RNA sequencing revealed expansion of an activated subset of memory T cells with maternal obesity. However, ex vivo stimulation of purified CD4 T cells resulted in poor cytokine responses, suggesting functional defects. These phenotypic and functional aberrations correlated with methylation and chromatin accessibility changes in loci associated with lymphocyte activation and T cell receptor signaling, suggesting a possible link between maternal obesogenic environment and fetal immune reprogramming. These observations offer a potential explanation for the increased susceptibility to microbial infection in babies born to mothers with obesity.


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