Distinct Immune Profiles of Exhausted Effector and Memory CD8+ T Cells in Individuals With Filarial Lymphedema
CD8 + T cells are crucial for the clearance of viral infections, and current research begins to highlight their importance in parasitic diseases too. In-depth research about characteristics of CD8 + T-cell subsets and exhaustion remains uncertain, especially during filariasis, a chronic helminth inf...
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Published in | Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology Vol. 11; p. 680832 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Frontiers Media S.A
11.08.2021
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | CD8
+
T cells are crucial for the clearance of viral infections, and current research begins to highlight their importance in parasitic diseases too. In-depth research about characteristics of CD8
+
T-cell subsets and exhaustion remains uncertain, especially during filariasis, a chronic helminth infection. Lymphatic filariasis, elicited by
Wuchereria bancrofti
, remains a serious health problem in endemic areas in Ghana, especially in those suffering from morbidity due to lymphedema (LE). In this observational study, the characteristics and profiles of CD8
+
T cells were compared between asymptomatic
Wuchereria bancrofti
-infected individuals, uninfected endemic normals, and those with LE (grades 2–6). Focusing on exhausted memory (CD8
+
ex
mem
: CD8
+
T-bet
dim
Eomes
hi
) and effector (CD8
+
ex
eff
: CD8
+
T-bet
hi
Eomes
dim
) CD8
+
T-cell subsets, advanced flow cytometry revealed that LE individuals presented reduced frequencies of IFN-γ
+
CD8
+
ex
mem
T cells expressing Tim-3 or LAG-3 which negatively correlated to the presence of LE. Moreover, the LE cohort further showed significantly higher frequencies of IL-10
+
CD8
+
ex
eff
T cells expressing either Tim-3, LAG-3, CD39, KLRG-1, or PD-1, all associated markers of exhaustion, and that these frequencies positively correlated with the presence of LE. In summary, this study shows that distinct exhausted CD8
+
T-cell subsets are prominent in individuals suffering from LE, suggesting that enhanced inflammation and constant immune activation might drive exhaustion of CD8
+
T cells. Since T-cell exhaustion is known to be associated with insufficient control of persisting antigen, the data presented here reveals that these CD8
+
T-cell exhaustion patterns in filarial LE should be taken into consideration for prevention and control management of LE. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Undefined-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 This article was submitted to Parasite and Host, a section of the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology These authors share last authorship Reviewed by: Helena Helmby, University of London, United Kingdom; Babak Mehrara, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States Edited by: Martin Craig Taylor, University of London, United Kingdom These authors share first authorship |
ISSN: | 2235-2988 2235-2988 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fcimb.2021.680832 |