Project description:Effector CD4+ T lymphocytes (Teff) infiltrate sites of inflammation and orchestrate the immune response by instructing local leukocytes. Mast cells (MCs) are tissue sentinel cells strategically located near blood vessels and T cell rich areas. MC/Teff cells interactions shape Teff cell responses but in turn, Teff cell action on MC is still poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the human MC/Teff cells interplay through the application of RNAseq and functional assays and showed that activated Teff cells induced a specific transcriptomic program in MCs driving them toward an inflammatory phenotype. Teff cells affected key MC immune functions as they induced prostaglandin, inflammatory cytokines and chemokines production and fostered FceRI-dependent degranulation. Moreover, Teff cell induced in MCs the capacity to regulate T cell responses through a wide-range of dedicated soluble and membrane ligands. Cell-Cell communication inference based on transcriptomic data indicated that IFN-g, IL-21, IL-27 and IL-1b were the main driver of MC differentiation program.
Project description:Analysis of in vivo antigen-specific (LCMV-specific, SMARTA TCR transgenic) follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5high),versus non-follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5low), eight days after viral infection. A paper including data analysis of these experiments has been accepted for publication (Robert J. Johnston et al. Bcl6 and Blimp-1 are reciprocal and antagonistic regulators of follicular helper CD4 T cell differentiation). Experiment Overall Design: Analysis of in vivo antigen-specific (LCMV-specific, SMARTA TCR transgenic) follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5high), versus non-follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5low), eight days after viral infection.
Project description:The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as COVID-19. CoV-2 infects the lungs and may cause several immune-related complications such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is not fully understood. Here we showed that CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells. CoV-2 is found in the blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) (sCoV-2) directly binds to the CD4 co-receptor, which in turn mediates the entry of CoV-2 in T helper cells in a mechanism that also requires ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Once inside T helper cells, CoV-2 assembles viral factories, impairs cell function and may cause cell death. CoV-2 infected T helper cells express higher amounts of IL-10, which has been associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may explain the poor adaptive immune response of many COVID-19 patients.
Project description:Comparatative gene expression analysis for wild type and NFAT2-/- CD4 T cell subsets including follicular helper CD4+ T (TFH) cells, activated CD4+ T cells, and naive CD4+ T cells isolated from the spleen.
Project description:Analysis of in vivo antigen-specific (LCMV-specific, SMARTA TCR transgenic) follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5high),versus non-follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5low), eight days after viral infection. A paper including data analysis of these experiments has been accepted for publication (Robert J. Johnston et al. Bcl6 and Blimp-1 are reciprocal and antagonistic regulators of follicular helper CD4 T cell differentiation).
Project description:We compared gene expression profiling between CD4+ helper T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells CD4+ helper T cells vs CD8+ cytotoxic T cells
Project description:Follicular helper T (Tfh) are a subset of CD4+ T helper cells that provide help to germinal center B cells and mediate the development of long-lived humoral immunity. Tfh cells dysregulation is associated with several major autoimmune diseases. Although recent studies showed Tfh cells differentiation is controlled by the transcription factor Bcl6, cytokines and cell-cell signals, limited information is available on the proteome and post-translational modifications (PTM) of proteins in human Tfh cells. In this study, using TMT labeling technique, antibody-based affinity enrichment and high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis, we investigated quantitative proteome and acetylome in human naive CD4+ T cells and in vitro induced Tfh (iTfh) cells. In total, we identified 802 up-regulated proteins and 598 down-regulated proteins at the threshold of 1.5 folds in iTfh cells compared to naive CD4+ T cells. With the aid of intensive bioinformatics, biological process, cellular compartment, molecular function, KEGG pathway and protein-protein interaction of these differentially expressed proteins were revealed. Moreover, our acetylome data showed that 22 lysine acetylated proteins are up-regulated and 26 lysine acetylated proteins are down-regulated in iTfh cells compared to the naive CD4+ T cells, among which 11 differentially acetylated lysine residues in core histone were identified, indicating proteins acetylation and epigenetic mechanism are involved in regulating Tfh cells differentiation. These data provide a significant resource for studies of Tfh differentiation and normal and perturbed Tfh cell function.
Project description:CD4 T cell help is critical for both the generation and maintenance of germinal centers, and T follicular helper (TFH) cells are the CD4 T cell subset required for this process. SAP (SH2D1A) expression in CD4 T cells is essential for germinal center development. However, SAP-deficient mice have only a moderate defect in TFH differentiation as defined by common TFH surface markers. CXCR5+ TFH cells are found within the germinal center as well as along the boundary regions of T/B cell zones. Here we show that germinal center associated T cells (GC TFH) can be identified by their co-expression of CXCR5 and the GL7 epitope, allowing for phenotypic and functional analysis of TFH and GC TFH populations. Here we show GC TFH are a functionally discrete subset of further polarized TFH cells, with enhanced B cell help capacity and a specialized ability to produce IL-4 in a TH2-independent manner. Strikingly, SAP-deficient mice have an absence of the GC TFH subset and SAP- TFH are defective in IL-4 and IL-21 production. We further demonstrate that SLAM (Slamf1, CD150), a surface receptor that utilizes SAP signaling, is specifically required for IL-4 production by GC TFH. GC TFH cells require IL-4 and IL-21 production for optimal help to B cells. These data illustrate complexities of SAP-dependent SLAM family receptor signaling, revealing a prominent role for SLAM receptor ligation in IL-4 production by germinal center CD4 T cells but not in TFH and GC TFH differentiation. Analysis of in vivo antigen-specific (LCMV-specific, SMARTA TCR transgenic) WT and Sh2d1a-/- follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5high),versus non-follicular helper CD4 T cells (CXCR5low), eight days after viral infection.
Project description:During a binary cell fate decision, a progeny silences the gene expression program associated with the alternative fate. Helper versus cytotoxic lineage decision in the thymus has been studied as a model for gene silencing of alternative lineage genes, including Cd4. While RUNX3 is required for the initiation of Cd4 silencing, it remains unknown how silenced states of Cd4 and other helper lineage genes are maintained. We show that the histone methyltransferase G9a is necessary for heritable silencing of Cd4 and other helper lineage genes in CD8 T cells. Despite normal Cd4 downregulation during the development, G9a-deficient CD8 T cells fail to maintain silencing of helper lineage genes when they repeatedly divide under non-inflammatory conditions. However, Cd4 depression is prevented during division driven by elevated TCR signaling and an inflammatory cytokine signaling. These results reveal the requirement for G9a in silencing of helper lineage genes in CD8 T cells and also suggest that CD8 T cells employ an alternative mechanism to maintain their cellular identity during immune responses.
Project description:In this experiment we generated Affymetrix gene expression data for T Follicular Helper (TFH) cells from tonsils of healthy volunteers (4 biological replicates) and naive CD4-positive helper T cells (2 biological replicates). TFH cells provide a model relevant to SLE as TFH operate upstream of the activation of pathogenic autoantibody-producing B cells during the disease. This experiment accompanies promoter capture-C and ATAC-seq experiments on the same cell types.