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Gut. 2019 Jan 8. pii: gutjnl-2018-316641. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2018-316641. [Epub ahead of print]
Phenotypic and functional differences of HBV core-specific versus HBV polymerase-specific CD8+ T cells in chronically HBV-infected patients with low viral load.
Schuch A1,2,3, Salimi Alizei E#1,2,4, Heim K#1,2,3, Wieland D1,2, Kiraithe MM1,2, Kemming J1,2,3, Llewellyn-Lacey S5, Sogukpinar Ö1,2, Ni Y6, Urban S6,7, Zimmermann P1,2,3, Nassal M1,2, Emmerich F8, Price DA5, Bengsch B1,2, Luxenburger H1,2, Neumann-Haefelin C1,2, Hofmann M#1,2, Thimme R#1,2.
Author information
1
Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
2
Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
3
Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
4
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
5
Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK.
6
Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
7
German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
8
Institute for Cell and Gene Therapy, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
#
Contributed equally
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
A hallmark of chronic HBV (cHBV) infection is the presence of impaired HBV-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Functional T cell exhaustion induced by persistent antigen stimulation is considered a major mechanism underlying this impairment. However, due to their low frequencies in chronic infection, it is currently unknown whether HBV-specific CD8+ T cells targeting different epitopes are similarly impaired and share molecular profiles indicative of T cell exhaustion.
DESIGN:
By applying peptide-loaded MHC I tetramer-based enrichment, we could detect HBV-specific CD8+ T cells targeting epitopes in the HBV core and the polymerase proteins in the majority of 85 tested cHBV patients with low viral loads. Lower detection rates were obtained for envelope-specific CD8+ T cells. Subsequently, we performed phenotypic and functional in-depth analyses.
RESULTS:
HBV-specific CD8+ T cells are not terminally exhausted but rather exhibit a memory-like phenotype in patients with low viral load possibly reflecting weak ongoing cognate antigen recognition. Moreover, HBV-specific CD8+ T cells targeting core versus polymerase epitopes significantly differed in frequency, phenotype and function. In particular, in comparison with core-specific CD8+ T cells, a higher frequency of polymerase-specific CD8+ T cells expressed CD38, KLRG1 and Eomes accompanied by low T-bet expression and downregulated CD127 indicative of a more severe T cell exhaustion. In addition, polymerase-specific CD8+ T cells exhibited a reduced expansion capacity that was linked to a dysbalanced TCF1/BCL2 expression.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall, the molecular mechanisms underlying impaired T cell responses differ with respect to the targeted HBV antigens. These results have potential implications for immunotherapeutic approaches in HBV cure.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
KEYWORDS:
BCL-2 family proteins; T lymphocytes; chronic viral hepatitis; hepatitis B; immune response
PMID:
30622109
DOI:
10.1136/gutjnl-2018-316641
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