Developmental Relationships of Four Exhausted CD8+ T Cell Subsets Reveals Underlying Transcriptional and Epigenetic Landscape Control Mechanisms

By Jean-Christophe Beltra, Sasikanth Manne, Mohamed S. Abdel-Hakeem, M. Kurachi, Josephine R. Giles, Zeyu Chen, Valentina Casella, S. Ngiow, O. Khan, Y. J. Huang and 10 more. Immunity, 2020

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SUMMARY CD8+ T cell exhaustion is a major barrier to current anti-cancer immunotherapies. Despite this, the developmental biology of exhausted CD8+ T cells (Tex) remains poorly defined, restraining improvement of strategies aimed at “re-invigorating” Tex cells. Here, we defined a four-cell-stage developmental framework for Tex cells. Two TCF1+ progenitor subsets were identified, one tissue restricted and quiescent and one more blood accessible, that gradually lost TCF1 as it divided and converted to a third intermediate Tex subset. This intermediate subset re-engaged some effector biology and increased upon PD-L1 blockade but ultimately converted into a fourth, terminally exhausted subset. By using transcriptional and epigenetic analyses, we identified the control mechanisms underlying subset transitions and defined a key interplay between TCF1, T-bet, and Tox in the process. These data reveal a four-stage developmental hierarchy for Tex cells and define the molecular, transcriptional, and epigenetic mechanisms that could provide opportunities to improve cancer immunotherapy.

Subfields: Immunology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3f94f4f48535b1ddddf9464fdbb4dcf9062f9b77