Helminth-induced IL-4 expands bystander memory CD8+ T cells for early control of viral infection

Marion Rolot, Annette M Dougall, Alisha Chetty, Justine Javaux, Ting Chen, Xue Xiao, Bénédicte Machiels, Murray E Selkirk, Rick M Maizels, Cornelis Hokke, Olivier Denis, Frank Brombacher, Alain Vanderplasschen, Laurent Gillet, William G C Horsnell, Benjamin G Dewals

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)
169 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Infection with parasitic helminths can imprint the immune system to modulate bystander inflammatory processes. Bystander or virtual memory CD8+ T cells (TVM) are non-conventional T cells displaying memory properties that can be generated through responsiveness to interleukin (IL)-4. However, it is not clear if helminth-induced type 2 immunity functionally affects the TVM compartment. Here, we show that helminths expand CD44hiCD62LhiCXCR3hiCD49dlo TVM cells through direct IL-4 signaling in CD8+ T cells. Importantly, helminth-mediated conditioning of TVM cells provided enhanced control of acute respiratory infection with the murid gammaherpesvirus 4 (MuHV-4). This enhanced control of MuHV-4 infection could further be explained by an increase in antigen-specific CD8+ T cell effector responses in the lung and was directly dependent on IL-4 signaling. These results demonstrate that IL-4 during helminth infection can non-specifically condition CD8+ T cells, leading to a subsequently raised antigen-specific CD8+ T cell activation that enhances control of viral infection.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4516
Number of pages16
JournalNature Communications
Volume9
Issue number1
Early online date30 Oct 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Helminth-induced IL-4 expands bystander memory CD8+ T cells for early control of viral infection'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this