Characterization of Adaptive-like γδ T Cells in Ugandan Infants during Primary Cytomegalovirus Infection

• Published in: Viruses 2021-10, Vol.13 (10), p.1987
• Main Authors: Tuengel, Jessica, Ranchal, Sanya, Maslova, Alexandra, Aulakh, Gurpreet, Papadopoulou, Maria, Drissler, Sibyl, Cai, Bing, Mohsenzadeh-Green, Cetare, Soudeyns, Hugo, Mostafavi, Sara, van den Elzen, Peter, Vermijlen, David, Cook, Laura, Gantt, Soren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Age Factors; CD57 antigen; Child; Child, Preschool; Cloning; CMV; Cohort Studies; Confidence intervals; Cytomegalovirus; Cytomegalovirus - immunology; Cytomegalovirus - pathogenicity; Cytomegalovirus Infections - epidemiology; Cytomegalovirus Infections - immunology; Cytomegalovirus Infections - virology; Disease transmission; Epstein-Barr virus; Female; Fetuses; Flow cytometry; Flow Cytometry - methods; gamma delta T cell; gammadelta; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunocompetence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Infections; Intraepithelial Lymphocytes - metabolism; Intraepithelial Lymphocytes - physiology; Lymphocyte Activation - immunology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Mothers; Peripheral blood; Plasma; Prospective Studies; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell - genetics; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta - metabolism; Saliva; Serology; T cell receptors; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; Uganda - epidemiology; Vγ8; Vδ1; Vδ3
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13101987

Gamma-delta (γδ) T cells are unconventional T cells that help control cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in adults. γδ T cells develop early in gestation, and a fetal public γδ T cell receptor (TCR) clonotype is detected in congenital CMV infections. However, age-dependent γδ T cell responses to primary CMV infection are not well-understood. Flow cytometry and TCR sequencing was used to comprehensively characterize γδ T cell responses to CMV infection in a cohort of 32 infants followed prospectively from birth. Peripheral blood γδ T cell frequencies increased during infancy, and were higher among CMV-infected infants relative to uninfected. Clustering analyses revealed associations between CMV infection and activation marker expression on adaptive-like Vδ1 and Vδ3, but not innate-like Vγ9Vδ2 γδ T cell subsets. Frequencies of NKG2C CD57 γδ T cells were temporally associated with the quantity of CMV shed in saliva by infants with primary infection. The public γδ TCR clonotype was only detected in CMV-infected infants