Circulating effector γδ T cell populations are associated with acute coronavirus disease 19 in unvaccinated individuals

Anouk von Borstel; Thi Ho Nguyen; Louise C Rowntree; Thomas M Ashhurst; Lilith F Allen; Lauren J Howson; Natasha E Holmes; Olivia C Smibert; Jason A Trubiano; Claire L Gordon; Allen C Cheng; Stephen J Kent; Jamie Rossjohn; Katherine Kedzierska; Martin S Davey

doi:10.1111/imcb.12623

Circulating effector γδ T cell populations are associated with acute coronavirus disease 19 in unvaccinated individuals

Immunol Cell Biol. 2023 Apr;101(4):321-332. doi: 10.1111/imcb.12623. Epub 2023 Feb 19.

Authors

Anouk von Borstel¹, Thi Ho Nguyen², Louise C Rowntree², Thomas M Ashhurst^{3

4}, Lilith F Allen², Lauren J Howson¹, Natasha E Holmes^{5

6

7

8}, Olivia C Smibert^{5

9

10}, Jason A Trubiano^{8

11}, Claire L Gordon^{2

5}, Allen C Cheng^{12

13}, Stephen J Kent^{2

14

15}, Jamie Rossjohn^{1

16

17}, Katherine Kedzierska^{2

18}, Martin S Davey^{1

19}

Affiliations

¹ Infection and Immunity Program and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ Sydney Cytometry Core Research Facility, Charles Perkins Centre, Centenary Institute and University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Department of Critical Care, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁷ Data Analytics Research and Evaluation (DARE) Centre, Austin Health and University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
⁸ Centre for Antibiotic Allergy and Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
⁹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁰ National Centre for Infections in Cancer, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Medicine (Austin Health), University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
¹² Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology Unit, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹³ School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁴ ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁵ Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Infectious Diseases Department, Alfred Health, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁶ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
¹⁷ Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.
¹⁸ Global Station for Zoonosis Control, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
¹⁹ Division of Biomedical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.

PMID: 36698330
DOI: 10.1111/imcb.12623

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a small proportion of infected individuals. The immune system plays an important role in the defense against SARS-CoV-2, but our understanding of the cellular immune parameters that contribute to severe COVID-19 disease is incomplete. Here, we show that populations of effector γδ T cells are associated with COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients with acute disease. We found that circulating CD27^neg CD45RA⁺ CX3CR1⁺ Vδ1_effector cells expressing Granzymes (Gzms) were enriched in COVID-19 patients with acute disease. Moreover, higher frequencies of GzmB⁺ Vδ2⁺ T cells were observed in acute COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 infection did not alter the γδ T cell receptor repertoire of either Vδ1⁺ or Vδ2⁺ subsets. Our work demonstrates an association between effector populations of γδ T cells and acute COVID-19 in unvaccinated individuals.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Vδ1 T cells; Vδ2 T cells; γδ T cells.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acute Disease
COVID-19*
Humans
Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta
SARS-CoV-2
T-Lymphocyte Subsets*

Substances

Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta

Grants and funding

HHS-NIH-NIAID-BAA2018/AO/NIAID NIH HHS/United States