GSE132367
Molecular signatures of dengue virus-specific IL-10/IFN-? co-producing CD4 T cells and their association with severe dengue disease
Dengue virus (DENV) infection is associated with a range of clinical manifestations, from self-limiting dengue fever (DF) to life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Although DENV-specific CD4 T cells are capable of producing inflammatory cytokines and can acquire cytotoxic functions in previously DENV-exposed individuals, much less is known related to DENV-specific CD4 T cells during acute DENV infection and disease. In this study, we set out to characterize the immune signatures of DENV-specific CD4 T cells during acute infection and investigate whether DENV-specific CD4 T cell response differs between DF and DHF. Previous studies suggest that increased IL-10 level in the blood is associated with severe dengue disease. Here we show evidence of DENV-specific IL-10-producing CD4 T cells during acute DENV infection. More specifically, an IL-10+IFN-?+ double positive (DP) CD4 T cell population was prominent in acute hospitalized DENV cases but disappeared at the convalescent stage. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that these cells were associated with gene signatures that marginally overlapped with previously identified signatures of cytotoxic CD4 T cells and type 1 regulatory T (Tr1)-like cells. However, the majority of the genes differentially expressed by DP cells were not related to cytotoxic CD4 T cells or Tr1-like cells. These genes include IL-21, IL-22, CD86, CD109, and CCR1, which are involved in T cell activation, function, cytokine signaling, and migration. Notably, the magnitude of DP cell response was higher in DHF than DF, whereas the gene expression profile of DP cells was similar between DF and DHF. Finally, our data show that DENV-specific DP cells are largely homogeneous based on the expression of 31 selected markers. Overall, this study reveals unique phenotypes of virus-specific IL-10/IFN-? co-producing CD4 cells and indicates that the quantity but not quality of these cells may be positively correlated with dengue disease severity. Overall design: RNA-sequencing of sorted dengue virus epitopes-stimulated IL-10-IFN-?-, IL-10+IFN-?-, IL-10-IFN-?+, and IL-10+IFN-?+ CD4 T cells from cryopreserved PBMC of 10 dengue fever (DF) and 10 dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) patients