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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.09.07.611010

Antigen-specificity of clonally-enriched CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

CD8+ T cells are the dominant lymphocyte population in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions where they are highly clonally expanded. The clonal identity, function, and antigen specificity of CD8+ T cells in MS are not well understood. Here we report a comprehensive single-cell RNA-seq and T cell receptor (TCR)-seq analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood from a cohort of treatment-naive MS patients and control participants. A small subset of highly expanded and activated CD8+ T cells were enriched in the CSF in MS that displayed high activation, cytotoxicity and tissue-homing transcriptional profiles. Using a combination of unbiased and targeted antigen discovery approaches, MS-derived CD8+ T cell clonotypes recognizing Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens and multiple novel mimotopes were identified. These findings shed vital insight into the role of CD8+ T cells in MS and pave the way towards disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=131 SRC="FIGDIR/small/611010v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (30K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a0b738org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@5cf5c2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@10abdccorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@32c7b2_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical SummaryC_FLOATNO Created in BioRender. Sabatino, J. (2024) BioRender.com/e66l598 C_FIG

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BibTeXRIS

Mittl, K., Hayashi, F., Dandekar, R., Schubert, R. D., Gerdts, J., Oshiro, L., Loudermilk, R., Greenfield, A. L., Augusto, D. G., Ramesh, A., Tran, E., Koshal, K., Kizer, K., Dreux, J., Cagalingan, A., Schustek, F., Flood, L., Moore, T., Kirkemo, L. L., Cooper, T., Harms, M., Gomez, R., University of California, San Francisco MS-EPIC Team,, Sibener, L., Cree, B. A. C., Hauser, S. L., Hollenbach, J. A., Gee, M., Wilson, M. R., Zamvil, S., Sabatino, J. J.. 2024-09-07. Antigen-specificity of clonally-enriched CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.07.611010

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