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Immune surveillance by CD8αα+ skin-resident T cells in human herpes virus infection

Nature volume 497, pages 494–497 (2013)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 12 June 2013

This article has been updated

Abstract

Most herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) reactivations in humans are subclinical and associated with rapid expansion and containment of virus. Previous studies have shown that CD8+ T cells persist in genital skin and mucosa at the dermal–epidermal junction (DEJ)—the portal of neuronal release of reactivating virus—for prolonged time periods after herpes lesions are cleared1,2. The phenotype and function of this persistent CD8+ T-cell population remain unknown. Here, using cell-type-specific laser capture microdissection, transcriptional profiling and T-cell antigen receptor β-chain (TCRβ) genotyping on sequential genital skin biopsies, we show that CD8αα+ T cells are the dominant resident population of DEJ CD8+ T cells that persist at the site of previous HSV-2 reactivation. CD8αα+ T cells located at the DEJ lack chemokine-receptor expression required for lymphocyte egress and recirculation, express gene signatures of T-cell activation and antiviral activity, and produce cytolytic granules during clinical and virological quiescent time periods. Sequencing of the TCR β-chain repertoire reveals that the DEJ CD8αα+ T cells are oligoclonal with diverse usage of TCR variable-β genes, which differ from those commonly described for mucosa-associated invariant T cells and natural killer T cells. Dominant clonotypes are shown to overlap among multiple recurrences over a period of two-and-a-half years. Episodes of rapid asymptomatic HSV-2 containment were also associated with a high CD8 effector-to-target ratio and focal enrichment of CD8αα+ T cells. These studies indicate that DEJ CD8αα+ T cells are tissue-resident cells that seem to have a fundamental role in immune surveillance and in initial containment of HSV-2 reactivation in human peripheral tissue. Elicitation of CD8αα+ T cells may be a critical component for developing effective vaccines against skin and mucosal infections.

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Figure 1: CD8αα+, but not CD8α+β+, T cells persist at the DEJ in human HSV-2 infection.
Figure 2: Tissue residence and effector function of DEJ CD8αα+ T cells in post-healed tissue.
Figure 3: DEJ CD8 cells in early containment during asymptomatic HSV-2 reactivation.
Figure 4: Characteristics of DEJ CD8 cell TCRβ repertoire.

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  • 12 June 2013

    Nature 497, 494–497 (2013); doi:10.1038/nature12110 In Fig. 2a of our Letter, the label ‘CXCR7’ should be ‘CXCR6’, and the label ‘CXCR8’ should be ‘CXCR7’. This error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the paper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Huang, H. Xie, J. Vazquez and D. McDonald for technical assistance; M. Prlic and C. Desmarais for discussion and reading the manuscript and M. Miner for editing. We also thank our study participants and S. Kuntz and M. Stern for clinical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R37AI042528, R01AI04252815, P01AI030731 and R56AI093746) and the James B. Pendleton Charitable Trust.

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Author notes

  1. Jia Zhu and Tao Peng: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Jia Zhu, Angela S. Kask, Alexis Klock, Lei Jin, Kurt Diem, David M. Koelle, Anna Wald & Lawrence Corey

  2. Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, 98109, Washington, USA

    Jia Zhu, Tao Peng, Khamsone Phasouk, David M. Koelle, Anna Wald & Lawrence Corey

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Tao Peng, Christine Johnston, David M. Koelle, Anna Wald & Lawrence Corey

  4. Department of Pathobiology, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    David M. Koelle & Lawrence Corey

  5. Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, 98104, Washington, USA

    David M. Koelle

  6. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Anna Wald

  7. Program in Computational Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, 98109, Washington, USA

    Harlan Robins

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Contributions

J.Z. and L.C. conceived the study and wrote the manuscript. J.Z. and T.P. developed the technology and analysed and interpreted the data. K.P., A.S.K., A.K., L.J. and K.D. performed the experiments. D.M.K. isolated HSV-2 reactive CD8+ T cells and peptide epitope used in the study. C.J. and A.W. directed human biopsy studies. H.R. contributed to TCR data analysis and interpretation. All authors contributed to the discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jia Zhu or Lawrence Corey.

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Competing interests

L.C. is on the scientific advisory board for, and hold stock (<1% of company) in, Immune Design Corp. H.R. is a co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, owns stock and intellectual property of this company, and consults for the company. A.W. has received research support from NIH, Genocea Biosciences, Agenus, and Gilead Sciences, and has been a consultant to Aicuris GmbH. D.M.K. is a consultant for Agenus and EISAI. C.J. is conducting research with AiCuris GmbH, which is developing treatment for HSV.

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Zhu, J., Peng, T., Johnston, C. et al. Immune surveillance by CD8αα+ skin-resident T cells in human herpes virus infection. Nature 497, 494–497 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12110

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