The pre-exposure SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell repertoire determines the quality of the immune response to vaccination.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination generates enormous host-response heterogeneity and an age-dependent loss of immune-response quality. How the pre-exposure T cell repertoire contributes to this heterogeneity is poorly understood. We combined analysis of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells pre- and post-vaccination with longitudinal T cell receptor tracking. We identified strong pre-exposure T cell variability that correlated with subsequent immune-response quality and age. High-quality responses, defined by strong expansion of high-avidity spike-specific T cells, high interleukin-21 production, and specific immunoglobulin G, depended on an intact naive repertoire and exclusion of pre-existing memory T cells. In the elderly, T cell expansion from both compartments was severely compromised. Our results reveal that an intrinsic defect of the CD4+ T cell repertoire causes the age-dependent decline of immune-response quality against SARS-CoV-2 and highlight the need for alternative strategies to induce high-quality T cell responses against newly arising pathogens in the elderly.

Immunopeptidomics toolkit library (IPTK): a python-based modular toolbox for analyzing immunopeptidomics data.

BACKGROUND: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins play a fundamental role in the adaptive immune system as they present peptides to T cells. Mass-spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics is a promising and powerful tool for characterizing the immunopeptidomic landscape of HLA proteins, that is the peptides presented on HLA proteins. Despite the growing interest in the technology, and the recent rise of immunopeptidomics-specific identification pipelines, there is still a gap in data-analysis and software tools that are specialized in analyzing and visualizing immunopeptidomics data. RESULTS: We present the IPTK library which is an open-source Python-based library for analyzing, visualizing, comparing, and integrating different omics layers with the identified peptides for an in-depth characterization of the immunopeptidome. Using different datasets, we illustrate the ability of the library to enrich the result of the identified peptidomes. Also, we demonstrate the utility of the library in developing other software and tools by developing an easy-to-use dashboard that can be used for the interactive analysis of the results. CONCLUSION: IPTK provides a modular and extendable framework for analyzing and integrating immunopeptidomes with different omics layers. The library is deployed into PyPI at https://pypi.org/project/IPTKL/ and into Bioconda at https://anaconda.org/bioconda/iptkl , while the source code of the library and the dashboard, along with the online tutorials are available at https://github.com/ikmb/iptoolkit .

Inclusion of BLIMP-1+ effector regulatory T cells improves the Immunoscore in a cohort of New Zealand colorectal cancer patients: a pilot study.

Analysis of tumour-infiltrating T cells in colorectal cancer can predict disease-free survival. The Immunoscore, obtained by quantifying tumour-infiltrating CD3+ and CD8+ T cells, may improve current staging. Effector regulatory T cells are a potently suppressive subset in mice and, while present in human colorectal cancer, their role in patient outcome is unknown. Immunofluorescence was used to analyse immune cell infiltrates in patients with early (stage II) colorectal cancer with (n = 13) and without (n = 19) recurrent disease. CD3 and CD8 were used for the Immunoscore; FOXP3, BLIMP-1 and CD3 to identify effector regulatory T cells. Patients with high Immunoscores had increased disease-free survival compared to patients with low Immunoscores (Log-rank test p < 0.01). Prediction of outcome was further improved by stratifying patients with a low Immunoscore according to CD3+FOXP3+BLIMP-1+ cell infiltration at the invasive margin. Patients with a low Immunoscore and high infiltrate of CD3+FOXP3+BLIMP-1+ cells tended to have better disease-free survival than patients with low Immunoscore and low infiltrate of CD3+FOXP3+BLIMP-1+ cells. Patients with a high Immunoscore had better disease-free survival than patients with a low Immunoscore and low infiltrate of CD3+ FOXP3+ BLIMP-1+ cells (Log-rank test p < 0.001). These results indicate that tumour infiltration with effector regulatory T cells improves the prognostic value of the Immunoscore and implies that these cells may play a role in colorectal cancer patient outcome.

Selection of cross-reactive T cells by commensal and food-derived yeasts drives cytotoxic TH1 cell responses in Crohn's disease.

Aberrant CD4+ T cell reactivity against intestinal microorganisms is considered to drive mucosal inflammation in inflammatory bowel diseases. The disease-relevant microbial species and the corresponding microorganism-specific, pathogenic T cell phenotypes remain largely unknown. In the present study, we identified common gut commensal and food-derived yeasts, as direct activators of altered CD4+ T cell reactions in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Yeast-responsive CD4+ T cells in CD display a cytotoxic T helper cell (TH1 cell) phenotype and show selective expansion of T cell clones that are highly cross-reactive to several commensal, as well as food-derived, fungal species. This indicates cross-reactive T cell selection by repeated encounter with conserved fungal antigens in the context of chronic intestinal disease. Our results highlighted a role of yeasts as drivers of aberrant CD4+ T cell reactivity in patients with CD and suggest that both gut-resident fungal commensals and daily dietary intake of yeasts might contribute to chronic activation of inflammatory CD4+ T cell responses in patients with CD.