Sci Rep . Selective dependence on IL-7 for antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses during airway influenza infection

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Sci Rep


. 2022 Jan 7;12(1):135.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03936-y.
Selective dependence on IL-7 for antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses during airway influenza infection


Abdalla Sheikh ^{1 2} , Jennie Jackson ^{1 2} , Hanjoo Brian Shim ^{1 2 3} , Clement Yau ^{1 2 4} , Jung Hee Seo ^{1 2} , Ninan Abraham ^{5 6 7}



Affiliations

• PMID: 34997007
• PMCID: PMC8741933
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03936-y

Free PMC article

Abstract

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is a cytokine known for its importance in T cell development and survival. How IL-7 shapes CD8 T cell responses during an acute viral infection is less understood. We had previously shown that IL-7 signaling deficient mice have reduced accumulation of influenza-specific CD8 T cells following influenza infection. We sought to determine whether IL-7 affects early CD8 T cell expansion in the mediastinal lymph node and effector function in the lungs. Using IL-7Rα signaling deficient mice, we show that IL-7 is required for a normal sized mediastinal lymph node and the early clonal expansion of influenza-specific CD8 T cells therein. We show that IL-7 plays a cell-intrinsic role in the accumulation of NP_366-374 and PA_224-233-specific CD8 T cells in the lymph node. We also found that IL-7 shapes terminal differentiation, degranulation and cytokine production to a greater extent in PA_224-233-specific than NP_366-374-specific CD8 T cells. We further demonstrate that IL-7 is induced in the lung tissue by viral infection and we characterize multiple cellular sources that contribute to IL-7 production. Our findings on IL-7 and its effects on lower respiratory diseases will be important for expanding the utility of therapeutics that are currently available.