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Mucosal Immunol
. 2022 Apr 13.
doi: 10.1038/s41385-022-00510-1. Online ahead of print.
ADP-ribosylating adjuvant reveals plasticity in cDC1 cells that drive mucosal Th17 cell development and protection against influenza virus infection
Mohammad Arabpour 1 , Cristina Lebrero-Fernandez 1 , Karin Schön 1 , Anneli Strömberg 1 , Vanja Börjesson 2 , Katharina Lahl 3 , Marlies Ballegeer 4 , Xavier Saelens 4 , Davide Angeletti 1 , William Agace 3 5 , Nils Lycke 6
Affiliations
- PMID: 35418673
- DOI: 10.1038/s41385-022-00510-1
Abstract
Migratory dendritic cells expressing CD103 are the targets for mucosal vaccines. These belong to either of two lineage-restricted subsets, cDC1 or cDC2 cells, which have been linked to priming of functionally distinct CD4 T cells. However, recent studies have identified plasticity in cDC2 cells with overlapping functions with cDC1 cells, while the converse has not been reported. We genetically engineered a vaccine adjuvant platform that targeted the cholera toxin A1 (CTA1) ADP-ribosylating enzyme to CD103+ cDC1 and cDC2 cells using a single-chain antibody (scFv) to CD103. Unexpectedly, intranasal immunization with the CTA1-svFcCD103 adjuvant modified cDC1 cells to effectively prime Th17 cells, a function previously limited to cDC2 cells. In fact, cDC2 cells were dispensible, while cDC1 cells, lacking in Batf3-/- mice, were critical. Following intranasal immunizations isolated cDC1 cells from mLN exclusively promoted Rorgt+ T cells and IL-17, IL-21, and IL-22 production. Strong CD8 T cell responses through antigen cross presentation by cDC1 cells were also observed. Single-cell RNAseq analysis revealed upregulation of Th17-promoting gene signatures in sorted cDC1 cells. Gene expression in isolated cDC2 cells was largely unaffected. Our finding represents a major shift of paradigm as we have documented functional plasticity in cDC1 cells.