Tumor-induced double positive T cells display distinct lineage commitment mechanisms and functions.
J Exp Med 2022;
219:e20212169. [PMID:
35604411 PMCID:
PMC9130031 DOI:
10.1084/jem.20212169]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription factors ThPOK and Runx3 regulate the differentiation of "helper" CD4+ and "cytotoxic" CD8+ T cell lineages respectively, inducing single positive (SP) T cells that enter the periphery with the expression of either the CD4 or CD8 co-receptor. Despite the expectation that these cell fates are mutually exclusive and that mature CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) T cells are present in healthy individuals and augmented in the context of disease, yet their molecular features and pathophysiologic role are disputed. Here, we show DP T cells in murine and human tumors as a heterogenous population originating from SP T cells which re-express the opposite co-receptor and acquire features of the opposite cell type's phenotype and function following TCR stimulation. We identified distinct clonally expanded DP T cells in human melanoma and lung cancer by scRNA sequencing and demonstrated their tumor reactivity in cytotoxicity assays. Our findings indicate that antigen stimulation induces SP T cells to differentiate into DP T cell subsets gaining in polyfunctional characteristics.
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