Tonsillar cytotoxic CD4 T cells are involved in the control of EBV primary infection in children

AMARILLO, MARÍA EUGENIA; MOYANO, AGUSTINA; FERRESSINI GERPE, NATALIA; DE MATTEO, ELENA; PRECIADO, MARIA VICTORIA; CHABAY, PAOLA

Scientific Reports

Nature Publishing Group

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2024 vol. 14

CD4 T cells play a key role in Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection, by modulating latent antigenexpression, and exhibiting cytotoxic and regulatory properties. Our aim was to evaluate the presence of Granzyme B (GZMB) and Foxp3 CD4 T cells at different EBV infection status and latency profiles.We examined CD4, GZMB, Foxp3, IL10, TGF-β, CD4-GZMB and CD4-Foxp3 expression at the tonsilsof pediatric patients with different infective status and EBV latency profiles. CD4+, GZMB+, Foxp3+,CD4-GZMB+ and CD4-Foxp3+ cell counts were higher at the interfollicular region. Higher expressionof CD4-GZMB was found in primary infected patients compared to healthy carriers. In patients thatexpressed latency III antigens, we demonstrated lower CD4+, CD4-GZMB+, CD4-Foxp3+ expression; a negative correlation between the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10+ and GZMB+ as well as a positive correlation of IL-10+ and CD4+. In patients expressing the lytic protein BMRF1, a positive correlation of TGF-β+ with CD4-GZMB+ and CD4-Foxp3+ was observed. Our findings indicate that CD4-GZMB+ cells are involved in the restriction of primary EBV infection in pediatric patients, which could partially explain the lack of symptoms, whereas both CD4-GZMB+ and CD4-Foxp3+ cells could be involved in the modulation of latency.