A liver immune rheostat regulates CD8 T cell immunity in chronic HBV infection.

ABSTRACT: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection affects 300 million patients worldwide^1,2, in whom virus-specific CD8 T cells by still ill-defined mechanisms lose their function and cannot eliminate HBV-infected hepatocytes^3-7. Here we demonstrate that a liver immune rheostat renders virus-specific CD8 T cells refractory to activation and leads to their loss of effector functions. In preclinical models of persistent infection with hepatotropic viruses such as HBV, dysfunctional virus-specific CXCR6⁺ CD8 T cells accumulated in the liver and, as a characteristic hallmark, showed enhanced transcriptional activity of cAMP-responsive element modulator (CREM) distinct from T cell exhaustion. In patients with chronic hepatitis B, circulating and intrahepatic HBV-specifi

SUBMITTER: Bosch M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11269190 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature