Specific CD4⁺ T cell phenotypes associate with bacterial control in people who 'resist' infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: A subset of individuals exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that we refer to as 'resisters' (RSTR) show evidence of IFN-γ^- T cell responses to Mtb-specific antigens despite serially negative results on clinical testing. Here we found that Mtb-specific T cells in RSTR were clonally expanded, confirming the priming of adaptive immune responses following Mtb exposure. RSTR CD4⁺ T cells showed enrichment of T_H17 and regulatory T cell-like functional programs compared to Mtb-specific T cells from individuals with latent Mtb infection. Using public datasets, we showed that these T_H17 cell-like functional programs were associated with lack of progression to active tuberculosis among South African adolescents with latent Mtb infection and with ba

SUBMITTER: Sun M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11291275 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature