Exhausted-like effector CD8 T cells mediate immune-stromal interactions at mucosal Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease onset.

ABSTRACT: Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) frequently follows allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and impacts the mucosa. This atlas study highlights the role of exhausted-like effector CD8⁺ T cells (T_EXEF) in oral mucosal cGVHD pathogenesis. Biopsies from the oral mucosa were collected at oral cGVHD onset or at six months post-transplant and analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing and other modalities. At cGVHD onset, in addition to changes in the myeloid compartment, two distinct populations of CD8⁺T cells with a T_EXEF phenotype were prevalent: an inflammatory CD8T cell cluster (CD8T_4) expressing CCL4, CD69, and TNFSF9, and an exhausted CD8T cell cluster (CD8T_5) characterized by the expression of CXCL13

SUBMITTER: Costa-da-Silva AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12458946 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature