Antigen specificity and cross-reactivity drive functionally diverse anti-Aspergillus fumigatus T cell responses in cystic fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUNDThe fungus Aspergillus fumigatus causes a variety of clinical phenotypes in patients with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). Th cells orchestrate immune responses against fungi, but the types of A. fumigatus-specific Th cells in pwCF and their contribution to protective immunity or inflammation remain poorly characterized.METHODSWe used antigen-reactive T cell enrichment (ARTE) to investigate fungus-reactive Th cells in peripheral blood of pwCF and healthy controls.RESULTSWe show that clonally expanded, high-avidity A. fumigatus-specific effector Th cells, which were absent in healthy donors, developed in pwCF. Individual patients were characterized by distinct Th1-, Th2-, or Th17-dominated responses that remained stable over several years. These different Th subsets target different A. fum

SUBMITTER: Schwarz C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9974102 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature