biostudies-literatureUnknown13(1)Shen CAcute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) is a rare, but severe complication of liver transplantation (LT). It is caused by the activation of donor immune cells in the graft against the host shortly after transplantation, but the contributing pathogenic factors remain unclear. Here we show that human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-1) infection of donor T cells is highly associated with aGVHD following LT. The presence of HTLV-1 in peripheral blood and tissue samples from a discovery cohort of 7 aGVHD patients and 17 control patients is assessed with hybridization probes (TargetSeq), mass cytometry (CyTOF), and multiplex immunohistology (IMC). All 7 of our aGVHD patients display detectable HTLV-1 Tax signals by IMC. We identify donor-derived cells based on a Y chromosome-specific geneNature communications7368https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9712688biostudies-literatureHTLV-1 infection of donor-derived T cells might promote acute graft-versus-host disease following liver transplantation.PMC9712688Li YDing XQian YWang BZhang JXia QLu TMaboyi NShen CZong ZDeng YfalseHTLV-1 infection of donor-derived T cells might promote acute graft-versus-host disease following liver transplantation.Acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) is a rare, but severe complication of liver transplantation (LT). It is caused by the activation of donor immune cells in the graft against the host shortly after transplantation, but the contributing pathogenic factors remain unclear. Here we show that human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-1) infection of donor T cells is highly associated with aGVHD following LT. The presence of HTLV-1 in peripheral blood and tissue samples from a discovery cohort of 7 aGVHD patients and 17 control patients is assessed with hybridization probes (TargetSeq), mass cytometry (CyTOF), and multiplex immunohistology (IMC). All 7 of our aGVHD patients display detectable HTLV-1 Tax signals by IMC. We identify donor-derived cells based on a Y chromosome-specific gene2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Nov2025-04-25T17:15:36.777Z2025-04-06T04:56:11.774ZS-EPMC97126883645074810.1038/s41467-022-35111-w