[HTML][HTML] Single-cell characterization of leukemic and non-leukemic immune repertoires in CD8+ T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia

J Huuhtanen, D Bhattacharya, T Lönnberg… - Nature …, 2022 - nature.com
J Huuhtanen, D Bhattacharya, T Lönnberg, M Kankainen, C Kerr, J Theodoropoulos…
Nature Communications, 2022nature.com
T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of
mature, clonally expanded T cells, where somatic-activating STAT3 mutations are common.
Although T-LGLL has been described as a chronic T cell response to an antigen, the
function of the non-leukemic immune system in this response is largely uncharacterized.
Here, by utilizing single-cell RNA and T cell receptor profiling (scRNA+ TCRαβ-seq), we
show that irrespective of STAT3 mutation status, T-LGLL clonotypes are more cytotoxic and …
Abstract
T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of mature, clonally expanded T cells, where somatic-activating STAT3 mutations are common. Although T-LGLL has been described as a chronic T cell response to an antigen, the function of the non-leukemic immune system in this response is largely uncharacterized. Here, by utilizing single-cell RNA and T cell receptor profiling (scRNA+TCRαβ-seq), we show that irrespective of STAT3 mutation status, T-LGLL clonotypes are more cytotoxic and exhausted than healthy reactive clonotypes. In addition, T-LGLL clonotypes show more active cell communication than reactive clones with non-leukemic immune cells via costimulatory cell–cell interactions, monocyte-secreted proinflammatory cytokines, and T-LGLL-clone-secreted IFNγ. Besides the leukemic repertoire, the non-leukemic T cell repertoire in T-LGLL is also more mature, cytotoxic, and clonally restricted than in other cancers and autoimmune disorders. Finally, 72% of the leukemic T-LGLL clonotypes share T cell receptor similarities with their non-leukemic repertoire, linking the leukemic and non-leukemic repertoires together via possible common target antigens. Our results provide a rationale to prioritize therapies that target the entire immune repertoire and not only the T-LGLL clonotype.
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