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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is caused by SARS‐CoV‐2, a novel coronavirus strain. Some studies suggest that COVID‐19 could be an immune‐related disease, and failure of effective immune responses in initial stages of viral infection could contribute to systemic inflammation and tissue damage, leading to worse disease outcomes. T cells can act as a double‐edge sword with both pro‐ and anti‐roles in the progression of COVID‐19. Thus, better understanding of their roles in immune responses to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is crucial. T cells primarily react to the spike protein on the coronavirus to initiate antiviral immunity; however, T‐cell responses can be suboptimal, impaired or excessive in severe COVID‐19 patients. This review focuses on the multifaceted roles of T cells in COVID‐19 pathogenesis and rationalizes their significance in eliciting appropriate antiviral immune responses in COVID‐19 patients and unexposed individuals. In addition, we summarize the potential therapeutic approaches related to T cells to treat COVID‐19 patients. These include adoptive T‐cell therapies, vaccines activating T‐cell responses, recombinant cytokines, Th1 activators and Th17 blockers, and potential utilization of immune checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination with anti‐inflammatory drugs to improve antiviral T‐cell responses against SARS‐CoV‐2.

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TNF and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) have proinflammatory activity and both contribute, for example, to rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis. We previously identified a new GM-CSF→JMJD3 demethylase→interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4)→CCL17 pathway that is active in monocytes/macrophages in vitro and important for inflammatory pain, as well as for arthritic pain and disease. Here we provide evidence for a nexus between TNF and this pathway, and for TNF and GM-CSF interdependency. We report that the initiation of zymosan-induced inflammatory pain and zymosan-induced arthritic pain and disease are TNF dependent. Once arthritic pain and disease are established, blockade of GM-CSF or CCL17, but not of TNF, is still able to ameliorate them. TNF is required for GM-CSF-driven inflammatory pain and for initiation of GM-CSF-driven arthritic pain and disease, but not once they are established. TNF-driven inflammatory pain and TNF-driven arthritic pain and disease are dependent on GM-CSF and mechanistically require the same downstream pathway involving GM-CSF→CCL17 formation via JMJD3-regulated IRF4 production, indicating that GM-CSF and CCL17 can mediate some of the proinflammatory and algesic actions of TNF. Given we found that TNF appears important only early in arthritic pain and disease progression, targeting a downstream mediator, such as CCL17, which appears to act throughout the course of disease, could be effective at ameliorating chronic inflammatory conditions where TNF is implicated.

Despite recent advances in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, a large proportion of patients show limited responses to therapies, especially in advanced stages. There is an urgent need to identify prognostic biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets in advanced stages, aiming to improve the efficacy of current treatments. We aimed to determine prognostic biomarkers in tumor tissue and circulation of CRC patients, with a special focus on T cell exhaustion markers. We found that mRNA levels of PD-1, TIM-3, CTLA-4, TIGIT, CD160, CD244, KLRG1, TOX2, TOX3, Ki-67, and PRDM1 were elevated in CRC tumor tissues. We also investigated differences in gene expression between early and advanced disease stages. We found that TOX and potentially TIM-3, CTLA-4, VISTA, TIGIT, KLRG1, TOX2, SIRT1, Ki-67, and Helios mRNA levels in tumor tissue were elevated in advanced disease stages, suggesting their potential roles in CRC progression. In contrast, PD-1 and CD160 levels in tumor tissue were downregulated in advanced stages. In the circulation of CRC patients, mRNA levels of PD-1, VISTA and LAG-3 were higher than those of healthy individuals. Moreover, in circulation, PD-1, CTLA-4 and TIGIT mRNA levels were reduced in advanced stages. Interestingly, levels of PD-1 in both tumor tissue and circulation were reduced in advanced stages, suggesting that targeting PD-1 in patients with advanced stages could be less effective. Altogether, these findings suggest some potential T cell exhaustion markers that could be utilized as prognostic biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for CRC. However, further investigations and validations in larger cohorts are required to confirm these findings.

Background: Increased numbers of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are positively correlated with poor prognosis and reduced survivals of cancer patients. They play central roles in tumor immune evasion and tumor metastasis. However, limited data are available on phenotypic/transcriptomic characteristics of the different MDSCs subsets in cancer. These cells include immature (I-MDSCs), monocytic (M-MDSCs), and polymorphonuclear/ granulocytic (PMN-MDSCs). Methods: Phenotypic characterization of myeloid subsets from 27 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients was assessed by flow cytometric analyses. RNA-sequencing of sorted I-MDSCs, PMN-MDSCs, and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was also performed. Results: We found that the levels of I-MDSCs and PMN-MDSCs were increased in tumor tissues (TT), compared with normal tissues (NT) in colorectal cancer. Our functional annotation analyses showed that genes associated with histone deacetylase (HDAC) activation-and DNA methylation-mediated transcriptional silencing were upregulated, and histone acetyl transferase (HAT)-related genes were downregulated in tumorinfiltrating I-MDSCs. Moreover, pathways implicated in cell trafficking and immune suppression, including Wnt, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, were upregulated in I-MDSCs. Notably, PMN-MDSCs showed downregulation in genes related to DNA methylation and HDAC binding. Using an ex vivo model, we found that inhibition of HDAC activation or neutralization of IL-6 in CRC tumor tissues downregulates the expression of genes associated with immunosuppression and myeloid cell chemotaxis, confirming the importance of HDAC activation and IL-6 signaling pathway in MDSC function and chemotaxis. Conclusions: This study provides novel insights into the epigenetic regulations and other molecular pathways in different myeloid cell subsets within the CRC tumor microenvironment (TME), giving opportunities to potential targets for therapeutic benefits.