No abstract

Analysis of human blood immune cells provides insights into the coordinated response to viral infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We performed single-cell transcriptome, surface proteome and T and B lymphocyte antigen receptor analyses of over 780,000 peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a cross-sectional cohort of 130 patients with varying severities of COVID-19. We identified expansion of nonclassical monocytes expressing complement transcripts (CD16+C1QA/B/C+) that sequester platelets and were predicted to replenish the alveolar macrophage pool in COVID-19. Early, uncommitted CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells were primed toward megakaryopoiesis, accompanied by expanded megakaryocyte-committed progenitors and increased platelet activation. Clonally expanded CD8+ T cells and an increased ratio of CD8+ effector T cells to effector memory T cells characterized severe disease, while circulating follicular helper T cells accompanied mild disease. We observed a relative loss of IgA2 in symptomatic disease despite an overall expansion of plasmablasts and plasma cells. Our study highlights the coordinated immune response that contributes to COVID-19 pathogenesis and reveals discrete cellular components that can be targeted for therapy.

SUMMARY Toll-like receptor 11 (TLR11) recognizes T. gondii profilin (TgPRF) and is required for interleukin-12 production and induction of immune responses that limit cyst burden in Toxoplasma gondii-infected mice. However, TLR11 only modestly affects survival of T. gondii-challenged mice. We report that TLR12, a previously uncharacterized TLR, also recognized TgPRF. TLR12 was sufficient for recognition of TgPRF by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), whereas TLR11 and TLR12 were both required in macrophages and conventional DCs. In contrast to TLR11, TLR12-deficient mice succumb rapidly to T. gondii infection. TLR12-dependent induction of IL-12 and IFN-α in pDCs led to production of IFN-γ by NK cells. Consistent with this observation, the partial resistance of Tlr11−/− mice is lost upon pDC or NK cell depletion. Thus, TLR12 is critical for the innate immune response to T. gondii, and this TLR may promote host resistance by triggering pDC and NK cell function.

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T follicular regulatory (TFR) cells inhibit T follicular helper (TFH) cell-mediated antibody production. The mechanisms by which TFR cells exert their key immunoregulatory functions are largely unknown. Here we show that TFR cells induce a distinct suppressive state in TFH and B cells, in which effector transcriptional signatures are maintained, but key effector molecules and metabolic pathways are suppressed. TFR cell suppression of B cell antibody production and metabolism is durable, and persists even in the absence of TFR cells. This durable suppression is due, in part, to epigenetic changes. IL-21 can overcome TFR cell-mediated suppression, inhibiting TFR cells and stimulating B cells. By determining mechanisms of TFR cell-mediated suppression, we have identified methods for modulating TFR cell function and antibody production.