Cited by 338Gut microbiota and healthInflammatory Bowel DiseaseT-cell and B-cell Immunology

Circulating and Tissue-Resident CD4+ T Cells With Reactivity to Intestinal Microbiota Are Abundant in Healthy Individuals and Function Is Altered During Inflammation

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Hegazy, Ahmed N., West, Nathaniel R., Stubbington, Michael J.T., Wendt, Emily, Suijker, Kim I.M., Datsi, Angeliki, This, Sebastien, Danne, Camille +9 more·2017·Gastroenterology

Abstract

Background & Aims Interactions between commensal microbes and the immune system are tightly regulated and maintain intestinal homeostasis, but little is known about these interactions in humans. We investigated responses of human CD4 + T cells to the intestinal microbiota. We measured the abundance of T cells in circulation and intestinal tissues that respond to intestinal microbes and determined their clonal diversity. We also assessed their functional phenotypes and effects on intestinal resident cell populations, and studied alterations in microbe-reactive T cells in patients with chronic intestinal inflammation. Methods We collected samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and intestinal tissues from healthy individuals (controls, n = 13−30) and patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (n = 119; 59 with ulcerative colitis and 60 with Crohn's disease). We used 2 independent assays (CD154 detection and carboxy-fluorescein succinimidyl ester dilution assays) and 9 intestinal bacterial species ( Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Bacteroides vulgatus, Roseburia intestinalis, Ruminococcus obeum, Salmonella typhimurium, and Clostridium difficile ) to quantify, expand, and characterize microbe-reactive CD4 + T cells. We sequenced T-cell receptor Vβ genes in expanded microbe-reactive T-cell lines to determine their clonal diversity. We examined the effects of microbe-reactive CD4 + T cells on intestinal stromal and epithelial cell lines. Cytokines, chemokines, and gene expression patterns were measured by flow cytometry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results Circulating and gut-resident CD4 + T cells from controls responded to bacteria at frequencies of 40−4000 per million for each bacterial species tested. Microbiota-reactive CD4 + T cells were mainly of a memory phenotype, present in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and intestinal tissue, and had a diverse T-cell receptor Vβ repertoire. These cells were functionally heterogeneous, produced barrier-protective cytokines, and stimulated intestinal stromal and epithelial cells via interleukin 17A, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor. In patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, microbiota-reactive CD4 + T cells were reduced in the blood compared with intestine; T-cell responses that we detected had an increased frequency of interleukin 17A production compared with responses of T cells from blood or intestinal tissues of controls. Conclusions In an analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and intestinal tissues from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases vs controls, we found that reactivity to intestinal bacteria is a normal property of the human CD4 + T-cell repertoire, and does not necessarily indicate disrupted interactions between immune cells and the commensal microbiota. T-cell responses to commensals might support intestinal homeostasis, by producing barrier-protective cytokines and providing a large pool of T cells that react to pathogens.

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Crossref · 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.07.047

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  • Gut-resident bacteria-reactive T cells produced more IFNγ, IL-17A and IL-2 and less IL-22, GMCSF and IL-4 than non-enteric microbiota-reactive T cells.

    “Compared with non-enteric microbiota-reactive T cells, gut-resident bacteria-reactive T cells produced high amounts of IFNγ, IL-17A and IL-2, and low amounts of IL-22, GMCSF and IL-4 (ref. 112).”
  • In IBD, circulating and gut-resident microbiota-reactive CD4+ T cells secreted more IL-17A than those from healthy volunteers.

    “In pathological circumstances of mucosal barrier dysfunction, such as IBD, circulating and gut-resident microbiota-reactive CD4+ T cells secreted increased levels of IL-17A compared with those from healthy volunteers112.”
  • In healthy volunteers, enteric bacteria-reactive CD4+ T cells occurred at precursor frequencies of 40-500 per 10^6 circulating CD4+ T cells for almost all enteric bacteria tested.

    “In a survey of healthy volunteers, enteric bacteria-reactive CD4+ T cells were present at precursor frequencies of 40–500 cells per 106 circulating CD4+ T cells for almost all enteric bacteria analysed112; the frequency of bacteria-reactive T cells in gut tissue was threefold to eightfold that in circulation.”
  • Bacteria-reactive T cell frequency in gut tissue was threefold to eightfold higher than in circulation.

    “In a survey of healthy volunteers, enteric bacteria-reactive CD4+ T cells were present at precursor frequencies of 40–500 cells per 106 circulating CD4+ T cells for almost all enteric bacteria analysed112; the frequency of bacteria-reactive T cells in gut tissue was threefold to eightfold that in circulation.”
  • T cell responses against commensals are commonly found in healthy people.

    “T cell responses against commensals are commonly detected in healthy individuals, suggesting that these cells participate in intestinal homeostasis by producing barrier-protective cytokines, and might constitute a sizeable pool of pathobiont-reactive T cells112.”

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  1. [5]Frentsch M. Arbach O. Kirchhoff D. Direct access to CD4+ T cells specific for defined antigens according to CD154 expression Nat Med 11 2005 1118 1124 16186818
  2. [7]Newman A.M. Liu C.L. Green M.R. Robust enumeration of cell subsets from tissue expression profiles Nat Methods 12 2015 453 457 25822800 PMC4739640

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Authors
Hegazy, A. N., West, N. R., Stubbington, M. J. T., Wendt, E., Suijker, K. I. M., Datsi, A., This, S., Danne, C., Campion, S., Duncan, S. H., Owens, B. M. J., Uhlig, H. H., McMichael, A., Bergthaler, A., Teichmann, S. A., Keshav, S., & Powrie, F.
Affiliations
  • John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
  • European Bioinformatics Institute (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of Aberdeen (GB)
  • Austrian Academy of Sciences (AT)
Corresponding author
Powrie, Fiona
Venue
Gastroenterology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-11
Volume
153
Issue
5
Pages
1320-1337.e16
ISSN
0016-5085 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2744280559
Cited by
338
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 1
FWCI
11.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Gastroenterology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Aberdeen University Research Archive (Aberdeen University) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (cc-by)
Funders
  • Cancer Research Institute
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • Pfizer
  • Gilead Sciences
  • Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
  • Wellcome Trust (102974/Z/13/Z, 095688/Z/11/Z)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR-RP-R3-12-026)
  • Vifor Pharma
  • Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation
  • Dr. Falk Pharma
  • Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Allergan
  • Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00008/7)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (UM1AI100645)
  • UCB Pharma
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
Keywords
CD4+ T cells, gut microbiota, commensal bacteria, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, T cell receptor V beta repertoire, memory T cells, intestinal homeostasis, IL-17A, interferon-gamma, TNF-α, intestinal epithelial cells, intestinal stromal cells
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Bacteria, Cell Line, Colitis, Ulcerative, Crohn Disease, Humans, Immunologic Memory, Intestines, Phenotype, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Case-Control Studies, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta, CD4 Lymphocyte Count, Immunity, Mucosal, Interleukin-17, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Th17 Cells

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