Preceding Viral Infections Do Not Imprint Long-Term Changes in Regulatory T Cell Function

Sci Rep. 2020 May 20;10(1):8350. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65212-9.

Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain peripheral self-tolerance and limit immune mediated pathology. Like effector T cells, Tregs can specialize in TH1-dominated immune responses and co-express T-bet together with Foxp3. This allows for expression of CXCR3 and efficient homing to sites of TH1 responses. However, whether such functional specialization is paralleled by memory generation among Tregs is unknown. In this study, we investigated the ability of polyclonal Tregs to form functional memory in response to viral infection. Using adoptive transfer models to compare infection-experienced Tregs generated upon acute Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) WE and Vaccinia Virus (VV) infections with naive Tregs, we observed no differences in their phenotype or their in vivo maintenance. When comparing functional properties of infection-experienced and naive Tregs, we found no differences in in vitro suppressive capacity nor in their ability to limit the effector response upon homologous, systemic or local re-challenge in vivo. Our results suggest that no functional Treg memory is generated in the context of systemic LCMV or VV infection, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the generation of Treg memory may be possible in other contexts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adoptive Transfer
  • Animals
  • Arenaviridae Infections / immunology*
  • Arenaviridae Infections / virology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Humans
  • Immunologic Memory*
  • Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
  • Mice
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / transplantation
  • Vaccinia / immunology*
  • Vaccinia / virology
  • Vaccinia virus / immunology