Pallett et al. identify tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells compartmentalized in the healthy human liver that expand in controlled hepatotropic infection and can swiftly produce antiviral cytokines. This prototype may inform the development of liver-targeted T cell immunotherapy.

Currently no vaccine exists for hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major pathogen thought to infect 170 million people globally. Many studies suggest that host T cell responses are critical for spontaneous resolution of disease, and preclinical studies have indicated a requirement for T cells in protection against challenge. We aimed to elicit HCV-specific T cells with the potential for protection using a recombinant adenoviral vector strategy in a Phase I study of healthy human volunteers. Two adenoviral vectors expressing NS proteins from HCV genotype 1B were constructed based on rare serotypes (Human Adenovirus 6 (Ad6) and Chimpanzee Adenovirus 3 (ChAd3)). Both vectors primed T cell responses against HCV proteins; these T cell responses targeted multiple proteins and were capable of recognizing heterologous strains (genotypes 1A and 3A). HCV-specific T cells consisted of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells subsets, secreted IL-2, IFNγ, and TNFα, and could be sustained for at least a year after boosting with the heterologous adenoviral vector. Studies using MHC peptide tetramers revealed long-lived central and effector memory pools that retained polyfunctionality and proliferative capacity. These data indicate that an adenoviral vector strategy can induce sustained T cell responses of a magnitude and quality associated with protective immunity, and open the way for studies of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for HCV.

SummaryThe C-type lectin CD161 is expressed by a large proportion of human T lymphocytes of all lineages, including a population known as mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. To understand whether different T cell subsets expressing CD161 have similar properties, we examined these populations in parallel using mass cytometry and mRNA microarray approaches. The analysis identified a conserved CD161++/MAIT cell transcriptional signature enriched in CD161+CD8+ T cells, which can be extended to CD161+ CD4+ and CD161+TCRγδ+ T cells. Furthermore, this led to the identification of a shared innate-like, TCR-independent response to interleukin (IL)-12 plus IL-18 by different CD161-expressing T cell populations. This response was independent of regulation by CD161, which acted as a costimulatory molecule in the context of T cell receptor stimulation. Expression of CD161 hence identifies a transcriptional and functional phenotype, shared across human T lymphocytes and independent of both T cell receptor (TCR) expression and cell lineage.

Abstract* "This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Science Translational Medicine. This version has not undergone final editing.Please refer to the complete version of record at www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org/. The manuscript may not be reproduced or used in any manner that does not fall within the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act without the prior, written permission of AAAS."To whom correspondence should be addressed: ellie.barnes@ndm.ox.ac.uk E Barnes Peter Medawar Building, South Parks Rd, Oxford, UK OX1 3SY . + joint author contributions Author contributions: E.B., S. Capone, S. Colloca, J.H., A.F., R.C., C.K., A.N., and P.K. designed the study/protocols; L. Swadling, S. Capone., R.A., A.B., R.R., E.N., J.H., C.K., D.B., J.F., A.K., V.A., M.D.S., F.G., M.L.E., L. Siani., C.T., A.H., M.D., A.F., E.B., and P.K., performed the research and analysis; L. Swadling., E.B., A.F., S. Capone, and P.K. wrote the manuscript; E.B. was the principal investigator. Europe PMC Funders Group Europe PMC Funders Author Manuscripts Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsA protective vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains an unmet clinical need. HCV infects millions of people worldwide and is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Animal challenge experiments, immunogenetics studies and assessment of host immunity during acute infection highlight the critical role that effective T-cell immunity plays in viral control. In this first-in-man study we have induced antiviral immunity with functional characteristics analogous to those associated with viral control in natural infection, and improved upon a vaccine based on adenoviral vectors alone. We assessed a heterologous prime-boost vaccination strategy based on a replicative defective simian adenoviral vector (ChAd3) and modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector encoding the NS3, NS4, NS5A and NS5B proteins of HCV genotype-1b.Analysis employed single cell mass cytometry (CyTOF), and HLA class-I peptide tetramer technology in healthy human volunteers. We show that HCV specific T-cells induced by ChAd3 are optimally boosted with MVA, and generate very high levels of both CD8+ and CD4+ HCV specific T-cells targeting multiple HCV antigens. Sustained memory and effector T-cell populations are generated and T-cell memory evolved over time with improvement of quality (proliferation and polyfunctionality) following heterologous MVA boost.We have developed a HCV vaccine strategy, with durable, broad, sustained and balanced T-cell responses, characteristic of those associated with viral control, paving the way for the first efficacy studies of a prophylactic HCV vaccine.