CD8+ T Cells in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Show a Progenitor-exhausted Phenotype

Armin  Akbar; Hossein  Asgarian-Omran; Reza  Valadan; Ahmad  Najafi; Ramin  Shekarriz; Ehsan  Zaboli; Mohammad  Eslami-Jouybari; Hossein  Karami; Mohammad  Naderisoraki; Mohsen  Tehrani

doi:10.18502/ijaai.v25i4.21739

Armin Akbar Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Hossein Asgarian-Omran Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Reza Valadan Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Ahmad Najafi Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Ramin Shekarriz Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Ehsan Zaboli Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Mohammad Eslami-Jouybari Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Hossein Karami Thalassemia Research Center (TRC), Hemoglobinopathy Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran
Mohammad Naderisoraki Thalassemia Research Center (TRC), Hemoglobinopathy Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran
Mohsen Tehrani Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijaai.v25i4.21739

Keywords: SFA-2; Exhaustion; LSIRF; Leukemia; NFAT2; NFATc1; TCF-1

Abstract

Exhausted T cells are phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous, from progenitor- to terminally-exhausted T cells. We evaluated gene expression profile of CD8⁺ T cells in acute leukemia to characterize the phenotype of exhausted T cells.

Blood samples were collected from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients prior to treatment and from control subjects. Additionally, samples were obtained from ALL patients after induction therapy. TCF7, NFATc1, IRF4, and BATF gene expression was then evaluated in isolated CD8⁺ T cells.

CD8⁺ T cells from ALL patients showed higher expression of TCF7 and NFATc1 compared to the control group. The two study groups did not have a significant difference in the expression of BATF and IRF4. When compared to the control group, CD8⁺ T cells of AML patients showed an elevated expression level of NAFTc1 and IRF4. Significant differences were not found between the two study groups in AML when it came to the expression of BATF and TCF7.

To our findings, the majority of CD8⁺ T cells found in ALL patients consist of progenitor-exhausted T cells.