A molecular signature for CD8+ T cells from visceral leishmaniasis patients

CD8(+) T-cell function is compromised in chronic diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis (VL). However, little is known about the changes in gene expression that cause CD8+ T-cell dysfunction during VL. We used targeted transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood CD8(+) T cells from VL patients pre- and post-anti-parasitic drug treatment, and compared them with the same cell population from healthy endemic controls to assess their activation, differentiation and functional status during disease. We found a predominance of downregulated immune genes in CD8(+) T cells from VL patients. However, genes encoding several notable immune checkpoint molecules, including LAG-3, TIM-3 and CTLA-4, cytolytic molecules, such as granzymes A, B and H and perforin, as well as SOCS3, STAT1, JAK2 and JAK3 cytokine signalling genes were found to be increasingly expressed by VL patient CD8(+) T cells. Additional studies confirmed increased expression of the inhibitory receptors LAG3 and TIM3 on VL patient CD8(+) T cells, thereby identifying these molecules as potential targets to improve antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses during disease.