Interleukin-17A signaling promotes CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity against West Nile virus infection through enhancing PI3K-mTOR-mediated metabolism

West Nile Virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne neurotropic flavivirus, is a major cause of viral encephalitis in the United States, posing a continuous threat to public health. Unfortunately, no vaccine or specific therapeutic intervention is available against WNV infection. Previous studies, including ours, demonstrated that interleukin-17A (IL-17A) signaling promotes the cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells to facilitate WNV and parasite clearance; however, the molecular mechanism is not understood. IL-17 receptor C (IL-17RC) is an obligatory co-receptor with IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA) for signaling induced by IL-17A, IL-17A/F, and IL-17F. In this study, we found that IL-17RC deficient (Il17rc-/-) mice were more susceptible to WNV infection with a higher viral load in the brain than wild-type (WT) control mice. The number of infiltrating WNV-specific CD8+ T cells and the expression levels of cytotoxicity mediators, such as perforin, in the T cells in the brain of Il17rc-/- mice were reduced. In addi..., RNA sequencing analysis of transcripts of CD8 T cells of IL-17RA KO and WT control mice., , # Interleukin-17A signaling promotes CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity against West Nile virus infection through enhancing PI3K-mTOR-mediated metabolism

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2bvq83c14](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2bvq83c14)

## Description of the data and file structure

Eight-weeksold *Il17ra-/-*, and WT (C57BL/6J) mice (n = 3) were infected with 100 PFU of WNV via f.p. inoculation, and the spleens were collected on D8 p.i., followed by purification of CD8+ T cells. The transcription profiles of CD8+ T cells were analyzed by RNA sequencing. Library preparation was performed according to the Smart-seq2 protocol (115). Briefly, cDNA was generated from 50ng of total RNA using SuperScript IV reverse transcriptase (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cat. #18091050) with oligo(dT) priming and template-switching oligo. Double-stranded cDNA was amplified via 12 cycles of PCR using KAPA HiFi HotStart ReadyMix (Roche) and ISPCR oligo. Amplified cDNA was fragmented using the Nextera XT DNA Library Pre...,