Gene expression profiling of granuloma T cells in M. tuberculosis infected rhesus macaques reveals a critical role for CD30 [Mus musculus]

Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection requires generation of T cells that migrate to granulomas, complex immune structures surrounding sites of bacterial replication. Here we compared the gene expression profiles of T cells in pulmonary granulomas, bronchoalveolar lavage and blood of Mtb-infected rhesus macaques to identify granuloma-enriched T cell genes. TNFRSF8/CD30 was among the top genes that was upregulated in both CD4 and CD8 granuloma T cells and independent of bacterial loads. Transcriptomic profiling of lung T cells from Mtb-infected mixed bone marrow chimeric mice showed that CD30 directly promotes CD4 T cell differentiation and effector molecule expression. Moreover, in mice CD30 expression on CD4 T cells is required for survival of Mtb infection. These results show the CD30 co-stimulatory axis is highly upregulated on granuloma T cells and is critical for the generation of protective T cell responses against Mtb infection. RNA-seq of mouse CD4 T-cells. Balanced 2-factor design (WT/KO; MTb Activated/ Naïve), N=4 mice per group