Single Cell Analysis of CD8+ T-cells with Aging

CD8+ T cells play essential roles in combatting infection and cancers. The major subsets of CD8+ T cells such as naïve, effector, and memory carry out distinct functions. Although the defined subsets are known to be heterogeneous, the precise composition of these subsets and their functional alterations have not been thoroughly determined. Here, we used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and multicolor immunophenotyping to analyze the composition of CD8+ T cells. From scRNAseq analysis of isolated CD8+ T cells from 16 healthy donors, we analyzed 80,775 cells and identified a total of 13 subpopulations of CD8+ T cells including naïve, central and effector memory cells and terminally differentiated effector memory cells (EMRA). In parallel, our multi-color (16 antibody-panel) immunophenotyping analysis by flow cytometry of CD8+ T cells from 165 donors also divided CD8+ T cells into 11 major subpopulations. The majority of the subpopulations identified by these two methods were their age-related changes in percentage. Together, our findings reveal previously unidentified subpopulations of CD8+ T cells, their distinct transcriptional profiles and changes with age. Overall design: single cell gene expression of CD8+ T-cells from 16 individuals spanning from the newborn to the elderly