Single cell RNA-seq reveals high heterogeneity among human ?d T cells.

Human ?d T cells take a small but important part in the immune system. Human ?d T cells are usually categorized by the V gene of their T cell receptor (TCR) d chain; most of which are Vd1+ or Vd2+. Naive ?d T cells are often found from neonates and cytotoxic ?d T cells (?dCTLs) are frequent in adults. However, phenotypes and the developmental programs of human ?d T cells are not fully clear. Here, by single-cell RNA sequencing (sc-RNAseq) of transcriptome and T cell receptor (sc-TCRseq) on ?d T cells from neonates and adults, we revealed human ?d T cells can be divided as naïve T cells, ?dCTLs, and ?dNKT cells which are featured by pro-Vd1, Vd1, and Vd2 TCR repertoire, respectively. ?dNKT cells can be further described as ?dNKT-1, ?dNKT-2, and ?dNKT-17 cells. Overall design: Sort ?dT cells from neonatal cord blood and adult peripheral blood, then do 5'-RNA single cell transcriptome and TCR sequening (10x genomics).