Clonally focused public and private T cells in resected brain tissue from surgeries to treat children with intractble seizures.

As part of a study of the involvement of adaptive immunity in pediatric patients who undergo surgery to treat their drug resistant seizures, brain-infiltrating leukocytes were isolated from epileptogenic brain tissue from a tuberous sclerosis complex patient. Combined single cell gene expression and T cell receptor sequencing of these leukocytes revealed that the two predominant T cell clonotypes in the resected tuber were CD8 effector T cells, indicating that they are very likely to be pathologically relevant. Overall design: Single cell RNA sequencing to determine the phenotypes and T cell receptors expressed by brain-infiltrating T cells in a surgery case of tuberous sclerosis complex.