T cell responses at diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis predict disease progression

In this project, we aimed to understand how T cell responses contribute to the disease progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The present data is on single-cell sequencing isolated from human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells from both ALS patients (n=5) and controls (n=4). This analysis was conducted as part of a bigger project which is summarized in the section below.

We used flow cytometry to define T cell subsets and phenotypes in blood and CSF samples collected at the time of diagnosis on a cohort of 89 newly diagnosed ALS patients in Stockholm, Sweden. High frequency of CD4+FOXP3- effector T cells in blood and CSF was associated with a poor survival whereas high frequency of activated regulatory T (Treg) cells and high ratio between activated and resting Treg cells in blood was associated with a better survival. T cell profiles also predicted disease progression rate. On an independent cohort of cases and controls we used single cell transcriptomics data to demonstrate that ALS patients had altered T cell gene expression patterns and clonally expanded CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in CSF. In summary, T cell responses contribute to disease progression of ALS, supporting modulation of adaptive immunity as a viable therapeutic option.

The data sets contain single-cell RNA sequencing data from 9 individuals (5 ALS cases and 4 controls). Immune cells were isolated from CSF. Furthermore, for each individual, we studied the T cell receptor repertoire by using V(D)J sequencing. Uploaded files are in fastq format.