Transcriptional profiles of human circulating innate lymphoid cells and CD4 T helper cells

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are part of the innate immune cell family. Three different subsets of ILCs, ILC1s, ILC2s and ILCPs can be identified in human peripheral blood. Based on their expression of transcription factors and cytokines, they are considered as being the innate counterparts of CD4 T helper subsets, namely Th1s, Th2s and Th17s. However, ILCs and Th cells have different roles in immunity. Therefore, we compared the transcriptomes of sorted ILC1s, ILC2s, ILCPs, Th1s, Th2s and Th17s from the peripheral blood of three different donors. RNA sequencing of ILC and Th subsets revealed differences in the expression of tens to hundreds of genes. These genes are involved in cell trafficking, innate activation and inhibitory functions. ILC and Th cell subsets also differ in their expressions of long-non coding RNAs.

固有淋巴细胞 (Innate lymphoid cells, ILCs) 属于固有免疫细胞家族。在人类外周血中可鉴定出三类不同的固有淋巴细胞亚群，即ILC1、ILC2与ILCP。基于转录因子与细胞因子的表达特征，这类细胞被认为是CD4⁺辅助T细胞亚群的固有免疫对应类群，即Th1、Th2与Th17。然而，固有淋巴细胞与Th细胞在免疫应答中发挥的功能并不相同。为此，本研究对3名不同健康供者外周血中分选得到的ILC1、ILC2、ILCP、Th1、Th2与Th17细胞的转录组进行了比较分析。对上述细胞亚群的RNA测序（RNA sequencing）结果显示，数十至数百个基因的表达存在差异。这些差异表达基因参与细胞迁移、固有免疫激活与负向调控等生物学功能。固有淋巴细胞与辅助T细胞亚群在长链非编码RNA（long-non coding RNAs）的表达模式上也存在显著差异。