1. Role of IL-27 in Epstein–Barr virus infection revealed by IL-27RA deficiency
- Author
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Martin, Emmanuel, Winter, Sarah, Garcin, Cécile, Tanita, Kay, Hoshino, Akihiro, Lenoir, Christelle, Fournier, Benjamin, Migaud, Mélanie, Boutboul, David, Simonin, Mathieu, Fernandes, Alicia, Bastard, Paul, Le Voyer, Tom, Roupie, Anne-Laure, Ben Ahmed, Yassine, Leruez-Ville, Marianne, Burgard, Marianne, Rao, Geetha, Ma, Cindy S., Masson, Cécile, Soudais, Claire, Picard, Capucine, Bustamante, Jacinta, Tangye, Stuart G., Cheikh, Nathalie, Seppänen, Mikko, Puel, Anne, Daly, Mark, Casanova, Jean-Laurent, Neven, Bénédicte, Fischer, Alain, and Latour, Sylvain
- Abstract
Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection can engender severe B cell lymphoproliferative diseases1,2. The primary infection is often asymptomatic or causes infectious mononucleosis (IM), a self-limiting lymphoproliferative disorder3. Selective vulnerability to EBV has been reported in association with inherited mutations impairing T cell immunity to EBV4. Here we report biallelic loss-of-function variants in IL27RAthat underlie an acute and severe primary EBV infection with a nevertheless favourable outcome requiring a minimal treatment. One mutant allele (rs201107107) was enriched in the Finnish population (minor allele frequency = 0.0068) and carried a high risk of severe infectious mononucleosis when homozygous. IL27RAencodes the IL-27 receptor alpha subunit5,6. In the absence of IL-27RA, phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3 by IL-27 is abolished in T cells. In in vitro studies, IL-27 exerts a synergistic effect on T-cell-receptor-dependent T cell proliferation7that is deficient in cells from the patients, leading to impaired expansion of potent anti-EBV effector cytotoxic CD8+T cells. IL-27 is produced by EBV-infected B lymphocytes and an IL-27RA–IL-27 autocrine loop is required for the maintenance of EBV-transformed B cells. This potentially explains the eventual favourable outcome of the EBV-induced viral disease in patients with IL-27RA deficiency. Furthermore, we identified neutralizing anti-IL-27 autoantibodies in most individuals who developed sporadic infectious mononucleosis and chronic EBV infection. These results demonstrate the critical role of IL-27RA–IL-27 in immunity to EBV, but also the hijacking of this defence by EBV to promote the expansion of infected transformed B cells.
- Published
- 2024
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