Oligoclonal CD4CXCR5 T cells with a cytotoxic phenotype appear in tonsils and blood.

In clinical situations, peripheral blood accessible CD3CD4CXCR5 T-follicular helper (T) cells may have to serve as a surrogate indicator for dysregulated germinal center responses in tissues. To determine the heterogeneity of T cells in peripheral blood versus tonsils, CD3CD4CD45RACXCR5 cells of both origins were sorted. Transcriptomes, TCR repertoires and cell-surface protein expression were analysed by single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Reassuringly, all blood-circulating CD3CD4CXCR5 T-cell subpopulations also appear in tonsils, there with some supplementary T characteristics, while peripheral blood-derived T cells display markers of proliferation and migration. Three further subsets of T cells, however, with bona fide T-follicular gene expression patterns, are exclusively found in tonsils. One additional, distinct and oligoclonal CD4CXCR5 subpopulation presents pronounced cytotoxic properties. Those 'killer T (T) cells' can be discovered in peripheral blood as well as among tonsillar cells but are located predominantly outside of germinal centers. They appear terminally differentiated and can be distinguished from all other T subsets by expression of NKG7 (TIA-1), granzymes, perforin, CCL5, CCR5, EOMES, CRTAM and CX3CR1. All in all, this study provides data for detailed CD4CXCR5 T-cell assessment of clinically available blood samples and extrapolation possibilities to their tonsil counterparts.