Single cell immune profiling of dengue virus patients reveals intact immune responses to Zika virus with enrichment of innate immune signatures.

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Yujiao Zhao, Matthew Amodio, Brent Vander Wyk, Bram Gerritsen, Mahesh M Kumar, David van Dijk, Kevin Moon, Xiaomei Wang, Anna Malawista, Monique M Richards, Megan E Cahill, Anita Desai, Jayasree Sivadasan, Manjunatha M Venkataswamy, Vasanthapuram Ravi, Erol Fikrig, Priti Kumar, Steven H Kleinstein, Smita Krishnaswamy, Ruth R Montgomery
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008112; https://doaj.org/article/b845d9f70c124f9aaf91dca3f01f7623

The genus Flavivirus contains many mosquito-borne human pathogens of global epidemiological importance such as dengue virus, West Nile virus, and Zika virus, which has recently emerged at epidemic levels. Infections with these viruses result in divergent clinical outcomes ranging from asymptomatic to fatal. Myriad factors influence infection severity including exposure, immune status and pathogen/host genetics. Furthermore, pre-existing infection may skew immune pathways or divert immune resources. We profiled immune cells from dengue virus-infected individuals by multiparameter mass cytometry (CyTOF) to define functional status. Elevations in IFNβ were noted in acute patients across the majority of cell types and were statistically elevated in 31 of 36 cell subsets. We quantified response to in vitro (re)infection with dengue or Zika viruses and detected a striking pattern of upregulation of responses to Zika infection by innate cell types which was not noted in response to dengue virus. Significance was discovered by statistical analysis as well as a neural network-based clustering approach which identified unusual cell subsets overlooked by conventional manual gating. Of public health importance, patient cells showed significant enrichment of innate cell responses to Zika virus indicating an intact and robust anti-Zika response despite the concurrent dengue infection.