Recently, a significant breakthrough has been made in the study of the origin of functional T cells within the central nervous system of vertebrates. This progress is attributed to the collaborative effort between Professor Qin Qiwei's team from the College of Marine Sciences at South China Agricultural University and Researcher Lin Qiang's team from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. They unveiled the process and functional characteristics by which viral infection induces the migration of Slc43a2+ T cells from the spleen into the brain tissue in fish. The findings have been published in "Science China Life Sciences".
Slc43a2+ T cells, transferred from the spleen to the brain, play a crucial role in antiviral defense. Image provided by the interviewee.
The central nervous system, particularly the brain, is considered to have "immune privilege" due to the protection of the blood-brain barrier. Immune cells in the central nervous system act as guardians, with T cells playing a vital role in resisting foreign viral infections. However, the origin of T cells in the central nervous system of vertebrates, including fish, remains unclear. While T cells in the peripheral organs of bony fish mostly originate from the thymus, there is limited information on the source of T cells in the brains of fish.
It has been reported that the research team led by Qin Qiwei has long been engaged in studying the pathogenic mechanisms of fish nervous necrosis virus, host antiviral mechanisms, and prevention and control techniques. They have established a cell atlas of the brain in groupers, identifying target cells in the central nervous system during viral infections and discovering various immune cells, including T cells, in fish brain tissue.
Furthermore, the study analyzed and identified nine T cell subgroups in groupers. After viral infection in grouper brain tissue, there was a significant expansion of Slc43a2+ T cell subgroups in both the spleen and the brain. Using a spleen-deficient zebrafish model and infection experiments, it was observed that spleen deficiency led to a lack of Slc43a2+ T cells in the brain, suggesting that Slc43a2+ T cells in the brain originate from spleen tissue. Functional analysis of Slc43a2+ T cells revealed that they undergo differentiation and maturation in the spleen before migrating to the brain, where they exert immune effects.
This research unveils a novel pathway for Slc43a2+ T cells to migrate from the spleen to the brain during viral infections, generating an immune response. It provides a deeper understanding of the origin and functioning of immune cells in the central nervous system of fish, contributing to theoretical research on antiviral immunity in vertebrates. Additionally, the study offers new insights for the prevention and treatment of RGNNV through the functional development of Slc43a2+ T cells.
The mentioned research received funding from the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and other projects.
For more information, refer to the related paper: Link.
