TY - JOUR T1 - Progressive change in expression of killer-like receptorsr and GPR56 expression defines the cytokine production potential of human CD4<sup>+</sup> T memory cells JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/191007 SP - 191007 AU - Kim-Long Truong AU - Stephan Schlickeiser AU - Katrin Vogt AU - David Boës AU - Julia Schumann AU - Christine Appelt AU - Mathias Streitz AU - Gerald Grütz AU - Christian Meisel AU - Stefan Tomiuk AU - Julia K. Polansky AU - Andreas Pascher AU - Igor Sauer AU - Undine Gerlach AU - Birgit Sawitzki Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/19/191007.abstract N2 - Memory T cells mount an accelerated response upon re-challenge but are heterogeneous in phenotype and function. Traditionally memory T cells were classified into central memory, effector memory and terminally differentiated effector memory (TEMRA) cells based on expression of CCR7 and CD45RA. Functional heterogeneity even within these subsets demonstrated the need for more suitable markers. We applied bulk and single gene expression profiling of human CD4+ memory T cells and identified surface markers, KLRB1, KLRG1, GPR56 and KLRF1, allowing classification into “low”, “high” or “exhausted” cytokine producers. In contrast to common understanding KLRG1 expression was not associated with exhaustion and highest production of multiple cytokines was observed in KLRB1+KLRG1+GPR56+ T cells. Only additional KLRF1 expression was associated with a decline in cytokine production. The superiority of KLRF1 to define exhausted cytokine producers compared to classical TEMRA identification was best exemplified for intrahepatic T cells in patients with inflammatory liver diseases. ER -