Article
作者: Inverso, Donato ; Fumagalli, Valeria ; Le Bert, Nina ; Şahin, Uğur ; Iannacone, Matteo ; Beccaria, Cristian G ; Venzin, Valentina ; Bono, Elisa B ; Guidotti, Luca G ; Delfino, Pietro ; Di Lucia, Pietro ; Kuka, Mirela ; Guilliams, Martin ; Reinhard, Katharina ; Celant, Anna ; Grillo, Marta ; Kennedy, Patrick T F ; Pedica, Federica ; Ponzoni, Maurilio ; Laura, Chiara ; Bertoletti, Antonio ; Casorati, Giulia ; Kawashima, Keigo ; Ottolini, Sabrina ; Petschenka, Jutta ; Omokoko, Tana Annmarie ; De Giovanni, Marco ; Ravà, Micol ; Perucchini, Chiara ; Vascotto, Fulvia ; Giustini, Leonardo ; Moalli, Federica
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is marked by dysfunctional HBV-specific CD8+ T cells, and restoring their effector activity is a major therapeutic goal. Here, we generated HBV-specific CD4+ T cell receptor transgenic mice to show that CD4+ effector T cells can prevent and reverse the CD8⁺ T cell dysfunction induced by hepatocellular priming. This rescue enhances antiviral CD8+ T cell function and suppresses viral replication. CD4+ T cell help occurs directly within the liver, independent of secondary lymphoid organs, and requires local antigen recognition. Kupffer cells, rather than dendritic cells, are the critical antigen-presenting platform. CD4+ T cells license Kupffer cells via CD40-CD40L interactions, triggering interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-27 production. IL-12 expands the CD4+ T cell pool, while IL-27 is essential for CD8+ T cell rescue. Exogenous IL-27 similarly restores HBV-specific CD8+ T cell function in mice and in T cells isolated from chronically infected patients. These findings identify IL-27 as a tractable immunotherapeutic target in chronic HBV infection.