Transient interferon-driven NK cell activation in acute hepatitis C
Strunz B, Zhan Q, Khera T, Hengst J, Jankovic M, Deterding K, Niehrs A, Cornberg M, Xu C, Wedemeyer H, Björkström N
Published in
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Page jiaf654
Abstract
Acute infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a rare event that can be treated successfully with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). As Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role during the natural course of acute HCV, we assessed the NK cell compartment via flow cytometry and single-cell sequencing in longitudinally sampled patients with acute HCV and compared this to healthy controls and patients with chronic HCV. At the transcriptomic level, we identified a subset of highly activated NK cells with a robust type-I interferon imprint. While the population of activated NK cells vanished after DAA-mediated cure, a long-term phenotypic imprint of infection was observed in comparison to healthy controls. Collectively, these data suggest an interferon-driven rise of an activated NK cell population during acute hepatitis C, that is largely restored upon viral clearance. This study provides insights into the immunological basis for successful antiviral response to hepatitis C.
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