Themis suppresses the effector function of CD8+ T cells in acute viral infection

CD8(+) T cells play a central role in antiviral immune responses. Upon infection, naive CD8(+) T cells differentiate into effector cells to eliminate virus-infected cells, and some of these effector cells further differentiate into memory cells to provide long-term protection after infection is resolved. Although extensively investigated, the underlying mechanisms of CD8(+) T-cell differentiation remain incompletely understood. Themis is a T-cell-specific protein that plays critical roles in T-cell development. Recent studies using Themis T-cell conditional knockout mice also demonstrated that Themis is required to promote mature CD8(+) T-cell homeostasis, cytokine responsiveness, and antibacterial responses. In this study, we used LCMV Armstrong infection as a probe to explore the role of Themis in viral infection. We found that preexisting CD8(+) T-cell homeostasis defects and cytokine hyporesponsiveness do not impair viral clearance in Themis T-cell conditional knockout mice. Further analyses showed that in the primary immune response, Themis deficiency promoted the differentiation of CD8(+) effector cells and increased their TNF and IFN gamma production. Moreover, Themis deficiency impaired memory precursor cell (MPEC) differentiation but promoted short-lived effector cell (SLEC) differentiation. Themis deficiency also enhanced effector cytokine production in memory CD8(+) T cells while impairing central memory CD8(+) T-cell formation. Mechanistically, we found that Themis mediates PD-1 expression and its signaling in effector CD8(+) T cells, which explains the elevated cytokine production in these cells when Themis is disrupted.