Expansion of Vγ9Vδ2 T Cells Is Triggered by Francisella tularensis-Derived Phosphoantigens in Tularemia but Not after Tularemia Vaccination

Tularemia is a disease caused by the facultative intracellular bacterium Francisella tularensis. Here we demonstrate that during the first weeks of infection, a significant increase in levels of Vγ9Vδ2 cells occurred in peripheral blood: in 13 patients analyzed 7 to 18 days after the onset of disease, these lymphocytes represented, on average, 30.5% of CD3⁺ cells and nearly 100% of γδ⁺ T cells. By contrast, after vaccination with the live vaccine strain (LVS) of F. tularensis, only a minor increase occurred. Eleven days after vaccination, γδ T cells represented an average of 6.7% and Vγ9Vδ2 cells represented an average of 5.3% of T cells, as in control subjects. Since derivatives of nonpeptidic pyrophosphorylated molecules, referred to as phosphoantigens, are powerful stimuli for Vγ9Vδ2 cells, this observation prompted an investigation of phosphoantigens in F. tularensis strains. The F. tularensis phosphoantigens triggered in vitro a proliferative response of human Vγ9Vδ2 peripheral blood leukocytes as well as a cytotoxic response and tumor necrosis factor release from a Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell clone. Quantitatively similar phosphoantigenic activity was detected in acellular extracts from two clinical isolates (FSC171 and Schu) and from LVS. Taken together, the chemical nature of the stimulus from the clinical isolates and the significant increase in levels of Vγ9Vδ2 cells in peripheral blood of tularemia patients indicate that phosphoantigens produced by virulent strains of F. tularensis trigger in vivo expansion of γδ T cells in tularemia.