We are pleased to announce another milestone publication in Science Immunology titled "Clonal expansion and activation of tissue-resident memory-like TH17 cells expressing GM-CSF in the lungs of patients with severe COVID-19".

Once again we congratulate all involved authors of the research group of Christian Krebs (project A5).

Translated snippets from the official press release (German):

It is still unclear how the inflammatory reaction in the lungs works in people seriously ill with COVID-19. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms, scientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) carried out an examination of defense cells in the lungs and in the blood of people with COVID-19. Their results put certain T cells at the center of a protracted inflammatory response.

"We found T memory cells in the lungs that were greatly expanded and still showed strong cytokine expression even after the virus was removed," said Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christian Krebs from III. Medical clinic and polyclinic of the UKE. The researchers were able to identify clues for important cell-cell interactions between T memory cells and inflammation-promoting memory cells in the lungs, which could be of particular importance. The aim of further investigations is now to develop therapies that aim to remove pathogenic messenger substances in severe COVID-19 courses.

Clonal expansion and activation of tissue-resident memory-like TH17 cells expressing GM-CSF in the lungs of patients with severe COVID-19.
Zhao Y, Kilian C, Turner JE, Bosurgi L, Roedl K, Bartsch P, Gnirck AC, Cortesi F, Schultheiß C, Hellmig M, Enk LUB, Hausmann F, Borchers A, Wong MN, Paust HJ, Siracusa F, Scheibel N, Herrmann M, Rosati E, Bacher P, Kylies D, Jarczak D, Lütgehetmann M, Pfefferle S, Steurer S, Zur-Wiesch JS, Puelles VG, Sperhake JP, Addo MM, Lohse AW, Binder M, Huber S, Huber TB, Kluge S, Bonn S, Panzer U, Gagliani N, Krebs CF. Clonal expansion and activation of tissue-resident memory-like Th17 cells expressing GM-CSF in the lungs of severe COVID-19 patients.
Sci Immunol. 2021 Feb