SARS-CoV-2-mRNA Booster Vaccination Reverses Non-Responsiveness and Early Antibody Waning in Immunocompromised Patients - A Phase Four Study Comparing Immune Responses in Patients With Solid Cancers, Multiple Myeloma and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Individuals with secondary immunodeficiencies belong to the most vulnerable groups to succumb to COVID-19 and thus are prioritized for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. However, knowledge about the persistence and anamnestic responses following SARS-CoV-2-mRNA vaccinations is limited in these patients.

Methods: In a prospective, open-label, phase four trial we analyzed S1-specific IgG, neutralizing antibodies and cytokine responses in previously non-infected patients with cancer or autoimmune disease during primary mRNA vaccination and up to one month after booster.

The Transcription Factor MAZR/PATZ1 Regulates the Development of FOXP3 Regulatory T Cells.

Forkhead box protein P3 (FOXP3) regulatory T cells (T cells) play a key role in maintaining tolerance and immune homeostasis. Here, we report that a T cell-specific deletion of the transcription factor MAZR (also known as PATZ1) leads to an increased frequency of T cells, while enforced MAZR expression impairs T cell differentiation. Further, MAZR expression levels are progressively downregulated during thymic T cell development and during in-vitro-induced human T cell differentiation, suggesting that MAZR protein levels are critical for controlling T cell development.

The zinc-finger transcription factor MAZR regulates iNKT cell subset differentiation.

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells represent a subgroup of innate-like T cells and play an important role in immune responses against certain pathogens. In addition, they have been linked to autoimmunity and antitumor immunity. iNKT cells consist of several subsets with distinct functions; however, the transcriptional networks controlling iNKT subset differentiation are still not fully characterized.

Differential Requirement of Enhancers E8 and E8 in Cytotoxic Lineage T Cells and in Intestinal Intraepithelial Lymphocytes.

CD8 expression in T lymphocytes is tightly regulated by the activity of at least six enhancers (E8-E8), however their complex developmental stage-, subset-, and lineage-specific interplays are incompletely understood. Here we analyzed ATAC-seq data on the Immunological Genome Project database and identified a similar developmental regulation of chromatin accessibility of a subregion of E8, designated E8-core, and of E8. Loss of E8-core led to a similar reduction in CD8 expression in naïve CD8 T cells and in IELs as observed in mice, demonstrating that we identified the core enhancer region of E8.