Multiple-cytokine-producing antiviral CD4 T cells are functionally superior to single-cytokine-producing cells.

Virus-specific CD4 T cells are endowed with multiple functions, such as cytokine production, CD40 ligand (CD40L) expression (associated with the costimulation of CD8 and B cells), and degranulation (associated with cytotoxic potential). Here, we used antiviral CD4 T cells present in human blood to evaluate the relationship between cytokine production and other functions of CD4 T cells. Antiviral CD4 T cells specific for a virus causing persistent infection, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and two viruses causing nonpersistent infections, influenza virus and the smallpox vaccine virus (vaccinia virus), were studied. CD4 T cells specific for each of the viruses produced all seven possible combinations of the cytokines gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Cells producing three or two cytokines (triple producers and double producers) represented nearly 50% of the total response to each of the viruses. Triple producers expressed the highest levels of cytokines per cell, and single producers expressed the lowest. Following stimulation, higher frequencies of triple producers than single producers expressed CD40L. Only CMV-specific CD4 T cells underwent degranulation. However, higher frequencies of CMV-specific triple producers than single producers showed this functional characteristic. In contrast to the functional phenotypes, the memory phenotypes of triple producers and IFN-gamma single producers did not differ. These results demonstrate a strong positive association between the cytokine coproduction capacity of a virus-specific CD4 T cell and its other functional characteristics and suggest that vaccines should aim to elicit T cells that coproduce more than one cytokine.