The IL-7 receptor alpha chain (IL-7Rα or CD127) can be differentially expressed in memory CD8⁺ T cells. Here we investigated whether IL-7Rα could serve as a key molecule in defining a comprehensive landscape of heterogeneity in human effector memory (EM) CD8⁺ T cells using high-dimensional Cytometry by Time-Of-Flight (CyTOF) and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq). IL-7Rα had diverse, but organized, expressional relationship in EM CD8⁺ T cells with molecules related to cell function and gene regulation, which rendered an immune landscape defining heterogeneous cell subsets. The differential expression of these molecules likely has biological implications as we found in vivo signatures of transcription factors and homeostasis cytokine receptors, including T-bet and IL-7Rα. Our findings indicate the existence of heterogeneity in human EM CD8⁺ T cells as defined by distinct but organized expression patterns of multiple molecules in relationship to IL-7Rα and its possible biological significance in modulating downstream events.

IL-7 受体 α 链（IL-7Rα 或 CD127）可以在记忆 CD8 ⁺ T 细胞中差异表达。在这里，我们使用飞行时间 (CyTOF) 和单细胞 RNA 的高维细胞计数法研究了 IL-7Rα 是否可以作为定义人类效应记忆 (EM) CD8 ⁺ T 细胞异质性综合景观的关键分子-seq（scRNA-seq）。IL-7Rα 在 EM CD8 ⁺ T 细胞中与细胞功能和基因调控相关的分子具有多样但有组织的表达关系，这呈现了定义异质细胞亚群的免疫景观。正如我们在体内发现的那样，这些分子的差异表达可能具有生物学意义转录因子和稳态细胞因子受体的特征，包括T -bet 和 IL-7Rα。我们的研究结果表明，人类 EM CD8 ⁺ T 细胞中存在异质性，这是由与 IL-7Rα 相关的多个分子的不同但有组织的表达模式所定义的，及其在调节下游事件中的可能生物学意义。