{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T00:28:39Z","timestamp":1792456119136,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771459200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82260331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82260331"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Alveolar echinococcosis (AE), caused by the larval stage of\n                      <jats:italic>Echinococcus multilocularis<\/jats:italic>\n                      , exhibits infiltrative, tumor-like behavior in the liver and persists within its tolerogenic immune environment. Although T cells are central to host defense, the stage-specific remodeling of their lineage states during AE remains unclear.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A secondary AE infection model was established by portal vein injection of approximately 1,000 viable protoscoleces in C57BL\/6 mice. Liver tissues collected at 3 days (3 dpi) and 3 months (3 mpi) post-infection were analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), flow cytometry, and multiplex immunofluorescence to characterize T-cell subset composition, transcriptional programs, and potential interactions with dendritic cells (DCs).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      scRNA-seq of 78,290 high-quality cells identified 13 immune and non-immune populations and revealed strong temporal shifts in hepatic immunity. Early infection featured macrophage-driven inflammation with reduced T-cell proportions, whereas late infection showed marked expansion of both T cells and DCs. CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T-cell profiling demonstrated the establishment of a diversified compartment composed of cytotoxic, effector-memory, and exhausted subsets. These subsets exhibited coordinated transcriptional remodeling, including upregulation of regulatory genes (\n                      <jats:italic>Btg1, Tnfaip3, Junb, Nr4a1<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) and downregulation of early-induced inflammatory and metabolic genes, indicating adaptation to sustained antigen exposure. Spatial imaging further revealed ring-like accumulation of CD11c\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      DCs around lesions with adjacent clustering of CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T cells, and ligand\u2013receptor analysis highlighted Thy1\u2013Adgre5 as a prominent DC\u2013T-cell interaction axis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      AE infection drives a transition from acute inflammation to chronic immune regulation through extensive lineage diversification and functional reprogramming of CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T cells. Spatially organized DC\u2013T-cell interactions likely contribute to maintaining a regulated yet immunologically active microenvironment, providing insights for targeting chronic-stage immune responses in AE.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1747682","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T06:42:02Z","timestamp":1771483322000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Alveolar echinococcosis drives functional reprogramming of hepatic CD8+ T cells"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Jing","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoli","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siyu","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Huo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peijiao","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bingshuo","family":"Qian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yazhou","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zihua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]},{"name":"Ningxia Key Laboratory for Prevention of Common Infectious Diseases","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yinqi","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]},{"name":"Ningxia Key Laboratory for Prevention of Common Infectious Diseases","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yangyang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ningxia Key Laboratory for Prevention of Common Infectious Diseases","place":["Yinchuan, China"]},{"name":"Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University","place":["Yinchuan, China"]},{"name":"Ningxia Key Laboratory for Prevention of Common Infectious Diseases","place":["Yinchuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"825","DOI":"10.1016\/j.immuni.2020.04.014","article-title":"Developmental relationships of four exhausted CD8(+) T cell subsets reveals underlying transcriptional and epigenetic landscape control mechanisms","volume":"52","author":"Beltra","year":"2020","journal-title":"Immunity"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3083","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-05322-1","article-title":"Myeloid apolipoprotein E controls dendritic cell antigen presentation and T cell activation","volume":"9","author":"Bonacina","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. 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