Systems Immunology Analyses of STAT1 Gain-of-Function Immune Phenotypes Reveal Heterogeneous Response to IL-6 and Broad Immunometabolic Roles for STAT1.

Abstract

Patients with STAT1 gain-of-function (GOF) pathogenic variants have enhanced or prolonged STAT1 phosphorylation following cytokine stimulation and exhibit increased yet heterogeneous susceptibility to infections, autoimmunity, and cancer. Although disease phenotypes are diverse and other genetic factors contribute, how STAT1 GOF affects cytokine sensitivity and cell biology remains poorly defined. In this study, we analyzed the immune and immunometabolic profiles of two patients with known pathogenic heterozygous STAT1 GOF mutation variants. A systems immunology approach of peripheral blood cells from these patients revealed major changes in multiple immune cell compartments relative to healthy adult and pediatric donors. Although many phenotypes of STAT1 GOF donors were shared, including increased Th1 cells but decreased class-switched B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cell populations, others were heterogeneous. Mechanistically, hypersensitivity for cytokine-induced STAT1 phosphorylation in memory T cell populations was particularly evident in response to IL-6 in one STAT1 GOF patient. Immune cell metabolism directly influences cell function, and the STAT1 GOF patients shared an immunometabolic phenotype of heightened glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1a) expression across multiple immune cell lineages. Interestingly, the metabolic phenotypes of the pediatric STAT1 GOF donors more closely resembled or exceeded those of healthy adult than healthy age-similar pediatric donors, which had low expression of these metabolic markers. These results define new features of STAT1 GOF patients, including a differential hypersensitivity for IL-6 and a shared increase in markers of metabolism in many immune cell types that suggests a role for STAT1 in metabolic regulation of immunity.