Single-cell analyses of Crohn’s disease tissues reveal intestinal intraepithelial T cells heterogeneity and altered subset distributions

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic transmural inflammation of intestinal segments caused by dysregulated interaction between microbiome and gut immune system. Here, we profile, via multiple single-cell technologies, T cells purified from the intestinal epithelium and lamina propria (LP) from terminal ileum resections of adult severe CD cases. We find that intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) contain several unique T cell subsets, including NKp30+γδT cells expressing RORγt and producing IL-26 upon NKp30 engagement. Further analyses comparing tissues from non-inflamed and inflamed regions of patients with CD versus healthy controls show increased activated TH17 but decreased CD8+T, γδT, TFH and Treg cells in inflamed tissues. Similar analyses of LP find increased CD8+, as well as reduced CD4+T cells with an elevated TH17 over Treg/TFH ratio. Our analyses of CD tissues thus suggest a potential link, pending additional validations, between transmural inflammation, reduced IEL γδT cells and altered spatial distribution of IEL and LP T cell subsets.