- Gate, David;
- Tapp, Emma;
- Leventhal, Olivia;
- Shahid, Marian;
- Nonninger, Tim;
- Yang, Andrew;
- Strempfl, Katharina;
- Unger, Michael;
- Fehlmann, Tobias;
- Oh, Hamilton;
- Channappa, Divya;
- Henderson, Victor;
- Keller, Andreas;
- Aigner, Ludwig;
- Galasko, Douglas;
- Davis, Mark;
- Poston, Kathleen;
- Wyss-Coray, Tony
Recent studies indicate that the adaptive immune system plays a role in Lewy body dementia (LBD). However, the mechanism regulating T cell brain homing in LBD is unknown. Here, we observed T cells adjacent to Lewy bodies and dopaminergic neurons in postmortem LBD brains. Single-cell RNA sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) identified up-regulated expression of C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in CD4+ T cells in LBD. CSF protein levels of the CXCR4 ligand, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12), were associated with neuroaxonal damage in LBD. Furthermore, we observed clonal expansion and up-regulated interleukin 17A expression by CD4+ T cells stimulated with a phosphorylated α-synuclein epitope. Thus, CXCR4-CXCL12 signaling may represent a mechanistic target for inhibiting pathological interleukin-17–producing T cell trafficking in LBD.