Diverging role for coronin 1 in antiviral CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses

•Coronin 1-deficient mice can control LCMV infection.•Coronin 1-deficient mice mount a normal CD8+ T cells response upon viral infection.•Coronin 1-deficient mice are susceptible to VSV infection.•Coronin 1-deficiency is associated with compromised CD4+ T cell response upon viral infection.

Coronin 1 is a member of the evolutionary conserved WD repeat protein family and is highly expressed in hematopoietic cells. Coronin 1 is essential for Ca2+ mobilization upon T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation providing a pro-survival signal for naïve peripheral T cells. Both in mouse and in human, coronin 1 deficiency is associated with severe T cell lymphopenia. In this work, we have analyzed antiviral T cell-mediated immunity in the presence and absence of coronin 1 in vivo after infection with lymphocytic choriomenigitis virus (LCMV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in mice. Despite low peripheral T cell numbers we found that LCMV-specific CD8+ T cell responses were normal in the absence of coronin 1 and kinetics of LCMV-clearance were similar compared to wild type mice. In contrast, CD4+ T cell responses were profoundly decreased after LCMV- and VSV-infection. We propose that coronin 1 plays a differential role in CD8+ versus CD4+ T cell responses and activation.