Local niche-derived immunosuppressive CXCR2+ cells impair antiviral immunity [RNA-seq]

We categorized mice with varying severity into recovering and non-recovering groups after infection of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). We revealed that non-recovering mice expressed higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the olfactory bulb (OB) where VSV initially expand.

Importantly, CXCR2+ cells resembling immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were more abundant in the OB of non-recovering mice than in that of recovering mice after VSV infection. Depleting CXCR2+ MDSC-like cells from the brain increased inflammatory responses and the animal’s survival after infection. Furthermore, site-specific labeling of cells derived from the skull-bone marrow (skull-BM) indicated that a significant fraction of CXCR2+ MDSC-like cells in the OB originate from the skull-BM.