CD4⁺ T cells are homeostatic regulators during Mtb reinfection

Immunological priming - either in the context of prior infection or vaccination - elicits protective responses against subsequent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. However, the changes that occur in the lung cellular milieu post-primary Mtb infection and their contributions to protection upon reinfection remain poorly understood. Here, using clinical and microbiological endpoints in a non-human primate reinfection model, we demonstrate that prior Mtb infection elicits a long-lasting protective response against subsequent Mtb exposure and that the depletion of CD4⁺ T cells prior to Mtb rechallenge significantly abrogates this protection. Leveraging microbiologic, PET-CT, flow cytometric, and single-cell RNA-seq data from primary infection, reinfection, and reinfection-CD4⁺ T cell depleted granulomas, we identify differential cellular and microbial features of control. The data collectively demonstrate that the presence of CD4⁺ T cells in the setting of reinfection results in a reduced inflammatory lung milieu characterized by reprogrammed CD8⁺ T cell activity, reduced neutrophilia, and blunted type-1 immune signaling among myeloid cells, mitigating Mtb disease severity. These results open avenues for developing vaccines and therapeutics that not only target CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, but also modulate innate immune cells to limit Mtb disease.