Role of IL-27 in Epstein–Barr virus infection revealed by IL-27RA deficiency

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection can engender severe B cell lymphoproliferative diseases^1,2. The primary infection is often asymptomatic or causes infectious mononucleosis (IM), a self-limiting lymphoproliferative disorder³. Selective vulnerability to EBV has been reported in association with inherited mutations impairing T cell immunity to EBV⁴. Here we report biallelic loss-of-function variants in IL27RA that underlie an acute and severe primary EBV infection with a nevertheless favourable outcome requiring a minimal treatment. One mutant allele (rs201107107) was enriched in the Finnish population (minor allele frequency = 0.0068) and carried a high risk of severe infectious mononucleosis when homozygous. IL27RA encodes the IL-27 receptor alpha subunit^5,6. In the absence of IL-27RA, phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3 by IL-27 is abolished in T cells. In in vitro studies, IL-27 exerts a synergistic effect on T-cell-receptor-dependent T cell proliferation⁷ that is deficient in cells from the patients, leading to impaired expansion of potent anti-EBV effector cytotoxic CD8⁺ T cells. IL-27 is produced by EBV-infected B lymphocytes and an IL-27RA–IL-27 autocrine loop is required for the maintenance of EBV-transformed B cells. This potentially explains the eventual favourable outcome of the EBV-induced viral disease in patients with IL-27RA deficiency. Furthermore, we identified neutralizing anti-IL-27 autoantibodies in most individuals who developed sporadic infectious mononucleosis and chronic EBV infection. These results demonstrate the critical role of IL-27RA–IL-27 in immunity to EBV, but also the hijacking of this defence by EBV to promote the expansion of infected transformed B cells.