The β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) entrains circadian gene oscillation and diurnal responses to virus infection in CD8+ T cells

Adaptive immune cells are regulated by circadian rhythms (CR) under both steady state conditions and during responses to infection. Cytolytic CD8+ T cells display variable responses to infection depending upon the time of day of exposure. However, the neuronal signals that entrain these cyclic behaviors remain unknown. Immune cells express a variety of neurotransmitter receptors including nicotinic, glucocorticoid, and adrenergic receptors. Here, we demonstrate that the {beta}2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) regulates the periodic oscillation of select core clock genes, such as Per2 and Bmal1, and selective loss of the Adrb2 gene dramatically perturbs the normal diurnal oscillation of clock gene expression in CD8+ T cells. Consequently, their circadian-regulated anti-viral response is dysregulated, and the diurnal development of CD8+ T cells into variegated populations of cytolytic T cell (CTL) effectors is dramatically altered in the absence of ADRB2 signaling. Thus, the Adrb2 directly entrains core clock gene oscillation and regulates CR-dependent T cell responses to virus infection as a function of time-of-day of pathogen exposure. One Sentence SummaryThe {beta}2-adrenergic receptor regulates circadian gene oscillation and downstream daily timing of cytolytic T cell responses to virus infection.