RESEARCH ARTICLE Systemic hypoxia inhibits T cell response by limiting mitobiogenesis via matrix substrate-level phosphorylation arrest Amijai Saragovi1, Ifat Abramovich2, Ibrahim Omar1, Eliran Arbib1, Ori Toker3, Eyal Gottlieb2, Michael Berger1* 1The Lautenberg center for Immunology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; 2The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Jerusalem, Israel; 3Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; The Allergy and Immunology Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel Abstract Systemic oxygen restriction (SOR) is prevalent in numerous clinical conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is associated with increased susceptibility to viral infections. However, the influence of SOR on T cell immunity remains uncharacterized. Here we show the detrimental effect of hypoxia on mitochondrial-biogenesis in activated mouse CD8+ T cells. We find that low oxygen level diminishes CD8+ T cell anti-viral response in vivo. We reveal that respiratory restriction inhibits ATP-dependent matrix processes that are critical for mitochondrial-biogenesis. This respiratory restriction-mediated effect could be rescued by TCA cycle re-stimulation, which yielded increased mitochondrial matrix-localized ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation. Finally, we demonstrate that the hypoxia-arrested CD8+ T cell anti-viral response could be rescued in vivo through brief exposure to atmospheric oxygen pressure. Overall, these findings elucidate the detrimental effect of hypoxia on mitochondrial- + *For correspondence: biogenesis in activated CD8 T cells, and suggest a new approach for reducing viral infections in
[email protected] COPD. Competing interests: The authors declare that no competing interests exist.