Metabolic heterogeneity underlies reciprocal fates of T_H17 cell stemness and plasticity

A defining feature of adaptive immunity is the development of long-lived memory T cells to curtail infection. Recent studies have identified a unique stem-like T-cell subset amongst exhausted CD8-positive T cells in chronic infection^1–3, but it remains unclear whether CD4-positive T-cell subsets with similar features exist in chronic inflammatory conditions. Amongst helper T cells, T_H17 cells have prominent roles in autoimmunity and tissue inflammation and are characterized by inherent plasticity^4–7, although how such plasticity is regulated is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that T_H17 cells in a mouse model of autoimmune disease are functionally and metabolically heterogeneous; they contain a subset with stemness-associated features but lower anabolic metabolism, and a reciprocal subset with higher metabolic activity that supports transdifferentiation into T_H1-like cells. These two T_H17-cell subsets are defined by selective expression of the transcription factors TCF-1 and T-bet, and by discrete levels of CD27 expression. We also identify signalling via the kinase complex mTORC1 as a central regulator of T_H17-cell fate decisions by coordinating metabolic and transcriptional programmes. T_H17 cells with disrupted mTORC1 signalling or anabolic metabolism fail to induce autoimmune neuroinflammation or to develop into T_H1-like cells, but instead upregulate TCF-1 expression and acquire stemness-associated features. Single-cell RNA sequencing and experimental validation reveal heterogeneity in fate-mapped T_H17 cells, and a developmental arrest in the T_H1 transdifferentiation trajectory upon loss of mTORC1 activity or metabolic perturbation. Our results establish that the dichotomy of stemness and effector function underlies the heterogeneous T_H17 responses and autoimmune pathogenesis, and point to previously unappreciated metabolic control of plasticity in helper T cells.