Immunotherapies targeting the immune checkpoint receptor programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have shown remarkable efficacy in treating cancer. CD4+CD25hiFoxP3+ Tregs are critical regulators of immune responses in autoimmunity and malignancies, but the functional status of human Tregs expressing PD-1 remains unclear. We examined functional and molecular features of PD-1hi Tregs in healthy subjects and patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), combining functional assays, RNA sequencing, and cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF). In both patients with GBM and healthy subjects, circulating PD-1hi Tregs displayed reduced suppression of CD4+ effector T cells, production of IFN-γ, and molecular signatures of exhaustion. Transcriptional profiling of tumor-resident Tregs revealed that several genes coexpressed with PD-1 and associated with IFN-γ production and exhaustion as well as enrichment in exhaustion signatures compared with circulating PD-1hi Tregs. CyTOF analysis of circulating and tumor-infiltrating Tregs from patients with GBM treated with PD-1-blocking antibodies revealed that treatment shifts the profile of circulating Tregs toward a more exhausted phenotype reminiscent of that of tumor-infiltrating Tregs, further increasing IFN-γ production. Thus, high PD-1 expression on human Tregs identifies dysfunctional, exhausted Tregs secreting IFN-γ that exist in healthy individuals and are enriched in tumor infiltrates, possibly losing function as they attempt to modulate the antitumoral immune responses.
Daniel E. Lowther, Brittany A. Goods, Liliana E. Lucca, Benjamin A. Lerner, Khadir Raddassi, David van Dijk, Amanda L. Hernandez, Xiangguo Duan, Murat Gunel, Vlad Coric, Smita Krishnaswamy, J. Christopher Love, David A. Hafler
Posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) effectively prevents graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), but its immunologic impact is poorly understood. We assessed lymphocyte reconstitution via flow cytometry (
Christopher G. Kanakry, David G. Coffey, Andrea M.H. Towlerton, Ante Vulic, Barry E. Storer, Jeffrey Chou, Cecilia C.S. Yeung, Christopher D. Gocke, Harlan S. Robins, Paul V. O’Donnell, Leo Luznik, Edus H. Warren
Xenografting primary tumor cells allows modeling of the heterogeneous natures of malignant diseases and the influences of the tissue microenvironment. Here, we demonstrate that xenografting primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B lymphocytes with activated autologous T cells into alymphoid mice results in considerable CLL B cell division and sizable T cell expansion. Nevertheless, most/all CD5+CD19+ cells are eventually lost, due in part to differentiation into antibody-secreting plasmablasts/plasma cells. CLL B cell differentiation is associated with isotype class switching and development of new
Piers E.M. Patten, Gerardo Ferrer, Shih-Shih Chen, Rita Simone, Sonia Marsilio, Xiao-Jie Yan, Zachary Gitto, Chaohui Yuan, Jonathan E. Kolitz, Jacqueline Barrientos, Steven L. Allen, Kanti R. Rai, Thomas MacCarthy, Charles C. Chu, Nicholas Chiorazzi
We recently identified a genome-wide genetic association of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) at 2p23 spanning the calpain 14 (
Benjamin P. Davis, Emily M. Stucke, M. Eyad Khorki, Vladislav A. Litosh, Jeffrey K. Rymer, Mark Rochman, Jared Travers, Leah C. Kottyan, Marc E. Rothenberg
Ab-producing plasma cells (PCs) serve as key participants in countering pathogenic challenges as well as being contributors to autoimmune and malignant disorders. Thus far, only a limited number of PC–specific markers have been identified. The characterization of the unique variable lymphocyte receptor (VLR) Abs that are made by evolutionarily distant jawless vertebrates prompted us to investigate whether VLR Abs could detect novel PC antigens that have not been recognized by conventional Abs. Here, we describe a monoclonal lamprey Ab, VLRB MM3, that was raised against primary multiple myeloma cells. VLRB MM3 recognizes a unique epitope of the CD38 ectoenzyme that is present on plasmablasts and PCs from healthy individuals and on most, but not all, multiple myelomas. Binding by the VLRB MM3 Ab coincides with CD38 dimerization and NAD glycohydrolase activity. Our data demonstrate that the lamprey VLRB MM3 Ab is a unique reagent for the identification of plasmablasts and PCs, with potential applications in the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of PC or autoimmune disorders.
Cuiling Yu, Yanling Liu, Justin Tze Ho Chan, Jiefei Tong, Zhihua Li, Mengyao Shi, Dariush Davani, Marion Parsons, Srijit Khan, Wei Zhan, Shuya Kyu, Eyal Grunebaum, Paolo Campisi, Evan J. Propst, David L. Jaye, Suzanne Trudel, Michael F. Moran, Mario Ostrowski, Brantley R. Herrin, F. Eun-Hyung Lee, Ignacio Sanz, Max D. Cooper, Götz R.A. Ehrhardt
Progressive HIV-1 infection leads to both profound immune suppression and pathologic inflammation in the majority of infected individuals. While adaptive immune dysfunction, as evidenced by CD4+ T cell depletion and exhaustion, has been extensively studied, less is known about the functional capacity of innate immune cell populations in the context of HIV-1 infection. Given the broad susceptibility to opportunistic infections and the dysregulated inflammation observed in progressive disease, we hypothesized that there would be significant changes in the innate cellular responses. Using a cohort of patients with multiple samplings before and after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, we demonstrated increased responses to innate immune stimuli following viral suppression, as measured by the production of inflammatory cytokines. Plasma viral load itself had the strongest association with this change in innate functional capacity. We further identified epigenetic modifications in the
Eileen P. Scully, Ainsley Lockhart, Wilfredo Garcia-Beltran, Christine D. Palmer, Chelsey Musante, Eric Rosenberg, Todd M. Allen, J. Judy Chang, Ronald J. Bosch, Marcus Altfeld
Despite the rare appearance of potent HIV-neutralizing mAbs in infected individuals requiring prolonged affinity maturation, little is known regarding this process in the majority of viremic individuals. HIV-infected individuals with chronic HIV viremia have elevated numbers of nonconventional tissue-like memory (TLM) B cells that predominate in blood over conventional resting memory (RM) B cells. Accordingly, we investigated affinity maturation in these 2 memory B cell populations. Analysis of IgG-expressing TLM B cells revealed a higher number of cell divisions compared with RM B cells; however, TLM B cells paradoxically displayed significantly lower frequencies of somatic hypermutation (SHM). To assess Ab reactivity in TLM and RM B cells, single-cell cloning was performed on HIV envelope CD4–binding site–sorted (CD4bs-sorted) B cells from 3 individuals with chronic HIV viremia. Several clonal families were present among the 127 cloned recombinant mAbs, with evidence of crosstalk between TLM and RM B cell populations that was largely restricted to non-VH4 families. Despite evidence of common origins, SHM frequencies were significantly decreased in TLM-derived mAbs compared with SHM frequencies in RM-derived mAbs. However, both cell populations had lower frequencies of SHMs than did broadly neutralizing CD4bs–specific mAbs. There was a significant correlation between SHM frequencies and the HIV-neutralizing capacities of the mAbs. Furthermore, HIV neutralization was significantly higher in the RM-derived mAbs compared with that seen in the TLM-derived mAbs, and both SHM frequencies and neutralizing capacity were lowest in TLM-derived mAbs with high polyreactivity. Thus, deficiencies in memory B cells that arise during chronic HIV viremia provide insight into the inadequacy of the Ab response in viremic individuals.
Eric Meffre, Aaron Louie, Jason Bannock, Leo J.Y. Kim, Jason Ho, Cody C. Frear, Lela Kardava, Wei Wang, Clarisa M. Buckner, Yimeng Wang, Olivia R. Fankuchen, Kathleen R. Gittens, Tae-Wook Chun, Yuxing Li, Anthony S. Fauci, Susan Moir
Glioblastomas are highly infiltrated by diverse immune cells, including microglia, macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Understanding the mechanisms by which glioblastoma-associated myeloid cells (GAMs) undergo metamorphosis into tumor-supportive cells, characterizing the heterogeneity of immune cell phenotypes within glioblastoma subtypes, and discovering new targets can help the design of new efficient immunotherapies. In this study, we performed a comprehensive battery of immune phenotyping, whole-genome microarray analysis, and microRNA expression profiling of GAMs with matched blood monocytes, healthy donor monocytes, normal brain microglia, nonpolarized M0 macrophages, and polarized M1, M2a, M2c macrophages. Glioblastoma patients had an elevated number of monocytes relative to healthy donors. Among CD11b+ cells, microglia and MDSCs constituted a higher percentage of GAMs than did macrophages. GAM profiling using flow cytometry studies revealed a continuum between the M1- and M2-like phenotype. Contrary to current dogma, GAMs exhibited distinct immunological functions, with the former aligned close to nonpolarized M0 macrophages.
Konrad Gabrusiewicz, Benjamin Rodriguez, Jun Wei, Yuuri Hashimoto, Luke M. Healy, Sourindra N. Maiti, Ginu Thomas, Shouhao Zhou, Qianghu Wang, Ahmed Elakkad, Brandon D. Liebelt, Nasser K. Yaghi, Ravesanker Ezhilarasan, Neal Huang, Jeffrey S. Weinberg, Sujit S. Prabhu, Ganesh Rao, Raymond Sawaya, Lauren A. Langford, Janet M. Bruner, Gregory N. Fuller, Amit Bar-Or, Wei Li, Rivka R. Colen, Michael A. Curran, Krishna P. Bhat, Jack P. Antel, Laurence J. Cooper, Erik P. Sulman, Amy B. Heimberger
Acute allograft rejection is mediated by host CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) targeting graft class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. In experimental rodent models, rejection requires differentiation of naive CD8+ T cells into alloreactive CTL within secondary lymphoid organs, whereas in humans, CTL may alternatively develop within the graft from circulating CD8+ effector memory T cells (TEM) that recognize class I MHC molecules on graft endothelial cells (EC). This latter pathway is poorly understood. Here, we show that host CD4+ TEM, activated by EC class II MHC molecules, provide critical help for this process. First, blocking HLA-DR on EC lining human artery grafts in immunodeficient mice reduces CD8+ CTL development within and acute rejection of the artery by adoptively transferred allogeneic human lymphocytes. Second, siRNA knockdown or CRISPR/Cas9 ablation of class II MHC molecules on EC prevents CD4+ TEM from helping CD8+ TEM to develop into CTL in vitro. Finally, implanted synthetic microvessels, formed from CRISPR/Cas9-modified EC lacking class II MHC molecules, are significantly protected from CD8+ T cell–mediated destruction in vivo. We conclude that human CD8+ TEM–mediated rejection targeting graft EC class I MHC molecules requires help from CD4+ TEM cells activated by recognition of class II MHC molecules.
Parwiz Abrahimi, Lingfeng Qin, William G. Chang, Alfred L.M. Bothwell, George Tellides, W. Mark Saltzman, Jordan S. Pober
Renal tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis are common hallmarks of etiologically different progressive chronic kidney diseases (CKD) that eventually result in organ failure. Even though these pathological manifestations constitute a major public health problem, diagnostic tests, as well as therapeutic options, are currently limited. Members of the dickkopf (DKK) family, DKK1 and -2, have been associated with inhibition of Wnt signaling and organ fibrosis. Here, we identify DKK3 as a stress-induced, tubular epithelia–derived, secreted glycoprotein that mediates kidney fibrosis. Genetic as well as antibody-mediated abrogation of DKK3 led to reduced tubular atrophy and decreased interstitial matrix accumulation in two mouse models of renal fibrosis. This was facilitated by an amplified, antifibrogenic, inflammatory T cell response and diminished canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling in stressed tubular epithelial cells. Moreover, in humans, urinary DKK3 levels specifically correlated with the extent of tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis in different glomerular and tubulointerstitial diseases. In summary, our data suggest that DKK3 constitutes an immunosuppressive and a profibrotic epithelial protein that might serve as a potential therapeutic target and diagnostic marker in renal fibrosis.
Giuseppina Federico, Michael Meister, Daniel Mathow, Gunnar H. Heine, Gerhard Moldenhauer, Zoran V. Popovic, Viola Nordström, Annette Kopp-Schneider, Thomas Hielscher, Peter J. Nelson, Franz Schaefer, Stefan Porubsky, Danilo Fliser, Bernd Arnold, Hermann-Josef Gröne
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