Dendritic cells rapidly recruited into epithelial tissues via CCR6/CCL20 are responsible for CD8+ T cell crosspriming in vivo

The nature of dendritic cell(s) (DC[s]) that conditions efficient in vivo priming of CD8+ CTL after immunization via epithelial tissues remains largely unknown. Here, we show that myeloid DCs rapidly recruited by adjuvants into the buccal mucosa or skin are essential for CD8+ T cell crosspriming. Recruitment of circulating DC precursors, including Gr1+ monocytes, precedes the sequential accumulation of CD11c+ MHC class II+ DCs in dermis and epithelium via a CCR6/CCL20-dependent mechanism. Remarkably, a defect in CCR6, local neutralization of CCL20, or depletion of monocytes prevents in vivo priming of CD8+ CTL against an innocuous protein antigen administered with adjuvant. In addition, transfer of CCR6-sufficient Gr1+ monocytes restores CD8+ T cell priming in CCR6( degrees / degrees ) mice via a direct Ag presentation mechanism. Thus, newly recruited DCs likely derived from circulating monocytes are responsible for efficient crosspriming of CD8+ CTL after mucosal or skin immunization.     

Peripheral clonal deletion of antiviral memory CD8+ T cells

Antiviral cytotoxic memory CD8⁺ T cells adoptively transferred to mice which are persistently infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus WE or DOCILE initially proliferated extensively; they either caused the death of the recipient or, alternatively, disappeared within a few days. Apparently, the complete and coordinated induction and stimulation by widely distributed viral antigen caused these memory T cells to die before virus had been eliminated from the host. Thus memory T cells are as susceptible to peripheral exhaustion/deletion as unprimed T cells. These results indicate possible limitations of exclusively CD8⁺ T cell-mediated adoptive immunotherapy against viral infections or tumors.     

Activated CD4+ CD25+ T cells suppress antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells but induce a suppressive phenotype only in CD4+ T cells

CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells are increasingly recognized as central players in the regulation of immune responses. In vitro studies have mostly employed allogeneic or polyclonal responses to monitor suppression. Little is known about the ability of CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells to suppress antigen-specific immune responses in humans. It has been previously shown that CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells anergize CD4(+) T cells and turn them into suppressor T cells. In the present study we demonstrate for the first time in humans that CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells are able to inhibit the proliferation and cytokine production of antigen specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. This suppression only occurs when CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells are preactivated. Furthermore, we could demonstrate that CD4(+) T-cell clones stop secreting interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), start to produce interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-beta after coculture with preactivated CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells and become suppressive themselves. Surprisingly preactivated CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells affect CD8(+) T cells differently, leading to reduced proliferation and reduced production of IFN-gamma. This effect is sustained and cannot be reverted by exogenous interleukin-2. Yet CD8(+) T cells, unlike CD4(+) T cells do not start to produce immunoregulatory cytokines and do not become suppressive after coculture with CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells.     

CD4+CD25+T细胞在CD8+T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中的调节作用

实验旨在研究CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞在CD8^＋T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中的调节作用。将小鼠脾脏中分离的单个核细胞分为两组．即去除CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞组和未去除CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞组,测定树突状细胞提呈的肿瘤抗原多肽刺激不同T细胞增殖活性、细胞因子IFN一1分泌,以及多肽特异性CD8^＋T细胞对同源性胃癌细胞株MFC的杀伤活性。结果显示预先去除未致敏T细胞中的CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞,所诱导的特异性CD8^＋CTL对肿瘤细胞免疫应答增强,表现为反应性T细胞对树突状细胞提呈的肿瘤抗原多肽增殖反应增强,IFN-γ分泌量提高及CD8＋T细胞对MFC杀伤活性增强。这些结果表明。预先去除未致敏T细胞中的CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞,肿瘤抗原多肽修饰的树突状细胞肿瘤疫苗效能可明显增加。CD4^＋CD25^＋T细胞在CD8^＋T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中起下调作用。     

Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD8+ T cells and their role in immunity

There are more cases of tuberculosis in the world today than at any other time in history. The global epidemic has generated intense interest into the immunological mechanisms that control infection. Although CD4+ T cells play a critical role in host immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, there is considerable interest in understanding the role of other T cell subsets in preventing disease development following infection. CD8+ T cells are required for optimum host defense following M. tuberculosis infection, which has led to investigation into how this protective effect is mediated. A critical review of recent literature regarding the role of CD8+ T cells in protective immunity to M. tuberculosis infection is now required to address the strengths and weaknesses of these studies. In this article, we evaluate the evidence that CD8+ T cells are critical in immunity to M. tuberculosis infection. We discuss the specific mycobacterial proteins that are recognized by CD8+ T cells elicited during infection. Finally, we examine the effector mechanisms of CD8+ T cells generated during infection and synthesize recent studies to consider the protective roles that these T cells serve in vivo.     

Dendritic cell subsets generated from CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors can be transfected with mRNA and induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell responses

Human dendritic cells (DCs) generated in culture from either monocytes or CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells (CD34-HPCs) have been used in cancer immunotherapy protocols with encouraging results. Yet an optimal strategy for the delivery of antigen(s) to DCs still remains to be established. Recent studies demonstrated the feasibility of mRNA transfection to load monocyte-derived DCs. It is not known, however, whether DCs derived by culturing CD34-HPC with GM-CSF and TNF-alpha for 9 days (CD34-DCs) can be efficiently transduced with mRNA. Here we show that clinical-grade CD34-DCs generated after 8 days of culture can be transfected with mRNA without significant alteration of cell viability. About 90% of cells transfected with GFP-RNA express GFP 24 h post-transfection. Remarkably, transfected CD34-DCs retain high levels of GFP expression for at least 14 days. CD34-DCs transfected with Flu-MP RNA were highly efficient in inducing the proliferation of Flu-MP-specific CD8+ T cells as measured by tetramer staining. Furthermore, the stimulated CD8+ T cells produced IFN-gamma upon antigenic stimulation and were able to kill targets pulsed with Flu-MP peptide. Both DC subsets in CD34-DCs, CD1a+-DC (Langerhans cells) and CD14+-DC (interstitial DC), were equally transfected with GFP-RNA, and yielded Flu-specific cytotoxic T cells upon transfection with Flu-MP RNA. Thus, RNA can be used to deliver antigens to two distinct myeloid DC subsets in CD34-DC cultures.     

IL-15-independent antiviral function of primary and memory CD8+ T cells

Memory CD8+ T cells are comprised of CD122hi IL-15-dependent and CD122lo IL-15-independent subsets. Induction and retention of IL-15-independent memory CD8+ T cells was assessed in IL-15-/- and wild-type (wt) mice immunized with recombinant vaccinia virus (rVV) or Sindbis virus (rSIN) vectors expressing the identical foreign epitope. Both vectors induced epitope-specific CD8+ T cell expansion and function, independent of IL-15. Similar kinetics of rVV clearance confirmed effective CD8+ T cell function in IL-15-/- mice. CD44hi CD122hi CD8+ T cells, mainly of the CD62L-/lo phenotype, increased more dramatically and declined more rapidly in IL-15-/- mice, independent of the vector. Rapid IL-15-independent memory CD8+ T cell expansion following challenge of immune mice compensated for the limited memory CD8+ populations in IL-15-/- mice. However, despite expansion and expression of potent effector function, viral clearance was delayed in the absence of IL-15, coinciding with a rapid loss in cytolytic function.     

CD4~+CD25~+T细胞在CD8~+T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中的调节作用

实验旨在研究CD4+CD25+T细胞在CD8+T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中的调节作用。将小鼠脾脏中分离的单个核细胞分为两组,即去除CD4+CD25+T细胞组和未去除CD4+CD25+T细胞组,测定树突状细胞提呈的肿瘤抗原多肽刺激不同T细胞增殖活性、细胞因子IFN-γ分泌,以及多肽特异性CD8+T细胞对同源性胃癌细胞株MFC的杀伤活性。结果显示预先去除未致敏T细胞中的CD4+CD25+T细胞,所诱导的特异性CD8+CTL对肿瘤细胞免疫应答增强,表现为反应性T细胞对树突状细胞提呈的肿瘤抗原多肽增殖反应增强,IFN-γ分泌量提高及CD8+T细胞对MFC杀伤活性增强。这些结果表明,预先去除未致敏T细胞中的CD4+CD25+T细胞,肿瘤抗原多肽修饰的树突状细胞肿瘤疫苗效能可明显增加。CD4+CD25+T细胞在CD8+T细胞抗肿瘤免疫中起下调作用。     

Urothelial antigen-specific CD4+ T cells function as direct effector cells and induce bladder autoimmune inflammation independent of CD8+ T cells

The role of CD4(+) T cells in bladder autoimmune inflammation has not been identified because of the lack of a proper animal model. We investigated CD4(+) T-cell responses to bladder urothelial ovalbumin (OVA), a model self-antigen (Ag), in transgenic URO-OVA mice. The expression of bladder urothelial OVA rendered mice unresponsive to OVA and resulted in quick clearance of Ag-specific CD4(+) T cells. Adoptive transfer of naive OVA-specific CD4(+) T cells led to exogenous T-cell proliferation, activation, and bladder infiltration but no inflammatory induction. In contrast, adoptive transfer of preactivated OVA-specific CD4(+) T cells induced bladder inflammation. Studies further demonstrated that CD4(+) T cells induced bladder inflammation in URO-OVA mice depleted of CD8(+) T cells or deficient in the recombinase activating gene-1 (Rag-1(-/-)). These results indicate that urothelial Ag-specific CD4(+) T cells can function as direct effector cells to induce bladder autoimmune inflammation independent of CD8(+) T cells.     

转染肿瘤总RNA的DC疫苗诱导抗肝癌特异性免疫

目的：探讨转染人肝癌总RNA的树突状细胞(DC) 疫苗体外诱导特异性细胞毒性T淋巴细胞(CTL)的作用。 方法： 采用原发性肝癌（HCC）病人外周血单核细胞（PBMC），在粒/巨细胞集落刺激因子(GM-CSF)和白细胞介素-4(IL-4) 刺激下增殖分化为DC细胞；从人肝癌细胞中体外扩增肝癌RNA。以HCCRNA转染DC细胞，并与PBMC混合培养诱导扩增CTL。MTT法测定CTL的杀瘤活性。 结果： 转染HCCRNA 48 h后， DC表面分子CD83、CD86和HLA-DR表达明显增高。转染HepG-2细胞HCCRNA的DC和病人HCCRNA诱导的CTL对HepG-2细胞和病人HCC细胞的杀瘤活性均明显高于正常肝细胞RNA+DC、脂质体+DC、Opti-MEM+DC以及空白对照组；而对胃癌SGC-7901细胞无杀伤活性。 结论： 以肝癌RNA为肿瘤抗原，DC作为疫苗的抗原提呈细胞，体外冲击致敏DCs，能诱导肝癌特异性CTL。本研究为HCC术后复发和转移的防治提供一种可能有效的疫苗治疗方法。     

Dendritic cell maturation is required for the cross-tolerization of CD8+ T cells

In vivo models have shown that tissue-restricted antigen may be captured by bone marrow-derived cells and cross-presented for the tolerization of CD8+ T cells. Although these studies have shown peripheral tolerization of CD8+ T cells, the mechanism of antigen transfer and the nature of the antigen-presenting cell (APC) remain undefined. We report here the establishment of an in vitro system for the study of cross-tolerance and show that dendritic cells (DCs) phagocytose apoptotic cells and tolerize antigen-specific CD8+ T cells when cognate CD4+ T helper cells are absent. Using this system, we directly tested the "two-signal" hypothesis for the regulation of priming versus tolerance. We found that the same CD83+ myeloid-derived DCs were required for both cross-priming and cross-tolerance. These data suggested that the current model for peripheral T cell tolerance, "signal 1 in the absence of signal 2", requires refinement: the critical checkpoint is not DC maturation, but instead the presence of a third signal, which is active at the DC-CD4+ T cell interface.     

High-avidity CD8+ T cells

The primary goal of vaccination is the establishment of protective immunity. Thus there has been significant effort put toward the identification of attributes of the immune response that are associated with optimal protection. Although the number of virus-specific cells elicited is unquestionably important, recent studies have identified an additional parameter, functional avidity, as critical in determining the efficiency of viral clearance. T-cell avidity is a measure of the sensitivity of a cell to peptide antigen. High-avidity cells are those that can recognize antigen-presenting cells (APC) bearing very low levels of peptide antigen, whereas low-avidity cells require much higher numbers of peptide major histocompatibility complex (MHC) complexes in order to become activated or exert effector function. We are only now beginning to gain insights into the molecular control of avidity and the signals required for the optimal activation, expansion, and retention of high-avidity cells in vivo. This review summarizes the current knowledge regarding CD8⁺ T-cell avidity and explores some of the important issues that are, as of yet, unresolved.     

免疫磁珠负性分离纯化小鼠脾脏CD8+ T细胞

目的 探讨小鼠脾脏CD8 T细胞的免疫磁珠负性分选方法,并对分选后所得细胞进行纯度、活力及功能检测.方法 以免疫磁珠负性分选法从小鼠脾脏细胞中分离CD8 T细胞,流式细胞术检测所得细胞的纯度,台盼蓝检测细胞活力并用ConA刺激检测增殖能力. 结果 经过流式细胞仪测定免疫磁珠负性分选后的小鼠脾脏CD8 T细胞纯度达到(91.6±3.6)%,台盼兰染色细胞活力为(94.9±3.2)%,ConA刺激72 h后有(56.3±1.7)%的细胞增殖.结论 免疫磁珠负性分选法能够分选出高纯度的CD8 T细胞,并且不影响分选靶细胞的细胞活力和功能.     

Upregulation of CD4 on CD8+ T cells: CD4dimCD8bright T cells constitute an activated phenotype of CD8+ T cells

Aside from an intermediate stage in thymic T-cell development, the expression of CD4 and CD8 is generally thought to be mutually exclusive, associated with helper or cytotoxic T-cell functions, respectively. Stimulation of CD8+ T cells, however, induces the de novo expression of CD4. We demonstrate that while superantigen (staphylococcal enterotoxin B, SEB) and anti-CD3/CD28 costimulation of purified CD8+ T cells induced the expression of CD4 on CD8+ T cells by 30 and 17%, respectively, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation did not induce CD4 expression on purified CD8+ T cells but significantly induced the expression of both CD4 on CD8 (CD4dimCD8bright) and CD8 on CD4 (CD4brightCD8dim) T cells in unfractionated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The level of the PHA-mediated induction of CD4dimCD8bright and CD4brightCD8dim was at 27 and 17%, respectively. Depletion of CD4+ T cells from PBMC abrogated this PHA-mediated effect. Autologous CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell co-cultures in the presence of PHA induced this CD4dimCD8bright T-cell expression by 33%, demonstrating a role for CD4 cells in the PHA-mediated induction of the double positive cells. The induction of CD4dimCD8bright was independent of a soluble factor(s). Phenotypic analysis of CD4dimCD8bright T cells indicated significantly higher levels of CD95, CD25, CD38, CD69, CD28, and CD45RO expression than their CD8+CD4- counterparts. CD4dimCD8bright T cells were also negative for CD1a expression and were predominantly T-cell receptor (TCR) alphabeta cells. Our data demonstrate that CD4dimCD8bright T cells are an activated phenotype of CD8+ T cells and suggest that CD4 upregulation on CD8+ T cells may function as an additional marker to identify activated CD8+ T cells.     

Alloantigen-induced regulatory CD8+CD103+ T cells

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) appear of great importance in the balance between alloreactivity and tolerance and subsets of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells have been recognized to function as regulatory T cells after allogenic transplantation. Among the CD8(+) T-cell subsets, the CD103(+) cells were most recently identified as regulatory. In this review, we describe their phenotypical and functional properties, as well as their relevance for the alloimmune response in vivo. These CD8(+)CD103(+) Tregs are generated within mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLCs) and are elevated by additional transforming growth factor-beta. Interestingly, myeloid dendritic cells are the responsible cell type for induction of CD103(+) Tregs. Allostimulated CD8(+)CD103(+) Tregs display an antigen-experienced effector phenotype with limited effector functions such as cytotoxicity and interferon-gamma production and show a reduced proliferation capacity after restimulation. Beside this anergic phenotype, CD8(+)CD103(+) Tregs are able to suppress alloreactive effector T cells. Through intracellular cytokine staining and transwell assays, we showed that the mechanism of suppression is cytokine independent, but close cell-cell contact is required for suppression.     

CD25+ regulatory T cells and tumor immunity

Tumor cells express a range of antigens including self-antigens (those whose expression is shared by normal host tissue) and non-self antigens (such as those that arise as a result of mutations in normal cellular genes or in the case of some tumors, viral antigens). Immune responses to both types of antigen have been identified in human patients with cancer and in murine tumor models. In both cases, these responses are typically weak and generally fail to result in tumor rejection. Accumulating evidence indicates that a population of T cells, namely CD25(+) regulatory cells, is at least partly responsible for the poor immunogenicity of tumor cells. This evidence is discussed in the context of a murine model of melanoma.