Efficient depletion of alloreactive donor T lymphocytes based on expression of two activation-induced antigens (CD25 and CD69)

T lymphocytes play an important role in allogeneic bone marrow/stem cell transplantation by supporting engraftment and immune recovery. Moreover, donor T cells have been shown to mediate the so-called graft-versus-leukaemia effect and are, therefore, increasingly used for adoptive immunotherapy. However, T-cell infusions are associated with the risk of a graft-versus-host reaction, which may lead to a life-threatening disease. To overcome this problem, we followed a new strategy for the exclusive depletion of alloreactive cells. We activated allogeneic T cells by cultivation on an adherent cell layer derived from peripheral blood. We then depleted activated cells based on the expression of CD25, CD69 or both activation-induced antigens using magnetic cell sorting. Mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) reactions and helper T-lymphocyte precursor cell frequency (HTLP-f) assays demonstrated that this technique led to a significant decrease in alloreactivity of 'donor' cells, which at the same time preserved reactivity against third-party cells. The lowest level of alloreactivity was found when CD25 and CD69 antibodies were used together for depletion. This corresponds with our observation that expression of CD25 or CD69 may partially represent different activation pathways. We conclude that ex vivo depletion of CD25- and CD69-expressing alloreactive cells may help to overcome limitations of adoptive immunotherapy.     

NK细胞对异基因骨髓移植中移植排斥和造血及免疫重建的影响

本研究探讨自然杀伤（NK）细胞在小鼠异基因骨髓移植（allo—BMT）中对移植排斥、造血及免疫重建的影响。以C57BL／6（H-2^b）小鼠为供鼠、BALB／c（H-2^d）小鼠为受鼠，分别在致死剂量和非致死剂量（≤7．0Gy）全身照射（TBI）的预处理条件下进行allo—BMT，移植同时输注供鼠外周T细胞和（或）NK细胞，移植后不同时间检测受鼠外周血白细胞、骨髓CD34^＋细胞数和外周血淋巴细胞中CD3^＋细胞、CD19^＋细胞及供鼠来源的H-2K^b＋细胞表达的百分率，并对不同移植组的存活率、植入与排斥、造血及免疫重建进行比较。结果表明：在致死剂量TBI预处理的移植中，输注NK细胞与不输注NK细胞的移植组比较，存活率显著增高（60天存活率为70％vs 0．0％）；白细胞数、CD19^＋细胞表达及骨髓CD34^＋细胞数恢复快；H-2K^b＋细胞的表达水平高[（86．68±4．45）％vs（4．68±0．32）％]。移植后28天输注NK细胞组CD3^＋细胞表达水平明显低于不输注NK细胞组[（33．69±3．36）％们（50．40±5．06）％，P〈0．01]，移植后60天两组比较差异无显著性（P〉0．05）。在非致死剂量TBI预处理的移植中，移植后30天．异基因骨髓移植组H-2K^b＋细胞表达率明显下降，移植后60天已下降至移植前水平；而输注高浓度和低浓度NK细胞的两组在移植后60天仍能检测到80％以上的H-2^b＋细胞表达。结论：在小鼠allo—BMT中，同种异基因反应性NK细胞可以抑制移植排斥，提高造血干细胞的植入水平，促进造血及免疫重建并增加移植受鼠的生存率。     

Donor alloreactivity may predict acute graft-versus-host disease in HLA-matched bone marrow transplantation for leukemia in early remission.

The pretransplant alloantigen-dependent responding and stimulating capacity of donors and of recipients was studied retrospectively, in a study of prediction of acute graft-versus-host disease. Donor responding capacity (DRC) and host stimulating capacity (HSC) were defined by mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) and normalized by help of the pool response. High and low DRC and strong and weak HSC was defined by distribution plots. Kaplan-Meier estimates of the risk of developing Grade II or higher aGvHD showed that first remission patients (N = 125) had a significantly different risk if transplanted with marrow from a donor with high (N = 54) or low (N = 71) DRC (chi 2 = 9.49; d.f. = 1; p less than 0.002). This was not the case for patients transplanted in later remissions. Host SC status had no significant influence on the aGvHD status (chi 2 = 1.75 and 2.40; d.f. = 1; p = 0.19 and 0.12, defined by normal controls A and B respectively). In conclusion, the results indicate that pretransplant donor alloreactivity may predict aGvHD, confirming the results from a Scandinavian study. The results need to be confirmed in prospective studies of alloreactivity as risk factor for aGvHD.     

KIR2DS1-mediated activation overrides NKG2A-mediated inhibition in HLA-C C2-negative individuals

NK cell cytotoxicity is controlled through a balance of bothactivating and inhibitory signals. The HLA specificity of alloreactiveNK cells has been previously shown to be controlled by inhibitorykiller immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs). Alloreactive NKcells lyse targets that lack the HLA ligand for their inhibitoryKIR. We have characterized in detail an alloreactive NK clonein which the specificity is controlled by an activating receptor,KIR2DS1. Only target cells expressing the HLA-C group 2 (C2)epitope were lysed by this clone and homozygous C2 targets werelysed more strongly than heterozygous C1/C2 targets. Anti-CD158a(KIR2DS1) blocked lysis of targets confirming KIR2DS1 was responsible.Although this NK clone expressed NKG2A, an inhibitory receptorwhose ligand is HLA-E, targets with ligands for both KIR2DS1and NKG2A were lysed by this clone indicating that the KIR2DS1-mediatedactivation signal overrides the NKG2A-mediated inhibitory signal.KIR2DS1 activated NK clones in polyclonally expanded NK culturesfrom a donor that lacked the C2 epitope accounted for 1% ofall NK cells. This study highlights a potential role for NKcells controlled by activating KIR in mediating NK alloreactivity.     

Interleukin 10 inhibits allogeneic proliferative and cytotoxic T cell responses generated in primary mixed lymphocyte cultures.

The effects of IL-10 on the generation of alloreactivity in primary mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLCs) were investigated. IL-10 inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion the alloantigen-induced proliferative responses. The suppressive effect was maximal when IL-10 was added at the beginning of the cultures, suggesting that it acts on the early stages of T cell activation. The proliferative responses were enhanced in the presence of a neutralizing anti-IL-10 mAb, indicating that endogenously produced IL-10 suppresses proliferation in primary MLC. The inhibitory effects of IL-10 were observed irrespective of whether irradiated allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells, purified monocytes or freshly isolated B cells were used as stimulator cells. The proliferation of both the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets was inhibited to a similar extent. The reduced proliferative responses were only minimally restored by high concentrations of exogenous IL-2, indicating that the effects of IL-10 are not exclusively due to inhibition of IL-2 synthesis. Furthermore, the production of IL-2, interferon (IFN)-gamma, IL-6, granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in primary MLCs was diminished by IL-10 and enhanced in the presence of anti-IL-10 mAb. The strongest effects were observed on the production of IFN-gamma. Although IL-10 reduces the proliferative responses, the ratios of CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells remained the same in IL-10 treated and control cultures, yet the percentages of activated CD3+ T cells, as judged by CD25 and HLA-DR expression, were consistently reduced.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

T-cell receptor usage in alloreactivity against HLA-B*2703 reveals significant conservation of the antigenic structure of B*2705

B*2703 is an exceptional HLA-B27 molecule in that it differs from the most common B*2705 subtype by a unique amino acid change (His59) altering N-terminal peptide anchorage. To assess how this unusual feature affects the antigenic structure of HLA-B27, TCR usage by alloreactive CTL raised against B*2703 from two individuals was analyzed. Only few CTL recognized B*2703 but not or at a lower level B*2705. Limited heterogeneity of these CTL was revealed by: 1) identity of TCR in two pairs of such CTL clones, 2) identity of β chains, paired to distinct α chains, in two clonotypes, and 3) almost identical fine specificity of these two clonotypes with site-specific HLA-B27 mutants. These results indicate that B*2703 "private" epitopes are rare. TCR usage among anti-B*2703 CTL was analogous as in anti-B*2705 responses in the predominant and donor-independent usage of Vβ segments from homology subgroup 4, more moderate and donor-dependent Vα skewing, N+Dβ diversity limited by motifs shared among clonotypes, and restricted Jα heterogeneity. Homology of N+Dβ motifs and Jα segments of anti-B*2703 with anti-B*2705 TCR suggested significant sharing of peptide-associated epitopes between both subtypes. The results indicate that allospecific TCR are recruited by B*2703 following similar rules as in the anti-B*2705 response, and suggest that the B*2703 change keeps unaltered much of the antigenic structure of the molecule relative to B*2705. Therefore, most of the peptides bound to B*2703 should be the same and keep a similar conformation as in B*2705.     

The peptide-specific alloreactive human T cell repertoire varies largely between individuals and is not extended in HLA-A*0205--anti-HLA-A*0201 pairings.

Alloreactive T cells recognize framework or peptide-dependent determinants on foreign MHC molecules. Among the peptide-dependent alloreactive T cells a significant proportion is specific for one particular peptide presented by the allo-MHC molecule as antigen-specific T cells would do. Such alloreactive, peptide-specific T cells are referred to as 'allorestricted'. High-avidity HLA-A*02 allorestricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones specific for peptide libraries can be generated from HLA-A*02(-) donors. We made use of this technique to study the role of closely related self-HLA molecules on shaping of the alloreactive T cell repertoire. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from HLA-A*0205 individuals were stimulated by HLA-A*0201 targets pulsed with an HLA-A*0201 peptide library. We did not observe a bias towards peptide-specific CTL in the HLA-A*0201-directed alloreactive repertoire of HLA-A*0205 donors as compared to HLA-A*02(-) donors. Comparison of the alloreactive T cell response between two donors having similar HLA haplotypes demonstrated that the allorestricted T cell repertoire is largely different between individuals.