scholarly journals STING agonist-based treatment promotes vascular normalization and tertiary lymphoid structure formation in the therapeutic melanoma microenvironment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e001906
Author(s):  
Manoj Chelvanambi ◽  
Ronald J Fecek ◽  
Jennifer L Taylor ◽  
Walter J Storkus

BackgroundThe degree of immune infiltration in tumors, especially CD8+ T cells, greatly impacts patient disease course and response to interventional immunotherapy. Enhancement of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) is a critical element of efficacious therapy and one that may be achieved via administration of agents that promote tumor vascular normalization (VN) and/or induce the development of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) within the tumor microenvironment (TME).MethodsLow-dose stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist ADU S-100 (5 µg/mouse) was delivered intratumorally to established subcutaneous B16.F10 melanomas on days 10, 14 and 17 post-tumor inoculation. Treated and control tumors were isolated at various time points to assess transcriptional changes associated with VN and TLS formation via quantitative PCR (qPCR), with corollary immune cell composition changes in isolated tissues determined using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy. In vitro assays were performed on CD11c+ BMDCs treated with 2.5 µg/mL ADU S-100 or CD11c+ DCs isolated from tumor digests and associated transcriptional changes analyzed via qPCR or profiled using DNA microarrays. For T cell repertoireβ-CDR3 analyses, T cell CDR3 was sequenced from gDNA isolated from splenocytes and enzymatically digested tumors.ResultsWe report that activation of STING within the TME leads to slowed melanoma growth in association with increased production of antiangiogenic factors including Tnfsf15 (Vegi) and Cxcl10, and TLS-inducing factors including Ccl19, Ccl21, Lta, Ltb and Light. Therapeutic responses resulting from intratumoral STING activation were characterized by improved VN, enhanced tumor infiltration by CD8+ T cells and CD11c+ DCs and local TLS neogenesis, all of which were dependent on host expression of STING. Consistent with a central role for DC in TLS formation, ADU S-100-activated mCD11c+ DCs also exhibited upregulated expression of TLS promoting factors including lymphotoxin-α (LTA), interleukin (IL)-36, inflammatory chemokines and type I interferons in vitro and in vivo. TLS formation in ADU S-100-treated mice was associated with the development of a highly oligoclonal TIL repertoire enriched in expanded T cell clonotypes unique to the TME and not detected in the periphery.ConclusionsOur data support the premise that i.t. delivery of low-dose STING agonist promotes VN and a proinflammatory TME supportive of TLS formation, enrichment in the TIL repertoire and tumor growth control.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A637-A637
Author(s):  
Manoj Chelvanambi ◽  
Ronald Fecek ◽  
Jennifer Taylor ◽  
Walter Storkus

BackgroundThe degree of immune infiltration in tumors, especially CD8+ T cells, greatly impacts patient disease course and response to interventional immunotherapy. Hence, enhancement of TIL prevalence is a preferred clinical endpoint, one that may be achieved via administration of agents that normalize the tumor vasculature (VN) leading to improved immune cell recruitment and/or that induce the development of local tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) within the tumor microenvironment (TME).MethodsLow-dose STING agonist ADU S-100 (5 μg/mouse) was delivered intratumorally to established s.c. B16.F10 melanomas on days 10, 14 and 17 post-tumor inoculation under an IACUC-approved protocol. Treated and control, untreated tumors were isolated at various time points to assess transcriptional changes associated with VN and TLS formation via qPCR, with corollary immune cell composition changes determined using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy. In vitro assays were performed on CD11c+ BMDCs treated with 2.5 μg/mL ADU S-100 (vs PBS control) and associated transcriptional changes analyzed via qPCR or profiled using DNA microarrays. For TCRβ-CDR3 analyses, CDR3 was sequenced from gDNA isolated from enzymatically digested tumors and splenocytes.ResultsWe report that activation of STING within the TME leads to slowed melanoma growth in association with increased production of angiostatic factors including Tnfsf15 (Vegi), Cxcl10 and Angpt1, and TLS inducing factors including Ccl19, Ccl21, Lta, Ltb and Tnfsf14 (Light). Therapeutic responses from intratumoral STING activation were characterized by increased vascular normalization (VN), enhanced tumor infiltration by CD8+ T cells and CD11c+ DCs and local TLS neo-genesis, all of which were dependent on host expression of STING. Consistent with a central role for DC in TLS formation, ex vivo ADU S-100-activated mCD11c+ DCs also exhibited upregulated expression of TLS promoting factors including lymphotoxin-α (LTA), IL-36, inflammatory chemokines and type I interferons. TLS formation was associated with the development of a therapeutic TIL TCR repertoire enriched in T cell clonotypes uniquely detected within the tumor but not the peripheral circulation in support or local T cell cross-priming within the TME.ConclusionsOur data support the premise that i.t. delivery of STING agonist promotes a pro-inflammatory TME in support of VN and TLS formation, leading to the local expansion of unique TIL repertoire in association with superior anti-melanoma efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e002140
Author(s):  
Giulia Pellizzari ◽  
Olivier Martinez ◽  
Silvia Crescioli ◽  
Robert Page ◽  
Ashley Di Meo ◽  
...  

BackgroundCancer immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies can benefit from selection of new targets with high levels of tumor specificity and from early assessments of efficacy and safety to derisk potential therapies.MethodsEmploying mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, immuno-mass spectrometry and CRISPR/Cas9 we identified the target of the tumor-specific SF-25 antibody. We engineered IgE and CAR T cell immunotherapies derived from the SF-25 clone and evaluated potential for cancer therapy.ResultsWe identified the target of the SF-25 clone as the tumor-associated antigen SLC3A2, a cell surface protein with key roles in cancer metabolism. We generated IgE monoclonal antibody, and CAR T cell immunotherapies each recognizing SLC3A2. In concordance with preclinical and, more recently, clinical findings with the first-in-class IgE antibody MOv18 (recognizing the tumor-associated antigen Folate Receptor alpha), SF-25 IgE potentiated Fc-mediated effector functions against cancer cells in vitro and restricted human tumor xenograft growth in mice engrafted with human effector cells. The antibody did not trigger basophil activation in cancer patient blood ex vivo, suggesting failure to induce type I hypersensitivity, and supporting safe therapeutic administration. SLC3A2-specific CAR T cells demonstrated cytotoxicity against tumor cells, stimulated interferon-γ and interleukin-2 production in vitro. In vivo SLC3A2-specific CAR T cells significantly increased overall survival and reduced growth of subcutaneous PC3-LN3-luciferase xenografts. No weight loss, manifestations of cytokine release syndrome or graft-versus-host disease, were detected.ConclusionsThese findings identify efficacious and potentially safe tumor-targeting of SLC3A2 with novel immune-activating antibody and genetically modified cell therapies.


Blood ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Wilhelm ◽  
Volker Kunzmann ◽  
Susanne Eckstein ◽  
Peter Reimer ◽  
Florian Weissinger ◽  
...  

Abstract There is increasing evidence that γδ T cells have potent innate antitumor activity. We described previously that synthetic aminobisphosphonates are potent γδ T cell stimulatory compounds that induce cytokine secretion (ie, interferon γ [IFN-γ]) and cell-mediated cytotoxicity against lymphoma and myeloma cell lines in vitro. To evaluate the antitumor activity of γδ T cells in vivo, we initiated a pilot study of low-dose interleukin 2 (IL-2) in combination with pamidronate in 19 patients with relapsed/refractory low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or multiple myeloma (MM). The objectives of this trial were to determine toxicity, the most effective dose for in vivo activation/proliferation of γδ T cells, and antilymphoma efficacy of the combination of pamidronate and IL-2. The first 10 patients (cohort A) who entered the study received 90 mg pamidronate intravenously on day 1 followed by increasing dose levels of continuous 24-hour intravenous (IV) infusions of IL-2 (0.25 to 3 × 106 IU/m2) from day 3 to day 8. Even at the highest IL-2 dose level in vivo, γδ T-cell activation/proliferation and response to treatment were disappointing with only 1 patient achieving stable disease. Therefore, the next 9 patients were selected by positive in vitro proliferation of γδ T cells in response to pamidronate/IL-2 and received a modified treatment schedule (6-hour bolus IV IL-2 infusions from day 1-6). In this patient group (cohort B), significant in vivo activation/proliferation of γδ T cells was observed in 5 patients (55%), and objective responses (PR) were achieved in 3 patients (33%). Only patients with significant in vivo proliferation of γδ T cells responded to treatment, indicating that γδ T cells might contribute to this antilymphoma effect. Overall, administration of pamidronate and low-dose IL-2 was well tolerated. In conclusion, this clinical trial demonstrates, for the first time, that γδ T-cell–mediated immunotherapy is feasible and can induce objective tumor responses. (Blood. 2003;102:200-206)


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A3.2-A4
Author(s):  
J Grün ◽  
I Piseddu ◽  
C Perleberg ◽  
N Röhrle ◽  
S Endres ◽  
...  

BackgroundUnmethylated CpG-DNA is a potent ligand for the endosomal Toll-like-receptor-9, important for the immune activation to pathogen-associated molecules.1 CpG and other TLR-ligands show effective immunotherapeutic capacities in cancer treatment by inducing an antitumorigenic immunity.2 They are able to reduce tumor progression by reduction of intratumoral secretion of the immunoregulating chemokine CCL223 and subsequent recruitment of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Treg), which express CCR4 the only so far known receptor for CCL22.4 Our recent work has shown that CCL22 secretion by dendritic cells (DC) in the lymph node, mediates tolerance by inducing DC-Treg contacts.5 Indeed, in the absence of CCL22, immune responses to vaccination were stronger and resulted in tumor rejection.6 Therefore, we are aiming to investigate the effects of TLR-ligands on systemic CCL22 levels, elucidating all involved mechanisms to identify new targets for cancer immunotherapy.Materials and MethodsT, B and CD11c+ DCs of wildtype (wt) and RAG1-/- mice were isolated from splenocytes by magnetic-activated cell sorting for in vitro assays. Different co-cultures were incubated with CpG and GM-CSF, known as an CCL22 inducer.5 For in vivo experiments, wt mice were treated with CpG, R484 or poly(I:C) alone and in combination with GM-CSF. CCL22-levels in a number of organs were analyzed.ResultsAnalyzing the different immune cell compartments in vitro, we found that DCs in whole splenocytes secrete CCL22 during culture while DC cultured alone showed no CCL22 secretion. When treated with CpG, CCL22-levels were reduced in splenocytes, while it was induced in DC culture alone. The same results were seen when RAG splenocytes, that lack functional B and T cells, were cultured with CpG. CpG treated B cells were able to suppress CCL22 secretion by DC unlike T cells alone. Co-cultures of T and B cells treated with CpG, however, induced the strongest CCL22 suppression in DC. In vivo, we could show that all TLR ligands tested reduced CCL22 in a number of organs significantly. Furthermore, CpG showed the strongest suppression of CCL22 even in the presence of the CCL22 inducer GM-CSF.5ConclusionsWe could show that B cells with T cells mediate CCL22 suppression by TLR ligands. The fact that CpG was able to reduce CCL22 levels even in the presence of the inducer GM-CSF demonstrates the potent CCL22 suppressive capacity of TLR ligands.ReferencesO’Neill LA, et al. The history of toll-like receptors – redefining innate immunity. Nat Rev Immunol 2013;13(6):453–60.Rothenfusser S, et al. Recent advances in immunostimulatory CpG oligonucleotides. Curr Opin Mol Ther 2003;5(2):98–106.Wang S, et al. Intratumoral injection of a CpG oligonucleotide reverts resistance to PD-1 blockade by expanding multifunctional CD8+ T cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016;113(46): E7240–E7249.Rapp M, et al. CCL22 controls immunity by promoting regulatory T cell communication with dendritic cells in lymph nodes. J Exp Med 2019;216(5):1170–1181.Piseddu I, et al. Constitutive expression of CCL22 is mediated by T cell-derived GM-CSF. J Immunol 2020;205(8):2056–2065.Anz D, et al. Suppression of intratumoral CCL22 by type i interferon inhibits migration of regulatory T cells and blocks cancer progression. Cancer Res 2015;75(21):4483–93.Disclosure InformationJ. Grün: None. I. Piseddu: None. C. Perleberg: None. N. Röhrle: None. S. Endres: None. D. Anz: None.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Killick ◽  
Joanne Hay ◽  
Elena Morandi ◽  
Sonja Vermeren ◽  
Saniya Kari ◽  
...  

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS), in which T-cell migration into the CNS is key for pathogenesis. Patients with MS exhibit impaired regulatory T cell populations, and both Foxp3+ Tregs and type I regulatory T cells (Tr1) are dysfunctional. MS is a multifactorial disease and vitamin D deficiency is associated with disease. Herein, we examined the impact of 1,25(OH)2D3 on CD4+ T cells coactivated by either CD28 to induce polyclonal activation or by the complement regulator CD46 to promote Tr1 differentiation. Addition of 1,25(OH)2D3 led to a differential expression of adhesion molecules on CD28- and CD46-costimulated T cells isolated from both healthy donors or from patients with MS. 1,25(OH)2D3 favored Tr1 motility though a Vitamin D-CD46 crosstalk highlighted by increased VDR expression as well as increased CYP24A1 and miR-9 in CD46-costimulated T cells. Furthermore, analysis of CD46 expression on T cells from a cohort of patients with MS supplemented by vitamin D showed a negative correlation with the levels of circulating vitamin D. Moreover, t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) analysis allowed the visualization and identification of clusters increased by vitamin D supplementation, but not by placebo, that exhibited similar adhesion phenotype to what was observed in vitro. Overall, our data show a crosstalk between vitamin D and CD46 that allows a preferential effect of Vitamin D on Tr1 cells, providing novel key insights into the role of an important modifiable environmental factor in MS.


Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 2084-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D. McLellan ◽  
Michaela Kapp ◽  
Andreas Eggert ◽  
Christian Linden ◽  
Ursula Bommhardt ◽  
...  

Abstract Mouse spleen contains CD4+, CD8α+, and CD4−/CD8α− dendritic cells (DCs) in a 2:1:1 ratio. An analysis of 70 surface and cytoplasmic antigens revealed several differences in antigen expression between the 3 subsets. Notably, the Birbeck granule–associated Langerin antigen, as well as CD103 (the mouse homologue of the rat DC marker OX62), were specifically expressed by the CD8α+ DC subset. All DC types were apparent in the T-cell areas as well as in the splenic marginal zones and showed similar migratory capacity in collagen lattices. The 3 DC subtypes stimulated allogeneic CD4+ T cells comparably. However, CD8α+ DCs were very weak stimulators of resting or activated allogeneic CD8+ T cells, even at high stimulator-to-responder ratios, although this defect could be overcome under optimal DC/T cell ratios and peptide concentrations using CD8+ F5 T-cell receptor (TCR)–transgenic T cells. CD8α− or CD8α+DCs presented alloantigens with the same efficiency for lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), and their turnover rate of class I–peptide complexes was similar, thus neither an inability to present, nor rapid loss of antigenic complexes from CD8α DCs was responsible for the low allostimulatory capacity of CD8α+ DCs in vitro. Surprisingly, both CD8α+ DCs and CD4−/CD8− DCs efficiently primed minor histocompatibility (H-Y male antigen) cytotoxicity following intravenous injection, whereas CD4+ DCs were weak inducers of CTLs. Thus, the inability of CD8α+ DCs to stimulate CD8+ T cells is limited to certain in vitro assays that must lack certain enhancing signals present during in vivo interaction between CD8α+ DCs and CD8+ T cells.


1998 ◽  
Vol 188 (12) ◽  
pp. 2335-2342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siquan Sun ◽  
Xiaohong Zhang ◽  
David F. Tough ◽  
Jonathan Sprent

Immunostimulatory DNA and oligodeoxynucleotides containing unmethylated CpG motifs (CpG DNA) are strongly stimulatory for B cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). We report here that, as manifested by CD69 and B7-2 upregulation, CpG DNA also induces partial activation of T cells, including naive-phenotype T cells, both in vivo and in vitro. Under in vitro conditions, CpG DNA caused activation of T cells in spleen cell suspensions but failed to stimulate highly purified T cells unless these cells were supplemented with APCs. Three lines of evidence suggested that APC-dependent stimulation of T cells by CpG DNA was mediated by type I interferons (IFN-I). First, T cell activation by CpG DNA was undetectable in IFN-IR−/− mice. Second, in contrast to normal T cells, the failure of purified IFN-IR−/− T cells to respond to CpG DNA could not be overcome by adding normal IFN-IR+ APCs. Third, IFN-I (but not IFN-γ) caused the same pattern of partial T cell activation as CpG DNA. Significantly, T cell activation by IFN-I was APC independent. Thus, CpG DNA appeared to stimulate T cells by inducing APCs to synthesize IFN-I, which then acted directly on T cells via IFN-IR. Functional studies suggested that activation of T cells by IFN-I was inhibitory. Thus, exposing normal (but not IFN-IR−/−) T cells to CpG DNA in vivo led to reduced T proliferative responses after TCR ligation in vitro.


Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 2089-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Halverson ◽  
Gretchen N. Schwartz ◽  
Charles Carter ◽  
Ronald E. Gress ◽  
Daniel H. Fowler

Abstract We have previously shown that allospecific murine CD8+ T cells of the Tc1 and Tc2 phenotype could be generated in vitro, and that such functionally defined T-cell subsets mediated a graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect with reduced graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). To evaluate whether analogous Tc1 and Tc2 subsets might be generated in humans, CD8+ T cells were allostimulated in the presence of either interleukin-12 (IL-12) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) (Tc1 culture) or IL-4 (Tc2 culture). Tc1-type CD8 cells secreted the type I cytokines IL-2 and interferon gamma (IFN-γ), whereas Tc2-type cells primarily secreted the type II cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10. Both cytokine-secreting populations effectively lysed tumor targets when stimulated with anti–T-cell receptor (TCR) antibody; allospecificity of Tc1- and Tc2-mediated cytolytic function was demonstrated using bone marrow–derived stimulator cells as targets. In addition, both Tc1 and Tc2 subsets were capable of mediating cytolysis through the fas pathway. We therefore conclude that allospecific human CD8+ T cells of Tc1 and Tc2 phenotype can be generated in vitro, and that these T-cell populations may be important for the mediation and regulation of allogeneic transplantation responses.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 3255-3255
Author(s):  
Giovanna Andreola ◽  
Meredith Chittenden ◽  
Juanita Shaffer ◽  
A. Benedict Cosimi ◽  
Tatsuo Kawai ◽  
...  

Abstract Following an in vivo T cell depleting non-myeloablative conditioning regimen, 5 patients, aged 22–49, received combined kidney and bone marrow transplantation from a haploidentical related donor. Rituximab was included in the conditioning for patients 4 and 5. All patients developed initial mixed chimerism but lost it by day 21; no patient developed GVHD. Four patients discontinued immunosuppression from 240 to 422 days after BMT and have remained off immunosuppression for 9 to 52 months with no evidence of allograft rejection. Flow cytometry was used to assess lymphocyte subsets recovering after transplant. CD3 counts recovered slowly, exceeding 500 cells/μl at days +271, +365, +640 and +450. While memory CD45RO+ cells were most prevalent among CD4+ cells, naïve-type CD4+CD45RA+ cells, presumably arising from the recipient thymus, ranged from 8% to 56% at the time when total CD4 counts recovered to >100 cells/μl (days +165, +21, +352, +240). Notably, a very high proportion of initially recovering T cells were CD3+CD4+ expressing CD25 in all patients as early as day 7 and persisted over 1 year in 2 patients. At approximately day +120 and +365, we further characterized these cells for CD127, FOXP3, CD45RO, CD45RA, HLA-DR and CD62L expression. At Day +120, all 4 patients showed increased frequencies (10.7±4.6%) of CD25+CD127-FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) within the CD4 population compared to healthy subjects (3.8±0.4%). Expression of CD45RO, CD45RA, CD62L and HLA-DR was variable. By 1 year post-transplant, frequencies of Treg had decreased to levels similar to those in normal subjects. In vitro assays for CD8 and CD4 T cell-mediated alloreactivity (CML/MLR) showed development of long-lasting donor-specific unresponsiveness by 3 months after transplant in Patients 2, 4 and 5, and by 9 months in Patient 1. Responses to 3rd party recovered in all patients after a period of unresponsiveness. In Patient 1, in whom anti-donor CML reactivity declined gradually to become unresponsive by 9 months, depletion of CD4+CD25+ cells revealed a residual anti-donor CML and MLR response at 1year but not at 18 months. In 2 other patients, depletion of CD4+CD25+ cells did not reveal an anti-donor response at time points analyzed from day +122 to 2 years. In patients in whom renal tubular epithelial cells (RTEC) were cultured from the donor kidney, loss of killing activity against donor RTEC was observed post-transplant. The high percentage of Treg recovering early after transplant suggests that they may play a role in initial tolerance induction. This regulatory mechanism may be followed by later deletion of donor-reactive T cells. The variable ability to detect regulation of anti-donor reactivity may reflect the strength of the initial response, as patients with weak pre-transplant anti-donor responses and rapid post-transplant development of donor unresponsiveness did not reveal anti-donor response when Treg were depleted. In addition, infiltration of Treg at the graft site, not revealed by the assays described, might be responsible for tolerance in these patients.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 4738-4738
Author(s):  
Lauriane Padet ◽  
Isabelle St-Amour ◽  
Eric Aubin ◽  
Real Lemieux ◽  
Renee Bazin

Abstract Abstract 4738 Introduction IVIg is known to have immunosuppressive effects in a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, which may be caused by modulations of T cell functions in treated patients. The mechanisms responsible for these modulations have been mostly investigated using in vitro stimulated T cells. These studies revealed that IVIg inhibited the proliferation of activated T cells possibly by interfering with the secretion of cytokines important for T cell proliferation, such as IL-2. In the present study, we sought to determine the precise mechanism by which IVIg inhibited cytokine secretion by stimulated T cells. Methods Human PBMC and Jurkat T cells were stimulated with PHA. Human T cells purified from PBMC were stimulated with CD3/CD28 T cell expander beads. Cells were cultured in presence or not of 10 mg/ml of IVIg for 24 hours. IL-2 secretion was measured in the culture supernatants by ELISA. IVIg was depleted of PHA-reactive IgG by passage on a PHA-Sepharose column. The extent of depletion was evaluated by ELISA using PHA as capture antigen. The role of F(ab')2 fragments in the inhibitory effect of IVIg on IL-2 secretion was determined using pepsin-generated fragments. Results IVIg inhibited IL-2 secretion by PHA-stimulated T cells, as previously reported. However, the use of increasing concentrations of PHA for T cell stimulation led to a decreased ability of IVIg to inhibit IL-2 production, suggesting that IVIg acted by neutralizing PHA or by competition for receptor occupancy on the cell surface. Pre-incubation of T cells with IVIg followed by washing and addition of PHA did not result in inhibition of IL-2 secretion, indicating that competition for receptor was not involved in this IVIg-mediated inhibition. In contrast, inhibition of IL-2 production by IVIg was completely abrogated using IVIg depleted from PHA-reactive IgG, indicating that IVIg-mediated inhibition of IL-2 secretion was the consequence PHA neutralization. Testing of F(ab')2 fragments of IVIg showed that these fragments bound to PHA and inhibited IL-2 secretion as efficiently as IVIg. Using another activation strategy, we showed that IVIg could also decrease IL-2 secretion by purified human T cells following anti-CD3/CD28 stimulation. Preliminary data using light microscopy indicated that IVIg interfered with the binding of CD3/CD28 beads on T cells, therefore reducing cell activation as evaluated by IL-2 secretion. Conclusion Altogether, our results suggest that the inhibition of T cell responses by IVIg occurs during the cell activation step, by preventing the binding of mitogens or antibody-coated beads on the cell surface. These observations emphasize the importance of ruling out the possible interactions of IVIg with culture medium additives, mitogens or activating agents before deriving strong conclusions on the mechanisms of action of IVIg based on their apparent immunomodulatory effects observed in vitro assays. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document