scholarly journals Primary vulvar squamous cell carcinomas with high T cell infiltration and active immune signaling are potential candidates for neoadjuvant PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e003671
Author(s):  
Kim E Kortekaas ◽  
Saskia J Santegoets ◽  
Liselotte Tas ◽  
Ilina Ehsan ◽  
Pornpimol Charoentong ◽  
...  

BackgroundA profound insight into the immune landscape of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) is lacking. Here, an in-depth interrogation of T cell infiltration, local immune contexture, signaling pathways and checkpoint molecule expression was performed in early-stage and late-stage VSCC.MethodsThe type, location, and infiltration pattern of T cells were studied in 109 patients with primary VSCC FIGO stage I–III. RNA expression of genes involved in immune oncology and oncogenic signaling pathways was analyzed in 40 VSCC, matched for prognostic clinicopathological variables, analyzed for HPV and p53 status, and selected based on T cell infiltration.ResultsHigh intraepithelial infiltration with CD4 or CD8 T cells was associated with longer overall and recurrence-free survival and formed an independent prognostic factor, outperforming molecular subtype and stage of the disease. Strong T cell infiltrated VSCC displayed a coordinated immune response reflected by a positive association between T cells and different lymphocyte and myeloid cell subsets. The expression of genes involved in the migration of T cells and myeloid cells, T cell activation and costimulation, interferon (IFN)-γ signaling, cytotoxicity and apoptosis was higher than in low infiltrated tumors. An active immune signaling profile was observed in all inflamed, part of the altered-excluded and not in altered-immunosuppressed or deserted VSCC. While several checkpoint molecules were overexpressed, only PD-L1 expression displayed discriminatory ability and clinical usefulness. High PD-L1 expression was detected in all inflamed and ~60% of the altered-excluded VSCC.ConclusionAn active immune signaling profile is present in 35% of primary FIGO I–III VSCCs, suggesting potential responsiveness to neoadjuvant PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy.

2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (9) ◽  
pp. 2010-2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Hyun Shim ◽  
Dae-Sun Kim ◽  
Whajung Cho ◽  
Jae-Hwan Nam

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection can trigger myocarditis and can ultimately lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. It is known that CVB3-induced T-cell infiltration into cardiac tissues is one of the pathological factors causing cardiomyocyte injury by inflammation. However, the underlying mechanism for this remains unclear. We investigated the mechanism of T-cell infiltration by two types of CVB3: the H3 WT strain and the YYFF attenuated strain. T-cell activation was confirmed by changes in the distribution of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1). Finally, we identified which viral gene was responsible for LFA-1 activation. CVB3 could infect and activate T-cells in vivo and in vitro, and activated T-cells were detected in CVB3-infected mouse hearts. LFA-1 expressed on the surface of these T-cells had been activated through the cAMP/Rap1 pathway. Recombinant lentiviruses expressing VP2 of CVB3 could also induce LFA-1 activation via an increase in cAMP, whilst VP2 of YYFF did not. These results indicated that CVB3 infection increased cAMP levels and then activated Rap1 in T-cells. In particular, VP2, among the CVB3 proteins, might be critical for this activation. This VP2–cAMP–Rap1–LFA-1 axis could be a potential therapeutic target for treating CVB3-induced myocarditis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A52-A52
Author(s):  
Elen Torres ◽  
Stefani Spranger

BackgroundUnderstanding the interactions between tumor and immune cells is critical for improving current immunotherapies. Pre-clinical and clinical evidence has shown that failed T cell infiltration into lung cancer lesions might be associated with low responsiveness towards checkpoint blockade.1 For this reason, it is necessary to characterize not only the phenotype of T cells in tumor-bearing lungs but also their spatial location in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Multiplex immunofluorescence staining allows the simultaneous use of several cell markers to study the state and the spatial location of cell populations in the tissue of interest. Although this technique is usually applied to thin tissue sections (5 to 12 µm), the analysis of large tissue volumes may provide a better understanding of the spatial distribution of cells in relation to the TME. Here, we analyzed the number and spatial distribution of cytotoxic T cells and other immune cells in the TME of tumor-bearing lungs, using both 12 µm sections and whole-mount preparations imaged by confocal microscopy.MethodsLung tumors were induced in C57BL/6 mice by tail vein injection of a cancer cell line derived from KrasG12D/+ and Tp53-/- mice. Lung tissue with a diverse degree of T cell infiltration was collected after 21 days post tumor induction. Tissue was fixed in 4% PFA, followed by snap-frozen for sectioning. Whole-mount preparations were processed according to Weizhe Li et al. (2019) 2 for tissue clearing and multiplex volume imaging. T cells were labeled with CD8 and FOXP3 antibodies to identify cytotoxic or regulatory T cells, respectively. Tumor cells were labeled with a pan-Keratin antibody. Images were acquired using a Leica SP8 confocal microscope. FIJI3 and IMARIS were used for image processing.ResultsWe identified both cytotoxic and regulatory T cell populations in the TME using thin sections and whole-mount. However, using whole-mount after tissue clearing allowed us to better evaluate the spatial distribution of the T cell populations in relation to the tumor structure. Furthermore, tissue clearance facilitates the imaging of larger volumes using multiplex immunofluorescence.ConclusionsAnalysis of large lung tissue volumes provides a better understanding of the location of immune cell populations in relation to the TME and allows to study heterogeneous immune infiltration on a per-lesion base. This valuable information will improve the characterization of the TME and the definition of cancer-immune phenotypes in NSCLC.ReferencesTeng MW, et al., Classifying cancers based on T-cell infiltration and PD-L1. Cancer Res 2015;75(11): p. 2139–45.Li W, Germain RN, and Gerner MY. High-dimensional cell-level analysis of tissues with Ce3D multiplex volume imaging. Nat Protoc 2019;14(6): p. 1708–1733.Schindelin J, et al, Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat Methods 2012;9(7): p. 676–82.


Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemarie Noordeloos ◽  
Elza van Deel ◽  
Denise Hermes ◽  
Maarten L Simoons ◽  
Dirk J Duncker ◽  
...  

Introduction: Although expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO1) attenuates transplantation arteriosclerosis, the mechanism by which HO1 exerts its protective effect remains unclear. We studied the effect of HO1-deficient vs. wildtype (WT) dendritic cells (DCs) on the T-cell priming response and outcome in a murine transplant arteriosclerosis model. Methods: At day 0 C57bl6 mice received either WT (n=6) or HO1-knockout DCs (n=6) pre-sensitized with Balb/c splenocytes lysate to accelerate the development of arteriosclerosis. At day 10 an aorta segment from Balb/c mice was transplanted into the carotid artery position of C57Bl6 mice.14 days after transplantation allografts were excised and processed for immunohistochemical analysis. Results: HO1-deficient DCs significantly increased neointimal hyperplasia as compared to WT DCs (116995 vs. 46114μm 2 P<0.05) and incidence of intima formation (83 vs. 50% in WT DC). HO1 deficient DCs also increased medial thickeness (15936 vs.12034 μm 2 P<0.05) and intimal VSMCs content (76 vs. 46% P<0.05) and resulted in more prominent medial cell infiltration (461μm 2 vs. 232μm 2 P<0.05). Although HO1 deficient and WT DCs could be detected in allografts, HO1-nullizygous DCs induced an increase in CD4+ T-cell infiltration (9.5 vs. 0.1% in WT P<0.05) concomitant to a decrease of CD8+ T cell infiltration (8 vs.14%, P<0.05). In line with these observations Affymetrix microarray analysis confirmed that HO1 deletion in DCs was associated with a significant downregulation of MHCII-H2A expression (associated with CD4+T-cell activation) and induction of inhibitors of MHCII expression (including IK protein) whereas MHC I expression remained unchanged. Conclusions: HO1 expression in dendritic cells increases vascular cell infiltration with a higher CD8+/CD4+ T-cell ratio by stabilizing MHCII expression in vascular allografts resulting in inhibition of neointima formation and hence improved allograft survival.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Tkachev ◽  
James Kaminski ◽  
E. Lake Potter ◽  
Scott N. Furlan ◽  
Alison Yu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTOne of the central challenges in the field of allo-immunity is deciphering the mechanisms driving T cells to infiltrate and subsequently occupy target organs to cause disease. The act of CD8-dominated T cell infiltration is critical to acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), wherein donor T cells become activated, tissue-infiltrating and highly cytotoxic, causing wide-spread tissue damage after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HCT). However, in human and non-human primate studies, deconvolving the transcriptional programs of newly recruited relative to resident memory T cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract has remained a challenge. In this study, we combined the novel technique of Serial Intravascular Staining (SIVS) with single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-seq) to enable detailed dissection of the tightly connected processes by which T cells first infiltrate tissues and then establish a pathogenic tissue residency program after allo-HCT in non-human primates. Our results have enabled the creation of a spatiotemporal map of the transcriptional drivers of CD8 T cell infiltration into the primary aGVHD target-organ, the GI tract. We identify the large and small intestines as the only two sites demonstrating allo-specific, rather than lymphdepletion-driven T cell infiltration. The donor CD8 T cells that infiltrate the GI tract demonstrate a highly activated, cytotoxic phenotype while simultaneously rapidly developing canonical tissue-resident memory (TRM) protein expression and transcriptional signatures, driven by IL-15/IL-21 signaling. Moreover, by combining SIVS and transcriptomic analysis, we have been able to work backwards from this pathogenic TRM programing, and, for the first time, identify a cluster of genes directly associated with tissue invasiveness, prominently including specific chemokines and adhesion molecules and their receptors, as well as a central cytoskeletal transcriptional node. The clinical relevance of this new tissue invasion signature was validated by its ability to discriminate the CD8 T cell transcriptome of patients with GI aGVHD. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms controlling tissue infiltration and pathogenic CD8 TRM transcriptional programing, uncovering critical transitions in allo-immune tissue invasion and destruction.One sentence summaryFlow cytometric and transcriptomic analysis reveals coordinated tissue-infiltration and tissue-residency programs driving gastrointestinal aGVHD.


2010 ◽  
Vol 207 (8) ◽  
pp. 1791-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth D. Thompson ◽  
Hilda L. Enriquez ◽  
Yang-Xin Fu ◽  
Victor H. Engelhard

Studies of T cell responses to tumors have focused on the draining lymph node (LN) as the site of activation. We examined the tumor mass as a potential site of activation after adoptive transfer of naive tumor-specific CD8 T cells. Activated CD8 T cells were present in tumors within 24 h of adoptive transfer and proliferation of these cells was also evident 4–5 d later in mice treated with FTY720 to prevent infiltration of cells activated in LNs. To confirm that activation of these T cells occurred in the tumor and not the tumor-draining LNs, we used mice lacking LNs. Activated and proliferating tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were evident in these mice 24 h and 4 d after naive cell transfer. T cells activated within tumors acquired effector function that was evident both ex vivo and in vivo. Both cross-presenting antigen presenting cells within the tumor and tumor cells directly presenting antigen activated these functional CD8 effectors. We conclude that tumors support the infiltration, activation, and effector differentiation of naive CD8 T cells, despite the presence of immunosuppressive mechanisms. Thus, targeting of T cell activation to tumors may present a tool in the development of cancer immunotherapy.


2008 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. A-893
Author(s):  
Sonia Ramamoorthy ◽  
Katsumi N. Miyai ◽  
Linda Luo ◽  
John M. Carethers

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