scholarly journals IL-2 administration increases CD4+CD25hi Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in cancer patients

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 2409-2414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojgan Ahmadzadeh ◽  
Steven A. Rosenberg

Abstract Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is historically known as a T-cell growth factor. Accumulating evidence from knockout mice suggests that IL-2 is crucial for the homeostasis and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in vivo. However, the impact of administered IL-2 in an immune intact host has not been studied in rodents or humans. Here, we studied the impact of IL-2 administration on the frequency and function of human CD4+CD25hi T cells in immune intact patients with melanoma or renal cancer. We found that the frequency of CD4+CD25hi T cells was significantly increased after IL-2 treatment, and these cells expressed phenotypic markers associated with regulatory T cells. In addition, both transcript and protein levels of Foxp3, a transcription factor exclusively expressed on regulatory T cells, were consistently increased in CD4 T cells following IL-2 treatment. Functional analysis of the increased number of CD4+CD25hi T cells revealed that this population exhibited potent suppressive activity in vitro. Collectively, our results demonstrate that administration of high-dose IL-2 increased the frequency of circulating CD4+CD25hi Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Our findings suggest that selective inhibition of IL-2-mediated enhancement of regulatory T cells may improve the therapeutic effectiveness of IL-2 administration. (Blood. 2006;107:2409-2414)

1987 ◽  
Vol 166 (6) ◽  
pp. 1716-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
J S Weber ◽  
G Jay ◽  
K Tanaka ◽  
S A Rosenberg

We have shown that two weakly immunogenic MCA sarcomas developed in our laboratory that are sensitive to high-dose IL-2 immunotherapy express class I MHC in vivo and in vitro. Two nonimmunogenic MCA sarcomas are relatively insensitive to IL-2 therapy and express minimal or no class I MHC molecules in vivo and in vitro. To study the role of MHC in the therapy of tumors with IL-2, a class I-deficient murine melanoma, B16BL6, was transfected with the Kb class I gene. Expression of class I MHC rendered B16BL6 advanced pulmonary macrometastases sensitive to IL-2 immunotherapy. 3-d micrometastases of CL8-2, a class I transfected clone of B16BL6, were significantly more sensitive to IL-2 therapy than a control nontransfected line. Expression of Iak, a class II MHC molecule, had no effect on IL-2 therapy of transfectant pulmonary micrometastases in F1 mice. By using lymphocyte subset depletion with mAbs directed against Lyt-2, therapy of class I transfectant macrometastases with high-dose IL-2 was shown to involve an Lyt-2 cell. In contrast, regression of micrometastases treated with low-dose IL-2 involved Lyt-2+ cells, but regression mediated by high doses of IL-2 did not. We hypothesize that both LAK and Lyt-2+ T cells effect IL-2-mediated elimination of micrometastases, but only Lyt-2+ T cells are involved in macrometastatic regression. Low doses of IL-2 stimulate Lyt-2+ cells to eliminate class I-expressing micrometastases, but high doses of IL-2 can recruit LAK cells to mediate regression of micrometastases independent of class I expression. Only high-dose IL-2, mediating its effect predominantly via Lyt-2+ cells, is capable of impacting on MHC class I-expressing macrometastases. Macrometastases devoid of class I MHC antigens appear to be resistant to IL-2 therapy.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 448-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Zeiser ◽  
Dennis B. Leveson-Gower ◽  
Elizabeth A. Zambricki ◽  
Jing-Zhou Hou ◽  
Robert Negrin

Abstract FoxP3+CD4+CD25+ regulatory T-cells (Treg) have been shown to effectively reduce the severity of experimental acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) while sparing graft-versus-leukemia activity. These findings, in concert with the observation that human and murine Treg share functional characteristics, have fueled interest in clinical trials to control aGvHD. Recent data indicates that the immunosuppressant rapamycin (RAPA) in contrast to cyclosporine A does not interfere with in vivo function of Treg and could enhance Treg expansion in vitro by a yet unknown mechanism. To investigate the impact of mTOR inhibition on proliferating Treg and Tconv, both cell types were exposed to CD3/CD28 Mabs in the presence of different RAPA concentrations in vitro. Phosphorylation of mTOR downstream products p70S6K1 and 4E-BP1 were assessed by western blot and flow cytometry. Inhibition of the phosphorylation of p70S6K1 and 4E-BP1 was observed in both populations in the presence of RAPA. Interestingly, Treg were more resistant to mTOR inhibition as compared to Tconv and displayed significantly higher phosphorylated products in the presence of RAPA at 10 nM (MFI Treg vs Tconv, p<0.001) and at 100nM (MFI Treg vs Tconv, p<0.001). To investigate whether Treg and RAPA protect from aGvHD in a synergistic manner, BALB/c recipients were transplanted with H-2 disparate BM and 1.6x10e6 T-cells (FVB/N) after lethal irradiation (8 Gy). aGvHD lethality was only slightly reduced when suboptimal Tconv:Treg ratios were employed (4:1, 8:1), or when recipients were treated with a non-protective RAPA dose (0.5 mg/kg bodyweight). Combining a suboptimal Tconv:Treg ratio with a non-protective RAPA dose reduced expansion of luciferase expressing (luc+) Tconv and pro-inflamatory cytokines and improved survival indicative for an additive in vivo effect of RAPA and Treg. To evaluate the impact of RAPA on in vivo T cell expansion, either luc+ Tconv or luc+ Treg were adoptively transferred. In vivo bioluminescence imaging demonstrated that RAPA had a more potent inhibitory effect on proliferation of Tconv as compared to Treg (p<0.05 vs. NS). We did not observe RAPA to increase FoxP3+ Treg numbers in vivo, or to enhance GITR or CTLA-4 expression. Thus, increased Treg numbers observed in RAPA containing expansion cultures are likely due to a lower susceptibility of this cell population to mTOR inhibition. This could explain the observed synergistic effect of RAPA and Treg in aGvHD protection which has relevance for clinical trials utilizing Treg to prevent aGvHD.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 349-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuna Mutis ◽  
Henk Rozemuller ◽  
Maarten E. Emmelot ◽  
Tineke Aarts-Riemens ◽  
Vivienne Verweij ◽  
...  

Abstract The curative Graft-vs-Tumor effect (GvT) of allogeneic Stem cell transplantation (SCT) is frequently complicated with life threatening Graft-vs-Host Disease (GvHD). In mice, prevention of GvHD, without abrogation of GvT is possible by co-transplantation of naturally occurring regulatory T cells (Tregs) with SC grafts. Consistent with these murine studies, we recently demonstrated that also human Tregs possess potent GvHD-downregulatory capacities in a xenogeneic(x) model, where x-GvHD is induced by infusion of autologous human T cells in RAG2−/−γc−/− mice (Mutis et al. Clin. Cancer Res.2006, 12: 5520–5525). Towards clinical application of Tregs, we now explored the impact of human Treg-administration on GvT in a bioluminescence imaging (BLI) based human-GvT model in the RAG2−/−γc−/− mice. In this model, mice inoculated with luciferase (LUC)-transduced human myeloma (MM) cell lines developed BLI-detectable, progressive, MM-like multifocal tumors exclusively in the bone marrow (BM). Full blown tumors were effectively eliminated by infusion of allogeneic human PBMC. This treatment also caused lethal x-GvHD as expected. In this setting, co-infusion of human PBMC with autologous, in vitro cultured Tregs at a 1:1 Treg: T effector cell ratio had no adverse effects on the development of GvT while significantly reducing the lethality of x-GvHD. In vitro analyses of sacrificed mice at day 21 revealed that administered Tregs homed to BM and spleen, significantly downregulated the total numbers of IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells responding to CD3 mediated signals, but had no downregulatory effect on the frequencies of IFN-γ-producing T cells responding to tumor cells. There was also no downregulation of cytotoxic activity against tumor cells in Treg-treated mice. Conclusively, these results showed that Tregs, at doses which are inhibitory for x-GvHD-inducing T cells, could maintain the GvT effect by allowing T cell reactivity against tumor cells. Human Tregs thus still hold promise as attractive cellular tools for separating GvT from GvHD.


APOPTOSIS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 715-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilla Prenek ◽  
Tímea Litvai ◽  
Noémi Balázs ◽  
Réka Kugyelka ◽  
Ferenc Boldizsár ◽  
...  

Abstract Earlier we have reported that thymic regulatory T cells (Treg) are resistant to in vivo glucocorticoid hormone (GC)-induced apoptosis, while the most GC-sensitive DP thymocytes died through the activation of mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Here we analyzed the apoptosis-inducing effect of high dose (10–6 M) in vitro dexamethasone (DX) treatment in mouse thymic- and splenic Tregs and CD4+ T cells. Activation of both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways started after 2 h of DX treatment in CD4 SP thymocytes and was 3 × higher than in CD4+ splenocytes, while in Treg cells, weak activation of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway started only after 3 h. We also investigated the expression of 21 apoptosis-related molecules using a protein array and found higher level of both pro-and anti-apoptotic molecules in Tregs compared to CD4+ T cells. 4 h in vitro DX treatment induced upregulation of most apoptosis-related molecules both in Tregs and CD4+ T cells, except for the decrease of Bcl-2 expression in CD4+ T cells. We found high basal cytosolic Ca2+ levels in untreated Treg cells, which further increased after DX treatment, while the specific TCR-induced Ca2+ signal was lower in Tregs than in CD4+ T cells. Our results suggest that in the background of the relative apoptosis resistance of Treg cells to GCs might be their high basal cytosolic Ca2+ level and upregulated Bcl-2 expression. In contrast, downregulation of Bcl-2 expression in CD4+ T cells can explain their higher, DX-induced apoptosis sensitivity.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (8) ◽  
pp. 2655-2661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devi K. Banerjee ◽  
Madhav V. Dhodapkar ◽  
Elyana Matayeva ◽  
Ralph M. Steinman ◽  
Kavita M. Dhodapkar

AbstractCD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg's) play an important role in the maintenance of immune tolerance. The mechanisms controlling the induction and maintenance of Treg's in humans need to be defined. We find that human myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) are superior to other antigen presenting cells for the maintenance of FOXP3+ Treg's in culture. Coculture of DCs with autologous T cells leads to an increase in both the number of Treg's, as well as the expression of FOXP3 protein per cell both in healthy donors and myeloma patients. DC-mediated expansion of FOXP3high Treg's is enhanced by endogenous but not exogenous interleukin-2 (IL-2), and DC-T-cell contact, including the CD80/CD86 membrane costimulatory molecules. DCs also stimulate the formation of Treg's from CD25- T cells. The efficacy of induction of Treg's by DCs depends on the nature of the DC maturation stimulus, with inflammatory cytokine-treated DCs (Cyt-DCs) being the most effective Treg inducers. DC-induced Treg's from both healthy donors and patients with myeloma are functional and effectively suppress T-cell responses. A single injection of cytokine-matured DCs led to rapid enhancement of FOXP3+ Treg's in vivo in 3 of 3 myeloma patients. These data reveal a role for DCs in increasing the number of functional FOXP3high Treg's in humans.


2005 ◽  
Vol 202 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Beyersdorf ◽  
Stefanie Gaupp ◽  
Karen Balbach ◽  
Jens Schmidt ◽  
Klaus V. Toyka ◽  
...  

CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (T reg cells) play a key role in controlling autoimmunity and inflammation. Therefore, therapeutic agents that are capable of elevating numbers or increasing effector functions of this T cell subset are highly desirable. In a previous report we showed that a superagonistic monoclonal antibody specific for rat CD28 (JJ316) expands and activates T reg cells in vivo and upon short-term in vitro culture. Here we demonstrate that application of very low dosages of the CD28 superagonist into normal Lewis rats is sufficient to induce T reg cell expansion in vivo without the generalized lymphocytosis observed with high dosages of JJ316. Single i.v. administration of a low dose of the CD28 superagonist into Dark Agouti (DA) rats or Lewis rats that suffered from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) proved to be highly and equally efficacious as high-dose treatment. Finally, we show that T reg cells that were isolated from CD28-treated animals displayed enhanced suppressive activity toward myelin basic protein–specific T cells in vitro, and, upon adoptive transfer, protected recipients from EAE. Our data indicate that this class of CD28-specific monoclonal antibodies targets CD4+CD25+ T reg cells and provides a novel means for the effective treatment of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1169-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni C. Cesana ◽  
Gail DeRaffele ◽  
Seth Cohen ◽  
Dorota Moroziewicz ◽  
Josephine Mitcham ◽  
...  

Purpose To characterize the number and functional status of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in patients with metastatic melanoma (MM) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with high-dose bolus interleukin-2 (IL-2). Patients and Methods Patients with MM or RCC treated with high-dose bolus IL-2 (600,000 IU/kg every 8 hours) at a single center provided pre- and post-treatment whole blood specimens. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, separated into cellular subsets, and analyzed by flow cytometry or used for in vitro proliferation assays. Results Between September 2003 and July 2005 57 patients were enrolled in the study with 48 patients available for analysis (45 MM, 12 RCC). Tregs were defined as CD4+CD25hi T cells, and this subset was significantly elevated in the cancer patients compared with normal donors (7.75% v 2.24%). The CD4+CD25hi T-cell pool in the patients constitutively expressed intracellular FoxP3, CTLA-4, and produced high amounts of IL-10. The Tregs were CCR7+ with 50% representing naïve and 50% central-memory T cells. The cells were functionally suppressive in mixed in vitro proliferation assays. Following IL-2 administration, the number and frequency of Tregs increased in patients with progressive disease but returned to normal levels in patients with objective clinical responses. Conclusion The number of Tregs, defined as CD4+CD25hi T cells is increased in patients with MM and RCC. High-dose IL-2 resulted in a significant decrease of Tregs in those patients achieving an objective clinical response to IL-2 therapy.


2004 ◽  
Vol 199 (11) ◽  
pp. 1455-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qizhi Tang ◽  
Kammi J. Henriksen ◽  
Mingying Bi ◽  
Erik B. Finger ◽  
Greg Szot ◽  
...  

The low number of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs), their anergic phenotype, and diverse antigen specificity present major challenges to harnessing this potent tolerogenic population to treat autoimmunity and transplant rejection. In this study, we describe a robust method to expand antigen-specific Tregs from autoimmune-prone nonobese diabetic mice. Purified CD4+ CD25+ Tregs were expanded up to 200-fold in less than 2 wk in vitro using a combination of anti-CD3, anti-CD28, and interleukin 2. The expanded Tregs express a classical cell surface phenotype and function both in vitro and in vivo to suppress effector T cell functions. Most significantly, small numbers of antigen-specific Tregs can reverse diabetes after disease onset, suggesting a novel approach to cellular immunotherapy for autoimmunity.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (13) ◽  
pp. 4293-4302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayuri Yamazaki ◽  
Anthony J. Bonito ◽  
Radek Spisek ◽  
Madhav Dhodapkar ◽  
Kayo Inaba ◽  
...  

Foxp3+CD25+CD4+ regulatory T cells are produced in the thymus (natural T regs) but can also differentiate from peripheral Foxp3−CD4+ precursors (induced or adaptive T regs). We assessed antigen presenting cell (APC) requirements for the latter differentiation. With added transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, both immature and mature populations of dendritic cells (DCs) induced antigen-specific Foxp3+ T regs from Foxp3− precursors. Using endogenous TGF-β, DCs from gut-associated mesenteric lymph nodes were capable of differentiating Foxp3+T regs. Spleen DCs were 100-fold more potent than DC-depleted APCs for the induction of T regs and required 10-fold lower doses of peptide antigen. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) was essential, but could be provided endogenously by T cells stimulated by DCs, but not other APCs. The required IL-2 was induced by DCs that expressed CD80/CD86 costimulatory molecules. The DC-induced Foxp3+T regs divided up to 6 times in 6 days and were comprised of CD62L and CD103 positive and negative forms. The induced Foxp3+T regs exerted suppression in vitro and blocked tumor immunity in vivo. These results indicate that DCs are specialized to differentiate functional peripheral Foxp3+T regs and help set the stage to use DCs to actively suppress the immune response in an antigen-specific manner.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
SEVERINE MENORET ◽  
Laurent Tesson ◽  
Severine REMY ◽  
Victor Gourain ◽  
Celine Serazin ◽  
...  

Background: CD4+ and CD8+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in diverse species include different subsets from different origins. In all species, CD8+ Treg have been poorly characterized. CD4+ and CD8+ Treg in rats have only partially been characterized and there is no rat model in which FOXP3+ Treg are genetically tagged. Results: We generated a rat transgenic line using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in which EGFP was inserted in frame on the 3 end of the Foxp3 gene using a 2A self-cleaving peptide. EGFP was exclusively expressed by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in similar proportion as observed with anti-FOXP3 antibodies. CD4+EGFP+ Treg were 5-10 times more frequent than CD8+EGFP+ Treg. CD4+ and CD8+ EGFP+ Treg expressed both the CD25highCD127lowCD45RClow/- markers. The suppressive activity of CD4+ and CD8+ Treg was largely confined to EGFP+ cells. RNAseq analyses showed similarities but also differences among CD4+ and CD8+ EGFP+ cells and provided the first description of the natural FOXP3+ CD8+ Treg transcriptome. In vitro culture of CD4+ and CD8+ EGFP- cells with TGFbeta and IL-2 resulted in the induction of EGFP+ Treg. Preferential expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ EGFP+ Treg could be detected upon in vivo administration of a low dose of IL-2. Conclusions: This new and unique Foxp3-EGFP rat line constitutes a useful model to identify and isolate viable natural and induced CD4+ and CD8+ Treg. Additionally, it allows to identify new molecules expressed in CD8+ Treg that may allow to better define their phenotype and function not only in rats but also in other species.


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