Interferon lambda 4 can directly activate human CD19+ B cells and CD8+ T cells

Compared with the ubiquitous expression of type I (IFNα and IFNβ) interferon receptors, type III (IFNλ) interferon receptors are mainly expressed in epithelial cells of mucosal barriers of the of the intestine and respiratory tract. Consequently, IFNλs are important for innate pathogen defense in the lung and intestine. IFNλs also determine the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, with IFNλ4 inhibiting spontaneous clearance of HCV. Because viral clearance is dependent on T cells, we explored if IFNλs can directly bind to and regulate human T cells. We found that human B cells and CD8+ T cells express the IFNλ receptor and respond to IFNλs, including IFNλ4. IFNλs were not inhibitors but weak stimulators of B- and T-cell responses. Furthermore, IFNλ4 showed neither synergistic nor antagonistic effects in co-stimulatory experiments with IFNλ1 or IFNα. Multidimensional flow cytometry of cells from liver biopsies of hepatitis patients from IFNλ4-producers showed accumulation of activated CD8+ T cells with a central memory-like phenotype. In contrast, CD8+ T cells with a senescent/exhausted phenotype were more abundant in IFNλ4–non-producers. It remains to be elucidated how IFNλ4 promotes CD8 T-cell responses and inhibits the host immunity to HCV infections.

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B cell depletion impairs vaccination-induced CD8+ T cell responses in a type I interferon-dependent manner

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220435 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. annrheumdis-2021-220435

Author(s):

Theresa Graalmann ◽

Katharina Borst ◽

Himanshu Manchanda ◽

Lea Vaas ◽

Matthias Bruhn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

Cell Expansion ◽

De Novo ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Type I ◽

Cell Responses ◽

T Cell Expansion

ObjectivesThe monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab is frequently applied in the treatment of lymphoma as well as autoimmune diseases and confers efficient depletion of recirculating B cells. Correspondingly, B cell-depleted patients barely mount de novo antibody responses during infections or vaccinations. Therefore, efficient immune responses of B cell-depleted patients largely depend on protective T cell responses.MethodsCD8+ T cell expansion was studied in rituximab-treated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and B cell-deficient mice on vaccination/infection with different vaccines/pathogens.ResultsRituximab-treated RA patients vaccinated with Influvac showed reduced expansion of influenza-specific CD8+ T cells when compared with healthy controls. Moreover, B cell-deficient JHT mice infected with mouse-adapted Influenza or modified vaccinia virus Ankara showed less vigorous expansion of virus-specific CD8+ T cells than wild type mice. Of note, JHT mice do not have an intrinsic impairment of CD8+ T cell expansion, since infection with vaccinia virus induced similar T cell expansion in JHT and wild type mice. Direct type I interferon receptor signalling of B cells was necessary to induce several chemokines in B cells and to support T cell help by enhancing the expression of MHC-I.ConclusionsDepending on the stimulus, B cells can modulate CD8+ T cell responses. Thus, B cell depletion causes a deficiency of de novo antibody responses and affects the efficacy of cellular response including cytotoxic T cells. The choice of the appropriate vaccine to vaccinate B cell-depleted patients has to be re-evaluated in order to efficiently induce protective CD8+ T cell responses.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Type I interferons directly inhibit regulatory T cells to allow optimal antiviral T cell responses during acute LCMV infection.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.718342706.793494594 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Huenig

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

Regulatory T Cells ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Type I Interferons ◽

Type I ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Lcmv Infection

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COVID-19 convalescents exhibit deficient humoral and T cell responses to variant of concern Spike antigens at 12 month post-infection

10.1101/2021.11.08.21266035 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pablo Garcia-Valtanen ◽

Christopher Martin Hope ◽

Makutiro Ghislain Masavuli ◽

Arthur Eng Lip Yeow ◽

Harikrishnan Balachandran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

Post Infection ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Memory B Cells ◽

Pseudotyped Virus ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Specific Memory ◽

Cell Functionality

Background The duration and magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 immunity after infection, especially with regard to the emergence of new variants of concern (VoC), remains unclear. Here, immune memory to primary infection and immunity to VoC was assessed in mild-COVID-19 convalescents one year after infection and in the absence of viral re-exposure or COVID-19 vaccination. Methods Serum and PBMC were collected from mild-COVID-19 convalescents at ~6 and 12 months after a COVID-19 positive PCR (n=43) and from healthy SARS-CoV-2-seronegative controls (n=15-40). Serum titers of RBD and Spike-specific Ig were quantified by ELISA. Virus neutralisation was assessed against homologous, pseudotyped virus and homologous and VoC live viruses. Frequencies of Spike and RBD-specific memory B cells were quantified by flow cytometry. Magnitude of memory T cell responses was quantified and phenotyped by activation-induced marker assay, while T cell functionality was assessed by intracellular cytokine staining using peptides specific to homologous Spike virus antigen and four VoC Spike antigens. Findings At 12 months after mild-COVID-19, >90% of convalescents remained seropositive for RBD-IgG and 88.9% had circulating RBD-specific memory B cells. Despite this, only 51.2% convalescents had serum neutralising activity against homologous live-SARS-CoV-2 virus, which decreased to 44.2% when tested against live B.1.1.7, 4.6% against B.1.351, 11.6% against P.1 and 16.2%, against B.1.617.2 VoC. Spike and non-Spike-specific T cells were detected in >50% of convalescents with frequency values higher for Spike antigen (95% CI, 0.29-0.68% in CD4+ and 0.11-0.35% in CD8+ T cells), compared to non-Spike antigens. Despite the high prevalence and maintenance of Spike-specific T cells in Spike 'high-responder' convalescents at 12 months, T cell functionality, measured by cytokine expression after stimulation with Spike epitopes corresponding to VoC was severely affected. Interpretations SARS-CoV-2 immunity is retained in a significant proportion of mild COVID-19 convalescents 12 months post-infection in the absence of re-exposure to the virus. Despite this, changes in the amino acid sequence of the Spike antigen that are present in current VoC result in virus evasion of neutralising antibodies, as well as evasion of functional T cell responses.

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B cell depletion with anti-CD20 mAb exacerbates anti-donor CD4+ T cell responses in highly sensitized transplant recipients

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-97748-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Asuka Tanaka ◽

Kentaro Ide ◽

Yuka Tanaka ◽

Masahiro Ohira ◽

Hiroyuki Tahara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cell Depletion ◽

B Cell Depletion ◽

Transplant Recipients ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Anti Cd20

AbstractPretransplant desensitization with rituximab has been applied to preformed donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen antibody (DSA)-positive recipients for elimination of preformed DSA. We investigated the impact of pretransplant desensitization with rituximab on anti-donor T cell responses in DSA-positive transplant recipients. To monitor the patients’ immune status, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assays were performed before and after desensitization with rituximab. Two weeks after rituximab administration, the stimulation index (SI) of anti-donor CD4+ T cells was significantly higher in the DSA-positive recipients than in the DSA-negative recipients. To investigate the mechanisms of anti-donor hyper responses of CD4+ T cells after B cell depletion, highly sensitized mice models were injected with anti-CD20 mAb to eliminate B cells. Consistent with clinical observations, the SI values of anti-donor CD4+ T cells were significantly increased after anti-CD20 mAb injection in the sensitized mice models. Adding B cells isolated from untreated sensitized mice to MLR significantly inhibited the enhancement of anti-donor CD4+ T cell response. The depletion of the CD5+ B cell subset, which exclusively included IL-10-positive cells, from the additive B cells abrogated such inhibitory effects. These findings demonstrate that IL-10+ CD5+ B cells suppress the excessive response of anti-donor CD4+ T cells responses in sensitized recipients.

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Ectopic Lymphoid Follicles in Multiple Sclerosis: Centers for Disease Control?

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2020.607766 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Austin Negron ◽

Olaf Stüve ◽

Thomas G. Forsthuber

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Memory B Cells ◽

Lymphoid Follicles ◽

Cell Responses ◽

B Cell Responses

While the contribution of autoreactive CD4+ T cells to the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is widely accepted, the advent of B cell-depleting monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies has shed new light on the complex cellular mechanisms underlying MS pathogenesis. Evidence supports the involvement of B cells in both antibody-dependent and -independent capacities. T cell-dependent B cell responses originate and take shape in germinal centers (GCs), specialized microenvironments that regulate B cell activation and subsequent differentiation into antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) or memory B cells, a process for which CD4+ T cells, namely follicular T helper (TFH) cells, are indispensable. ASCs carry out their effector function primarily via secreted Ig but also through the secretion of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Memory B cells, in addition to being capable of rapidly differentiating into ASCs, can function as potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to cognate memory CD4+ T cells. Aberrant B cell responses are prevented, at least in part, by follicular regulatory T (TFR) cells, which are key suppressors of GC-derived autoreactive B cell responses through the expression of inhibitory receptors and cytokines, such as CTLA4 and IL-10, respectively. Therefore, GCs represent a critical site of peripheral B cell tolerance, and their dysregulation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases. In MS patients, the presence of GC-like leptomeningeal ectopic lymphoid follicles (eLFs) has prompted their investigation as potential sources of pathogenic B and T cell responses. This hypothesis is supported by elevated levels of CXCL13 and circulating TFH cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients, both of which are required to initiate and maintain GC reactions. Additionally, eLFs in post-mortem MS patient samples are notably devoid of TFR cells. The ability of GCs to generate and perpetuate, but also regulate autoreactive B and T cell responses driving MS pathology makes them an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. In this review, we will summarize the evidence from both humans and animal models supporting B cells as drivers of MS, the role of GC-like eLFs in the pathogenesis of MS, and mechanisms controlling GC-derived autoreactive B cell responses in MS.

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HIV-1 Antibody Neutralization Breadth Is Associated with Enhanced HIV-Specific CD4+T Cell Responses

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.02278-15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 90 (5) ◽

pp. 2208-2220 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Srinika Ranasinghe ◽

Damien Z. Soghoian ◽

Madelene Lindqvist ◽

Musie Ghebremichael ◽

Faith Donaghey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Neutralizing Antibodies ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Neutralizing Antibody ◽

Antibody Activity ◽

Cell Responses

ABSTRACTAntigen-specific CD4+T helper cell responses have long been recognized to be a critical component of effective vaccine immunity. CD4+T cells are necessary to generate and maintain humoral immune responses by providing help to antigen-specific B cells for the production of antibodies. In HIV infection, CD4+T cells are thought to be necessary for the induction of Env-specific broadly neutralizing antibodies. However, few studies have investigated the role of HIV-specific CD4+T cells in association with HIV neutralizing antibody activity in vaccination or natural infection settings. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of HIV-specific CD4+T cell responses in a cohort of 34 untreated HIV-infected controllers matched for viral load, with and without neutralizing antibody breadth to a panel of viral strains. Our results show that the breadth and magnitude of Gag-specific CD4+T cell responses were significantly higher in individuals with neutralizing antibodies than in those without neutralizing antibodies. The breadth of Gag-specific CD4+T cell responses was positively correlated with the breadth of neutralizing antibody activity. Furthermore, the breadth and magnitude of gp41-specific, but not gp120-specific, CD4+T cell responses were significantly elevated in individuals with neutralizing antibodies. Together, these data suggest that robust Gag-specific CD4+T cells and, to a lesser extent, gp41-specific CD4+T cells may provide important intermolecular help to Env-specific B cells that promote the generation or maintenance of Env-specific neutralizing antibodies.IMPORTANCEOne of the earliest discoveries related to CD4+T cell function was their provision of help to B cells in the development of antibody responses. Yet little is known about the role of CD4+T helper responses in the setting of HIV infection, and no studies to date have evaluated the impact of HIV-specific CD4+T cells on the generation of antibodies that can neutralize multiple different strains of HIV. Here, we addressed this question by analyzing HIV-specific CD4+T cell responses in untreated HIV-infected persons with and without neutralizing antibodies. Our results indicate that HIV-infected persons with neutralizing antibodies have significantly more robust CD4+T cell responses targeting Gag and gp41 proteins than individuals who lack neutralizing antibodies. These associations suggest that Gag- and gp41-specific CD4+T cell responses may provide robust help to B cells for the generation or maintenance of neutralizing antibodies in natural HIV-infection.

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Characterization and Development of T-Cell Immune Responses in B-Cell-Deficient (Igh-6−/−) Mice with Salmonella enterica Serovar TyphimuriumInfection

Infection and Immunity ◽

10.1128/iai.71.12.6808-6819.2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 71 (12) ◽

pp. 6808-6819 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Sanja Ugrinovic ◽

Nathalie Ménager ◽

Natalie Goh ◽

Pietro Mastroeni

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

Salmonella Enterica ◽

Early Stage ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Costimulatory Molecules ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Serovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT Infection of mice with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium induces strong Th1 T-cell responses that are central to the control of the infection. In the present study, we examined the role of B cells in the development of Th1 T-cell responses to Salmonella by using gene-targeted B-cell-deficient mice (Igh-6−/− mice). The development of Th1 T-cell responses in Igh-6−/− mice was impaired in the early stage of a primary infection. This impairment persisted throughout the course of the disease. The ability of T cells to produce the Th1 cytokine gamma interferon and the frequency at which they did so were lower in Igh-6−/− mice than in control mice. We also observed a transient switch toward Th2 cytokine production in Igh-6−/− mice. Thus, B cells are important for the induction of protective Th1 T-cell responses in the early phase of a Salmonella infection. Activated B cells express high levels of major histocompatibility complex and costimulatory molecules and are nearly as effective as dendritic cells in their antigen-presenting cell (APC) activity. However, their importance as APCs in infection and their role in initiating and/or maintaining T-cell responses are unknown. Here, we show that B cells upregulate costimulatory molecules upon in vitro stimulation with S. enterica serovar Typhimurium and that they can present Salmonella antigens to Salmonella-specific CD4+ T cells. Our results show that B cells are important for the development of T-cell responses in the early stage of a Salmonella infection and that this property may be due to their ability to present antigens to T cells.

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562. Human T-Cells Modified as Antigen Presenting Cells Are Superior to Professional APC in Stimulating T-Cell Responses

Molecular Therapy ◽

10.1016/j.ymthe.2004.06.497 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. S212

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Antigen Presenting Cells ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Human T Cells ◽

Antigen Presenting

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Effects of Friend Virus Infection and Regulatory T Cells on the Antigen Presentation Function of B Cells

mBio ◽

10.1128/mbio.02578-18 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tyler C. Moore ◽

Ronald J. Messer ◽

Lorena M. Gonzaga ◽

Jennifer M. Mather ◽

Aaron B. Carmody ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

B Cells ◽

Regulatory T Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

Cell Activation ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

B Cell Activation ◽

Friend Virus ◽

Cell Responses

ABSTRACTFriend virus (FV) is a naturally occurring mouse retrovirus that infects dividing cells of the hematopoietic lineage, including antigen-presenting cells (APCs). The infection of APCs by viruses often induces their dysfunction, and it has been shown that FV infection reduces the ability of dendritic cells (DCs) to prime critical CD8+T cell responses. Nonetheless, mice mount vigorous CD8+T cell responses, so we investigated whether B cells might serve as alternative APCs during FV infection. Directex vivoanalysis of B cells from FV-infected mice revealed that infected but not uninfected B cells upregulated expression of the costimulatory molecules CD80, CD86, and CD40, as well as major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) molecules. Furthermore,in vitrostudies showed that, compared to uninfected B cells from the same mice, the FV-infected B cells had significantly enhanced APC function, as measured by their capacity to prime CD8+T cell activation and proliferation. Thus, in contrast to DCs, infection of B cells with FV enhanced their APC capacity and ability to stimulate the CD8+T cell responses essential for virus control. FV infections also induce the activation and expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs), so it was of interest to determine the impact of Tregs on B cell activation. The upregulation of costimulatory molecule expression and APC function of B cells was even more strongly enhanced byin vivodepletion of regulatory T cells than infection. Thus, Tregs exert potent homeostatic suppression of B cell activation that is partially overcome by FV infection.IMPORTANCEThe primary role of B cells in immunity is considered the production of pathogen-specific antibodies, but another, less-well-studied, function of B cells is to present foreign antigens to T cells to stimulate their activation and proliferation. Dendritic cells (DCs) are considered the most important antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for CD8+T cells, but DCs lose APC function when infected with Friend virus (FV), a model retrovirus of mice. Interestingly, B cells were better able to stimulate CD8+T cell responses when they were infected with FV. We also found that the activation status of B cells under homeostatic conditions was potently modulated by regulatory T cells. This study illustrates an important link between B cell and T cell responses and illustrates an additional mechanism by which regulatory T cells suppress critical T cell responses during viral infections.

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