scholarly journals Telomerase and CD4 T Cell Immunity in Cancer

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1687
Author(s):  
Magalie Dosset ◽  
Andrea Castro ◽  
Hannah Carter ◽  
Maurizio Zanetti
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Mhc Ii ◽  
Cell Immunity

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is a conserved self-tumor antigen which is overexpressed in most tumors and plays a critical role in tumor formation and progression. As such, TERT is an antigen of great relevance to develop widely applicable immunotherapies. CD4 T cells play a major role in the anti-cancer response alone or with other effector cells such as CD8 T cells and NK cells. To date, efforts have been made to identify TERT peptides capable of stimulating CD4 T cells that are also able to bind diverse MHC-II alleles to ease immune status monitoring and immunotherapies. Here, we review the current status of TERT biology, TERT/MHC-II immunobiology, and past and current vaccine clinical trials. We propose that monitoring CD4 T cell immunity against TERT is a simple and direct way to assess immune surveillance in cancer patients and a new way to predict the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPi). Finally, we present the initial results of a systematic discovery of TERT peptides able to bind the most common HLA Class II alleles worldwide and show that the repertoire of MHC-II TERT peptides is wider than currently appreciated.

scholarly journals Reduced immune-regulatory molecule expression on human colonic memory CD4 T cells in older adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Dillon ◽  
Tezha A. Thompson ◽  
Allison J. Christians ◽  
Martin D. McCarter ◽  
Cara C. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd8 T Cells ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Cell Immunity ◽  
Memory Cd4 T Cells

Abstract Background The etiology of the low-level chronic inflammatory state associated with aging is likely multifactorial, but a number of animal and human studies have implicated a functional decline of the gastrointestinal immune system as a potential driver. Gut tissue-resident memory T cells play critical roles in mediating protective immunity and in maintaining gut homeostasis, yet few studies have investigated the effect of aging on human gut T cell immunity. To determine if aging impacted CD4 T cell immunity in the human large intestine, we utilized multi-color flow cytometry to measure colonic lamina propria (LP) CD4 T cell frequencies and immune-modulatory marker expression in younger (mean ± SEM: 38 ± 1.5 yrs) and older (77 ± 1.6 yrs) adults. To determine cellular specificity, we evaluated colon LP CD8 T cell frequency and phenotype in the same donors. To probe tissue specificity, we evaluated the same panel of markers in peripheral blood (PB) CD4 T cells in a separate cohort of similarly aged persons. Results Frequencies of colonic CD4 T cells as a fraction of total LP mononuclear cells were higher in older persons whereas absolute numbers of colonic LP CD4 T cells per gram of tissue were similar in both age groups. LP CD4 T cells from older versus younger persons exhibited reduced CTLA-4, PD-1 and Ki67 expression. Levels of Bcl-2, CD57, CD25 and percentages of activated CD38+HLA-DR+ CD4 T cells were similar in both age groups. In memory PB CD4 T cells, older age was only associated with increased CD57 expression. Significant age effects for LP CD8 T cells were only observed for CTLA-4 expression, with lower levels of expression observed on cells from older adults. Conclusions Greater age was associated with reduced expression of the co-inhibitory receptors CTLA-4 and PD-1 on LP CD4 T cells. Colonic LP CD8 T cells from older persons also displayed reduced CTLA-4 expression. These age-associated profiles were not observed in older PB memory CD4 T cells. The decline in co-inhibitory receptor expression on colonic LP T cells may contribute to local and systemic inflammation via a reduced ability to limit ongoing T cell responses to enteric microbial challenge.

scholarly journals The critical role of CD4+ T cells in PD-1 blockade against MHC-II–expressing tumors such as classic Hodgkin lymphoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (17) ◽  
pp. 4069-4082
Author(s):  
Joji Nagasaki ◽  
Yosuke Togashi ◽  
Takeaki Sugawara ◽  
Makiko Itami ◽  
Nobuhiko Yamauchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Antitumor Effects ◽  
Cell Axis ◽  
Mhc I ◽  
Mhc Ii

Abstract Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) responds markedly to PD-1 blockade therapy, and the clinical responses are reportedly dependent on expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II). This dependence is different from other solid tumors, in which the MHC class I (MHC-I)/CD8+ T-cell axis plays a critical role. In this study, we investigated the role of the MHC-II/CD4+ T-cell axis in the antitumor effect of PD-1 blockade on cHL. In cHL, MHC-I expression was frequently lost, but MHC-II expression was maintained. CD4+ T cells highly infiltrated the tumor microenvironment of MHC-II–expressing cHL, regardless of MHC-I expression status. Consequently, CD4+ T-cell, but not CD8+ T-cell, infiltration was a good prognostic factor in cHL, and PD-1 blockade showed antitumor efficacy against MHC-II–expressing cHL associated with CD4+ T-cell infiltration. Murine lymphoma and solid tumor models revealed the critical role of antitumor effects mediated by CD4+ T cells: an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody exerted antitumor effects on MHC-I−MHC-II+ tumors but not on MHC-I−MHC-II− tumors, in a cytotoxic CD4+ T-cell–dependent manner. Furthermore, LAG-3, which reportedly binds to MHC-II, was highly expressed by tumor-infiltrating CD4+ T cells in MHC-II–expressing tumors. Therefore, the combination of LAG-3 blockade with PD-1 blockade showed a far stronger antitumor immunity compared with either treatment alone. We propose that PD-1 blockade therapies have antitumor effects on MHC-II–expressing tumors such as cHL that are mediated by cytotoxic CD4+ T cells and that LAG-3 could be a candidate for combination therapy with PD-1 blockade.

scholarly journals Tracking the kinetics and phenotype of spike epitope-specific CD4 T cell immunity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Juno ◽  
Kathleen Wragg ◽  
Wen Shi Lee ◽  
Thakshila Amarasena ◽  
Arnold Reynaldi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Follicular Helper ◽  
Cell Immunity ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Memory Cd4 T Cells

Abstract CD4+ T cells play a critical role in the immune response to viral infection. SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination elicit strong CD4+ T cell responses to the viral spike protein, including circulating T follicular helper (cTFH) cells that correlate with the development of neutralising antibodies. Here we use a novel HLA-DRB1*15:01/S751 tetramer to precisely track spike-specific CD4+ T cells following recovery from mild/moderate COVID-19, or after vaccination with spike-encoding vaccines. SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust S751-specific responses with both CXCR5- and cTFH phenotypes that are maintained for at least 12 months in a stable, CXCR3-biased, central memory pool. Vaccination of immunologically naïve subjects similarly drives expansion of S751-specific T cells with a highly restricted TCR repertoire comprised of both public and private clonotypes. Vaccination of convalescent individuals drives recall of CD4+ T cell clones established during infection, which are shared between the CXCR5- and cTFH compartments. This recall response is evident 5 days after antigen exposure and includes a population of spike-specific cTFH that persist in the periphery after losing expression of PD-1. Overall this study demonstrates the generation of a stable pool of cTFH and memory CD4+ T cells that can be recalled upon spike antigen re-exposure, which may play an important role in long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

scholarly journals DC-Based Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 706
Author(s):  
Chunmei Fu ◽  
Li Zhou ◽  
Qing-Sheng Mi ◽  
Aimin Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Dendritic Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd8 T Cells ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cd8 T Cell ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Cell Immunity

As the sentinels of the immune system, dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in initiating and regulating antigen-specific immune responses. Cross-priming, a process that DCs activate CD8 T cells by cross-presenting exogenous antigens onto their MHCI (Major Histocompatibility Complex class I), plays a critical role in mediating CD8 T cell immunity as well as tolerance. Current DC vaccines have remained largely unsuccessful despite their ability to potentiate both effector and memory CD8 T cell responses. There are two major hurdles for the success of DC-based vaccines: tumor-mediated immunosuppression and the functional limitation of the commonly used monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). Due to their resistance to tumor-mediated suppression as inert vesicles, DC-derived exosomes (DCexos) have garnered much interest as cell-free therapeutic agents. However, current DCexo clinical trials have shown limited clinical benefits and failed to generate antigen-specific T cell responses. Another exciting development is the use of naturally circulating DCs instead of in vitro cultured DCs, as clinical trials with both human blood cDC2s (type 2 conventional DCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) have shown promising results. pDC vaccines were particularly encouraging, especially in light of promising data from a recent clinical trial using a human pDC cell line, despite pDCs being considered tolerogenic and playing a suppressive role in tumors. However, how pDCs generate anti-tumor CD8 T cell immunity remains poorly understood, thus hindering their clinical advance. Using a pDC-targeted vaccine model, we have recently reported that while pDC-targeted vaccines led to strong cross-priming and durable CD8 T cell immunity, cross-presenting pDCs required cDCs to achieve cross-priming in vivo by transferring antigens to cDCs. Antigen transfer from pDCs to bystander cDCs was mediated by pDC-derived exosomes (pDCexos), which similarly required cDCs for cross-priming of antigen-specific CD8 T cells. pDCexos thus represent a new addition in our arsenal of DC-based cancer vaccines that would potentially combine the advantage of pDCs and DCexos.

scholarly journals Identification and Characterization of CD4+ T Cell Epitopes after Shingrix Vaccination

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Voic ◽  
Rory D. de Vries ◽  
John Sidney ◽  
Paul Rubiro ◽  
Erin Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Natural Infection ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
General Definition ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Cell Immunity

ABSTRACT Infections with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) are associated with a range of clinical manifestations. Primary infection with VZV causes chicken pox. The virus remains latent in neurons, and it can reactivate later in life, causing herpes zoster (HZ). Two different vaccines have been developed to prevent HZ; one is based on a live attenuated VZV strain (Zostavax), and the other is based on adjuvanted gE recombinant protein (Shingrix). While Zostavax efficacy wanes with age, Shingrix protection retains its efficacy in elderly subjects (individuals 80 years of age and older). In this context, it is of much interest to understand if there is a role for T cell immunity in the differential clinical outcome and if there is a correlate of protection between T cell immunity and Shingrix efficacy. In this study, we characterized the Shingrix-specific ex vivo CD4 T cell responses in the context of natural exposure and HZ vaccination using pools of predicted epitopes. We show that T cell reactivity following natural infection and Zostavax vaccination dominantly targets nonstructural (NS) proteins, while Shingrix vaccination redirects dominant reactivity to target gE. We mapped the gE-specific responses following Shingrix vaccination to 89 different gE epitopes, 34 of which accounted for 80% of the response. Using antigen presentation assays and single HLA molecule-transfected lines, we experimentally determined HLA restrictions for 94 different donor/peptide combinations. Finally, we used our results as a training set to assess strategies to predict restrictions based on measured or predicted HLA binding and the corresponding HLA types of the responding subjects. IMPORTANCE Understanding the T cell profile associated with the protection observed in elderly vaccinees following Shingrix vaccination is relevant to the general definition of correlates of vaccine efficacy. Our study enables these future studies by clarifying the patterns of immunodominance associated with Shingrix vaccination, as opposed to natural infection or Zostavax vaccination. Identification of epitopes recognized by Shingrix-induced CD4 T cells and their associated HLA restrictions enables the generation of tetrameric staining reagents and, more broadly, the capability to characterize the specificity, magnitude, and phenotype of VZV-specific T cells.

scholarly journals HCoV- and SARS-CoV-2 Cross-Reactive T Cells in CVID Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Steiner ◽  
Franziska Sotzny ◽  
Sandra Bauer ◽  
Il-Kang Na ◽  
Michael Schmueck-Henneresse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
T Cell Responses ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Cell Reactivity ◽  
Cd8 Cells ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Cell Immunity

The inability of patients with CVID to mount specific antibody responses to pathogens has raised concerns on the risk and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but there might be a role for protective T cells in these patients. SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells have been reported for SARS-CoV-2 unexposed healthy individuals. Until now, there is no data on T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection in CVID. This study aimed to evaluate reactive T cells to human endemic corona viruses (HCoV) and to study pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in unexposed CVID patients. We evaluated SARS-CoV-2- and HCoV-229E and –OC43 reactive T cells in response to seven peptide pools, including spike and nucleocapsid (NCAP) proteins, in 11 unexposed CVID, 12 unexposed and 11 post COVID-19 healthy controls (HC). We further characterized reactive T cells by IFNγ, TNFα and IL-2 profiles. SARS-CoV-2 spike-reactive CD4+ T cells were detected in 7 of 11 unexposed CVID patients, albeit with fewer multifunctional (IFNγ/TNFα/IL-2) cells than unexposed HC. CVID patients had no SARS-CoV-2 NCAP reactive CD4+ T cells and less reactive CD8+ cells compared to unexposed HC. We observed a correlation between T cell reactivity against spike of SARS-CoV-2 and HCoVs in unexposed, but not post COVID-19 HC, suggesting cross-reactivity. T cell responses in post COVID-19 HC could be distinguished from unexposed HC by higher frequencies of triple-positive NCAP reactive CD4+ T cells. Taken together, SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells are detectable in unexposed CVID patients albeit with lower recognition frequencies and polyfunctional potential. Frequencies of triple-functional reactive CD4+ cells might provide a marker to distinguish HCoV cross-reactive from SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell responses. Our data provides evidence, that anti-viral T cell immunity is not relevantly impaired in most CVID patients.

scholarly journals P04.06 mucosal immunization with a cDC1-targeted CTA1 adjuvant vaccine confers protection against melanoma metastasis

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 2) ◽  
pp. A39.1-A39
Author(s):  
M Arabpour ◽  
S Paul ◽  
R Kiffin ◽  
HG Wiktorin ◽  
K Hellstrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Dendritic Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Pulmonary Metastases ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Metastasis Formation ◽  
Mhc I ◽  
Mhc Ii ◽  
Cell Immunity

BackgroundSpecific targeting of anti-cancer vaccines to dendritic cells (DCs) has been shown to mount efficient immune responses against tumor cells. Classical CD103+dendritic cells (also called cDC1) have an inherent ability to cross-present antigens to CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. Here we have explored an anti-tumor vaccine that specifically targets cDC1 cells for protection against and elimination of metastatic melanoma. The vaccine contains the cholera toxin A1 subunit (CTA1) adjuvant and is targeted to cDC1 cells through an anti-CD103 single chain antibody (CD103 scFv).Material and MethodsC57BL/6 mice were injected with wild type or ovalbumin (OVA) expressing B16 melanoma cells either subcutaneously (s.c.) to establish solid tumors, or intravenously (i.v.) to allow the formation of pulmonary metastases. Before or after establishment of tumors, mice were intra-nasally inoculated with a vaccine composed of a CD103 scFv element fused to the adjuvant CTA1 and the MHC I H2kd-restricted OVA epitope SIINFEKL together with the MHC II H2kd-restricted OVA epitope p323 or just the p323 peptide alone (i.e. CTA1-SIINFEKL-p323-CD103 and CTA1-p323-CD103, respectively). Control mice were inoculated with PBS. The growth of solid tumors was carefully monitored and the development of pulmonary metastases was determined 2–3 weeks after tumor cell injection. In addition, antigen-specific T cell immunity following intranasal immunization was evaluated.ResultsTargeting MHC I and MHC II tumor cell epitopes to cDC1, via CD103 ScFv, in conjunction with the CTA1 adjuvant elicited strong tumor specific and protective CD8+ T cell responses as well as CD4+ T cell immunity. Immunization with the CTA1-SIINFEKL-p323-CD103 vaccine significantly reduced the growth of established solid B16F1-OVA melanomas (P<0.001) and potently prevented metastasis formation (P<0.01). Control immunizations with the CTA1-p323-CD103 vaccine tended to reduce metastasis, but tumor-specific CD8+ T cells were required for full therapeutic protection.ConclusionTargeting tumor specific CD8+ T cell epitopes to cDC1, in the context of a powerful adjuvant such as CTA1, leads to the development of efficient anti-tumor immune responses. Our results point towards the utility of cDC1-targeted vaccines in the treatment of established tumors or as a means to prevent metastasis formation.Disclosure InformationM. Arabpour: None. S. Paul: None. R. Kiffin: None. H.G. Wiktorin: None. K. Hellstrand: None. N. Lycke: None. A. Martner: None.

scholarly journals Second Class Minors

2003 ◽  
Vol 197 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroeki Sahara ◽  
Nilabh Shastri
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
T Cell Responses ◽  
Cd4 T Cell ◽  
Interleukin 4 ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Mhc Ii ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Antigen Presenting

CD4 T cells regulate immune responses that cause chronic graft rejection and graft versus host disease but their target antigens remain virtually unknown. We developed a new method to identify CD4 T cell–stimulating antigens. LacZ-inducible CD4 T cells were used as a probe to detect their cognate peptide/MHC II ligand generated in dendritic cells fed with Escherichia coli expressing a library of target cell genes. The murine H46 locus on chromosome 7 was thus found to encode the interleukin 4–induced IL4i1 gene. The IL4i1 precursor contains the HAFVEAIPELQGHV peptide which is presented by Ab major histocompatibility complex class II molecule via an endogenous pathway in professional antigen presenting cells. Both allelic peptides bind Ab and a single alanine to methionine substitution at p2 defines nonself. These results reveal novel features of H loci that regulate CD4 T cell responses as well as provide a general strategy for identifying elusive antigens that elicit CD4 T cell responses to tumors or self-tissues in autoimmunity.

Dendritic Cell-Induced T Cell Non-Responsiveness Is Mediated by FOXP3+ and TGF-beta+IL-10+ CD4+ T Cells.

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 3891-3891
Author(s):  
Zwi N. Berneman ◽  
Nathalie Cools ◽  
Viggo F.I. Van Tendeloo ◽  
Marc Lenjou ◽  
Griet Nijs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
Tgf Beta ◽  
Cell Immunity

Abstract Dendritic cells (DC), the professional antigen presenting cells of the immune system, exert important functions both in induction of T cell immunity as well as of tolerance. Previously, it was accepted that the main function of immature DC (iDC) in their in vivo steady state condition is to maintain peripheral tolerance to self-antigens and that these iDC mature upon encounter of so-called danger signals and subsequently promote T cell immunity. However, a growing body of experimental evidence now indicates that traditional DC maturation can no longer be used to distinguish between tolerogenic and immunogenic properties of DC. In this study, we compared the in vitro stimulatory capacity of immature DC (iDC), cytokine cocktail-matured DC (CC-mDC) and poly I:C-matured DC (pIC-mDC) in the absence and presence of antigen. All investigated DC types could induce at least 2 subsets of regulatory T cells. We observed a significant increase in both the number of functionally suppressive transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta+ interleukin (IL)-10+ T cells as well as of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T cells within DC/T cell co-cultures as compared to T cell cultures without DC. The induction of these regulatory T cells correlates with in vitro T cell non-responsiveness after co-culture with iDC and CC-mDC, while stimulation with pIC-mDC resulted in reproducible cytomegalovirus pp65 or influenza M1 matrix peptide-specific T cell activation as compared to control cultures in the absence of DC. In addition, the T cell non-responsiveness after stimulation with iDC was shown to be mediated by TGF-beta and IL-10. Moreover, the suppressive capacity of CD4+ T cells activated by iDC and CC-mDC was shown to be transferable when these CD4+ T cells were added to an established T cell response. In contrast, addition of CD4+ T cells stimulated by pIC-mDC made responder T cells refractory to their suppressive activity. In conclusion, we hypothesize that DC have a complementary role in inducing both regulatory T cells and effector T cells, where the final result of antigen-specific T cell activation will depend on the activation state of the DC. This emphasizes the need for proper DC activation when T cell immunity is the desired effect, especially when used in clinical trials.

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