Scientific Resources

Cx3cr1+ monocyte-derived macrophages (moMacs) are recruited to tissues after injury and are known to have profibrotic effects,but the cell-cell interactions and specific pathways that regulate this polarization and function are incompletely understood. Here we investigate the role of moMac-derived Pdgfa in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice. Deletion of Pdgfa with Cx3cr1-CreERT2 decreased bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. Among a panel of in vitro macrophage polarizing stimuli,robust induction of Pdgfa was noted with IL10 in both mouse and human moMacs. Likewise,analysis of single-cell data revealed high expression of the receptor IL10RA in moMacs from human fibrotic lungs. Studies with IL10-GFP mice revealed that IL10-expressing cells were increased after injury in mice and colocalized with moMacs. Notably,deletion of IL10ra with Csf1r-Cre: IL10ra fl/fl mice decreased both Pdgfa expression in moMacs and lung fibrosis. Taken together,these findings reveal a novel,IL10-dependent mechanism of macrophage polarization leading to fibroblast activation after injury. View Publication

Dysregulated chronic inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and may be a result of impaired resolution. Thus,restoring levels of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) to promote the resolution of inflammation has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy for patients with atherosclerosis,in addition to standard clinical care. Herein,we evaluated the effects of the SPM lipids,lipoxin A4 (LXA4 ) and lipoxin B4 (LXB4 ),on neutrophils isolated from patients with atherosclerosis compared with healthy controls. Patients displayed altered endogenous SPM production,and we demonstrated that lipoxin treatment in whole blood from atherosclerosis patients attenuates neutrophil oxidative burst,a key contributor to atherosclerotic development. We found the opposite effect in neutrophils from healthy controls,indicating a potential mechanism whereby lipoxins aid the endogenous neutrophil function in health but reduce its excessive activation in disease. We also demonstrated that lipoxins attenuated upregulation of the high-affinity conformation of the CD11b/CD18 integrin,which plays a central role in clot activation and atherosclerosis. Finally,LXB4 enhanced lymphatic transmigration of human neutrophils isolated from patients with atherosclerosis. This finding is noteworthy,as impaired lymphatic function is now recognized as an important contributor to atherosclerosis. Although both lipoxins modulated neutrophil function,LXB4 displayed more potent effects than LXA4 in humans. This study highlights the therapeutic potential of lipoxins in atherosclerotic disease and demonstrates that the effect of these SPMs may be specifically tailored to the need of the individual. View Publication

CD8+ T cell responses are the foundation of the recent clinical success of immunotherapy in oncologic indications. Although checkpoint inhibitors have enhanced the activity of existing CD8+ T cell responses,therapeutic approaches to generate Ag-specific CD8+ T cell responses have had limited success. Here,we demonstrate that cytosolic delivery of Ag through microfluidic squeezing enables MHC class I presentation to CD8+ T cells by diverse cell types. In murine dendritic cells (DCs),squeezed DCs were ˆ¼1000-fold more potent at eliciting CD8+ T cell responses than DCs cross-presenting the same amount of protein Ag. The approach also enabled engineering of less conventional APCs,such as T cells,for effective priming of CD8+ T cells in vitro and in vivo. Mixtures of immune cells,such as murine splenocytes,also elicited CD8+ T cell responses in vivo when squeezed with Ag. We demonstrate that squeezing enables effective MHC class I presentation by human DCs,T cells,B cells,and PBMCs and that,in clinical scale formats,the system can squeeze up to 2 billion cells per minute. Using the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) murine model,TC-1,we demonstrate that squeezed B cells,T cells,and unfractionated splenocytes elicit antitumor immunity and correlate with an influx of HPV-specific CD8+ T cells such that >80% of CD8s in the tumor were HPV specific. Together,these findings demonstrate the potential of cytosolic Ag delivery to drive robust CD8+ T cell responses and illustrate the potential for an autologous cell-based vaccine with minimal turnaround time for patients. View Publication

Pivotal clinical trials of B-cell maturation antigen-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T (CART)-cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) resulted in remarkable initial responses,which led to a recent US Food and Drug Administration approval. Despite the success of this therapy,durable remissions continue to be low,and the predominant mechanism of resistance is loss of CART cells and inhibition by the tumor microenvironment (TME). MM is characterized by an immunosuppressive TME with an abundance of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Using MM models,we studied the impact of CAFs on CART-cell efficacy and developed strategies to overcome CART-cell inhibition. We showed that CAFs inhibit CART-cell antitumor activity and promote MM progression. CAFs express molecules such as fibroblast activation protein and signaling lymphocyte activation molecule family-7,which are attractive immunotherapy targets. To overcome CAF-induced CART-cell inhibition,CART cells were generated targeting both MM cells and CAFs. This dual-targeting CART-cell strategy significantly improved the effector functions of CART cells. We show for the first time that dual targeting of both malignant plasma cells and the CAFs within the TME is a novel strategy to overcome resistance to CART-cell therapy in MM. View Publication

Sialic acids are negatively charged carbohydrates that cap the glycans of glycoproteins and glycolipids. Sialic acids are involved in various biological processes including cell-cell adhesion and immune recognition. In dendritic cells (DCs),the major antigen-presenting cells of the immune system,sialic acids emerge as important regulators of maturation and interaction with other lymphocytes including T cells. Many aspects of how sialic acids regulate DC functions are not well understood and tools and model systems to address these are limited. Here,we have established cultures of murine bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) that lack sialic acid expression using a sialic acid-blocking mimetic Ac53FaxNeu5Ac. Ac53FaxNeu5Ac treatment potentiated BMDC activation via toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation without affecting differentiation and viability. Sialic acid blockade further increased the capacity of BMDCs to induce antigen-specific CD8+ T cell proliferation. Transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis revealed that sialic acid mimetic treatment of BMDCs induces differential expression of genes involved in T cell activation,cell-adhesion,and cell-cell interactions. Subsequent cell clustering assays and single cell avidity measurements demonstrated that BMDCs with reduced sialylation form higher avidity interactions with CD8+ T cells. This increased avidity was detectable in the absence of antigens,but was especially pronounced in antigen-dependent interactions. Together,our data show that sialic acid blockade in BMDCs ameliorates maturation and enhances both cognate T cell receptor-MHC-dependent and independent T cell interactions that allow for more robust CD8+ T cell responses. View Publication

A subset of antibodies found in cattle comprises ultralong CDR-H3 regions of up to 70 amino acids. Interestingly,this type of immunoglobulin usually pairs with the single germline VL gene,V30 that is typically very conserved in sequence. In this work,we have engineered ultralong CDR-H3 common light chain bispecific antibodies targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) on tumor cells as well as Natural Cytotoxicity Receptor NKp30 on Natural Killer (NK) cells. Antigen-specific common light chain antibodies were isolated by yeast surface display by means of pairing CDR-H3 diversities following immunization with a single V30 light chain. After selection,EGFR-targeting paratopes as well as NKp30-specific binders were combined into common light chain bispecific antibodies by exploiting the strand-exchange engineered domain (SEED) technology for heavy chain heterodimerization. Biochemical characterization of resulting bispecifics revealed highly specific binding to the respective antigens as well as simultaneous binding to both targets. Most importantly,engineered cattle-derived bispecific common light chain molecules elicited potent NK cell redirection and consequently tumor cell lysis of EGFR-overexpressing cells as well as robust release of proinflammatory cytokine interferon-$\gamma$. Taken together,this data is giving clear evidence that bovine bispecific ultralong CDR-H3 common light chain antibodies are versatile for biotechnological applications. View Publication

Solid tumor cells have an altered metabolism that can protect them from cytotoxic lymphocytes. The anti-diabetic drug metformin modifies tumor cell metabolism and several clinical trials are testing its effectiveness for the treatment of solid cancers. The use of metformin in hematologic cancers has received much less attention,although allogeneic cytotoxic lymphocytes are very effective against these tumors. We show here that metformin induces expression of Natural Killer G2-D (NKG2D) ligands (NKG2DL) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1),a ligand of the lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1). This leads to enhance sensitivity to cytotoxic lymphocytes. Overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members decrease both metformin effects. The sensitization to activated cytotoxic lymphocytes is mainly mediated by the increase on ICAM-1 levels,which favors cytotoxic lymphocytes binding to tumor cells. Finally,metformin decreases the growth of human hematological tumor cells in xenograft models,mainly in presence of monoclonal antibodies that recognize tumor antigens. Our results suggest that metformin could improve cytotoxic lymphocyte-mediated therapy. View Publication

HLA-DQ donor-specific antibodies (DSA) are the most prevalent type of DSA after renal transplantation and have been associated with eplet mismatches between donor and recipient HLA. Eplets are theoretically defined configurations of surface exposed amino acids on HLA molecules that require verification to confirm that they can be recognized by alloantibodies and are therefore clinically relevant. In this study,we isolated HLA-DQ specific memory B cells from immunized individuals by using biotinylated HLA-DQ monomers to generate 15 recombinant human HLA-DQ specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with six distinct specificities. Single antigen bead reactivity patterns were analyzed with HLA-EMMA to identify amino acids that were uniquely shared by the reactive HLA alleles to define functional epitopes which were mapped to known eplets. The HLA-DQB1*03:01-specific mAb LB_DQB0301_A and the HLA-DQB1*03-specific mAb LB_DQB0303_C supported the antibody-verification of eplets 45EV and 55PP respectively,while mAbs LB_DQB0402_A and LB_DQB0602_B verified eplet 55R on HLA-DQB1*04/05/06. For three mAbs,multiple uniquely shared amino acid configurations were identified,warranting further studies to define the inducing functional epitope and corresponding eplet. Our unique set of HLA-DQ specific mAbs will be further expanded and will facilitate the in-depth analysis of HLA-DQ epitopes,which is relevant for further studies of HLA-DQ alloantibody pathogenicity in transplantation. View Publication

Low-density neutrophils (LDNs) have been described in tumors and various autoimmune diseases,where they exhibit immune dysfunction and alter disease progression. Nevertheless,LDNs have been rarely reported in sepsis. We studied sepsis patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Wright-Giemsa stain assay and Transmission electron microscopy were performed to detect the morphology of neutrophils. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the number and function of LDNs. Concentration of cytokines was measured using ELISA. Neutrophil chemotaxis was examined using an under-agarose chemotaxis model. We found that LDNs were significantly elevated in patients with sepsis. Phenotypes and morphological characteristics suggest that LDNs may be formed by mixtures of neutrophils at various maturation stages. In vitro experiments showed that LDN formation was closely associated with neutrophil degranulation. We preliminarily discussed changes in immune function in LDNs. Compared with high-density neutrophils,expression levels of CXC chemokine receptor 4 on LDN surfaces were increased,phagocytotic capacity was decreased,and life span was prolonged. The chemotactic ability of LDNs was significantly reduced,possibly related to the increased expression of P2X1. These data suggest that LDNs are essential components of neutrophils in sepsis. To clarify the source and dysfunction mechanism of LDN in sepsis may be helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in the future. View Publication

Early erythroid progenitors are transit-amplifying cells with high proliferative capacity committed to undergoing red cell differentiation. CD71/CD24low progenitors are less mature and have greater proliferative capacity than CD71/CD24high. We present protocols for isolation of CD71/CD24low progenitors from mouse fetal liver using both fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and immunomagnetic enrichment. CD71/CD24low progenitors isolated with both approaches show similar transcriptomes at single-cell resolution and exhibit characteristic proliferative responses to glucocorticoids. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol,please refer to Li et al. (2019). View Publication

Memory T cells are crucial players in vertebrate adaptive immunity but their development is incompletely understood. Here,we describe a method to produce human memory-like T cells from naive human T cells in culture. Using commercially available human T-cell differentiation kits,both purified naive CD8+ T cells and purified naive CD4+ T cells were activated via T-cell receptor signaling and appropriate cytokines for several days in culture. All the T-cell activators were then removed from the medium and the cultures were continued in hypoxic condition (1% O2 atmosphere) for several more days; during this period,most of the cells died,but some survived in a quiescent state for a month. The survivors had small round cell bodies,expressed differentiation markers characteristic of memory T cells and restarted proliferation when the T-cell activators were added back. We could also induce memory-like T cells from naive human T cells without hypoxia,if we froze the activated T cells or prepared the naive T cells from chilled filter buffy coats. View Publication

BACKGROUND Adoptive T cell transfer (ACT) therapy improves outcomes in patients with advanced malignancies,yet many individuals relapse due to the infusion of T cells with poor function or persistence. Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists can invigorate antitumor T cell responses when administered directly to patients,but these responses often coincide with toxicities. We posited that TLR agonists could be repurposed ex vivo to condition T cells with remarkable potency in vivo,circumventing TLR-related toxicity. METHODS In this study we investigated how tumor-specific murine CD8+ T cells and human tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are impacted when expanded ex vivo with the TLR9 agonist CpG. RESULTS Herein we reveal a new way to reverse the tolerant state of adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells against tumors using TLR-activated B cells. We repurposed the TLR9 agonist,CpG,commonly used in the clinic,to bolster T cell-B cell interactions during expansion for ACT. T cells expanded ex vivo from a CpG-treated culture demonstrated potent antitumor efficacy and prolonged persistence in vivo. This antitumor efficacy was accomplished without in vivo administration of TLR agonists or other adjuvants of high-dose interleukin (IL)-2 or vaccination,which are classically required for effective ACT therapy. CpG-conditioned CD8+ T cells acquired a unique proteomic signature hallmarked by an IL-2R$\alpha$highICOShighCD39low phenotype and an altered metabolic profile,all reliant on B cells transiently present in the culture. Likewise,human TILs benefitted from expansion with CpG ex vivo,as they also possessed the IL-2R$\alpha$highICOShighCD39low phenotype. CpG fostered the expansion of potent CD8+ T cells with the signature phenotype and antitumor ability via empowering a direct B-T cell interaction. Isolated B cells also imparted T cells with the CpG-associated phenotype and improved tumor immunity without the aid of additional antigen-presenting cells or other immune cells in the culture. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate a novel way to use TLR agonists to improve immunotherapy and reveal a vital role for B cells in the generation of potent CD8+ T cell-based therapies. Our findings have immediate implications in the clinical treatment of advanced solid tumors. View Publication