Assessment of Human Natural Killer Cell Events Driven by FcγRIIIa Engagement in the Presence of Therapeutic Antibodies.

One mechanism of action for clinical efficacy by therapeutic antibodies is the promotion of immune-related functions, such as cytokine secretion and cytotoxicity, driven by FcγRIIIa (CD16) expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. These observations have led to research focusing on methods to increase Fc receptor-mediated events, which include removal of a fucose moiety found on the Fc portion of the antibody. Further studies have elucidated the mechanistic changes in signaling, cellular processes, and cytotoxic characteristics that increase ADCC activity with afucosylated antibodies.

A Novel Liposome Formulation Carrying Both an Insulin Peptide and a Ligand for Invariant Natural Killer T Cells Induces Accumulation of Regulatory T Cells to Islets in Nonobese Diabetic Mice.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease caused by the destruction of pancreatic cells by autoantigen-reactive diabetogenic cells. Antigen-specific therapies using islet autoantigens for restoring immune tolerance have emerged as promising approaches for the treatment of T1D but have been unsuccessful in humans. Herein, we report that RGI-3100-iB, a novel liposomal formulation carrying both -galactosylceramide (-GalCer), which is a representative ligand for invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, and insulin B chain 9-23 peptide, which is an epitope for CD4 T cells, could induce the accumulation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in islets in a peptide-dependent manner, followed by the remarkable prevention of diabetes onset in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice.

Invariant natural killer T cells ameliorate murine chronic GVHD by expanding donor regulatory T cells.

Chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD) can cause multiorgan system disease, typically with autoimmune-like features, resulting in high mortality and morbidity caused by treatment limitations. Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKTs), a small population characterized by expression of a semi-invariant T-cell receptor, rapidly produce copious amounts of diverse cytokines on activation that exert potent immune regulatory function. Here, we show that iNKTs are significantly reduced in a cGVHD murine model that recapitulates several aspects of autoimmunity and organ fibrosis observed in patients with cGVHD.

Increased Foxp3Helios Regulatory T Cells and Decreased Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation in Patients Receiving Sirolimus and RGI-2001, an Activator of Invariant Natural Killer T Cells.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells play a central role in immune tolerance and prevention of aberrant immune responses. Several studies have suggested that the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can be ameliorated by increasing Tregs. We have developed an approach of in vivo expansion of Tregs with RGI-2001, a novel liposomal formulation of a synthetic derivative of alpha-galactosylceramide, a naturally occurring ligand that binds to CD1 and activates and expands invariant natural killer cells.

Pharmacologic expansion of donor-derived, naturally occurring CD4(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells reduces acute graft-versus-host disease lethality without abrogating the graft-versus-leukemia effect in murine models.

Adoptive transfer of regulatory T cells (Tregs) prevents graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in mouse models, indicating a pivotal role for Tregs in controlling GVHD. The present study demonstrates the efficacy of Tregs pharmacologically induced in vivo in GVHD prevention. A single i.

Antagonistic nature of T helper 1/2 developmental programs in opposing peripheral induction of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of peripheral induction of Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the dominant control of immunological tolerance. However, Foxp3(+) Treg differentiation from naïve CD4(+) T cells occurs only under selective conditions, whereas the classical T helper (Th) 1 and 2 effector development often dominate T cell immune responses to antigen stimulation in the periphery. The reason for such disparity remains poorly understood.

The adaptor protein CARD9 is required for innate immune responses to intracellular pathogens.

The caspase-recruitment domain-containing adaptor protein CARD9 regulates the innate signaling responses to fungal infection. Here we show that CARD9 is required for innate immune responses against intracellular pathogens. We generated Card9(-/-) mice and found that CARD9-deficient macrophages had defects in activation of the kinases p38 and Jnk but not of transcription factor NF-kappaB after bacterial and viral infection.

MEKK3 is essential for lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor production in macrophages.

Mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) is a Ser/Thr protein kinase belonging to the MEKK/STE11 subgroup of the MAP3K family. Recently, we found that MEKK3 plays a critical role in interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor and Toll-like receptor 4 signalling using established primary mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell lines. However, the function of MEKK3 in immune cells has not been studied because germ-line MEKK3 knockout mice are embryonically lethal between embryonic days 10 and 11.

OX40 ligand shuts down IL-10-producing regulatory T cells.

IL-10-producing CD4(+) type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells play a critical role in the maintenance of peripheral tolerance. Although immunosuppressive drugs, cytokines, costimulatory molecules, and immature dendritic cells are implicated in the induction of Tr1 cells, the signals that negatively regulate the generation and function of Tr1 cells have been elusive. We report that OX40 ligand (OX40L) completely inhibited the generation of IL-10-producing Tr1 cells from naïve and memory CD4(+) T cells induced by the immunosuppressive drugs dexamethasone and vitamin D3.

Specialization, kinetics, and repertoire of type 1 interferon responses by human plasmacytoid predendritic cells.

Recent studies suggest plasmacytoid predendritic cells (pDCs) and myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) have the functional plasticity to produce similar amounts of type 1 interferons (IFNs) and interleukin-12 (IL-12), challenging the concept and existence of DC subsets with distinct function. In this study, we demonstrate that previous studies showed human pDCs produce large amounts of IL-12 because of contaminating mDCs. Using highly purified human DC subsets, we found that although pDCs make 300 times more IFN-alpha than mDCs and mDCs make 13 times more IL-12 p70 than pDCs in response to all the toll-like receptor ligands and CD40 ligands, pDCs rapidly make large amounts of IFN-alpha within the first 12 hours of activation and become refractory to further stimulation.

TSLP-activated dendritic cells induce an inflammatory T helper type 2 cell response through OX40 ligand.

We recently showed that dendritic cells (DCs) activated by thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) prime naive CD4(+) T cells to differentiate into T helper type 2 (Th2) cells that produced high amounts of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), but no interleukin (IL)-10. Here we report that TSLP induced human DCs to express OX40 ligand (OX40L) but not IL-12. TSLP-induced OX40L on DCs was required for triggering naive CD4(+) T cells to produce IL-4, -5, and -13.

Nucleic acids of mammalian origin can act as endogenous ligands for Toll-like receptors and may promote systemic lupus erythematosus.

Raised serum levels of interferon (IFN)-alpha have been observed in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and these levels are correlated with both disease activity and severity. The origin of this IFN-alpha is still unclear, but increasing evidence suggests the critical involvement of activated plasmacytoid predendritic cells (PDCs). In SLE patients, DNA and RNA viruses, as well as immune complexes (ICs), that consist of autoantibodies specific to self-DNA and RNA protein particles can stimulate production of IFN-alpha.

Inhibitors of TLR-9 act on multiple cell subsets in mouse and man in vitro and prevent death in vivo from systemic inflammation.

In parallel with the discovery of the immunostimulatory activities of CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides, several groups have reported specific DNA sequences that could inhibit activation by CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides in mouse models. We show that these inhibitory sequences, termed IRS, inhibit TLR-9-mediated activation in human as well as mouse cells. This inhibitory activity includes proliferation and IL-6 production by B cells, and IFN-alpha and IL-12 production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

IL-10 regulates plasmacytoid dendritic cell response to CpG-containing immunostimulatory sequences.

Immunostimulatory sequences (ISS) are short oligonucleotides containing unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) dinucleotides that stimulate innate immune responses through Toll-like receptor-9 on B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (PDC) precursors. The anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 is predicted to be a potent inhibitor of many of the activities described for ISS, and this may impact the use of ISS in disease states characterized by elevated IL-10. As the activities of ISS on PDCs are central to many clinical applications of ISS, we have studied the effects of IL-10 on PDC stimulation by 3 distinct classes of ISS.

The TNF receptor family member CD30 is not essential for negative selection.

CD30 is a member of the TNF receptor superfamily that has been implicated in negative selection and some forms of peripheral tolerance. A previous study of CD30(-/-) mice in a class I-restricted H-Y TCR-transgenic mouse model showed that CD30 is essential for removal of autoreactive thymocytes. During the course of the studies of CD30 in the class II-restricted TCR-transgenic mice, we found that the absence of CD30 has no effect on negative selection.

ERK5 is a novel type of mitogen-activated protein kinase containing a transcriptional activation domain.

Previous studies have shown that upregulation of the orphan steroid receptor Nur77 is required for the apoptosis of immature T cells in response to antigen receptor signals. Transcriptional upregulation of Nur77 in response to antigen receptor signaling involves two binding sites for the MEF2 family of transcription factors located in the Nur77 promoter. Calcium signals greatly increase the activity of MEF2D in T cells via a posttranslational mechanism.