
[Cancer Research 61, 452-454, January 15, 2001]
© 2001 American Association for Cancer Research
Coexpression of CD40 and CD40 Ligand in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides)1
Monique Storz,
Karoline Zepter,
Jivko Kamarashev,
Reinhard Dummer,
Günter Burg and
Andreas C. Häffner2
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
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ABSTRACT
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Microarray analysis is a promising new approach for creating specific
expression profiles of multiple genes simultaneously. We quantitatively
analyzed differential gene expression patterns in mycosis
fungoides-derived clonal T cells and autologous, identically
cultured CD4+ lymphocytes using microarrays containing 588 cDNA
segments from genes relevant to cell signaling, carcinogenesis, and
apoptosis. Among other dissimilarities, neoplastic T cells showed
coexpression of CD40 (Bp50) and CD40 ligand (gp39, CD154). These
results could be corroborated by reverse transcription-PCR,
immunohistochemistry, and two-color immunofluorescence staining. Our
data suggest that in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, CD40/CD40 ligand
interactions might represent a paracrine loop that is crucial not only
in preventing apoptosis or positively regulating growth but also in
homing of neoplastic cells to the skin.
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Introduction
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CD40 receptor is a transmembrane protein and has been
clustered as a member of the tumor necrosis factor/nerve growth
factor receptor superfamily (1)
. It has been extensively
studied and demonstrated to be present on a variety of cell types
ranging from benign B cells, monocytes, dendritic cells, endothelial
cells, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and thymocytes (2, 3, 4, 5)
to neoplastic B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphomas and leukemias,
Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkins disease, myeloma plasma cells,
CTCLs,3
a number of carcinomas (including bladder, breast, and ovarian cancer),
epidermal tumors, and melanoma cells (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
. Low-level
CD40 expression is also found on some human T-cell lines and on
activated peripheral blood T cells (12)
. Its counterpart,
CD40L, which shares significant sequence homology to tumor necrosis
factor, is transiently induced and tightly regulated on the surface of
CD4+ T cells after their activation (13)
but is also
weakly expressed on some activated CD8+ T cells, basophils, mast cells,
eosinophils, natural killer cells, and monocytes (14)
. A
consistent fraction (>40%) of peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkins
lymphomas and CTCLs displaying a CD4+/CD8- phenotype, along with a
subset of T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemias with stem
cell-like phenotype, constitutively display surface CD40L
(15)
.
The CD40/CD40 L interaction is known to be an important feature of
B-cell/T-cell collaboration, leading to T-cell-dependent activation,
proliferation, and differentiation of B lymphocytes; immunoglobulin
isotype switching; and memory B-cell formation
(16)
. Mutations of the CD40L gene have
been associated with X-linked hyper-IgM immunodeficiency syndrome,
pointing to the critical role of the CD40/CD40L interaction in the
T-cell/B-cell interplay (17)
. In addition, several groups
have implicated CD40 in the regulation of B-cell survival via molecules
of the Bcl family (18)
and of B-cell apoptosis via Fas
(19)
.
It has been reported that binding of CD40L to its CD40 receptor may
activate not only B lymphocytes but T lymphocytes as well and that
CD40L can act as a stimulatory molecule for T lymphocytes
(20)
. The fact that neoplastic CD4+ T cells constitutively
express detectable amounts of surface and/or cytoplasmic CD40L
molecules indicates a possible physiological role of this molecule in
these neoplasms (21)
. Further data demonstrated
coexpression of CD40 and CD40L in B-cell lymphoma cells, raising the
possibility of an autocrine loop that may contribute to the growth
regulation of malignant B cells in vivo (22)
and may potentially exist at the T-cell branch as well.
Comparative microarray analysis is a new and promising approach to
establish gene expression profiles that may finally help to delineate
the intricate interactions responsible for pathogenesis and clinical
phenotype of this particular disease (23
, 24)
.
We performed comparative analyses of clonal lymphocytes derived from MF
lesions and their autologous CD4+ counterparts originating from
peripheral blood by microarray and obtained further confirmation by
RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and two-color immunofluorescence
staining.
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Materials and Methods
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Cell Culture.
All human material was obtained with the patients informed consent.
Lymphocytic cells from a diagnostic MF tumor sample were cultured for 8
weeks in 500 ml of RPMI 1640 supplemented with 100 ml of 10% FCS, 10
ml of fungizone/streptomycin, 10 ml of glutamin, 5 ml of sodium
pyruvate (all from Life Technologies, Inc., Grand Island, NY), 100 µl
of human epidermal growth factor (1 µg), 200 ml of interleukin 2
(106 units/ml), 2 ml of interleukin 4 (50,000
units/ml), 2 ml of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor
(80,000 units/ml), and 400 µl of basic fibroblast growth factor
(250,000 units/ml; all from Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA).
Clonality of the morphologically homogenous tumor cell population was
determined by PCR/denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis as
described previously (25)
and compared with original
cryopreserved biopsy material.
Autologous peripheral CD4+ T cells were cultured for 3 days under
identical conditions to normalize for tissue culture artifacts.
Separation and Activation of Autologous CD4+ Cells from
Peripheral Blood.
CD4 cells were separated by an immunomagnetic procedure using
paramagnetic polystyrene beads (Dynal, Lake Success, NY) and a magnetic
separation device (Dynal). An antihuman CD4-specific murine IgM
antibody (DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark) was conjugated to Dynabeads M-450
(Dynal) by overnight incubation at pH 9.5, washed twice in PBS
containing 10% FCS, and incubated under constant slow agitation with
peripheral blood mononuclear cells generated by Ficoll gradient
enrichment from the patients blood at 4°C. Purified CD4+ T cells
were stimulated by exposure to 10 µg/ml phytohemagglutinin (Life
Technologies, Inc.) and harvested on day 3.
RNA Isolation.
Total mRNA was extracted from CTCL cell culture and peripheral blood
mononuclear cell culture using RNAeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen AG, Basel,
Switzerland) according to the manufacturers instructions.
RT-PCR.
RNA samples (500 ng) were reverse transcribed using avian
myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase (Promega, Madison, WI)
according to the manufacturers instructions. cDNA was amplified using
primer pairs specific for CD40 (sense primer,
5'-CTGTTTGCCATCCTCTTGGT-3'; antisense primer,
5'-CGACTCTCTTTGCCATCCTC-3') and CD40L [sense primer,
5'-ACCAAACTTCTCCCCGATTC-3'; antisense primer,
5'-GCAAAAAGTGCTGACCCAAT-3' (both sets of primers were from
Microsynth; Balgach Switzerland)]. Cycling conditions were as
follows: 35 cycles of 94°C for 30 s; 55°C for 30 s; and
72°C for 30 s. Ten µl of amplified cDNA were run on a
1.5% agarose gel.
cDNA Microarray.
Total mRNA was reverse transcribed using the cDNA Synthesis (CDC)
Primer Mix including [
-32P]dATP into
radioactively labeled cDNAs (Atlas TM Pure Total Labeling System;
Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). The probes were then hybridized to separate
Atlas Arrays according to the manufacturers instructions (Atlas TM
cDNA Expression Array; Clontech).
Immunohistochemistry.
Cryosections from 13 patients with MF were fixed in acetone, air dried,
and stained for CD40 and CD40L using an alkaline
phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase technique (reagents were from
DAKO) as described previously (26)
. The adequacy of the
immunohistochemical stainings was always confirmed by positive and
negative controls (data not shown). Routine H&E staining was performed
on adjacent sections to verify the diagnosis.
Direct Immunofluorescence Two-color Staining.
Acetone fixed cryosections were washed with PBS, blocked with protein
block serum-free solution (DAKO), and washed again with PBS. One µl
of FITC- conjugated CD40 monoclonal antibody (CALTAG, Burlingame, CA)
and 1 µl of R-phycoerythrin-conjugated CD40L monoclonal antibody
(DAKO) were each diluted in 20 µl of antibody diluent (ChemMate;
DAKO) and then deposited on the cryosection slides and incubated for
1 h at 4°C. After three washes in PBS, localization of
CD40/CD40L was observed under a fluorescence microscope using the
appropriate filters, photographed, and digitally superimposed.
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Results and Discussion
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The aim of this investigation was to define distinct phenotypic
aspects in T lymphocytes derived from MF lesions using microarray
analysis and different molecular biological and immunohistochemical
methods. We consistently found constitutive expression of CD40 and
CD40L in neoplastic T-cell populations. The results of the microarray
analysis (Fig. 1)
are supported by those of two-color immunofluorescence, showing
colocalization of CD40/CD40L (Fig. 2
; Table 1
). Because RNA was extracted from cultured tumor cells, a contamination
of microarray expression profiles from signals caused by fibroblasts or
keratinocytes, which would occur using lesional tissue, can be
reasonably excluded.

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Fig. 1. A, cDNA microarray (Human Cancer; Clontech)
showing differentially expressed genes resulting from subtraction of
profiles generated from CTCL-derived T cells and autologous CD4+ T
lymphocytes. The arrows indicate subtractive
hybridization signals to the CD40 gene segment and CD40L sequence
(there is no visible signal in the subtractive array because the ligand
is expressed in activated CD4+ and CTCL cells). B, RT-PCR for CD40 in patients with MF (Lanes 35).
Lanes 1 and 2, negative controls;
M, marker. C, RT-PCR for CD40L in
patients with MF (Lanes 69). Negative control,
Lane 10.
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Fig. 2. A, direct immunofluorescence double
staining for CD40 (FITC-conjugated antibody, green) and
CD40L (R-phycoerythrin-conjugated antibody, red). Cells
with overlapping expression stain orange to
yellow and demonstrate colocalization of CD40/CD40L.
Membrane-anchored CD40 surface antigen on endothelial cells of a
capillary vessel is easily detectable by green fluorescence (x40).
B, routine H&E staining was performed on adjacent
sections to verify the diagnosis of MF (x40).
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Table 1 Characteristics of patients investigated, including expression
intensity of CD40/CD40L staining in immunohistochemistry
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Previous data suggest that CD40L+ neoplastic T cells may be relevant
for the process of selective tumor homing into the skin
(13)
. Especially in the early stages of MF, CD40 antigen
presentation by endothelial cells and basal keratinocytes, as well as
other epidermal cells, could explain the epidermotropism of the
proliferating clonal population of CD40L+ T cells (21)
.
Furthermore, CD40L has been described as T-cell growth factor
(20)
. It has also been shown that the CD40/CD40L
costimulation pathway allows selective expansion of CD4+ T cells after
interaction with CD40-bearing antigen-presenting cells
(27)
. Our findings are consistent with those of previous
reports that demonstrated expression of CD40 and its ligand in CTCL and
indicated that the CD40/CD40L interaction is likely to play an
important role in the control of neoplastic T-cell growth
(21)
. This report is the first to show that CD40/CD40L
surface antigens are coexpressed in MF lesional lymphocytes and
potentially provide the molecular bridge for direct stimulating contact
between adjacent cells. It is intriguing that the T-cell-T cell
interaction itself might be responsible for enhancing T-cell survival
and regulating malignant growth in the form of autocrine or paracrine
loops, analogous to previous results shown in B-cell lymphoma
cells (22)
. In addition, in vitro observations
of CTCL cell cultures revealed a typical growth behavior with monolayer
formation by closely connected cells, in which paracrine mechanisms
could play a crucial role. Disruption of this paracrine/autocrine loop
might severely impair the survival and growth of neoplastic T cells and
thus prove beneficial in the immunotherapy of cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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We thank Dr. B. Odermatt (Department of Pathology, University
Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland) for valuable support in
fluorescence microphotography.
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FOOTNOTES
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Supported in part by a grant from the Cancer
League of the Canton Zurich (to A. C. H.). 
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich,
Gloriastrasse 31, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41-1-255-4049;
Fax: 41-1-255-4403; E-mail: ach5{at}derm.unizh.ch 
3 The abbreviations used are: CTCL, cutaneous
T-cell lymphoma; MF, mycosis fungoides; CD40L, CD40 ligand; RT-PCR,
reverse transcription-PCR. 
Received 6/26/00.
Accepted 11/28/00.
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