| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Advances in Brief |
INSERM U487, Institut Fédératif de Recherche (IFR 54) [A. G., N. G., S. C., A. C.], Unité dImmunologie Clinique [E. A.], Institut Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France; INSERM U508, Hôpital Paul Brousse, 94805 Villejuif, France [J. G-M., B. A.]; and Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Universita di Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy [A. M.]
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
B activation in p58+ tumor-specific CTLs. | Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Immunofluorescence Analysis.
The phenotypes of TILs and PBLs were analyzed by indirect two-color fluorescence. Cells (2 x 105) were first incubated for 30 min at 4°C with conjugated mAbs: EB6-PE (anti-p58.1, IgG1), GL183-PE (anti-p58.2, IgG1), CH92-PE (anti-BV3TCR, IgM), CD3-FITC, CD56-PECy5, and CD8-FITC purchased from Immunotech (Marseille, France). Analysis was performed on 5000 gated TILs (appearing in forward scatter/side scatter as small lymphocytes comparable with PBLs) after exclusion of dead cells and debris. Background levels were measured using isotypic controls. Analysis was done on a FACS-Sort (Becton Dickinson, Pont de Claix, France) using Cell Quest software (Becton Dickinson). Compensation was set up with single stained samples.
Derivation of p58+, p58- T-Cell Lines and CTLs.
TILs were stimulated for 2 weeks in MLTC in the presence of 30 units/ml IL-2 before positive selection of p58+ T cells using anti-p58.2 mAb (GL183) and immunomagnetic beads (Dynal, Campiégne, France). After immunoselection, p58+ and p58- T-cell subsets were expanded (3 x 103 cells/well) on irradiated allogeneic feeder cells (7 x 104 peripheral blood mononuclear cells + 3 x 104 LAZ 509 cells/well) and of irradiated autologous tumor cells (2 x 103 cells/well). The p58+ T-cell line was cloned by limiting dilution 0.31 cell/well using the above feeder cell conditions. For regulation of KIR function, CTLs were cultured on irradiated LAZ509 cells (HLA-A2, Cw6, Cw12) alone (3 x 104 cells/well) or in presence of 3 x 103 tumor cells/well for 68 days.
Assay for Cytolytic Activity.
The cytolytic activity of T-cell lines and clones was measured in a 4-h 51Cr release assay, against autologous PHA blasts, autologous tumor cells (VM), allogeneic tumor cell lines (LR, DM, GE, Caje, and CS), and EBV-transformed B cells (LAZ509 and LCL GE) as described previously (8)
. In some experiments, mAbs 11PB6 and EB6 (anti-p58.1), GL183 (anti-p58.2), B1.23.2 (anti-HLA-B/C, IgG2a), Z27 (anti-p70, IgG1), and UCHT1 (anti-CD3, IgG1) were added at predefined saturating concentrations at the onset of the cytolytic assay. Data are expressed as the percentage of specific lysis at the indicated E:T cell ratio.
The cytolytic activity of T-cell lines was also assessed in a CD3-redirected lysis assay using P815 mastocytoma mouse cells. Briefly, 51Cr-labeled P815 (3 x 103) cells coated with anti-CD3
(1100 ng/ml) were incubated with serial dilutions of T cells (E:T ratio ranging from 10:1 to 2:1). CD3-redirected lysis of labeled P815 cells was modulated by the presence of the anti-KIR mAbs (4 µg/well). Results obtained in independent experiments were statistically analyzed using the Fisher test.
TCRBV Gene Segment Usage and Sequencing of TCR Expressed by CTLs.
TCRBV gene segment usage was determined using a semiquantitative PCR analysis as described previously (9)
. Briefly, total RNA was extracted from T-cell lines (5 x 106 cells), using a modified guanidinium thiocyanate phenol/chloroform method (Trizol; Eurobio, Les Ulis, France). Amplification of cDNA was performed over 30 cycles with the 5' sense primers specific for the 24 TCRBV subfamilies and one 3' antisense TCRBC-specific primer, and amplimers were detected after electrophoresis on agarose gel. TCRBV3-BC PCR products derived from p58+ CTLs were purified using the Qiagene columns (Qiaquick PCR purification kit; Hilden, Germany) and sequenced using ABI Prism Big Dye sequencing Ready Reactions kits before electrophoresis on an ABI sequencer (Applied Biosystem, Foster City, CA).
Confocal Microscopy Analysis.
Transcription factor NF-
B was detected using 1 µg/ml of the rabbit polyclonal purified IgG anti-NF-
B p65 for 30 min at 4°C (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), followed by incubation with Alexa Fluor 488 GAR (Molecular Probes). Nuclei were stained using propidium iodide (red staining). Stained cells were washed with PBS, cytocentrifuged in a cytospin 3 (Shandon, Pittsburg, PA), and analyzed by laser scanning confocal microscopy using a Leica TCS Confocal System (Wetzler, Germany).
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
p58 Receptor Inhibits the CD3-mediated Lysis of CTL Clones.
To investigate whether the p58 receptor interferes with the lytic activity of CTL clones, blocking experiments with specific mAbs were performed. As depicted in Fig. 2A
, after immunoselection, both p58+ and p58- T-cell subsets were found to display low levels of cytotoxic activity against autologous tumor cells. However, when anti-HLA-BC (not recognizing HLA-A molecules) or anti-p58 mAbs were added during the effector phase, a dramatic increase in the lysis of tumor cells by p58+ T cells but not by p58- T cells was observed. Using limiting dilution, from the selected p58+ T-cell line, we derived 12 proliferative T-cell clones displaying a similar lytic potential. They all expressed TCRBV3 chain, p58.1+ and p58.2+ receptors. Sequencing of TCRBV3 chain in three TCRBV3 CTL clones revealed an identical TCRBV3/BJ 1.2 rearrangement, indicating that they derived from the same clone, and CTL 2H7 was further used as a representative clone.
|
The functionality of p58 receptors was also assessed by CD3-redirected lysis of P815 murine cells. These assays revealed that p58 CTLs displayed a high lytic potential because limited quantities of anti-CD3 immunoglobulin (110 ng/ml) were able to activate the lytic machinery. Engagement of p58.1 or p58.2 receptor by specific mAbs inhibited the CD3-redirected lysis of mouse FcR+ P815 cells by CTL 2H7, indicating that both p58.1 and p58.2 receptors were functional and inhibitory (Fig. 2C)
. It is noteworthy that these tests were performed using serial concentrations of anti-CD3 mAb to obtain optimal triggering of CD3, which could be modulated by the KIR receptor. This also indicates that the outcome of the lysis results most likely from the existence of a balance between positive (CD3) and negative (KIR) signals.
p58+ T Cells Kill Both Normal Autologous Tumor Cells and HLA-A2+ Allogeneic Tumor Targets.
The lytic activity of CTL 2H7 was assessed against different normal and tumor cell lines by cytotoxicity assays performed in presence of mAbs to block p58 receptor. Data shown in Table 1
indicate that CTL 2H7 efficiently killed autologous normal PHA blasts and three of four HLA-A2 renal tumor cell lines, whereas one HLA-A2- was not recognized. It also induced the lysis of HLA-A2+ B-cell lines and one T lymphoma with high efficiency. Differences in lysis of HLA-A2+ tumor cells may reflect their different expression levels of HLA-A2 and HLA-C alleles that control, respectively, the positive and negative signals. These results suggest that CTL 2H7 recognizes a ubiquitous antigen, probably presented by the HLA-A2 molecule, and most likely corresponds to an autoreactive T-cell clone functionally regulated by a powerful p58 inhibitory receptor.
|
B Activation in Tumor-specific CTLs.
|
B activation (10)
, we therefore asked whether under our experimental condition, a correlation exists between KIR inhibitory function and NF-
B activation. Interestingly, we observed a dramatic decrease of NF-
B in CTLs after stimulation in the presence of tumor cells that paralleled the inhibitory function of the p58 receptor. Using confocal microscopy, we show the nuclear localization of NF-
B p65, detected by a yellow nuclear staining in most CTLs stimulated by LAZ509 only, whereas CTLs stimulated by tumor cells exhibited a green cytoplasmic and a red nuclear staining, indicating the absence of nuclear translocation (Fig. 3C)
B may constitute one possible mechanism to explain this observation. | Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The present study suggests the presence of autoreactive T cells expressing an inhibitory p58 receptor infiltrating a renal tumor. These T cells display a memory phenotype CD45RO+, CD28-, CD56+, and correspond to clonal T cells. These cells were visualized by double color immunolabeling using anti-BV3 and anti-p58 mAbs in the uncultured TILs, where they represented 1% of CD3+ T cells but were not detected in peripheral T cells. This particular p58+ T-cell subset, specifically expanded from TILs in vitro, corresponds to the main tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cell population because p58- T cells mainly mediated HLA-unrestricted lysis. Thus, it may be hypothesized that the antigen presentation by tumor cells and tumor environment may play a role in the local in vivo expansion of the p58+ T cells, whereas in peripheral blood, these tumor-specific p58+ CTLs are efficiently regulated and not committed to proliferate.
Few, disparate data are yet available concerning the regulation of KIR expression and function on T cells, mainly because of the heterogeneity of the models studied, although recent studies demonstrated that some T cells acquire NK marker expression after activation (14 , 15) . Furthermore, it has been shown recently that TCR triggering restored the expression and function of KIR by human T cells (16) . In our model, antigen presentation by renal tumor cells does influence the fate of the KIR function but not its membrane expression on the antigen-specific T cells. Our data point out that p58 receptor expression does not necessarily correlate with anergic T cells but rather modulate T-cell signaling. In this regard, recently it has been reported that Ly49A receptors, the main inhibitory receptors on murine cells, enhance the amounts of activating signals required for effector cell responses and that inhibition of Ly49A may be overcome by increasing peptide concentration (17) .
Although much data have focused on the ability of NK cell inhibitory receptors to alter T-cell activation and cytotoxicity, recent studies using KIR transgenic mouse models proposed that NK-R expression by CTLs may also represent a checkpoint in T-cell activation after antigen stimulation (18 , 19) . These cells expressing KIR may present a selective advantage to avoid complete exhaustion by overstimulation and thus may correspond to the memory cell pool. Our data are consistent with both of these non-mutually exclusive hypotheses because although we demonstrated a significant inhibition of the lytic potential of CTLs by KIR in vitro, this receptor may play a role in the control of the proliferation or the survival of the corresponding T cells in vivo.
Interestingly, the sustained inhibitory function (KIR on) of p58+ T cells in the presence of tumor cells was correlated with an inhibition of NF-
B activation. An altered activation of the transcription factor NF-
B in TILs and PBLs from RCC patients, responsible for the functional alterations of these effectors (20, 21, 22)
, was proposed as a general mechanism of immune suppression in these tumors. In addition, shedding of gangliosides from RCC cell lines and extracts able to block NF-
B nuclear translocation was described recently (23)
. In the present study, NF-
B inactivation by renal tumor cells, probably independent of TCR stimulation, is induced in antigen-specific CTLs. Confocal analysis revealed a similar expression of granzyme B and perforin in the two KIR on/KIR off CTL subsets (data not shown), in accordance with the results of CD3-redirected lysis. This suggests that NF-
B may be involved in the control of the lytic potential of CTLs by a mechanism independent of these two cytotoxic gene transcriptions. A growing number of genes have been demonstrated to be induced by NF-
B, including cell adhesion molecules, cytokines, and growth factors (10)
. Whether inhibition of NF-
B activation interferes with some structures involved with the cytotoxic effector phase in our model has to be investigated. Alternatively, it is known that KIR triggering induces the recruitment of protein tyrosine phosphatases, such as SHP-1 (24)
, that may interfere with several kinases required for the phosphorylation of I
B
and thus blocks NF-
B activation. It would be of interest to explore the possible antagonism between SHP-1 and kinases involved in the control of I
B
phosphorylation. It is also essential to elucidate the relationship between inhibition of NF-
B and impairment of T-cell responses in KIR+ T cells to get more insights in the understanding of the function of NK-R in vivo.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
1 This work was supported by grants awarded by INSERM and Grant ARC 9702 (to A. C.) from the Association for Cancer Research. ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Unité INSERM U487 Cytokines et Immunologie des Tumeurs humaines, Institut Gustave Roussy, PR1, 39 rue Camille Desmoulins, F-94805 Villejuif, France. Phone: 33/1 42-11-50-36; Fax: 33/1 42-11-52-88; E-mail: caignard{at}igr.fr ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: RCC, renal cell carcinoma; IL, interleukin; NK, natural killer; NK-R, NK receptor; TIL, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte; KIR, killer inhibitory receptor; PBL, peripheral blood lymphocyte; mAb, monoclonal antibody; MLTC, mixed lymphocyte tumor cell culture; TCR, T-cell receptor; NF-
B, nuclear factor-
B; PHA, phytohemagglutinin. ![]()
Received 1/21/01. Accepted 2/21/01.
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
in patients with renal cell carcinoma: clinical results and immunologic correlates responses. J. Immunother., 20: 301-311, 1997.
1-w29/Vß1-w24) for the study of human T cell receptor variable V gene segment usage by polymerase chain reaction. Eur. J. Immunol., 22: 1261-1269, 1992.[Medline]
B and the innate immune response. Curr. Opin. Immunol., 12: 52-58, 2000.[Medline]
B-specific DNA-binding activity: a preliminary report. Cancer Res., 54: 5424-5429, 1994.
B in T cells from a subset of renal cell carcinoma patients is mediated by inhibition of phosphorylation and degradation of the inhibitor, I
B
. Blood, 92: 1334-1341, 1998.
B activation in T lymphocytes of patients with renal cell carcinoma. J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 91: 718-721, 1999.
B activation in T cells. J. Clin. Investig., 104: 769-776, 1999.[Medline]
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
A. Gati, N. Guerra, C. Gaudin, S. Da Rocha, B. Escudier, Y. Lecluse, A. Bettaieb, S. Chouaib, and A. Caignard CD158 Receptor Controls Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Susceptibility to Tumor-Mediated Activation-Induced Cell Death by Interfering with Fas Signaling Cancer Res., November 1, 2003; 63(21): 7475 - 7482. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Guerra, F. Michel, A. Gati, C. Gaudin, Z. Mishal, B. Escudier, O. Acuto, S. Chouaib, and A. Caignard Engagement of the inhibitory receptor CD158a interrupts TCR signaling, preventing dynamic membrane reorganization in CTL/tumor cell interaction Blood, September 26, 2002; 100(8): 2874 - 2881. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. Romagnani, G. Pietra, M. Falco, E. Millo, P. Mazzarino, R. Biassoni, A. Moretta, L. Moretta, and M. C. Mingari Identification of HLA-E-specific alloreactive T lymphocytes: A cell subset that undergoes preferential expansion in mixed lymphocyte culture and displays a broad cytolytic activity against allogeneic cells PNAS, August 20, 2002; 99(17): 11328 - 11333. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. L. Brassard, M. J. Grace, and R. W. Bordens Interferon-{alpha} as an immunotherapeutic protein J. Leukoc. Biol., April 1, 2002; 71(4): 565 - 581. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Y. Djeu, K. Jiang, and S. Wei A View to a Kill: Signals Triggering Cytotoxicity Clin. Cancer Res., March 1, 2002; 8(3): 636 - 640. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Cancer Research | Clinical Cancer Research |
| Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention | Molecular Cancer Therapeutics |
| Molecular Cancer Research | Cancer Prevention Research |
| Cancer Prevention Journals Portal | Cancer Reviews Online |
| Annual Meeting Education Book | Meeting Abstracts Online |