The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 162: 6993-7001.
Copyright © 1999 by The American Association of Immunologists
Human Anti-Porcine T Cell Response: Blocking with Anti-Class I Antibody Leads to Hyporesponsiveness and a Switch in Cytokine Production
Harout DerSimonian1,
Luying Pan,
Chris Yatko,
Amelie Rodrigue-Way,
Eric Johnson and
Albert S. B. Edge
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Diacrin, Inc., Charlestown, MA 02129
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Abstract
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Intervention in the molecular interactions that lead to an immune
response is possible at various stages of Ag recognition and T cell
activation. Perturbation of the interaction of the TCR with the
MHC/peptide ligand complex is one approach that has shown promise for
autoimmunity and graft rejection in blocking T cell-activated
responses. In this study, we investigated the effect of altering the
target MHC class I molecule by blocking with Abs. We established a
system that analyzed the human T cell response against MHC class
I+/class II- porcine stimulatory cell targets.
The primary human response against porcine smooth muscle cells was
CD8+ T cell dependent. In the presence of
F(ab')2 fragments of the MHC class I-reactive Ab, PT-85,
the proliferative response was inhibited and production of IL-2 and
IFN-
was blocked. Moreover, in a secondary response, proliferation
was reduced and type 1 cytokine levels were inhibited. In contrast,
levels of IL-10 and IL-4 were sustained or slightly increased. These
findings indicate that Ab against MHC class I blocked the recognition
of porcine cells by the human CD8+ T cells and altered the
cytokine secretion profile. Thus, a single treatment with PT-85
F(ab')2 directed against the MHC class I molecule provides
an attractive approach to the induction of T cell tolerance that may
provide long-term graft survival in porcine-to-human cell
transplantation.
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Introduction
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The ability of
the immune system to develop tolerance to peripheral Ags provides a
rationale on which to base approaches to successful graft survival.
Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells need TCR-MHC
interaction and costimulatory signals before clonal expansion and the
development of effector activity (1, 2). The T cell may die if not
stimulated or survive but become functionally inactive or anergic.
Perturbation of the interaction of the TCR with MHC-Ag peptide (signal
one) will lead to the development of anergy in peripheral T cells. For
example, substituting altered peptide ligands that differ by a single
amino acid from the native Ag in the peptide binding groove of the MHC
molecule functionally inactivated the T cell against native Ag (3).
Signal one can also be disrupted by changes in the conformation of MHC
class I that lead to altered TCR binding (4, 5).
Alterations in TCR MHC interactions lead to altered profiles of
cytokine secretion that result in tolerization. Altered peptide ligands
can shift the secretion of cytokines by T cell clones from a type 1 to
a type 2 profile (6, 7, 8). In allograft rejection, type 1 cytokines play
an important role. In contrast, IL-10, a type 2 cytokine, has been
shown to be correlated with prolonged graft survival (9, 10). Monocytes
have been shown to be inactivated by IL-10 via inhibition of tyrosine
kinase and Ras signaling (11), and treatment of dendritic cells with
IL-10 will inhibit their APC function (12, 13). IL-10 induces long-term
anergy in T cells (14, 15). In the case of xenografts, survival
of hamster hearts in rats is associated with increased levels of IL-10,
IL-4, and IL-13, whereas rejection has been associated with increased
IL-2, IFN-
, and TNF-
transcripts at the graft site (16).
Increased IL-10 and TGF-ß mRNA and low IFN-
at the intragraft site
was associated with xenogeneic heart survival in another study (17).
Moreover, in vitro treatment of human APCs with IL-10 inhibits the
indirect pathway of presentation of porcine Ags to human
CD4+ T cells (18). IL-10 may be produced in monocytes or T
cells and may inhibit macrophage activation. However, one study has
shown that IL-4 is increased in rejecting xenografts (19).
Recent experiments have provided evidence that the human
anti-porcine lymphocyte reaction is dependent largely on the direct
pathway (20, 21, 22, 23). For example, removal of human APC in a mixed
leukocyte reaction in vitro does not significantly decrease the
magnitude of the response. Abs against porcine MHC but not against
human MHC have a marked effect on the response. In the case of
allografts, depletion of passenger leukocytes (APCs) from the tissue to
be transplanted can markedly prolong engraftment and in some cases
leads to indefinite survival and tolerance (24). The match between the
xenogeneic MHC and self-MHC must be sufficient to allow direct
recognition of the target cells by the host TCR. Alternatively, foreign
Ags may be recognized indirectly as peptide in association with
self-MHC on host APC (23, 25). An attractive mechanism for the
inhibition of xenograft rejection would be one that had an effect on
both direct and indirect presentation pathways, such as an alteration
in the cytokine milieu in the direction of type 2 cytokines. A
change that altered cytokine secretion at the graft site would enhance
graft survival specifically and allow for transplantation without
generalized immunosuppression.
In cell transplantation using populations of cells that are MHC class
I+/class II-, the CD8+ T cell is
the effector cell that would be likely to mediate graft rejection.
CD8+ T cells in the periphery may be rendered nonfunctional
by a variety of mechanisms that appear to involve exposure to Ag.
Cytotoxic T cells could be inactivated by clonal exhaustion in
persistent viral infections in vivo (26, 27) or by exposure to their
cognate Ag (28). Anergy can be induced in these cells as shown by the
inability of the cells to respond to a subsequent Ag challenge. Thus,
mature CD8+ T cells can be inactivated by a number of
mechanisms in peripheral tissue.
In this study, we show that blocking the human anti-porcine T cell
response with anti-MHC class I Ab not only inhibited proliferation
and induced subsequent hyporesponsiveness but led to an increase in the
type 2/type 1 cytokine ratio. Human PBMC exposed to porcine MHC class
I+/class II- aortic smooth muscle cells
(SMC)2 produced high levels of
IL-2 and IFN-
. After treatment with PT-85 F(ab')2 Ab,
proliferation was inhibited and the production of both IL-2 and IFN-
were markedly decreased, whereas the production of IL-4 and IL-10 was
unchanged and, in some cases, enhanced. These results are qualitatively
similar to those obtained with the altered peptide ligand or
coreceptor-deficient TCR signaling that lead to a state of
unresponsiveness (8). Thus, a single treatment with PT-85
F(ab')2 directed against the MHC class I molecule on donor
cells provides an attractive approach to induce T cell tolerance in
vitro that may provide long-term graft survival in porcine-to-human
cell transplantation.
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Materials and Methods
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Culture of porcine SMCs
SMC were derived from porcine aorta of SLAaa and
SLAdd miniature pigs provided by Dr. David H. Sachs
(Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA). SMC were isolated
according to a previously described procedure (29). Briefly, the
endothelial cell layer was removed, and small pieces of tissue
containing the SMC layer were cut and digested with equal volumes of
collagenase P (0.8 mg/ml) and trypsin-versene (BioWhittaker,
Walkersville, MD) at 37°C for 60 min. The cells were washed several
times and cultured with DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS in 100-mm
tissue culture dishes. Before reaching confluence, cells were harvested
and replated at a 1:3 dilution. Based on morphology and staining,
>98% of the cells used were SMC. Experiments were conducted using
cells between passages 1220.
Isolation of porcine embryonic brain cells (EBC)
EBC were isolated from porcine embryonic brain tissue. Embryonic
porcine brain tissues from day 27 of gestation were used to isolate EBC
according to the standard ventral mesencephalon cell isolation
procedure as described previously (30).
Purification of human peripheral blood T cell subsets
Peripheral blood was collected from normal volunteers, and PBMC
were purified by Ficoll-Paque gradient (23). B cells, macrophages, and
NK cells were removed from PBMC to generate enriched T cells by
incubation with mouse anti-human CD14, CD19, CD56, and CD16
followed by negative selection using goat anti-mouse IgG magnetic
beads. For purification of CD4+ and CD8+ cells,
T cells were incubated with anti-CD4 or anti-CD8 mAbs (5
µg/ml) at 4°C for 45 min. Goat anti-mouse IgG magnetic beads
(Dynal, Oslo, Norway) were added at a 10:1 (bead:cell) ratio. After
three rounds of magnetic bead separation, the negatively enriched T
cells, CD4+ T cells, or CD8+ T cell subsets
were >95% pure as determined by FACS analysis.
Human anti-porcine proliferation assay
SMC (2 x 104 cells/well) or EBC (4 x
104 cells/well) were plated in 96-well flat-bottom
microtiter plates. Cells were incubated with medium alone or with the
blocking Ab (10 µg/ml) for 1 h at 4°C. Hybridomas producing
the anti-porcine MHC class I Abs PT-85 and 74-11-10 were obtained
from VMRD (Pullman, WA) (31), and Dr. David Sachs (32), respectively.
mAb 9.3 was raised against porcine PBL as previously described (33).
These Abs react with porcine MHC class I Ags. Ab 10.14 is against
porcine CD44 (33). Hybridoma producing the anti-human MHC class I
mAb, W6/32, was obtained from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC;
Manassas, VA) (34). Human PBMC were then added at 2 x
105 cells/well (unless otherwise specified), whereas human
CD4+ or CD8+ T cells were added at 1 x
105 cells/well. All experiments were done in AIM V medium
(Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY) supplemented with 5%
heat-inactivated FCS (HyClone, Logan, UT). For secondary stimulation,
cells were harvested and restimulated with fresh SMC, EBC, or
immobilized anti-human CD3 Ab (5 µg/ml) in 96-well flat-bottom plates
in the presence or absence of anti-CD28 (1 µg/ml) in the culture.
Supernatants were harvested from appropriate cultures at indicated
times and frozen for cytokine detection. To determine the proliferative
response, cells were pulsed with [3H]thymidine (1
µCi/well) for 20 h and harvested with a cell harvester (Packard
Instrument, Meriden, CT) at the indicated time points. Thymidine
incorporation was determined by counting the filter plate using a
microplate scintillation counter (model B9906; Packard Instrument).
Construction of chimeric MHC Class I
Total RNA was isolated from BALB/c fibroblast cell lines using
RNAzol B following the manufacturers procedures (Tel-Test,
Friendswood, TX). The first strands of cDNA from mRNA were synthesized
using the Advantage cDNA PCR kit following the manufacturers
procedures (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). The cDNA of H-2Dd was
amplified by PCR using a 5' primer containing a XhoI linker
tail (CGA TCT CGA GAT GGG GGC GAT GGC TCC GCG CAC) and a 3' primer
containing a HindIII linker tail (ATC GAA GCT TTC ACA CTT
TAC AAT CTG GGA GAG) to facilitate cloning into pGEM-7Zf (Promega,
Madison, WI). The H-2Dd clone was sequenced to assure
reliable amplification. For the
3 chimera, the
H-2Dd/pGEM-7Zf was linearized with BsmI and
partially digested with BsrDI to excise exon 4. Exon 4 of
pig PD1 (35) corresponding to the
3 domain was amplified by PCR
using primers that contained the junctions of mouse exon 3/pig exon 4
with an adjacent BsmI ligation site and pig exon 4/mouse
exon 5 with a BsrDI ligation site. The PCR product was
digested and ligated into linearized H-2Dd/pGEM-7Zf. The
presence of exon 4 of pig in this vector added a new restriction site
(BglII) that was used for screening. A clone containing the
pig insert was sequenced, and the new chimeric gene was transferred to
the expression vector pcDNA3.TK (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) at the
XhoI and HindIII sites. For the
1/
2
chimeras, H-2Dd/pGEM-7Zf was linearized with
NotI and partially digested with BstYI to excise
exons 23 of H-2Dd. Exons 23 of PD1 corresponding to the
1 and
2 domains were amplified by PCR using the 5' primer
(representing the mouse exon 1/pig exon 2 junction), containing the
NotI site for insertion into H-2Dd/pGEM-7Zf, and
the 3' primer (representing the pig exon 3/mouse exon 4 junction),
containing a BstYI site for ligation into pGEM-7Zf.
Expression of chimeric MHC class I
Native H-2Dd and PD1 as well as chimeric porcine
3 and
1/
2 chimeric genes were transfected by electroporation
into BALB/c fibroblasts and C1498 cells (ATCC) using a setting of 290 V
in serum-free RPMI. Stable transfectants were selected with G418 (Life
Technologies) at a concentration of 1200 µg/ml for BALB/c fibroblasts
and 800 µg/ml for C1498 for 2 wk. Magnetic bead separation was
performed on the PD1 and
3 chimeric transfectants using mAb 34-2-12
as the primary Ab. Dynabeads (M-450) coated with goat anti-mouse
IgG (Dynal) were used to select cells expressing either protein.
Magnetic bead separation was performed on the H-2Dd and
1/
2 chimeric transfectants using 34-5-8s (PharMingen, San Diego,
CA) as the primary Ab. Clones were selected by limiting dilution in a
96-well plate. The selected cells were analyzed by flow cytometry
(FACScan; Becton Dickinson, Mountain View, CA). A variety of primary
Abs were analyzed for their domain specificity on MHC class I chimeras
using FITC-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) secondary reagent
for detection (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA).
FACS analysis
FITC- or PE-conjugated mAbs to CD4, CD8, CD14, and CD19 were
purchased from PharMingen. Cells (2 x 105) were
incubated with FITC- or PE-conjugated mAb for 60 min at 4°C. Cells
were washed and analyzed using a FACScan (Becton Dickson).
ELISA
The Abs used in the IFN-
, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 assays were
purchased from PharMingen. All assays were performed according to the
manufacturers protocol. Briefly, plates were coated with
anti-cytokine mAb first and then incubated with culture
supernatants or standard samples at 4°C overnight. Cytokine captured
on the plate was detected by the respective biotin-labeled
anti-IFN-
, anti-IL-2, anti-IL-4, or anti-IL-10 mAbs.
The plate was developed using streptavidin-HRP and substrate, and the
reaction was stopped by addition of an equal volume of 1 M
H2SO4. The absorbance of the assay plate was
read at 450 nm using a microplate reader (model 3550, Bio-Rad,
Hercules, CA). rhIFN-
, rhIL-2, rhIL-4, and rhIL-10 cytokines were
used as standards, respectively. The sensitivity of the assay ranged
between 1 pg/ml and 10 ng/ml for all cytokines.
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Results
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Proliferation of human PBMC to class I-positive cells: inhibition
with SLA class I-reactive PT-85 Ab
To assess the mechanism of PT-85 blocking in the human
anti-porcine response, we established a proliferation assay that
measured human T cell responses to porcine cells that expressed only
MHC class I Ags. Proliferation responses of human T cells were measured
using SMC from two partially inbred miniature pigs and EBC isolated
from outbred pigs. Primary stimulation of human T cells with porcine
SMC or EBC showed profiles that were inhibited with the anti-class
I PT-85 Ab (Fig. 1
A). The
human PBMC responses to SMC from the SLAaa and
SLAdd pigs and to EBC from outbred pigs were inhibited with
PT-85 by >50% compared with no Ab, control Ab, or anti-human HLA
class I W6/32 Ab. Moreover, restimulation as measured in a 3-day assay
without addition of Ab showed hyporesponsiveness when cells
previously blocked with PT-85 were compared with controls (Fig. 1
B). The HLA class I-specific W6/32 mAb was included as
control. Monomorphic anti-HLA-specific W6/32 Ab, unreactive with
porcine MHC class I, recognizes class I heavy chain
2 and
3
domain sequences in association with appropriate
ß2-microglobulin.

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FIGURE 1. A, PT-85 inhibits primary human anti-porcine
response. Human PBMC were incubated with MHC class
I+/II- porcine SMC or EBC for 7 days in the
presence or absence of Ab, and cells were pulsed with
[3H]thymidine for the last 20 h of incubation. The
anti-human MHC class I-reactive W6/32 mAb is not reactive with pig
MHC class I. The F(ab')2 fragment of normal mouse Ig (mIgG) was used as
control. The graph shows the mean and SD of triplicate wells.
B, Inhibition of secondary human anti-porcine
response. Cells from day 7 primary stimulation were restimulated with
porcine SMC or EBC for 3 days, and cells were pulsed with
[3H]thymidine for the last 20 h of incubation. No Ab
was present in the secondary stimulation.
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Consistent inhibition was observed in proliferation studies with eight
different human blood donors in 12 experiments. Primary stimulation was
consistently inhibited by >50% in the human anti-porcine T cell
response when blocked with the anti-class I PT-85
F(ab')2 Ab but not with the W6/32 or mouse IgG
F(ab')2 control Abs (Fig. 2
A). Inhibition of
proliferation was >60% by day 3 of a secondary stimulation for the
initially masked group (Fig. 2
B). These results suggested
that blocking the MHC class I molecule with the PT-85 Ab may have led
to T cell unresponsiveness. Blocking with the HLA-specific W6/32 Ab had
no detectable effect on the human anti-porcine T cell response.
Domain specificity of the anti-MHC class I Abs
To delineate differences in domain specificity between several
anti-MHC class I mAbs and to determine whether these differences
correlated to function, we established porcine and murine
"exon-shuffled" MHC class I-transfected mouse cell lines. The
porcine and mouse MHC class I chimeric molecules were generated using
1,
2, and
3 domains from pig PD1 (35) and mouse H-2 D genes.
The recombinant genes were transfected and expressed in C1498 cells and
BALB/c fibroblasts. Stably transfected lines were tested for reactivity
with anti-porcine MHC class I mAbs (Table I
). Porcine and murine MHC class I
1,
2, or
3 domain constructs are represented in Table I
as P and M,
respectively. Murine MHC class I-reactive mAbs 34-5-8s (
1/
2) and
34-2-12 (
3) of known specificities were used to confirm construct
domains. Only mAb 9-3 required the PD1
3 domain for reactivity,
whereas mAb PT-85, 74-11-10, and 2-27-3 did not require the
3 domain
for reactivity. These three mAbs required the PD1
1 and/or
2
domains for reactivity. In contrast, mAb 7-34-1 required the pig
ß2-microglobulin for proper recognition of pig MHC class
I molecules, since it only reacted with PD1 transfected mouse cells in
the presence of pig ß2-microglobulin found in pig serum
(data not shown).
The direct human anti-porcine response is initiated by
CD8+ T cells and inhibited by anti-MHC class I and
anti-CD8 Abs
Experiments were designed to evaluate the role of anti-class I
PT-85 F(ab')2 Ab blocking in the human anti-porcine T
cell response using purified populations of T cells. Proliferation of
PBMC and purified CD4+ or CD8+ T cells was
tested against MHC class I-positive porcine SMC. Human PBMC response to
porcine SMC was blocked by two other anti-MHC class I Abs, although
to a lesser degree than PT-85 (Fig. 3
A). This response was also
inhibited partially using OKT4 or OKT8 mAbs (data not shown),
suggesting that both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells
contributed to the proliferation. Purified CD8+ T cells
proliferated in response to the SMC and as shown in Fig. 3
B,
the response was completely inhibited with PT-85, 9.3, and 74-11-10,
but not with the human class I-specific W6/32 nor with the porcine
CD44-specific 10.14 mAb F(ab')2 (33). Moreover, this proliferation was
completely inhibited with the anti-CD8 but not with the
anti-CD4 mAb (data not shown). Whereas the purified
CD8+ T cells (1 x 105) responded to
porcine MHC class I+ SMC in most experiments, the
proliferation was relatively lower than that seen with PBMC (3 x
105) from the same donor. In contrast, purified
CD4+ T cells showed no direct proliferation against the
porcine SMC (data not shown). Similar data for the purified T cell
responses were obtained from four different PBMC donors. These findings
indicate that CD8+ T cells are the initial responders to
MHC class I+ SMC stimulation and that the anti-porcine
MHC class I Ab prevents this activation.

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FIGURE 3. Inhibition of CD8+ T cells in primary human
anti-porcine response. Human PBMC, CD8+ T cells, or
CD4+ T cells were incubated with porcine SMC for 7 days in
the presence or absence of Ab, and cells were pulsed with
[3H]thymidine for the last 8 h of incubation. 9-3
and 74-11-10 Ab are reactive with porcine MHC class I (see Table I ).
Monoclonal Ab 10.14 is reactive with porcine CD44.
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Blocking with PT-85 F(ab')2 Ab inhibits IL-2 and
IFN-
and induces IL-4 and IL-10 production
To assess whether inhibition of proliferation in the primary and
secondary human anti-porcine T cell responses was associated with
changes in cytokine production, we measured the levels of IL-2,
IFN-
, IL-4, and IL-10 in the supernatants. IL-2 production was
evident in the supernatants of the unmasked human anti-porcine
cocultures between days 2 and 5 (Fig. 4
).
The level of IL-2 was decreased by days 6 and 7 during culture
primarily because of consumption by T cell proliferation (data not
shown). However, supernatants from PT-85 masked cell cultures showed a
striking decrease in levels of IL-2 from days 2 to 5. The level of
IFN-
production was also inhibited in cultures that were PT-85
masked (Fig. 5
). The actual levels
detected in the absence of the PT-85 blocking varied between 20 and 400
pg/ml for IL-2 and between 800 and 3200 pg/ml for IFN-
. The
inhibition of both type 1 cytokines was consistent in all of the donors
tested (n = 8). The production of IL-2 and IFN-
was
not affected by the addition of control mouse IgG F(ab')2 (Figs. 4
and 5
) or the anti-HLA class I W6/32 F(ab')2 Abs (data not shown).

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FIGURE 4. PT-85 inhibits IL-2 production in primary PBMC response against porcine
SMC. Tissue cultures were set up as in Fig. 1 A.
Supernatants were harvested on days as indicated and used for ELISA.
The results show IL-2 levels in the culture supernatants using PBMC
from three individuals.
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In contrast to type 1 cytokine inhibition, the production of IL-10 in
the presence of blocking Ab did not decrease relative to control
conditions (Fig. 6
). While the IL-10
levels in the day 7 supernatant ranged between 15 and 100 pg/ml
depending on donor PBMC, none decreased with PT-85 treatment. The IL-4
levels in supernatants were below the limit of detection (<2 pg/ml) in
these primary cultures (data not shown).

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FIGURE 6. Sustained IL-10 production in primary PBMC response against porcine
SMC. Tissue cultures were set up as in Fig. 1 A.
Supernatants were harvested on days as indicated and used for ELISA.
The results show IL-10 levels in the culture supernatants using PBMC
from three individuals.
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Since the persistent production of the type 2 cytokine, IL-10, in
masked conditions suggested a shift in the type 1/type 2 cytokine
ratio, we examined IFN-
, IL-4, and IL-10 levels after 2 days of a
secondary stimulation using 1) fresh porcine SMC, 2) anti-CD3 Ab,
or 3) anti-CD3/CD28 Abs. These conditions were selected to examine
both Ag-specific and Ag-nonspecific secondary responses using
anti-CD3 or anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs. Production of
IFN-
after 48 h by human cells previously exposed to PT-85
masked SMC was markedly inhibited during the secondary stimulation with
SMC as compared with the control groups (Fig. 7
). Cells incubated with control mouse
IgG F(ab')2 during primary stimulation had similar levels of IFN-
compared with cells from the no-Ab group. In contrast, levels of IL-10
in the same culture supernatants increased (Fig. 8
). Moreover, the production of IL-10 was
increased during the secondary stimulation with anti-CD3 or the
combination of anti-CD3/CD28 Abs (Fig. 9
). Likewise, the levels of IL-4 were
increased during secondary stimulation with anti-CD3 or with
anti-CD3/CD28 mAbs (Fig. 10
).
Overall, when IFN-
and IL-10 levels in the primary (and secondary)
cultures were compared, PT-85 blocking consistently showed a decrease
in the ratio of type 1 to type 2 cytokines (Table II
). Together, the results suggest a
shift in the type 1/type 2 cytokine ratio, since IL-2 and IFN-
decreased dramatically, whereas levels of IL-10 and IL-4 were
maintained or slightly increased.

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FIGURE 8. Enhanced IL-10 production during secondary anti-porcine SMC
response. Tissue cultures were set up as in Fig. 1 B.
Supernatants were harvested at 48 h and used for ELISA. The
results show IL-10 levels in culture supernatants using PBMC from three
individuals.
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FIGURE 9. Enhanced IL-10 production during secondary stimulation with
anti-CD3 or anti-CD3/CD28 mAbs. Cells from day 7 primary
stimulation were restimulated with immobilized anti-CD3 in the
presence or absence of anti-CD28. Culture supernatants were
harvested at 48 h and used for ELISA. The results show IL-10
levels in culture supernatants using PBMC from three individuals.
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FIGURE 10. Enhanced IL-4 production during secondary stimulation with
anti-CD28. Cells from day 7 primary stimulation were restimulated
with SMC or immobilized anti-CD3 in the presence or absence of
anti-CD28. Culture supernatants were harvested at 48 h and
used for ELISA. The results show IL-4 levels in culture supernatants
using PBMC from three individuals.
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Discussion
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In these studies we have shown that mAbs against porcine MHC class
I block proliferation of human T cells in an in vitro mixed culture of
porcine SMCs with human PBMC and CD8+ T cells. Abs directed
to the
1/
2 domains as well as to the
3 domain of class I on
the class I+/class II- SMC inhibited
proliferation of the human cells in a primary response, and human cells
that were cultured with the Ab-treated porcine cells in the primary
incubation retained their functional phenotype in a secondary
stimulation with porcine SMC. Human cells harvested from the
PT-85-treated cultures showed a marked decrease in proliferation as
compared with human cells obtained from untreated primary cultures.
Purified human CD8+ T cells proliferated in response to the
porcine SMC in the absence of the blocking Ab. Our in vitro experiments
showed that blocking the porcine MHC class I Ags on the class
I+/class II- SMC inhibited CD8+ T
cell proliferation. Although CD8+ cells are normally
thought of as effector cells while CD4+ cells play a
regulatory role, CD8+ cells have been implicated as
immunoregulatory in a number of systems (36, 37). CD8+
cells can secrete low levels of IL-2 in addition to high levels of
IFN-
(38). It has also been demonstrated that CD8+ cells
are capable of producing other regulatory cytokines, including IL-4 and
IL-10. Thus, if the early CD8+ T cell response is
blocked by Ab directed to MHC class I on the targeted
cells, it may influence the overall immune response and graft survival
in cellular xenotransplantation.
Since most activated CD8+ T cells secrete a type 1 pattern
of cytokines (38), it is reasonable that they can skew the cytokine
profile of simultaneously activated CD4+ T cells toward a
type 1 phenotype (39). Further support for this conclusion from in vivo
data shows that removal of CD8+ T cells inhibits IFN-
production by CD4+ T cells (40, 41). Moreover, preventing
or blocking CD8 activation may have a profound effect on the subsequent
CD4+ T cell activation toward a type 2 phenotype (42). The
alterations in cytokine profile seen in our study comprised a decrease
in IFN-
and IL-2 production and a sustained or enhanced IL-10
secretion in the human anti-porcine response when PT-85, an
anti-porcine MHC class I Ab, was used to block the response. This
altered cytokine pattern could provide a tolerogenic signal that
permits increased graft survival.
The mechanism for the recognition of a foreign-species Ag can involve
direct recognition by the T cell of the foreign MHC-peptide complexes
on the graft or indirect recognition of the foreign Ags as processed
peptides in association with self-APC (25, 43). In the absence of
porcine MHC class II up-regulation, it is reasonable to suggest that
CD4+ T cells are capable of responding to foreign Ag on
self-APC through the indirect pathway. Our findings indicate that the
human response to MHC class I+/class II-
porcine cells is dominated by MHC class I-reactive CD8+ T
cells that are capable of producing cytokines that could subsequently
activate additional cell types, including CD4+ lymphocytes,
monocytes, and dendritic cells. Addition of anti-MHC class I Ab
blocks activation of CD8+ T cells and potent type I
cytokine production, which may subsequently diminish or alter
stimulation via the indirect pathway.
These findings help explain some of the protective elements of MHC
class I masking for cell transplantation reported by a number of
groups. Stock et al. showed that treatment of islets from DBA/2J or
B10.BR mice with anti-MHC class I Abs before mixed lymphocyte-islet
culture blocked the formation of cytotoxic T cells from C57/BL mice
(44). A second group found that saturating anti-MHC class I Abs in
a bulk mixed lymphocyte culture inhibited the generation of CTLs (45).
Masking of other Ags on APCs has been shown to have a similar effect.
It has been observed in a number of transplant models that masking the
donor cells with anti-class I mAb leads to long-term survival. For
example, porcine fetal neuronal cells pretreated with PT-85 have been
shown to survive for >4 mo in rats based on histological examination
of the brains at autopsy (46). The graft survival rate in rats after
masking of the porcine neuronal cell MHC class I was significantly
improved as compared with no treatment control and was not
statistically different from that obtained by systemic
immunosuppression with cyclosporin. In a human clinical trial of
porcine fetal neural cells for Parkinsons disease, we have observed
clinical improvement in patients who received masked cells (47). At 6
mo after transplantation the clinical improvement was at least as great
in the patients receiving masked cells as for patients receiving
cyclosporin based on the United Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale.
Inhibition of graft rejection with Ab against the donor class I Ags has
been reported in the immunoprivileged environment of the central
nervous system (46, 48). The data from our in vitro study suggest an
explanation for this enhanced graft survival. As compared with
peripheral sites, the central nervous system environment is skewed
toward a type 2 cytokine profile (49, 50), and this accounts in part
for the immunoprivilege of the brain. It is attractive to conclude that
the preexisting environment is susceptible to a further shift toward a
type 2 profile when the graft is treated with Ab to MHC class I Ag. The
slow rejection of xenografts in the brain without immunosuppression is
thereby converted to a tolerant state in response to the MHC class
I-blocked graft.
The increased level of IL-10 that we find in these mixed cultures shows
that the Ab to MHC class I induces an active response in the responding
T cells and does not simply block activation by preventing access to
MHC class I Ag. The increase in IL-10 could be the key to explaining
the effect of MHC class I Ab masking in vivo. IL-10 is an
immunosuppressive cytokine that has been shown to impair T cell
effector function and to alter Ag presentation such that APCs induce
tolerance (12, 13, 14, 15, 51). Moreover, the indirect pathway of porcine Ag
presentation by human cells is abrogated by pretreatment with IL-10
(18). We have not yet identified the cell(s) secreting IL-10, but the
decreased reactivity of the PBMCs to anti-CD3/CD28 suggests
that the cytokine environment influences the outcome of the immune
response regardless of the source of the cytokines. This could be due
in part to a bystander effect (52, 53).
In allogeneic transplantation combinations, numerous studies have
reported that, as in the case of autoimmunity, a shift from a type 1
cytokine environment to a type 2 pattern of secretion promotes
tolerance and helps to prevent graft rejection (9, 10). Type 2
cytokines appear to correlate with graft acceptance in the case of
xenografts as well (16, 17, 54). This correlation between cytokine type
and graft survival is less clear in the case of xenografts, in which
IL-4 has been suggested to be involved in graft rejection (19). The
answer to this question will require in vivo studies of correlation
between graft survival and cytokine profile.
We hypothesize that the altered binding of CD8+ T cells to
masked porcine targets changes molecular signaling in the human
CD8+ T cells, thereby leading to the decreased type 1
cytokines. Since PT-85 mAb cross-reacts with human HLA class I Ags,
human HLA class I-specific mAb W6/32 was used as control. The results
from these experiments showed that W6/32 had no effect on either
proliferation or cytokine production. Thus, the inhibition observed in
the production of IFN-
and IL-2 was most likely due to interference
of T cell interaction with porcine MHC class I in the presence of the
porcine reactive anti-MHC class I Abs. Further elucidation of the
epitopes recognized by the blocking Abs and definition of the
alterations in the T cell phenotype after interacting with masked
xenogeneic cells will provide us with a detailed explanation for the
induction of tolerance at a molecular level. The ability of 9.3 mAb to
inhibit human PBMC and CD8+ T cell proliferation in
response to porcine cells (Fig. 3
) suggests that Abs against the
3
domain of MHC class I are equally effective as PT-85, directed against
the
1/
2 domains. This could be due to a similar mechanism or to a
distinct mechanism mediated by the
3-specific Ab.
It is reasonable to propose that a spectrum of CD8+ T cell
responder populations recognize the MHC class I/Ag peptides with
varying affinities and that these cells produce cytokines of both the
type 1 and type 2 profiles. During masking, however, the spectrum of
cells becomes skewed functionally to the type 2 cytokine profile
because of alterations in the recognition of MHC class I molecules.
This could occur either by decreasing the functional affinity of the
TCR for MHC class I or by altering Ag concentration on target cells as
reviewed by Constant and Bottomly (8). In the former possibility, the
TCR would still bind to MHC class I masked with Ab, but the binding
affinity would be decreased or altered, as has been shown for a number
of altered ligand models. Alternatively, MHC class I Ab binding would
block access to that crucial epitope and decrease the avidity of the
total interaction between the T cells and the target cells. Either
mechanism could affect intracellular signaling and lead to altered
cytokine gene expression. It is of interest to elucidate the signaling
mechanism responsible for the change in the responding T cells.
Transcriptional regulation of cytokine expression as a result of
altered TCR interaction with its target is the most likely explanation.
We plan to examine calcium uptake and phosphorylation patterns of
specific TCR-associated proteins in vitro and cytokine gene expression
in vivo after activation with and without masking. This will allow us
to determine how masking alters signal transduction in human T cells
that encounter porcine cells.
 |
Acknowledgments
|
|---|
We thank Dr. David H. Sachs for kindly providing porcine aorta for
SMC isolations, Dr. Douglas Jacoby and Judson Ratliff for generously
providing porcine EBCs, and Katie Crosby for generating the murine
F(ab')2 fragments. We also thank Drs. Jay Berzofsky, Hugh
Auchincloss, Laurie Glimcher, and David Sachs for critical review of
the manuscript.
 |
Footnotes
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|---|
1 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Harout DerSimonian, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Diacrin, Inc., 13th Street, Building 96, Charlestown, MA 02129. E-mail address: 
2 Abbreviations used in this paper: SMC, smooth muscle cells; EBC, embryonic brain cells. 
Received for publication January 20, 1999.
Accepted for publication March 22, 1999.
 |
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