|
|
||||||||

*
Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington, New Zealand; and
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Ridgefield, CT 06877
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
(5, 6). The availability of these other signals may therefore explain the
variable dependence upon CD4+ T cell help in
CTL-mediated immunity. In the studies referenced above, the requirement for CD40 ligation and DC activation in CD8+ T cell responses was demonstrated using in vitro readouts of CTL-mediated killing (7, 8, 9). We wished to extend those findings to an in vivo readout of CTL activity; for this purpose, we chose to use a model of T cell-mediated tumor immunity in which CD8+ T cells activated through immunization with Ag-loaded DC can mediate protection to a subsequent tumor challenge. In this report we show that, in the absence of CD4+ T cell help, DC immunization provides incomplete protection to tumor challenge. However, optimal protection can be restored by direct stimulation of DC with CD40L before immunization.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
C57BL/6 mice were from breeding pairs originally obtained from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). The "318" mice (12), which were transgenic for a TCR specific for H-2 Db plus fragment 3341 of the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) glycoprotein (LCMV3341) were kindly provided by Dr. H. Pircher (Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany). The B6Aa0/Aa0 MHC class II-deficient (MHC class II-/-) mice (13) were kindly provided by Dr. H. Bluethmann (Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland). All mice were maintained at the Animal Facility of the Wellington School of Medicine by brother x sister mating. All in vivo experiments were approved by the Wellington School of Medicine Animal Ethics Committee.
Tumor cell line, in vitro culture media, and reagents
The tumor cell line LL-LCMV is a derivative of the Lewis lung carcinoma LLTC (C57BL/6, H-2b), which has been modified to express a minigene encoding LCMV3341 under the control of a CMV promoter (14). Unless otherwise stated, all cultures were in IMDM (Life Technologies, Auckland, New Zealand) containing 2 mM glutamine, 1% penicillin-streptomycin, 5 x 10-5 M 2-ME (all from Sigma, St. Louis, MO), and 5% FCS (Life Technologies). LL-LCMV was maintained in culture medium containing 0.5 mg ml-1 G418 (Life Technologies). The synthetic peptide LCMV3341 (KAVYNFATM) was obtained from Chiron Mimotopes (Clayton, Australia). Cell membranes containing mouse CD40L (membrane-bound CD40L (mbCD40L)) were prepared from the Sf9 insect cell line infected by a baculovirus vector containing a CD40L gene construct as described previously (15).
FACS staining and reagents
Anti-CD11c (N418), anti-Fc
RII (2.4G2), anti-Vß8.1,
8.2 (KJ16.133.18), anti-I-Ab (3JP), and
anti-Kb (28.13.3s), and anti-CD44 (I42/5)
were affinity-purified from tissue culture supernatants and conjugated
to FITC or biotin as described previously (16). Anti-V
2-PE,
anti-CD80-PE, and anti-CD86-FITC were obtained from PharMingen
(San Diego, CA). FACS staining was performed as described
previously (17).
Preparation of bone marrow-derived DC
Bone marrow cells from C57BL/6 (MHC class II+/+) or MHC class II-/- mice were cultured in medium containing 20 ng/ml IL-4 and 20 ng/ml GM-CSF as described previously (18). Cultures typically contained 90100% N418+ cells as determined by FACS staining. In some experiments, DC were stimulated with a 1/1000 dilution of a CD40L-expressing Sf9 cell membrane preparation over the last 48 h of culture. DC were loaded with peptide by incubation in medium containing 10 µM of peptide for 2 h at 37°C and subsequently washed three times before injection.
Adoptive transfer of T cells and DC immunization
Pooled lymph node (LN) cell suspensions were prepared from
strain 318 mice; the percentage of T cells expressing the transgenic
TCR was determined by staining with anti-TCR V
2 and anti-TCR
Vß8.1, 8.2 mAb and by FACS analysis. Groups of C57BL/6 recipient mice
were injected i.v. with 35 x 106
V
2+Vß8+ T cells. After
1 day, recipients were immunized by a s.c. injection in the flank with
105 peptide-loaded or untreated DC in IMDM. For
each experiment, a group of adoptive transfer recipients was left
unmanipulated to serve as a control. Spleens and inguinal draining LNs
were harvested at different times postimmunization for analysis of
cellular composition by FACS.
Tumor protection assay
Groups of three to six mice were immunized by s.c. injection in
the right flank with 105 DC that had been loaded
with LCMV3341 peptide or left untreated; the
mice were challenged 7 days later with 1 x
106 LL-LCMV tumor cells injected s.c. into the
left flank as described previously (14). For some experiments, 5
x 106
V
2+Vß8+ T cells were
adoptively transferred into each animal 1 day before DC immunization.
Mice were monitored every 34 days, and the mean tumor size for each
group was calculated as the mean product of bisecting tumor
diameters.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The activation and accumulation of specific
CD8+ T cells after DC immunization was examined
by following the response of a population of TCR transgenic
CD8+ T cells adoptively transferred into
syngeneic recipients. Approximately 50% of CD8+
T cells from the 318 transgenic strain carry a transgenic
V
2+Vß8.1+ TCR specific
for LCMV3341 in association with
H-2Db (12). The equivalent of 3 x
106
V
2+Vß8+ transgenic T
cells were injected i.v. into C57BL/6 hosts; after 1 one day, the
recipients were immunized with autologous DC loaded with synthetic
LCMV3341 peptide Ag. The percentages of
V
2+Vß8+ cells in the
LNs and spleens of immunized mice were assessed by FACS staining at
different times postimmunization. The proportion of
V
2+Vß8+ T cells was
increased
4-fold in mice immunized with Ag-loaded DC, peaking at day
5 postimmunization in the LNs and at day 7 postimmunization in the
spleen (Fig. 1
). Control animals that had
been immunized with DC not loaded with Ag showed no alteration in
percentages of V
2+Vß8+
T cells. In addition, expression of the CD44 activation marker was
specifically enhanced on
V
2+Vß8+ T cells in
response to immunization with Ag-loaded DC, with elevated levels still
detectable in the LN and spleen at 14 days postimmunization (Fig. 1
).
In contrast, no increased expression of CD44 was detected on
V
2+Vß8+ T cells in the
LNs or spleens of mice injected with DC only. Therefore, immunization
with DC loaded with MHC class I-binding peptide Ag results in the
transient accumulation of activated, Ag-specific
CD8+ T cells in the draining LNs and, later, in
the spleens of immunized mice.
|
2+Vß8+ cells as compared
with MHC class II+/+ DC
To establish whether CD8+ T cell activation
was compromised in the absence of CD4+ T cell
help, we examined the activation and accumulation of adoptively
transferred V
2+Vß8+ T
cells after immunization with MHC class II-/-
DC. FACS analysis of MHC class II+/+ and MHC
class II-/- DC before in vivo injection
revealed a similar expression of costimulatory molecules (data not
shown). The DC-induced accumulation of
V
2+Vß8+ T cells in the
spleens of recipient mice was examined on day 7 postimmunization, when
the response at this site is maximal. Immunization with Ag-loaded MHC
class II+/+ DC resulted in an average 2.7-fold
increase in the percentage of
V
2+Vß8+ T cells over
controls (Fig. 2
). These
V
2+Vß8+ T cells
expressed increased levels of the activation marker CD44 (data not
shown). Interestingly, immunization with Ag-loaded MHC class
II-/- DC also resulted in a specific increase
in the percentage of the
V
2+Vß8+ cells in the
spleen. However, this increase was lower than the increase observed
after immunization with MHC class II+/+ DC (Fig. 2
). Immunization with MHC class II-/- DC in
hosts that were also MHC class II-/- again
induced specific CD8+ T cell activation and
accumulation (data not shown), indicating that the observed
CD8+ T cell response was truly independent of
CD4+ T cell help. Therefore, we conclude that
optimal CD8+ T cell activation requires
CD4+ T cell help, although some activation can
occur in its absence.
|
We have shown previously that immunization with
LCMV3341 Ag-loaded DC induces protective
immunity against challenge with the LL-LCMV tumor, which expresses the
LCMV3341 epitope (14). Therefore, we compared
the growth of LL-LCMV tumors in mice that had been immunized s.c. with
Ag-loaded MHC class II-/- DC or MHC class
II+/+ DC 7 days before tumor challenge. A
representative experiment is shown in Fig. 3
A; combined data from several
experiments are shown in Fig. 3
B. Animals immunized with
Ag-loaded MHC class II+/+ DC showed delayed tumor
growth when compared with unimmunized mice (data not shown) or mice
immunized with DC alone. At day 25 after tumor challenge, the average
tumor sizes were 14 mm2 in mice immunized with
Ag-loaded MHC class II+/+ DC and 85
mm2 in mice immunized with DC alone. By contrast,
animals immunized with Ag-loaded MHC class
II-/- DC exhibited an impaired antitumor immune
response as demonstrated by the larger size of tumors at all times
postimmunization (average size at day 25 = 53
mm2). These results indicate that the activation
of CD4+ Th cells and hence the provision of help
are required not only for the in vivo activation of
CD8+ T cells but also for optimal antitumor
activity.
|
To test the hypothesis that the reduced antitumor immunity induced
by immunization with MHC class II-/- DC was due
to the lack of CD4+ T cell help via CD40/CD40L,
MHC class II-/- DC were incubated in vitro with
CD40L before in vivo injection. mbCD40L, which is derived from a
CD40L-expressing insect cell line (15), was used to stimulate MHC class
II-/- DC over the last 48 h of culture. DC
stimulated with mbCD40L showed increased expression of CD80 and CD86
relative to nonstimulated cultures (Fig. 4
). Expression of murine DC Ag, CD11c,
and MHC class I were not altered following treatment. In control
experiments, treating DC with a membrane preparation from a
mock-infected insect cell line produced no alteration of DC activation
markers (data not shown).
|
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The function of CD4+ T cells in the generation of CTL responses has been viewed as a provision of cytokines to CD8+ T cells (1, 2). However, later studies have suggested that T cell help is more likely mediated via activation of the APC by CD4+ T cells (19). Indeed, expression of CD40L on CD4+ T cells recognizing cognate Ag presented on DC, and interaction of this ligand with CD40 on DC, was shown to mediate an activating signal that renders DC capable of activating CD8+ T cells (7, 8, 9). In agreement with those studies, we show here that stimulating MHC class II-/- DC with mbCD40L improved the capacity of these cells to induce antitumor immune responses. In fact, the degree of tumor protection induced by immunization with mbCD40L-stimulated, MHC class II-/- DC was similar to that observed following immunization with MHC class II+/+ DC. Therefore, the requirement for CD4+ T cell help in the initiation of an antitumor immune response can be circumvented by direct ligation of CD40 on DC.
Ligation of CD40 on DC causes an up-regulation of MHC class II
molecules and of the costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. Others have
reported that CD40 ligation induces up-regulation of the adhesion
molecules CD54 (ICAM-1) and CD58 (LFA-3) and increased production of
IL-12, TNF-
, and IL-1ß (reviewed in 20). It is not clear
which, or indeed if any, of these responses define the help function
induced by CD40 signaling, although it has been reported that exogenous
IL-12 can partially bypass the requirement for CD40 signaling in some
antitumor immune responses (21). Alternatively, the restoration of MHC
class II-/- DC function via signaling through
CD40 may be explained by effects of CD4+ T cell
help on the survival of DC in vivo, in addition to their enhanced
immunostimulatory capacity. We are currently undertaking experiments to
investigate this possibility further.
In repeated experiments, we observed that some degree of CD8+ T cell activation and antitumor immunity was induced in mice immunized with MHC class II-/- DC. This was not due to cross-presentation of tumor Ag on endogenous MHC class II+/+ DC, as a similar degree of CD8+ T cell activation was also observed in MHC class II-/- mice immunized with Ag-loaded MHC class II-/- DC (22). In contrast, studies using mice depleted of CD4+ T cells before DC immunization and subsequent tumor challenge indicated that antitumor immunity was completely dependent upon the presence of CD4+ T cells (23, 24). These discrepancies may be due to differences in the experimental protocols used (MHC class II-/- DC vs CD4+ T cell depletion) or may reflect the different maturation states of the cultured DC used in these experiments. DC cultured from bone marrow precursors in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4 have been typically referred to as "immature" DC (6). However, we have shown previously that cultured DC possess both the Ag capture capacity characteristic of immature DC and the high stimulatory capacity characteristic of mature DC, perhaps implying an intermediate stage of maturation (18). It is possible, therefore, that even a limited degree of in vitro maturation may provide sufficient activation of DC to permit limited CTL induction in vivo.
We have also compared the degree of tumor protection with or without
the transfer of tumor-specific TCR transgenic
CD8+ T cells before DC immunization. Immunization
with MHC class II-/- DC failed to induce tumor
immunity comparable with MHC class II+/+ DC even
in hosts that had been adoptively transferred with TCR transgenic T
cells (compare Fig. 5
, B and C). This result
indicates that a maximal antitumor immune response is primarily
dependent upon the availability of T cell help rather than on the size
of the CTL precursor pool.
The findings reported here have important implications with regard to the application of DC immunization to the treatment of tumors. Immunization strategies that do not include MHC class II-bound epitopes may fail to attract sufficient CD4+ T cell help to allow appropriate DC activation and, in turn, fail to activate CD8+ effector cells. In addition, direct in vitro activation of DC with CD40L circumvents the requirement for cognate T cell help, enhancing the immunogenicity of the vaccination protocol. Finally, concerns that terminally mature DC may fail to migrate to regional LNs and thereby fail to initiate antitumor immunity appear to be unwarranted in view of our findings.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 I.F.H. and D.S.R. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
3 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Franca Ronchese, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, P.O. Box 7060, Wellington South, New Zealand. E-mail address: ![]()
4 Abbreviations used in this paper: DC, dendritic cell(s); CD40L, CD40 ligand; LCMV, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus; LCMV3341, LCMV glycoprotein amino acids 3341; MHC class II-/-, MHC class II deficient; mbCD40L, membrane-bound CD40L; LN, lymph node. ![]()
Received for publication January 19, 1999. Accepted for publication April 8, 1999.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
. J. Exp. Med. 179:1109.This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
F. Giannoni, A. Shea, C. Inglis, L. N. Lee, and S. R. Sarawar CD40 Engagement on Dendritic Cells, but Not on B or T Cells, Is Required for Long-Term Control of Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 J. Virol., November 15, 2008; 82(22): 11016 - 11022. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. McCormick, M. Santosuosso, C.-L. Small, C. R. Shaler, X. Zhang, M. Jeyanathan, J. Mu, S. Takenaka, P. Ngai, J. Gauldie, et al. Mucosally Delivered Dendritic Cells Activate T Cells Independently of IL-12 and Endogenous APCs J. Immunol., August 15, 2008; 181(4): 2356 - 2367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. E. Matthews, J. S. Qin, J. Yang, I. F. Hermans, M. J. Palmowski, V. Cerundolo, and F. Ronchese Increasing the Survival of Dendritic Cells In Vivo Does Not Replace the Requirement for CD4+ T Cell Help during Primary CD8+ T Cell Responses J. Immunol., November 1, 2007; 179(9): 5738 - 5747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. Bartholdy, S. O. Kauffmann, J. P. Christensen, and A. R. Thomsen Agonistic Anti-CD40 Antibody Profoundly Suppresses the Immune Response to Infection with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus J. Immunol., February 1, 2007; 178(3): 1662 - 1670. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Q. Yu, F. Y. Yue, X. X. Gu, H. Schwartz, C. M. Kovacs, and M. A. Ostrowski OX40 Ligation of CD4+ T Cells Enhances Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Memory Responses Independently of IL-2 and CD4+ T Regulatory Cell Inhibition J. Immunol., February 15, 2006; 176(4): 2486 - 2495. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. A Wallet, P. Sen, and R. Tisch Immunoregulation of Dendritic Cells Clin. Med. Res., August 1, 2005; 3(3): 166 - 175. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. Y. Yue, C. M. Kovacs, R. C. Dimayuga, X. X. J. Gu, P. Parks, R. Kaul, and M. A. Ostrowski Preferential Apoptosis of HIV-1-Specific CD4+ T Cells J. Immunol., February 15, 2005; 174(4): 2196 - 2204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. Tanaka, S. Koido, M. Ohana, C. Liu, and J. Gong Induction of Impaired Antitumor Immunity by Fusion of MHC Class II-Deficient Dendritic Cells with Tumor Cells J. Immunol., February 1, 2005; 174(3): 1274 - 1280. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. N. J. Bullock and H. Yagita Induction of CD70 on Dendritic Cells through CD40 or TLR Stimulation Contributes to the Development of CD8+ T Cell Responses in the Absence of CD4+ T Cells J. Immunol., January 15, 2005; 174(2): 710 - 717. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. M. Roberts, J. Yang, and F. Ronchese IL-4 deficiency does not impair the ability of dendritic cells to initiate CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in vivo Int. Immunol., October 1, 2004; 16(10): 1451 - 1458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. Gutzmer, W. Li, S. Sutterwala, M. P. Lemos, J. I. Elizalde, S. L. Urtishak, E. M. Behrens, P. M. Rivers, K. Schlienger, T. M. Laufer, et al. A Tumor-Associated Glycoprotein That Blocks MHC Class II-Dependent Antigen Presentation by Dendritic Cells J. Immunol., July 15, 2004; 173(2): 1023 - 1032. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Q. Yu, C. Kovacs, F. Y. Yue, and M. A. Ostrowski The Role of the p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase, Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase, and Phosphoinositide-3-OH Kinase Signal Transduction Pathways in CD40 Ligand-Induced Dendritic Cell Activation and Expansion of Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Memory Responses J. Immunol., May 15, 2004; 172(10): 6047 - 6056. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Watanabe, H. Kagamu, H. Yoshizawa, N. Fujita, H. Tanaka, J. Tanaka, and F. Gejyo The Duration of Signaling through CD40 Directs Biological Ability of Dendritic Cells to Induce Antitumor Immunity J. Immunol., December 1, 2003; 171(11): 5828 - 5836. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. Stober, I. Jomantaite, R. Schirmbeck, and J. Reimann NKT Cells Provide Help for Dendritic Cell-Dependent Priming of MHC Class I-Restricted CD8+ T Cells In Vivo J. Immunol., March 1, 2003; 170(5): 2540 - 2548. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Q. Yu, J. X. Gu, C. Kovacs, J. Freedman, E. K. Thomas, and M. A. Ostrowski Cooperation of TNF Family Members CD40 Ligand, Receptor Activator of NF-{kappa}B Ligand, and TNF-{alpha} in the Activation of Dendritic Cells and the Expansion of Viral Specific CD8+ T Cell Memory Responses in HIV-1-Infected and HIV-1-Uninfected Individuals J. Immunol., February 15, 2003; 170(4): 1797 - 1805. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H.-M. Hu, H. Winter, J. Ma, M. Croft, W. J. Urba, and B. A. Fox CD28, TNF Receptor, and IL-12 Are Critical for CD4-Independent Cross-Priming of Therapeutic Antitumor CD8+ T Cells J. Immunol., November 1, 2002; 169(9): 4897 - 4904. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Ribas, L. H. Butterfield, S. N. Amarnani, V. B. Dissette, D. Kim, W. S. Meng, G. A. Miranda, H.-J. Wang, W. H. McBride, J. A. Glaspy, et al. CD40 Cross-Linking Bypasses the Absolute Requirement for CD4 T Cells during Immunization with Melanoma Antigen Gene-modified Dendritic Cells Cancer Res., December 1, 2001; 61(24): 8787 - 8793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Fujita, H. Kagamu, H. Yoshizawa, K. Itoh, H. Kuriyama, N. Matsumoto, T. Ishiguro, J. Tanaka, E. Suzuki, H. Hamada, et al. CD40 Ligand Promotes Priming of Fully Potent Antitumor CD4+ T Cells in Draining Lymph Nodes in the Presence of Apoptotic Tumor Cells J. Immunol., November 15, 2001; 167(10): 5678 - 5688. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. G. Turner, A. L. Rakhmilevich, L. Burdelya, Z. Neal, M. Imboden, P. M. Sondel, and H. Yu Anti-CD40 Antibody Induces Antitumor and Antimetastatic Effects: The Role of NK Cells J. Immunol., January 1, 2001; 166(1): 89 - 94. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. A. Ostrowski, S. J. Justement, L. Ehler, S. B. Mizell, S. Lui, J. Mican, B. D. Walker, E. K. Thomas, R. Seder, and A. S. Fauci The Role of CD4+ T Cell Help and CD40 Ligand in the In Vitro Expansion of HIV-1-Specific Memory Cytotoxic CD8+ T Cell Responses J. Immunol., December 1, 2000; 165(11): 6133 - 6141. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. F. Hermans, D. S. Ritchie, J. Yang, J. M. Roberts, and F. Ronchese CD8+ T Cell-Dependent Elimination of Dendritic Cells In Vivo Limits the Induction of Antitumor Immunity J. Immunol., March 15, 2000; 164(6): 3095 - 3101. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Schnell, J. W. Young, A. N. Houghton, and M. Sadelain Retrovirally Transduced Mouse Dendritic Cells Require CD4+ T Cell Help to Elicit Antitumor Immunity: Implications for the Clinical Use of Dendritic Cells J. Immunol., February 1, 2000; 164(3): 1243 - 1250. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |