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Division of Cardiac Surgery and the Transplantation Biology Research Center, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114
| Abstract |
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by 75%, but did not inhibit IL-10
production, while CTLA4IgG4 completely inhibited the production of both
IFN-
and IL-10. In secondary allogeneic pig MLRs, CTLA4IgG4, but not
anti-CD154 mAb, induced Ag-specific T cell anergy. CTLAIgG4
completely blocked the indirect pathway of allorecognition, while
anti-CD154 mAb blocked the indirect response by approximately 50%.
The generation of porcine CTLs was inhibited by CTLA4IgG4, but not by
anti-CD154 mAb. Human anti-porcine xenogeneic MLRs were blocked
by CTLA4IgG4, but only minimally by anti-CD154 mAb. Finally,
CTLA4IgG4 prevented secondary xenogeneic human anti-porcine T cell
responses. These data indicate that blockade of the B7-CD28 pathway was
more effective than blockade of the CD40-CD154 pathway in inhibiting
allogeneic pig T cell responses and xenogeneic human anti-pig T
cell responses in vitro. These findings have implications for
inhibiting cell-mediated immune responses in pig-to-human
xenotransplantation. | Introduction |
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To our knowledge there has been no detailed study examining the effects of costimulatory blockade in swine. Furthermore, very little is known about the effects of costimulatory blockade on xenogeneic human anti-porcine T cell responses (7). This along with the fact that the pig is a potential organ donor for human xenotransplantation (8) led us to examine the in vitro effects of costimulatory blockade in allogeneic porcine and xenogeneic human anti-porcine responses. We report here that both anti-human CD154 mAb and human CTLA4IgG4 cross-reacted on pig cells and inhibited allogeneic pig T cell responses and xenogeneic human anti-pig T cell responses, but that CTLA4IgG4 was considerably more effective than anti-CD154 mAb in its ability to block costimulation. Furthermore, CTLA4IgG4, but not anti-CD154 mAb, induced T cell anergy in allogeneic pig T cell responses and completely inhibited xenogeneic human anti-pig T cell responses.
| Materials and Methods |
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The purified mouse anti-human CD154 mAb, 5c8 (IgG2a), was prepared from American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA) hybridoma HB-10916 (9). The hybridoma was grown in DMEM with 4.5 g of glucose, 4 mM L-glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 U/ml penicillin, 135 µg/ml streptomycin, and 10% FBS. The CTLA4Ig used in these studies was human CTLA4IgG4 purified from plasmid-transformed NSO cells. CTLA4IgG4 is a fusion protein that combines the human T cell surface receptor CTLA4 with the constant region of human IgG4. The extracellular domain of the human CTLA4 was cloned as a fusion protein to hinge, CH2, and CH3 domains of a mutant hIgG4 deficient in Fc receptor binding (data not shown). This human IgG4 sequence contains L235G and G237A missense mutations. Isotype control Abs included h60.1, a "humanized" anti-CD11b IgG4 that binds human, but not porcine, CD11b; human IgG4 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO); and G155-178 (PharMingen, San Diego, CA), a mouse IgG2a, anti-trinitrophenol-keyhole limpet hemocyanin.
Animals
The MGH inbred miniature swine used in this study have been
described previously (10). Presently, inbred swine of
three homozygous MHC haplotypes (swine leukocyte Ags
(SLA)8),
SLAa, SLAc, and
SLAd are maintained (Fig. 1
). In addition, four intra-MHC
recombinant haplotypes (SLAg,
SLAh, SLAj, and
SLAk) have been derived by spontaneous
recombination events during the breeding of heterozygotes as part of
the breeding program (Fig. 1
). All animal care and procedures were in
compliance with the Principles of Laboratory Animal Care formulated by
the National Society for Medical Research and the Guide for the Care
and Use of Laboratory Animals prepared by the Institute of Laboratory
Animals Resources and published by the National Institutes of
Health.
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Human and pig PBMC were collected as heparinized whole blood, and the blood was diluted 2/3 with HBSS (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY). The mononuclear cells were obtained by gradient centrifugation using Lymphocyte Separation Medium (Organon Teknika, Durham, NC). Human PBMCs were isolated from healthy human volunteers. The mononuclear cells were washed once with HBSS, and contaminating red cells were lysed with ACK lysing buffer (BioWhittaker, Walkersville, MD). Cells were washed again with HBSS and resuspended in complete tissue culture medium. All cell suspensions were kept at 4°C until use.
Flow cytometry
Staining for CD154 with 5c8 and for B7 with CTLA4IgG4 on human and porcine cells was detected by indirect flow cytometry using a Becton Dickinson FACScan microfluorometer (San Jose, CA). FITC-labeled rat anti-mouse IgG2a, biotinylated mouse anti-human IgG4 (Zymed, San Francisco, CA), and PE-avidin (Becton Dickinson) were used as secondary staining reagents. Swine or human IgG was used to block FcR binding for porcine or human cells, respectively. For staining, 35 x 105 cells/tube of porcine or human cells were resuspended in 100 µl of HBSS (Life Technologies) containing 0.1% BSA and 0.1% NaN3 (FACS medium). Ten microliters of primary or isotype control Ab at approximately 1 µg/1 x 106 cells was added to appropriate tubes for 30 min at 4°C. After two washes, a saturating concentration of secondary Ab was added and incubated for 30 min at 4°C. Cells were washed with FACS medium twice and then analyzed by single-color flow cytometry using propidium iodide gating to exclude dead cells.
Activation of T cells
Porcine or human PBMCs (2 x 106 cells/ml) were incubated in 2 ml of tissue culture medium containing 0.5% PHA (Life Technologies), 10 ng/ml PMA (Sigma Chemical Co.), and 1 µg/ml ionomycin (Sigma) for 6 h at 37°C in 7% CO2. Control resting cells were incubated without mitogens. After 6 h, cells were harvested, washed, and resuspended in FACS medium for flow cytometric analysis.
Activation of B cells
Porcine or human PBMCs (10 x 106) were incubated in 5 ml of tissue culture medium containing LPS (Sigma) 10 µg/ml for 24 h at 37°C in 7% CO2. Cells were then harvested, washed, and resuspended in FACS medium for flow cytometric analysis.
Mixed leukocyte reactions
Responder PBMC (24 x 105) and irradiated (2500 cGy) PBMC (24 x 105) were combined in 200 µl of complete tissue culture medium in flat-bottom wells in triplicate. For pig cell assays, complete tissue culture medium for MLR assays consisted of RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies) supplemented with 6% fetal porcine sera (Sigma), 100 U/ml penicillin, 135 µg/ml streptomycin (Life Technologies), 50 µg/ml gentamicin (Life Technologies), 10 mM HEPES (Cellgro, Agawam, MA), 2 mM L-glutamine (Life Technologies), 1 mM sodium pyruvate (BioWhittaker), nonessential amino acids (BioWhittaker), and 5 x 10-5 M ß2-ME (Sigma). For assays of human cell responders, complete tissue culture medium consisted of AIM-V (Life Technologies) supplemented with 10% human AB serum (BioWhittaker), 10 mM HEPES (Cellgro), and 10 µg/ml gentamicin (Life Technologies). The cultures were incubated at 37°C in humidified air containing 7% CO2 for 5 days. [3H]Thymidine (1 µCi/well; New England Nuclear, Boston, MA) was added for a 5- to 6-h period at the end of the culture. The samples were harvested onto glass-fiber filter mats, and [3H]thymidine incorporation was measured by beta scintillation counting on a liquid scintillation counter. Results were expressed as the mean counts per minute. For inhibition assays, 120 µl of Ab were added to wells for the entire course of the incubation. For those assays involving anti-CD154, responder cells were preincubated with 5c8 for 30 min at 4°C. For those assays involving CTLA4IgG4, both responder and stimulator cells were cultured with Ab for 30 min at 4°C. Appropriate isotype controls were incubated similarly.
Secondary MLR
These assays were performed in two culture phases, termed primary and secondary MLR cultures. In the primary MLR culture (priming phase, days 07), either naive porcine SLAdd (Id, IId) responder PBMCs (4 x 106) and irradiated (2500 cGy) allogeneic stimulator SLAcc (Ic, IIc) PBMCs (4 x 106) or human responder PBMCs (4 x 106) and irradiated allogeneic human stimulator PBMCs (4 x 106) were combined in 2 ml of complete tissue culture medium and incubated for 7 days at 37°C in 7% CO2 using 24-well flat-bottom plates (Costar, Cambridge, MA). These primary MLR cultures were performed either in the presence of isotype control Ab (mouse IgG2a, 100 µg/ml, or human IgG4, 50 µg/ml) or in the presence of 5c8 (100 µg/ml) or CTLA4IgG4 (50 µg/ml) as indicated. On day 7 bulk cultures were harvested, washed once in complete medium, and reconstituted in fresh medium at 4 x 106 cells/ml in 25-cm2 culture flasks (Costar) placed upright. The effector cells were allowed to rest for 3 days at 37°C in 7% CO2.
The secondary MLR culture (days 1014) was initiated on day 10 of the assay, when the responder cells were collected, washed, and reconstituted in fresh MLR medium at appropriate concentrations. Responder cells (24 x 106) were replated in 96-well U-bottom plates with appropriate irradiated (2500 cGy) stimulators (24 x 106). Stimulators included autologous self, specific, and third party stimulators. All secondary MLR cultures in these assays were performed in the absence of Ab. Recombinant human IL-2 at 10 IU/ml (Cetus, Emeryville, CA) was added to certain wells. The secondary MLR cultures were incubated at 37°C in humidified air containing 7% CO2 for 5 days. [3H]Thymidine (1 µCi/well; New England Nuclear, Boston, MA) was added for a 5- to 6-h period at the end of the culture on appropriate days. The samples were harvested onto glass-fiber filter mats, and [3H]thymidine incorporation was measured by beta scintillation counting on a liquid scintillation counter. Results were expressed as the mean counts per minute.
Cell-mediated lympholysis (CML)
Tissue culture media for CML assays were identical with MLR media, except that 6% FCS (Sigma) was used instead of fetal porcine serum. CML assays were performed as previously described (11). Briefly, MLCs containing 4 x 106 responder PBMC and 4 x 106 irradiated (2500 cGy) stimulator PBMC were incubated in 2 ml of CML medium in 24-well plates (Costar) for 67 days at 37°C and 5% CO2. On day 6 or 7 effector cells were harvested and tested for cytolytic activity against 51Cr-labeled PHA (Life Technologies) targets in a 5.5-h 51Cr release assay. Supernatants were harvested using the Skatron collection system (Skatron, Sterling, VA), and 51Cr release was determined on a gamma counter (Micromedics, Huntsville, AL). The results were expressed as the percent specific lysis, calculated as % specific lysis = [(experimental release - spontaneous release)/(maximum release - spontaneous release)] x 100.
Secondary CML
These assays were performed in two culture phases, termed primary and secondary CML cultures. In the primary CML culture (priming phase, days 07) CMLs were prepared as described above for 7 days at 37°C in 7% CO2. Naive SLAdd (Id, IId) responder PBMCs were cultured with irradiated, class I-disparate SLAhh (Ia, IId) stimulators in 2 ml of medium and incubated for 7 days at 37°C in 7% CO2 using 24-well flat-bottom plates (Costar). These primary CML cultures were performed in the presence of either isotype control human IgG4 (50 µg/ml) or CTLA4IgG4 (50 µg/ml). On day 7 effector cells were harvested, washed, and reconstituted in fresh CML medium. Cells were allowed to rest for 3 days at 4 x 106 cells/ml in 25-cm2 flasks at 37°C in 7% CO2. The secondary CML culture (days 1015) was initiated on day 10 of the assay, when effector cells were collected, washed, and reconstituted in fresh medium at the appropriate concentrations. Secondary CML cultures were set up in the absence of any Ab with responder (4 x 106) and specific irradiated (2500 cGy) class I-disparate SLAhh (Ia,IId) stimulators (4 x 106) in 2 ml of CML medium using 24-well plates (Costar) at 37°C in 7% CO2. On days 4 and 6 51Cr release assays were performed on specific and autologous PHA lymphoblasts as described above.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays
ELISA kits specific for pig IFN-
and IL-10 were purchased
from BioSource (Camarillo, CA). Supernatants harvested on days 23 of
incubation were tested for IFN-
and IL-10 following the
manufacturers instructions. Appropriate standard controls were
tested, and linear regression analysis was performed. Supernatants were
tested in duplicate. Culture supernatants containing 5c8 were purified
using protein A columns (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) to remove mouse IgG, as
5c8 was found to interfere with pig-specific ELISAs.
MHC class I SLAcc peptides
One peptide, 25 aa in length, spanning the polymorphic region of
the
1 domain (aa 327) of the pig class Ic
gene PC1 was purchased from Quality Controlled Biochemicals
(Hopkinton, MA). Peptides were synthesized based on previously
published swine class I sequences (12). The amino acid
sequence of the PC1 peptide (aa 327) was
HSLRYFDTAVSRPDRRKPRFISVGY. Peptide purity was >90% as verified by
HPLC and mass spectrometry.
Immunization of pigs with MHC class I allopeptides
Five hundred micrograms of the PC1 peptide (aa 327) in 0.25 ml of PBS was injected s.c. in the neck of an anesthetized SLAdd (Id, IId) pig in CFA (Sigma; 1/1) by volume.
In vitro peptide proliferation assay
To test for sensitization against the allogeneic PC1 peptide, draining lymph nodes were harvested from the peptide-immunized pig under general anesthesia 2 wk after immunization with the PC1 allogeneic peptide. Lymph nodes were processed in tissue culture medium, and lymph node cells (24 x 105) were incubated with the same allogeneic PC1 peptide (aa 327; 50 µg/ml) or medium alone in 96-well U-bottom plates at 37°C in 7% CO2. For certain wells, 5c8 (100 µg/ml), CTLA4IgG4 (50 µg/ml), control IgG4 h60.1 (50 µg/ml), or control IgG2a (100 µg/ml) was added for blocking studies. On day 5 [3H]thymidine incorporation was measured as described above. The stimulation index (SI) was calculated according to the formula: experimental counts per minute/medium alone counts per minute.
| Results |
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To find a reagent that might block costimulation in the pig, 5c8
and CTLA4IgG4 were tested for binding to pig cells using flow
cytometric analysis. Fig. 2
demonstrates
that resting pig and human T cells did not stain with 5c8. In contrast,
pig T cells that had been activated by a combination of PHA, PMA, and
ionomycin stained positively with 5c8. The level of 5c8 staining on
activated pig T cell was comparable to that seen on activated human T
cells (Fig. 2
, C and D). Double staining revealed
that both activated CD8+ and
CD4+ pig T cells stained positively for 5c8 (data
not shown). CTLA4IgG4 was tested in a similar manner using pig and
human PBL. As shown in Fig. 3
, CTLA4IgG4
did not stain resting human PBMC. This is consistent with previous
reports that resting human B cells do not express B7 constitutively,
and resting APCs only express B7 at low levels (13).
LPS-activated human PBMC did stain with CTLA4IgG4, albeit at a low
level (Fig. 3
D). In contrast, both resting and activated pig
PBMC stained positively with CTLA4IgG4 (Fig. 3
, A and
C). The differences observed in staining human and pig cells
with CTLA4IgG4 may be due to higher levels of B7 expression on both
resting and activated pig cells or to the possibility that CTLA4IgG4
might exhibit heteroclitic binding to pig B7 vs human B7.
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In vitro proliferative assays were performed to determine whether
5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 were functionally active against pig cells. To
eliminate the effects of dose on the comparison of 5c8 and
CTLA4IgG4 in vitro inhibitory activity, a series
of dose-response analyses was performed with both reagents. As both 5c8
and CTLA4IgG4 were specific to human ligands, we included human-human
controls for direct comparison. Fig. 4
demonstrates that 5c8 exhibited optimal inhibitory effects on pig cells
at a concentration of at least 100 µg/ml (Fig. 4
A) and
optimal inhibitory effects on human cells at concentrations as low as
10 µg/ml (Fig. 4
B), although the inhibitory effects of 5c8
were only partial even at the maximal dose (
60% of the allogeneic
porcine MLR and
40% of the human MLR). Interestingly, 5c8 was more
effective at inhibiting the allogeneic MLR in pig responders than in
human responders. The dose-response curves for 5c8 were consistently
inhibitory in multiple experiments. In contrast, the isotype control Ab
was mitogenic at low concentrations (1 and 10 µg/ml) for pig and
human responders (Fig. 4
, A and B) and was mildly
inhibitory at 100 µg/ml for pig responders (Fig. 4
A).
Although we do not have a clear explanation for these findings, the
variability in the effects of the control Ab suggest that they were due
to nonspecific mechanisms of proliferation or inhibition, possibly
related to the preparation of the control Ab.
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, but not IL-10, production in vitro
Previous reports have suggested that blockade of the CD40-CD154
pathway might inhibit Th1 development by inhibiting the production of
IL-12, which is critical for Th1 maturation (14, 15, 16). As
the effects of anti-CD154 blockade on pig allogeneic proliferative
responses were not complete, we investigated whether the production of
Th1 vs Th2 cytokines was differentially affected. Using pig-specific
ELISAs, we found that 5c8 inhibited IFN-
production by 75% after
allogeneic stimulation, but that IL-10 was not inhibited (Fig. 6
). Since IFN-
is produced by Th1
cells, and IL-10 is produced by Th2 cells, these results suggested that
anti-CD154 blockade could preferentially suppress Th1 responses in
the pig. CTLA4IgG4 completely inhibited the production of both swine
IFN-
and IL-10 (Fig. 6
).
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There has been increasing evidence that indirect allorecognition
is important in acute and chronic rejection and that treatment
modalities that only target the direct pathway of allorecognition will
probably not be sufficient to induce long term graft survival and
prevent chronic rejection (17, 18, 19, 20). To investigate whether
costimulatory blockade could also inhibit T cells responding via
indirect allorecognition, an SLAdd
(Id,IId) pig was immunized
s.c. in CFA with a synthetic class I peptide (aa 327) spanning the
polymorphic regions of the
1 domain of a pig
SLAcc class I gene, PC1
(12). Draining cervical lymph nodes were harvested 2 wk
after immunization, and lymphocytes were tested for proliferative
responses to the same allogeneic class Ic PC1
peptide (50 µg/ml) in peptide proliferation assays. Fig. 7
demonstrates that lymph node cells from
the peptide-immunized SLAdd
(Id, IId) pig demonstrated
an SI of 24.9 directed against the allogeneic class
Ic peptide compared with an SI of 1.0 when lymph
node cells from an unimmunized SLAdd
(Id, IId) pig were tested
with the same allogeneic class Ic peptide. Thus,
lymph node cells were sensitized to the PC1
1 peptide after immunization in CFA compared
with unimmunized naive controls. To test the ability of costimulatory
blockade to inhibit the indirect alloresponse to allogenic peptide,
either 5c8 or CTL4IgG4 was added to the cultures for blocking studies.
5c8 was effective in blocking the response to PC1 peptide by about 50%
compared with isotype control Ab (SI, 10.5 vs 27; Fig. 7
). However,
CTLA4IgG4 completely abolished this indirect pathway of allorecognition
(SI, 1.1 vs 48.6 for isotype control). The control IgG4Ab was mitogenic
at 50 µg/ml, which was probably secondary to nonspecific factors in
the Ab preparation. The combination of 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 also led to
complete abrogation of the indirect response to the allopeptide (data
not shown). Thus, blockade of the CD28-B7 pathway by CTLA4IgG4 was more
effective in blocking the indirect pathway of allorecognition in swine
than blockade of the CD40-CD154 pathway by 5c8. CTLA4IgG4 was also more
effective than 5c8 in inhibiting a secondary direct alloresponse.
Lymphocytes from a pig primed with a class II-disparate skin graft did
not proliferate in vitro against donor cells in the presence of
CTLA4IgG4, but did respond to donor cells in the presence of 5c8,
albeit it was 6070% of the control Ab response (data not shown).
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Blockade of CD28-B7 and CD40-CD154 has been shown to induce T cell
anergy in rodents (3, 21). To evaluate the effects of
costimulatory blockade on anergy induction in the pig, naive
SLAdd (Id,
IId) lymphocytes were cultured for 7 days with
complete MHC-disparate SLAcc
(Ic, IIc) stimulators in a
primary MLR cultures in the presence of 5c8, CTLA4IgG4, both reagents,
or control Ig. Responder cells were collected, washed, and rested in
fresh medium for 3 days. The cells were then restimulated with the
original SLAcc stimulators in secondary MLR
cultures without Ig. Pig cells primed in the presence of 5c8 showed
brisk secondary proliferative responses upon restimulation, comparable
to those of isotype control MLRs (Fig. 8
A). Similar results were seen
with human responders against specific allogeneic stimulators (Fig. 8
B). In contrast, pig cells primed in the presence of
CTLA4IgG4 exhibited Ag-specific hyporesponsiveness upon restimulation
in secondary MLRs compared with cells primed in the presence of the
control Ab (Fig. 9
A).
SLAdd (Id,
IId) responder cells incubated with CTLA4IgG4
were hyporesponsive to specific SLAcc
(Ic, IIc) stimulators in
the secondary MLR, yet maintained brisk primary proliferative responses
to allogeneic third party SLAaa
(Ia, IIa) stimulators (Fig. 9
A). Similar results were obtained using human responders
against allogeneic stimulators (Fig. 9
C), as human
responders incubated with CTLA4IgG4 remained hyporesponsive to specific
allogeneic stimulators in the secondary MLR, but maintained a primary
response to an allogeneic third party stimulator (Fig. 9
C).
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Adding both 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 during the primary MLR cultures also led to donor-specific hyporesponsiveness compared with control Abs (data not shown). However, the level of suppression was not augmented by the presence of both reagents, suggesting no synergistic effects (data not shown). Of note, responder T cells from these cultures were more responsive to exogenous recombinant human IL-2 than responders originally cultured with CTLA4IgG4 alone (data not shown).
CTLA4IgG4, but not 5c8, inhibited the induction of CTLs
Given that the anti-class I MLR is considerably weaker than
anti-class II MLR, we examined the effects of 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 on
the inhibition of induction of CD8+ CTLs against
class I-disparate stimulators. 5c8, CTLA4IgG4, or both 5c8 and
CTLA4IgG4 were added to primary mixed allogeneic lymphocyte cultures
for 6 days. On day 6 effector lymphocytes were harvested and tested for
cytotoxicity against specific PHA targets. 5c8 did not significantly
prevent CTL generation across a class I barrier (Fig. 10
A), nor did it inhibit the
effector phase of CTL activity when added during the
51Cr release assay (Fig. 10
A).
Similarly, 5c8 did not prevent CTL generation in human control assays
(Fig. 10
C). In contrast, CTLA4IgG4 alone completely
inhibited anti-class I CTL generation in a primary CML (Fig. 10
B). Similar results were found using complete
MHC-disparate stimulators (data not shown). As CTLA4Ig binds to B7
receptors on APCs, the effect of CTLA4Ig on effector CTLs was not
examined. The effect of CTLA4IgG4 on porcine pCTLs was similar with
that on human cells. CTLA4IgG4, but not 5c8, prevented the induction of
allogeneic human CTLs in vitro (Fig. 10
C).
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The ability to inhibit human anti-pig T cell responses may
provide an important therapeutic modality in xenogeneic
transplantation. The effects of 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 on the prevention of
the human anti-pig T cell proliferative responses were examined
next. Fig. 12
C shows that
CTLA4IgG4 significantly inhibited the human anti-pig MLR compared
with control IgG4 or no Ab (Fig. 12
A), while 5c8 had a mild
inhibitory effect (Fig. 12
B). This level of inhibition of
the human anti-pig xenogeneic response was even greater than that
seen for the allogeneic human MLR. The combination of 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4
showed no added benefit over CTLA4IgG4 alone (Fig. 12
D).
Furthermore, secondary MLRs demonstrated that CTLA4IgG4 prevented
secondary proliferative responses of human T cells against specific pig
stimulators, such as SLAcc
(Ic, IIc), as well as
against third party pig stimulators, such as
SLAaa (Ia,
IIa), while maintaining primary allogeneic
responsiveness (Fig. 13
B).
Human responders incubated with control Ab showed primed responses to
both specific xenogeneic pig SLAcc stimulators
and third party xenogeneic SLAaa pig stimulators,
with a peak of proliferation on day 2 (Fig. 13
A). Naive
human responders showed only a mild anti-pig proliferative response
on day 2 of culture (2891 cpm) and normally displayed peak anti-pig
proliferation on days 45 (data not shown) (24). The
human allogeneic T cell response was maintained in both the control
IgG4 and CTLA4IgG4 assays. To determine whether CTLA4IgG4 induced
anergy in xenogeneic MLRs, IL-2 was added to secondary MLR cultures.
The addition of exogenous recombinant human IL-2 enhanced proliferation
against porcine stimulators (Fig. 13
C). However, background
responses to autologous controls were also elevated in this assay,
preventing a firm conclusion as to the mechanism of CTLA4IgG4-induced
xenogeneic hyporesponsiveness (Fig. 13
C). Our data indicate
that blockade of the B7-CD28 pathway, but not blockade of the
CD40-CD154 pathway, leads to species-specific human anti-porcine
unresponsiveness in in vitro assays.
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| Discussion |
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The inefficiency of anti-CD154 Ab in blocking pig T cell responses contrasts with the apparent success of in vivo anti-CD40L therapy reported in the allogeneic rhesus monkey kidney model (6, 26). However, the rhesus monkey studies did not formally compare anti-CD154 and CTLA4Ig for their ability to induce T cell anergy. Moreover, the mechanism of graft prolongation in the monkeys treated with anti-CD154 Ab alone was not clear, as they developed vigorous anti-donor MLRs and circulating anti-donor Abs yet maintained functioning kidneys (26). It would appear that anti-CD154 Ab did not effectively induce anergy in the rhesus monkey studies, but did induce some form of immunosuppression.
The ability of CTLA4IgG4 to induce Ag-specific hyporesponsiveness in the pig is consistent with rodent and human studies (2, 27). Not only was CTLA4IgG4 effective in inducing anergy in porcine CD4+ T cells, as demonstrated by secondary MLRs, but it was also equally potent in anergizing CD8+ pCTLs, as shown in secondary CMLs. These results are consistent with findings using human cells, both in our report and in previously published reports (2). They will allow us to apply these agents of costimulatory blockade to our preclinical miniature swine model of kidney, cardiac, and stem cell transplantation (28, 29, 30).
The second conclusion from this study is that CTLA4IgG4 completely inhibits the indirect pathway of allorecognition of donor MHC peptides, while 5c8 only has a partial effect. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report demonstrating the superiority of B7-CD28 blockade over CD40-CD154 blockade in inhibiting the indirect allorecognition of donor MHC peptides. This finding may have relevance in clinical transplantation, as there has been increasing experimental evidence to support a critical role for indirect allorecognition during acute rejection of allografts (31) as well as for CTL induction (32). Furthermore, there is evidence from human recipients of cardiac and renal transplants that indirect recognition of donor MHC peptides not only occurs and is restricted to a limited T cell repertoire (33, 34, 35), but it appears likely to play a role in chronic rejection (18, 19, 20, 36). While current immunosuppressive regimens have achieved success in preventing acute rejection of vascularized allografts, similar success has not been achieved in the prevention of chronic rejection (37). This discrepancy may be secondary to the inability of current immunosuppressive agents to suppress the indirect pathway of allorecognition over time. Inhibition of the indirect pathway of allorecognition by costimulatory blockade may not only neutralize the cellular arm of chronic rejection, but it may also inhibit the humoral response to allografts, as generation of anti-donor IgG Abs appears to be dependent on CD4+ Th cells primed via the indirect pathway to donor Ags (38).
The third conclusion from our investigation is that CTLA4IgG4 inhibits the human anti-porcine T cell response and prevents secondary T cell responses to porcine stimulators in vitro. Currently, costimulatory blockade with agents such as anti-CD154 mAb and CTLA4Ig is being explored in the clinical setting for autoimmunity and transplantation (39, 40, 41). Our in vitro data suggest that CTLA4Ig may be more effective than anti-CD154 mAb in suppressing xenoreactive T cells in pig-to-human transplantation despite the ability of anti-CD154 mAb to inhibit allogeneic non-human primate responses (26). In addition, our data suggest that this suppression of xenoreactivity is species specific, as CTLA4IgG4 rendered human T cells unresponsive to both specific SLAcc porcine stimulators and third party SLAaa porcine stimulators while allogeneic reactivity was maintained. This finding may have clinical relevance, as it suggests that after CTLA4IgG4 has induced a lack of reactivity to a specific porcine organ, this lack of reactivity may extend to organs from all pig haplotypes. Of note, since human anti-porcine CTL activity involves nonspecific lysis by LAK cells and Ag-dependent cellular cytotoxicity mechanisms in vitro, we did not test costimulatory blockade in the human anti-pig CML (42, 43).
As the present study did not address T-B cell interactions,
anti-CD154 mAb may be effective in preventing anti-donor
humoral responses, since the CD40-CD154 interaction is required for
isotype switching (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51). Furthermore, since many
different cell types express CD40 and CD154, such as endothelial cells
(52, 53, 54), the CD40-CD154 interaction may serve important
functions other than T cell responses, such as endothelial cell
activation or endothelial cell-T cell interactions. Our observation
that anti-CD154 treatment preferentially inhibited the
Th1-associated cytokine IFN-
but spared the Th2-associated cytokine
IL-10 suggest that CD154 blockade may lead to a Th2-dominated
environment. Thus, the use of agents that block the CD40-CD154 pathway
may produce benefits beyond those seen in acute cellular rejection.
In summary, our results demonstrate that blockade of the B7-CD28 pathway with CTLA4IgG4 was effective in inhibiting allogeneic pig and xenogeneic human anti-pig T cell responses in vitro, while blockade of the CD40-CD154 pathway with anti-CD154 mAb was only partially effective. The effects of 5c8 and CTLA4IgG4 on the allogeneic porcine response were comparable to those observed on human cells. Moreover, CTLA4IgG4 induced Ag-specific hyporesponsiveness against pig stimulators in pig responders and prevented second set human anti-porcine T cell responses in vitro.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Current address: The Transplantation Biology Research Center, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129. ![]()
3 Current address: Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation, Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115. ![]()
4 Current address: Repligen Corp., Needham, MA 02494. ![]()
5 Current address: Biotransplant, Inc., Boston, MA 02129. ![]()
6 Current address: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114. ![]()
7 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Joren C. Madsen, EDR 105, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114. E-mail address: ![]()
8 Abbreviations used in this paper: SLA, swine leukocyte Ag; CML, cell-mediated lympholysis; SI, stimulation index. ![]()
Received for publication July 13, 1999. Accepted for publication January 13, 2000.
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, and IL-10: role of B cells in the maintenance of T cell responses. J. Exp. Med. 189:1.This article has been cited by other articles:
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