The Journal of Immunology, 2000, 165: 1171-1174.
Copyright © 2000 by The American Association of Immunologists
Cutting Edge: Cell Autonomous Rather Than Environmental Factors Control Bacterial Superantigen-Induced T Cell Anergy In Vivo1
Antoine Attinger*,
Hans Acha-Orbea*,
and
H. Robson MacDonald2,*
*
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, and
Institute of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
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Abstract
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Anergic T cells display a marked decrease in their ability to
produce IL-2 and to proliferate in the presence of an appropriate
antigenic signal. Two nonmutually exclusive classes of models have been
proposed to explain the persistence of T cell anergy in vivo. While
some reports indicate that anergic T cells have intrinsic defects in
signaling pathways or transcriptional activities, other studies suggest
that anergy is maintained by environmental "suppressor" factors
such as cytokines or Abs. To distinguish between these conflicting
hypotheses, we employed the well-characterized bacterial superantigen
model system to evaluate in vivo the ability of a trace population of
adoptively transferred naive or anergized T cells to proliferate in a
naive vs anergic environment upon subsequent challenge. Our data
clearly demonstrate that bacterial superantigen-induced T cell anergy
is cell autonomous and independent of environmental
factors.
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Introduction
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Administration
of bacterial superantigens such as staphylococcal enterotoxins
(SE)3 to mice induces
rapid production of a panel of cytokines and subsequent expansion of
the SE-reactive T cell population (1, 2). After the
initial phase of SE-induced activation in vivo, the majority of the
reactive cells that have proliferated are eliminated by
apoptosis and the remaining T cell population fails to
proliferate to a subsequent exposure to SE in vitro
(3, 4, 5, 6). This phenomenon, referred to as anergy, is
specific for the SE-reactive T cells and persists for several weeks
(7).
Two distinct (and nonmutually exclusive) classes of models have been
proposed to explain the phenomenon of SE-induced T cell anergy. On the
one hand, several studies described molecular alterations in TCR
signaling in anergic cells. In vivo SE-anergized T cells exhibited
impaired protein phosphorylation (8) and
defective expression of the AP-1 and NF-
B transcription factors
(9, 10). In addition, anergic cells displayed altered
signaling via the common
-chain of the IL-2 receptor, which
consequently resulted in diminished phosphorylation of
several downstream proteins (11). Collectively, these
studies suggest that SE-induced anergy is caused by cell autonomous
molecular alterations in TCR signaling.
On the other hand, a role for environmental factors in the maintenance
of SE-induced T cell anergy has been documented. In vitro, regulatory
CD8+ T cells (12) as well as
apoptotic bodies (13) have been shown to induce T cell
anergy. In vivo, IL-10 and TGF-ß produced by SE-primed T cells as
well as IFN-
produced by a population of
CD4-CD8- T cells have
been reported to be involved in the persistence of SE-induced T cell
anergy (14, 15, 16). Moreover, both regulatory T cells
(17) and mAbs (18) directed against
SE-reactive T cells have been implicated in the maintenance of T cell
anergy. Taken together, these observations suggest that persistence of
T cell anergy could be mediated by environmental factors.
To distinguish the relative contribution of cell autonomous and
environmental factors in the persistence of SE-induced T cell anergy in
vivo, we took advantage of a recently described adoptive transfer
system that allows us to follow the proliferation of a trace population
of 5-(and 6-)carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester
(CFSE)-labeled staphyloccocal entertoxin B (SEB)-reactive T cells in
recipient mice (19). By using criss-cross combinations of
naive or anergic donor and recipient mice, we were able to show that
SEB-induced T cell anergy is cell autonomous and apparently independent
of environmental factors.
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Materials and Methods
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Mice and treatment
Four- to 8-wk-old BALB/c mice were obtained from Harlan Olac
(Bicester, U.K.). SEB (20 µg; purchased from Toxin Technology,
Saragota, FL) was injected into the hind footpads (10 µg in each
footpad).
CFSE staining and cell transfer
Labeling of naive or anergic splenocytes with CFSE was performed
as described previously (19, 20). A total of 5 x
107 CFSE-labeled splenocytes were transferred
i.v. into the tail vein of naive or anergic syngeneic recipients. One
day after the transfer, mice received one single footpad injection of
SEB or PBS, and T cell proliferation was monitored 2 or 7 days later in
the draining popliteal lymph node. Chimerism of
CFSE+ cells in the lymph nodes of recipient mice
varied between 1 and 3% in all instances.
Abs and flow cytometry
Single-cell suspensions were prepared from popliteal lymph nodes
and incubated with anti-Fc receptor mAb 2.4G2 to prevent
nonspecific staining. Cells were stained with the following Abs:
PE-anti CD25 (PC61), PE-anti CD69 (H1.2F3), and APC-anti CD4 (RM4-5)
(PharMingen, San Diego, CA) and PE-anti CD44 (1M.781) (Caltag, San
Francisco, CA). FITC-conjugated and biotinylated anti-Vß8 (F23.1)
(21) were generated in our laboratory. Biotinylated
anti-Vß8 was revealed with streptavidin-CyChrome (PharMingen).
Stained cells were analyzed on a FACScan or FACScalibur (Becton
Dickinson, San Jose, CA) using CellQuest software.
Quantitation of undivided cells
After SEB injection, we evaluated the fraction of undivided
CFSE+ cells using the previously described
formula4: percent
undivided = (a(1 -
b)/(b(1 - a)) x 100, where
a is the fraction of Vß8+ among
undivided CD4+ cells in SEB-treated animals and
b the fraction of Vß8+ among
undivided CD4+ cells in control PBS-treated
animals.
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Results and Discussion
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The bacterial superantigen SEB reacts with a polyclonal population
of Vß8 expressing T cells. Because in BALB/c mice
Vß8+ T cells represent 30% of the peripheral T
cell pool, this fraction is sufficiently high to be followed in an
adoptive transfer experiment without purifying the cells. We restricted
our analysis to the
CD4+Vß8+ T cell subset
because anergy has been intensively studied in this T cell population.
Several reports show that the extent of anergy can differ when
monitored in an in vitro or in an in vivo essay (1, 22).
To be as close as possible to the physiological situation, we evaluated
anergy in vivo.
One single injection with 20 µg SEB in the footpads of a naive animal
induces a strong T cell activation (evaluated by increases in forward
scatter (FSC) as well as CD25, CD69, and CD44 expression) 1 day after
the injection (Fig. 1
B) in the
draining popliteal lymph node. This activation is restricted to the
Vß8-expressing T cells (data not shown). T cell proliferation was
measured as described previously (19) by transferring a
CFSE-labeled naive splenocyte population into naive syngeneic
recipients. The amplitude of proliferation in the
CD4+Vß8+ or
CD4+Vß8- T cell
populations (evaluated by the decrease in CFSE intensity) was measured
2 days (Fig. 1
A) or 7 days (Fig. 1
C) after SEB
administration. As shown in Fig. 1
A, most proliferating
cells on day 2 were found in division peaks 2 and 3, which is
consistent with our previous observations (19). Because
the majority of SEB-stimulated
CD4+Vß8+ T cells that
have undergone more than three rounds of division are eliminated by
apoptosis (19), the remaining
CFSE+ cells on day 7 after SEB injection are
either undivided or have undergone one or two cell divisions (Fig. 1
C). These residual
CD4+Vß8+ T cells
displayed a phenotype similar to naive cells (Fig. 1
D).

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FIGURE 1. Phenotype of in vivo SEB-anergized T cells. CFSE-labeled splenocytes
were transferred i.v. into naive syngeneic animals. One day after the
transfer, a footpad injection of 20 µg of SEB was performed and T
cell proliferation in popliteal lymph node was evaluated 2 days
(A) or 7 days (C) later. Alternatively, a
second SEB injection was performed 7 days after the first one and
proliferation status of T cells was evaluated 2 days after the second
injection (E). A, C, and
E, Gray histograms, gated on
CD4+Vß8+; open histograms, gated on
CD4+Vß8-. Arrows indicate CFSE division
peaks containing the highest proportion of cells. To simplify the
figures, unlabeled (CFSE-) cells were excluded from the
analysis. FSC, CD25, CD69, and CD44 expression on
CD4+Vß8+ T cells (gray histograms) were
measured 1 day (B) or 7 days (D) after
primary SEB injection or 1 day after secondary SEB challenge
(F). Control (naive T cells) are depicted with open
histograms. Scales are logarithmic for CFSE, CD25, CD69, and CD44 and
linear for FSC. One experiment representative of two is shown.
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The extent of T cell anergy in mice that had received a single dose of
SEB 7 days previously was evaluated by the administration of a second
dose of SEB. T cell activation phenotype and proliferation were
evaluated 1 day and 2 days, respectively, after the second SEB
administration. Anergic T cells could still become blasts
(FSChigh) and re-express activation markers such
as CD25, CD69, or CD44 upon a second contact with SEB (Fig. 1
F). However, compared with T cells after a single SEB
injection (Fig. 1
B), this activation was reduced. The
influence of the second SEB injection on T cell proliferation is
depicted in Fig. 1
E. Two days after the second SEB
challenge, there is no striking difference in the distribution of
proliferating cells in the different division peaks as compared with
cells that have been activated once with SEB 7 days before (c.f. Fig. 1
E and 1C, respectively). In both cases, the
majority of the cells are either undivided or have cycled one or two
times. Therefore, upon a second SEB challenge, the absence of
significant proliferation and diminished expression of activation
markers among CD4+Vß8+ T
cells demonstrate that these cells are anergic. These data are
consistent with a previous report showing that anergic
CD4+Vß8+ T cells
displayed impaired cell cycle progression and IL-2 production in vivo
upon SEB stimulation as compared with naive T cells
(1).
To gain insight into the role of the environment in the maintenance of
anergy, we performed adoptive transfers of CFSE-labeled anergic or
naive cells in different environments. A series of BALB/c mice were
injected with SEB. After 7 days, half of them were sacrificed and their
splenocytes were used as donor anergic cells for adoptive transfers.
The remaining SEB-injected animals were used as anergic recipients.
Similarly, control BALB/c animals were used to provide either naive
cells for transfer or naive recipients. Anergic or naive splenocytes
were labeled with CFSE and transferred in either naive or anergic
recipient mice. Then, 24 h after the transfer, mice were injected
with SEB or PBS, and
CD4+Vß8+ T cell
proliferation in the four conditions was monitored 2 days later. This
experimental design differs from the previous one in two ways. First,
whereas in the previous protocol the behavior of anergic cells upon
secondary SEB administration was monitored in the same environment
where they were primed, in the second protocol, anergic cells were
transferred in different recipient mice before being rechallenged with
SEB. In addition, in this second protocol, anergic cells were labeled
with CFSE before being transferred and hence appear as a uniform
undivided population before the second SEB challenge despite their
heterogeneous proliferation history (Fig. 1
C). Figs. 2
and 3
depict the results obtained using this experimental protocol. As
expected, anergic cells transferred in an anergic environment were
strongly reduced in their capacity to proliferate upon a second SEB
challenge. The few anergic cells that proliferated underwent only one
cell division, whereas naive cells transferred in a naive environment
underwent on average two to three cell divisions (Fig. 2
). Moreover,
65% of the anergic cells remained undivided in an anergic environment,
whereas when naive T cells were transferred in a naive environment only
20% remained undivided upon SEB challenge (Fig. 3
).

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FIGURE 2. SEB-induced T cell proliferation in naive vs anergic environments.
CFSE-labeled naive or anergic (from a day 7 SEB-injected animal) donor
splenocytes containing the indicated proportions of Vß8+
among CD4+ T cells were transferred either into naive or
anergic recipient mice as indicated. The four different combinations of
mice received 20 µg of SEB in the footpads, and proliferation in
popliteal lymph node was measured 2 days later. Gray histograms, gated
on CD4+Vß8+; open histograms, gated on
CD4+Vß8-. The mean percentage (±SD) of
Vß8+ among CD4+CFSE+ cells is
indicated for each group. Transferred cells in all combinations did not
proliferate after control PBS injection (data not shown) and recovery
of transferred cells was comparable (13%) for the different groups.
Arrows indicate CFSE division peaks containing the highest proportion
of cells. One experiment representative of three is shown
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FIGURE 3. Undivided SEB-specific T cells in naive vs anergic environments.
Quantitation of undivided CD4+Vß8+ T cells in
the different combinations of mice described in Fig. 2 was performed
using the formula described in Materials and Methods.
Data are the mean ± SD of four to seven independent mice for each
condition. Values of p were determined according to the
Students t test.
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To directly address the role of environmental factors on the
maintenance of anergy and the possibility that anergy can be
transferable, a criss-cross transfer experiment was performed:
CFSE-labeled anergic cells were transferred in a naive recipient,
whereas CFSE-labeled naive cells were transferred in an anergic
recipient. Proliferation was evaluated 2 days after SEB injection.
Results obtained are unequivocal; naive cells in an anergic environment
proliferated normally, whereas anergic cells in a naive environment
were strongly impaired in their capacity to proliferate. Analysis of
CFSE profiles (Fig. 2
) as well as the percentage of undivided cells
(Fig. 3
) show that proliferation of naive cells in an anergic
environment is comparable to naive cells in a naive environment.
Reciprocally, when anergic cells were transferred in naive or anergic
recipient mice the percentage of undivided cells was very similar (Fig. 3
) and the few cells that were engaged in proliferation underwent only
one cell cycle (Fig. 2
). If anything, a slightly higher proportion of
naive or anergic donor cells entered in cycle in anergic recipients
compared with naive recipients (Fig. 3
), although this difference was
only marginally statistically significant (p
0.05).
In conclusion, we show that in vivo SEB-induced persisting T cell
anergy is independent of inhibitory environmental factors, such as
cytokines or Abs. This conclusion is supported by two observations.
First, naive T cells, when transferred in an anergic environment, are
still able to proliferate normally upon SEB stimulation despite the
hypothetical presence of suppressor factors. Second, anergic cells
remain unresponsive when transferred in a naive and therefore
presumably suppressor factor-free environment. It should be emphasized
that the average chimerism of CFSE-labeled cells was
2% in these
criss-cross transfer experiments. Hence the cell autonomous behavior of
naive and anergic T cells was achieved even under conditions where such
cells were outnumbered by a ratio of
50:1 in their respective
environments. Therefore, we favor a model where T cell anergy would be
maintained by a cell autonomous mechanism. Interestingly, using T cell
clones, accumulating evidence suggests that anergy in vitro could be
maintained by a dominant-acting repressor molecule that inhibits IL-2
signal transduction (23, 24, 25, 26, 27). Whether a similar mechanism
is responsible for SEB-induced T cell anergy in vivo remains to be
investigated.
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Footnotes
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1 This work was supported in part by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (31-32271.94; to H.A.-O). 
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. H. Robson MacDonald, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Chemin des Boveresses 155, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland. 
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: SE, staphyloccocal enterotoxin; CFSE, 5-(and 6-) carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester; SEB, staphyloccocal enterotoxin B; FSC, forward scatter. 
4 A. Attinger, H. R. MacDonald, and H. Acha-Orbea. Submitted for publication. 
Received for publication March 28, 2000.
Accepted for publication May 24, 2000.
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