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*
Allergopharma Joachim Ganzer KG, Reinbek, Germany; and
Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Borstel, Germany
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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production (13),
indicating the involvement of T cells in this beneficial effect. In a previous study we showed that the majority of Phl p 5-specific T cell clones were stimulated by the allergoid when using autologous irradiated PBMC for Ag presentation, although in comparison with the native allergen the magnitude of proliferation was often lower (14). When comparing autologous PBMC with cultivated DC for Ag presentation, a considerable increase in the proliferation could be observed with both allergen and allergoid, and the magnitude of proliferation varied with the individual T cell clone (TCC)2 (14). The reduced reactivity of allergoids with autologous PBMC for Ag presentation was attributed to the reduced IgE reactivity (14), because a high proportion of these cells (e.g., B cells) use Ig or Fc receptors for Ag recognition and uptake (15, 16, 17, 18).
PBMC are not the target APC for specific immunotherapy via s.c. injections. In the skin the most potent APC are DC, which are essentially important for the initiation of primary T cell-mediated immune responses to foreign Ags (19). These DC are considered immature DC, with a strong Ag-capturing and processing ability, but low T cell-stimulating capacity (20). After Ag uptake they migrate under the influence of inflammatory agents via afferent lymph or blood to secondary lymphoid organs. During this migration they develop into mature DC, which have lost the ability to capture Ag, but have acquired increased capacity to stimulate T cells (20). DC derived from separated blood monocytes and cultured under the influence of GM-CSF and IL-4 possess the phenotype and functional characteristics of immature dendritic cells (21, 22). Another potent APC population in nonlymphoid tissues is the macrophages, which are also very effective for priming naive T cells (23, 24).
Several methods have been described recently for the generation of DC from progenitors in human blood under cultivation with GM-CSF and IL-4 (25, 26, 27, 28). The generation of macrophages from hemopoietic progenitors requires different culture conditions, such as growing on hydrophobic Teflon membranes (29) with or without the presence of cytokines such as GM-CSF or M-CSF (30, 31, 32).
In this study we compared the ability of Phl p 5-specific T cell clones
to respond to allergen and allergoid when presentation was performed by
different kinds of APC, including irradiated autologous PBMC, DC,
macrophages (M
), and B cells.
In view of the fact that IL-12 is known to be involved in the induction
of Th1 responses (24, 33, 34) and that DC and M
are the
principal sources of this cytokine, we looked for IL-12 production in
the supernatants of the stimulated TCC and APC. IL-10 concentrations
were also measured, since this cytokine is recognized to counteract
IL-12 production (35, 36, 37) and is produced in progressively
larger amounts by T cells of the peripheral blood from patients during
the course of specific immunotherapy with bee venom
(38).
Our results demonstrate that the grass pollen allergoids retain a high
specific T cell-stimulating capacity, in particular when they are
presented by professional APC such as DC or M
. Thus, allergoids
appear well suited for allergen specific immunotherapy through their
ability to target T cells, but without provoking all the side effects
mediated by IgE reactivity.
| Materials and Methods |
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|
|---|
A commercially produced grass pollen extract (Allergopharma, Reinbek, Germany), derived from pollen from Phleum pratense, Lolium perenne, Holcus lanatus, Dactylis glomerata, Poa pratensis, and Festuca pratensis supplied by Allergon (Engelholm, Sweden), was used. The production procedure involved the extraction in Cocas solution (5 g of NaCl and 2.5 g of NaHCO3/L) at 4°C for 16 h, centrifugation, diafiltration (Mr cutoff, 5 kDa), and lyophilization. Allergoids were produced from molecular characterized and standardized extracts by treatment with formaldehyde according to the method described by Marsh et al. (7). The source of Phl p 5 and rPhl p 5b had been described previously (14, 39).
For the cultivation of DC and M
the cytokines GM-CSF, IL-4, TNF-
,
IL-6, IL-1ß, and IFN-
were obtained from BioSource (Ratingen,
Germany), M-CSF was obtained from R&D Systems (Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt,
Germany), IL-2 from Strathmann Biotech (Hannover, Germany), and
PGE2 from Sigma (Deisenhofen, Germany).
T cell clones
The generation of Phl p 5-specific T cell clones from grass pollen allergic individuals was performed as previously described (14, 40).
Isolation of CD14- and CD19-positive cells
Isolation of PBMC from the blood of the respective allergic donor was performed with Lymphoprep medium (density, 1.077; Life Technologies, Eggenstein, Germany) in Leucosep tubes (Greiner, Frickenhausen, Germany) according to the instructions of the manufacturers.
CD14+ cells were obtained by magnetic cell sorting using positive selection with CD14-MicroBeads (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) and MiniMACS Separation Columns type MS (Miltenyi Biotec). The separation of the CD14+ cells was performed in MACS buffer consisting of PBS, pH 7.2, supplemented with 0.5% BSA fraction V (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) and 2 mM EDTA according to the instructions of the manufacturer. The effluent was collected for subsequent separation of B cells with CD19-MicroBeads (Miltenyi Biotec). These isolation procedures generally yielded >90% pure monocytes or B cells, respectively.
Generation of DC
CD14+ cells were cultivated under
serum-free conditions in Ultraculture Medium (BioWhittaker, Verviers,
Belgium) supplemented with 2 mM Glutamax I (Life Technologies),
antibiotic-antimycotic solution (Sigma), and 20 µM mercaptoethanol
(Life Technologies) together with IL-4 (200 ng/well) and GM-CSF (60
ng/well). CD14+ cells (3 x
106) were seeded in a total volume of 1 ml in a
24-well culture plate (Nunc, Wiesbaden, Germany). Every second day half
of the medium was removed and substituted with fresh medium containing
both cytokines in equal amounts, as described above. After 710 days
of culture the cells were harvested and used as APC for autologous TCC
in proliferation assays, an aliquot of the cells was prepared for
characterization by FACS analysis. These cells were considered immature
DC. To confirm that the cultivated cells were of the DC phenotype,
maturation was induced by incubating the immature DC after day 7 for an
additional 3 days in a cocktail of different cytokines
according to the method described by Jonuleit et al.
(41) using TNF-
(10 ng/ml), IL-6 (10 ng/ml), IL-1ß
(10 ng/ml), and PGE2 (1 µg/ml).
Generation of M
Numerous culture conditions for the generation of M
from
CD14+ blood monocytes are described in the
literature; therefore, several different media were tested in
preliminary trials. Basic medium was either Ultraculture (BioWhittaker)
or IMDM (Life Technologies). The medium was used either with or without
the cytokines and serum or with the addition of GM-CSF or M-CSF and 2%
AB-Serum (Sigma) or 10% FCS (Life Technologies). The medium leading to
the highest yield of viable cells with M
-like properties was
Ultraculture medium supplemented with 2 mM Glutamax I,
antibiotic-antimycotic solution, and 20 µM mercaptoethanol, as
described above, with addition of 2% AB serum and 30 ng/ml M-CSF.
CD14+ cells (5 x 106)
were seeded in a total volume of 1 ml in a 24-well culture plate for
suspension cultures (Greiner, Frickenhausen, Germany). Every second or
third day half of the medium was removed and substituted with fresh
medium, adding M-CSF on days 3 and 5. After 710 days of culture the
cells were harvested and used as APC for autologous TCC in
proliferation assays. An aliquot of the cells was prepared for
characterization by FACS analysis. Activated M
were obtained by
adding 10 ng/ml IFN-
for the last 24 h of cultivation.
Proliferation assay
For the proliferation assay the cells of a TCC were seeded at
2 x 104 T cells/well of a 96-well culture
plate in triplicate with the Ags in optimal stimulation doses (100
PNU/ml of grass pollen allergen and allergoid, 10 µg of Phl p 5/ml).
The different autologous APC were used in the following amounts per
well: 5 x 104 irradiated (30 Gy) PBMC,
5 x 103 DC or M
, and 5 x
104 B cells. These numbers of APC were found to
be optimal for the stimulation of 2 x 104 T
cells/well. After 48 h in the incubator (37°C, humidified
atmosphere, 5% CO2) 100 µl of supernatant was
removed, and equal supernatants were pooled and frozen at -20°C
until assayed for cytokines. Immediately after removal of half the
medium it was supplemented with fresh medium and 1 µCi
[3H]thymidine (Amersham-Pharmacia,
Braunschweig, Germany)/well and further incubated for 16 h. Cells
were then harvested on Microbeta filter mats with a 96-well cell
harvester (Wallac ADL, Freiburg, Germany) and prepared for measurement
in a Microbeta scintillation counter (Wallac ADL) as described
previously (14).
Cytokine measurement
The cytokines IL-12 (p40 and p70) and in some cases IL-12p70 and IL-10 were determined in culture supernatants of stimulated TCC/APC using Cytoscreen ELISA kits (BioSource, Ratingen, Germany) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. The supernatants were obtained after a 48-h incubation period.
FACS analysis
Cell surface marker expression of the cultivated cells was evaluated by double-immunofluorescence staining using the following FITC- or PE-labeled mAbs for FACS analysis: CD14 (clone M5E2), CD16 (3G8), CD86 (2331 FUN-1), and CD11c (B-ly6) from PharMingen (Hamburg, Germany); CD80 (MAB104), CD-83 (HB15A), and HLA-DR (Immu357) from Coulter-Immunotech (Hamburg, Germany); and CD 123 (9F5) from Becton Dickinson (Heidelberg, Germany). The unlabeled mAbs Max I and Max III (42) were supplied by Prof. R. Andreesen (University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany). Isotype controls were IgG1 (107.3), IgG2a (G155-178), and IgG2b (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35) obtained from PharMingen. For secondary isotype control we used a mouse mAb 2F9 of the IgG1 isotype with specificity for Par o 1 (43) and FITC-labeled goat-anti-mouse IgG1 (Coulter-Immunotech).
FACS analysis was performed with a FACScalibur (Becton Dickinson,
Heidelberg, Germany). Marker expression was evaluated as the percentage
of positive cells among DC or M
defined by forward/side scatter
characteristics.
Statistics
For statistical evaluation the Wilcoxon signed rank test
(software: Jandel SigmaStat, version 2.0; Jandel, San Ramon, CA) was
used to compare the stimulation indexes obtained with different batches
of grass pollen extracts and allergoids for a single T cell clone and
autologous DC from identical cultivation batches. The Wilcoxon signed
rank test was further used for evaluation of the stimulation indexes
obtained
with allergen and allergoid using a panel of T cell clones and DC or
M
as APC, respectively.
| Results |
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|---|
by FACS analysis
During the culture process toward M
the
CD14+ cells increased in size. They grew
nonadherant due to the hydrophobic culture wells. The yield of cells
for the generation of M
was generally higher compared with the
generation of DC. DC grew nonadherant in small clusters and exhibited a
veiled and dendritic morphology (observations from light microscopy;
data not shown). DC and M
were characterized by specific surface
markers, as determined by FACS analysis (Table I
). The estimation of
the percentage of positive cells is based on at least 10
experiments.
|
marker
CD14 was down-regulated, whereas it was found in large quantity on
M
. Furthermore, these DCimm lacked CD83
expression, the typical marker for mature DC that was up-regulated when
maturation of the DC was induced by the incubation with the cytokine
cocktail; it was not found on the M
. The IL-3
receptor CD123 was
found exclusively on the DC and was up-regulated upon induction of
maturation. Low and high affinity receptors for IgG (CD16 and CD64,
respectively) were found only on the M
, with a strong up-regulation
of the latter upon activation by IFN-
, whereas the DC lacked these
markers. Costimulatory molecule CD86 was found on both cell types and
was up-regulated upon facilitation of maturation of DC or activation of
M
. CD80 was expressed to a lesser extent and was found only on the
DC. MHC II molecule HLA-DR was expressed on the majority of the cells
and further up-regulated upon maturation/activation. Max 1 and Max 3
were expressed to a higher degree on M
than on
DCimm. Maturation or activation did not change
the degree of expression of Max 1 and Max 3. All T cell stimulation
experiments with DC and M
described in this paper refer to
DCimm and non-IFN-
-activated M
. DC are highly effective APC for allergoid presentation to T cells
When comparing DC with autologous PBMC in terms of their
capacities to present allergen- or allergoid-derived peptides to Phl p
5-specific TCC, proliferation was markedly higher when using DC,
especially with the allergoid (14). A panel of 22 Phl p
5-reactive TCC derived from seven different allergic patients was
stimulated with grass pollen extract and allergoid and with rPhl p 5b
and the corresponding allergoid in the presence of DC as APC. The
resulting median values of the whole panel are shown in Table II
. Due
to their specificity, some clones showed a higher response with the
whole grass pollen preparations, other clones showed a higher response
with the Phl p 5b isoform used. The degree of reactivity with allergoid
compared with the native allergen also varied with the specificity of
the TCC, but all TCC investigated showed pronounced reactivity with the
two kinds of allergoid when presented by DC. Furthermore, the strength
of the proliferative response was dependent on the condition of the
respective TCC; with the same preparation of DC it was possible to
achieve a stimulation index of about 200 for one clone, whereas another
TCC from the same donor responded with a stimulation index of only
510.
|
|
are superior to PBMC in presenting allergoids to T cells
M
cultured from CD14+ cells were tested
for their T cell-stimulating properties as APC compared with those of
the irradiated autologous PBMC. Higher proliferations were obtained
when M
instead of PBMC were used for Ag presentation (Fig. 2
), especially with the allergoids.
Again, when comparing the median values of allergen and allergoid
reactivity of the panel of TCC, the allergen and allergoid did not
differ significantly (Table II
). All TCC gave a clear response with
both allergoids.
|
B cells isolated from PBMC were used for Ag presentation and
compared with PBMC, DC, or M
when possible. In an experiment using
TCC II.19.10C6 (Fig. 3
) B cells mediated
a similar high proliferation as DC when presenting the major allergen
rPhl p 5b, whereas the other allergen preparations,
especially the allergoid, were less active with B cells. Using M
,
all allergen preparations except rPhl p 5b yielded a much higher
proliferation of TCC, and DC were superior for presenting all allergen
preparations.
|
|
IL-12 is recognized as a key cytokine for the induction of Th1
responses, and DC and M
are the main sources of this cytokine. IL-12
(p40 plus p70) was detectable in large amounts in supernatants, where
the Ag presentation was performed by DC (Fig. 5
). The amount of IL-12 did not parallel
the proliferation; larger differences in the proliferation obtained
with the allergen were not accompanied by a similar course in IL-12
production and often led to similar IL-12 levels. The IL-12 production
was dependent on activated T cells because neither the control
stimulation (T cells and DC, but no allergen) nor nonrelevant major
allergens (for example, cat dander or birch pollen extract) nor the DC
and allergen without specific T cells led to IL-12 production (data not
shown). Using PBMC (Fig. 5
), isolated B cells (Fig. 4
), or M
(Fig. 6
), very little or no IL-12 was
detectable.
|
|
IL-10 was measured in parallel to IL-12 in some supernatants upon
Ag stimulation of TCC and APC. Very little or no IL-10 was obtained in
supernatants of TCC and B cells for Ag presentation (Fig. 4
) except for
one TCC (3D2). In contrast, IL-10 was found in supernatants from the
interaction of Ag-activated TCC with DC or M
for Ag presentation in
varying amounts (Figs. 4
and 6
). The amount of IL-10 from the
interaction of APC with a certain TCC varies with the type of the APC
(Fig. 6
); some interactions resulted in considerably higher IL-10
production when DC performed the Ag presentation (with TCC 1D6 and
12F5), and other interactions gave higher IL-10 production when M
acted as APC (with TCC 11C3 and 6G12). The experiments did not show
whether the source of IL-10 was the TCC or the APC.
The Th phenotype directs the cytokine profile of DC
Comparing M
and DC as APC with two TCC from the same donor
(II.17.1), we found a higher concentration of IL-12 in the supernatants
of DC and one of the TCC (1D8), whereas the interaction of the APC with
the other TCC (12F5) resulted in reduced IL-12 production (Fig. 6
). In
the supernatants of the latter, considerable production of IL-10 became
obvious, whereas the interaction with TCC 1D8 resulted in little IL-10
production. The M
produce very little IL-12 upon interaction with
the TCC and Ag, whereas IL-10 was obtained in larger amounts with
TCC 12F5 (Fig. 6
). Both TCC were formerly characterized as Th0 clones,
but regarding their interaction with DC, TCC 1D8 led to an
IL-12-dominated milieu, whereas TCC 12F5 led to an IL-10-dominated
milieu.
Comparing the IL-12 and IL-10 production in supernatants of the TCC
from Fig. 4
when Ag is presented by either DC or B cells, pronounced
IL-12 and IL-10 production was only found with DC for Ag presentation.
A strong induction of proliferation of the Th2-like clone 6G12 by B
cells was not accompanied by IL-12 production of these APC. The
interaction of the DC with TCC 6H4, which exhibits a Th1 phenotype,
yielded low levels of IL-10 and very high levels of IL-12. In contrast,
the interaction of the DC with TCC 6G12, 2A12, 3D2, and 5D6, which
share a Th2- or Th0-like phenotype, respectively, gave higher IL-10
production and lower IL-12 production compared with TCC 6H4 (Fig. 4
).
Thus, the phenotype of a TCC directs the cytokine profile of the DC.
The interaction of DC with TCC of Th2-like character resulted in lower
IL-12 and higher IL-10 production, whereas the interaction of DC with
Th1-like TCC led to higher IL-12 and lower IL-10 production.
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
generated from CD14+ precursors of blood
cells are highly effective cells for the presentation of allergoids,
whereas PBMC and B cells are less effective.
The cultivated DC possess the phenotypical and morphological
characteristics of DC (data for the latter not shown) (20, 41, 44, 45): no or low expression of CD14; the absence of low
affinity (CD16) and high affinity (CD64) IgG receptors; expression of
CD123, which has been described as a suitable marker for the isolation
of DC from mononuclear cells (44); and especially strong
expression of costimulatory molecules CD86 and MHC-II. CD83, as a
typical marker of mature DC (45), and CD80 were
up-regulated upon induction of maturation. In contrast to DC, the M
showed, as expected (20, 30, 46), strong expression of
CD14; no DC markers such as CD123 and CD83; considerable expression of
CD16, CD64, and the costimulatory molecules CD86 and MHC II; as well as
high expression of the M
-associated markers Max 1 and Max 3. Max 1
and Max 3 molecules were described as lineage-restricted
differentiation Ags of mature M
(42). We also detected
Max 1 on DC, an observation that has not previously been documented in
the literature.
There are few reports concerning the direct stimulation of T cells with
allergoids. In a previous study we showed a clear T cell reactivity of
allergoids by direct stimulation of PBMC from allergic subjects and by
stimulation of T cell lines and clones using the conventionally taken
autologous PBMC for Ag presentation (14). In this system
the stimulating capacity of the allergoid was often lower compared with
that of the native allergen. Stimulation of PBMC from house dust mite
allergic and nonallergic subjects with house dust mite allergen as well
as allergoid showed similar T cell-stimulating properties
(47). Dormann et al. (48) compared native Bet
v 1 and maleic anhydride- and formaldehyde-modified preparations of Bet
v 1 for their stimulating capacity with a panel of Bet v 1-specific TCC
using autologous PBMC for Ag presentation. Both the native allergen and
the maleic anhydride-modified Bet v 1 revealed strong IgE reactivity as
well as strong T cell-stimulating capacity, whereas the
formaldehyde-modified allergen showed both reduced IgE and T cell
reactivity. PBMC are not the target APC in s.c. injection
immunotherapy, and therefore we investigated the reactivity of
allergoids with APC that more closely resemble those acting under in
vivo conditions. Using pure populations of APC, including DC, M
, and
B cells, we found the differences in their abilities to present
allergoids. The differences may be attributable to the particular Ag
uptake mechanisms used by these cells; DC and M
possess the capacity
to ingest Ag by macropinocytosis or phagocytosis (20, 22, 49, 50, 51). Although all TCC investigated showed a pronounced
reactivity with the allergoid using DC or M
for Ag presentation, the
magnitude of reactivity obtained by the allergoid compared with the
allergen varied. As discussed previously (14), these
differences might be attributable to formaldehyde-modified T cell
peptides of the allergoid. The chemical modification may alter the
affinity of the peptide for the TCR, and the possible outcome is
higher, similar, or lower stimulating capacity of the allergoid,
dependent on the specificity of the TCC. Observations from several
model systems studying altered peptide ligands support this hypothesis
(52, 53). It is also probable that the allergoid-derived
peptides differ from the peptides of the native material in their
peptide-flanking residues, leading to peptides with more agonistic or
antagonistic features, as recently described for an immunodominant
epitope of hen egg lysozyme (54).
Furthermore, the lower proliferation to allergoid compared with the
allergen sometimes observed with some TCC may be a result of the
hindered Ag uptake via Fc
or Fc
receptors due to destroyed B cell
epitopes, since this mechanism is also used by these cells (20, 22, 55, 56, 57). Both receptors for IgE, the high affinity receptor
Fc
RI and the low affinity receptor Fc
RII, were found on
monocyte-derived DC (58).
The weak proliferation of appropriate TCC induced by the allergoid, in
contrast to the allergen, as a result of Ag presentation by B cells is
indirect evidence that Ab-mediated Ag uptake mechanisms fail to work
for allergoids. It is supposed that this is the main reason for the
observed lower stimulating capacity of PBMC-mediated Ag presentation
(14). The observation of van Neerven et al.
(17) that serum IgE facilitates allergen presentation to
Th cells by a factor of >100 supports this hypothesis. These authors
showed that this process is mediated by the low affinity IgE receptor
CD23. Ag uptake via allergen-specific IgE bound to Fc
RII enables all
B cells bearing this receptor, even those that are not specific for the
allergen, to efficiently take up and present allergen-derived peptides
to Th cells, leading to an up-regulation of the allergic response. Our
results using B cells for Ag presentation and TCC of different
phenotypes (Th2 and Th1) confirm the observations of other authors
using murine (59, 60) or human TCC (61),
showing that B cells are very effective in presenting native allergen
to Th2 clones, but fail to stimulate Th1 clones. Therefore, the
destruction of Ab-binding epitopes as a result of chemical modification
hinders the Ag presentation by B cells. Consequently, there will be no
activation of the elevated number of existing Th2 cells of the allergic
subject via this pathway, and therefore no further IL-4 and IL-5
production, which would further amplify the allergic reaction.
In contrast to B cells, DC and M
present Ag to Th1, Th2, and Th0
clones equally well. Concerning DC, these results contrast to a degree
with those of Ria et al. (62), who observed Th2
cell-mediated inhibition of IL-12 production from DC. We observed
considerable IL-12 production even with Th2-like TCC (Fig. 6
). When
investigating the simultaneous production of IL-10 and IL-12 resulting
from the interaction of different TCC with the same DC preparation, we
obtained higher IL-12 concentrations in supernatants from TCC that do
not produce or initiate IL-10 production.
The Fc
RI has been found on DC (55, 56). It seems not to
be important for priming immune responses because it requires Abs of
high affinity, which are themselves the result of an immune response.
Thus, the Fc
RI is thought to be involved in the amplification of
ongoing immune responses, such as allergy (32, 63). The
outcome of T cell stimulation might vary if the presentation by DC were
to be performed with varying contributions from Fc
RI
(55). Triggering of the receptors is supposed to lead to a
release of different cytokines by these DC with the capacity to skew
the immune response (55). The absence of IgE epitopes on
allergoids prevents Fc
RI-mediated uptake or triggering of these APC.
Therefore, allergoids are not able to amplify allergic reactions via
IgE/Fc
receptor-dependent mechanisms.
The IL-12 production of the APC was investigated because this cytokine
is known to be a main factor in the induction of Th1 responses from
naive T cells (24, 33, 34) and even in the suppression of
ongoing Th2 responses (23). The physiological function of
IL-12p40 in vivo is still unclear (64). An IL-12p70
antagonistic function has been described, but under certain conditions
IL-12p40 acts similarly to IL-12p70, and it has been shown to act as a
chemoattractant for macrophages (64). Our results show
that allergen as well as allergoid presentation to allergen-specific
TCC by DC led to a pronounced IL-12 production, which was not the case
with control stimulations or stimulation with nonrelevant major
allergen. Therefore, both allergen and allergoid preparations possess
the capacity to prime naive T cells in the direction of Th1 responses
or any other mechanism that is exerted by IL-12p70 and IL-12p40.
Different TCC influenced the levels of IL-12 production to various
degrees, and significant IL-10 production was associated with lower
IL-12 production. These results clearly indicate that the phenotype of
an Ag-specific TCC might influence the surrounding cytokine milieu of
the DC in which priming occurs. The interaction of DC with
allergen-specific Th2-like cells resulted in less IL-12 and higher
IL-10 production than the interaction with Th1-like cells. Despite the
fact that both allergen and allergoid induced strong TCC proliferative
responses in the presence of M
, the latter failed to produce IL-12.
Recently, it was shown that M-CSF-generated M
are deficient in IL-12
production (p70 and p40) even after stimulation with LPS
(65).
The characteristic response pattern of a particular TCC was found to be a reproducible feature of different allergoid production batches. However, differences in the responses of TCC to allergen and allergoid may reflect the specificity of the TCC and suggest that the outcome of processing of allergen and allergoid might be different, leading to similar, but not always the same, peptides for presentation. Similar conclusions were drawn by Akdis et al. (18) for nonrefolded and refolded PLA2 from bee venom, which were shown to have a strong influence on the type of APC that acts for presentation. Only the refolded PLA2 led to effective Ag presentation by B cells, whereas the refolded as well as nonrefolded PLA2 was bound and processed equally well by monocytes. In mice, Yang et al. (4) demonstrated the preferential induction of Th1 responses in vivo by a chemically modified Ag (glutaraldehyde-polymerized OVA).
In conclusion, the data reveal that allergoids have a strong T
cell-stimulating capacity and demonstrate the advantage of the
allergoid principle for use in specific immunotherapy. The strongly
reduced ability of allergoids to react with IgE will prevent not only
mediator release from mast cells and basophils, but also the uptake via
IgE on Fc
RI and Fc
RII receptors of APC, which is supposed to
result in an amplification of the allergic response. The observations
suggest that the adoption of the allergoid principle in the development
of genetically modified allergens with reduced IgE reactivity but
retained T cell reactivity (40) will provide a promising
basis for the development of newer therapeutic vaccines for
allergen-specific immunotherapy.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Abbreviations used in this paper: TCC, T cell clone; DC, dendritic cell; DCimm, immature DC; M
, macrophages; PLA2, phospholipase A2; PNU, protein nitrogen units. ![]()
Received for publication March 14, 2000. Accepted for publication May 30, 2000.
| References |
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RI) mediates IgE-dependent allergen presentation. J. Immunol. 154:6285.[Abstract]
. J. Exp. Med. 179:1109.
RI-expressing antigen-presenting cells: new players in the atopic game. Immunol. Today 18:211.
RI on human epidermal Langerhans cells: an old receptor with new structure and functions. Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 113:30.[Medline]
RI on antigen-presenting cells. Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 113:24.[Medline]
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