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Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
| Abstract |
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production by lung-derived
CD4 and CD8 T cells from surviving Tc2-treated mice. Transfer of Tc2
cells into IFN-
-deficient tumor-bearing mice was markedly less
effective then into wild-type mice, suggesting that host-derived
IFN-
-dependent mechanisms play a role in Tc2-mediated antitumor
responses. | Introduction |
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) and type 2 (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10) cytokines have been
demonstrated to be useful in various cancer therapies
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5). In the latter, protection against tumor challenge
was strongly associated with the presence of eosinophils and
macrophages (1, 3, 6); however, the local recruitment and
activation of T cells still appears to be critical for the generation
and persistence of long-lasting systemic immunity (1, 7, 8, 9, 10). Moreover, such therapeutic responses appeared to be
highly dependent on chemokines that can preferentially recruit select T
cell populations to the site of tumor growth (11). Studies
from this laboratory and others have demonstrated that differential
migration patterns by various effector T cell subpopulations are
dependent, in part, on diverse chemokines and the expression of T cell
subset-specific chemokine receptors (unpublished observations and Refs.
12, 13, 14, 15, 16). Thus, enhanced local chemokine production at the
site of tumor growth may play a role in the regulation of tumor cell
growth and metastases and involve the participation and orchestration
of specific effector cell types and their soluble products.
As in the case with CD4 T cells, CD8 T lymphocytes can be
further classified into distinct effector
cell types based on their cytokine-secreting profiles after tumor Ag
encounter (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23). Type 2 CD8+ T cells
(Tc2)3 preferentially secrete IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13
and kill predominantly by the perforin pathway, whereas type 1 CD8 T
cells predominantly secrete IFN-
and kill by either perforin or
Fas-mediated mechanisms (22, 24). Although Tc2 effector
cell subpopulations have been identified in human peripheral blood and
in patients with various clinical disorders (25, 26, 27, 28),
their role in tumor rejection and cancer immunotherapy remains
relatively undefined.
In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic mechanisms
involved in the effector phase of tumor rejection induced by adoptively
transferred Tc2 effector cells in vivo. Using a previously described
OVA Ag-expressing B16 melanoma lung metastasis model
(17, 18, 19), we examined the antitumor mechanisms involved in
tumor rejection by OVA Ag-specific Tc2 effector cells and the role(s)
of effector cell-derived perforin, IL-4, and IL-5. At early time points
after therapy, tumor-reactive Tc2 effector cells accumulated at the
tumor site and induced tumor regression that subsequently enhanced
survival in mice with established pulmonary tumors. On adoptive
transfer of perforin-deficient Tc2 effector cells, generated from
perforin gene knockout OT-I mice, we show no differences in therapeutic
efficiency when compared with that of wild-type Tc2 effector cells. In
contrast, Tc2 cells derived from select cytokine gene-deficient OT-I
mice showed that therapeutic effects were dependent in part on effector
cell-derived IL-4 and IL-5, which not only induced elevated levels of
lung-derived type 1 immune cell-inducing chemoattractants
(IFN-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), macrophage-inflammatory protein
(MIP)-1
, and MIP-1
) in vivo but also increased the local
accumulation of activated host-derived
CD8/CD44high, CD4/CD44high,
and OVA Ag-specific tetramer-positive CD8 T cells. Over time, the
numbers of host-derived T and non-T immune cells significantly
increased in the lung, which correlated with an elevated production of
IP-10, RANTES, and MIP-1
and a continued reduction in tumor burden.
Conversely, donor Tc2 effector cell numbers markedly diminished at
corresponding times, suggesting that prolonged therapeutic
responses were due, in part, to the presence of host-derived
antitumor mechanisms. Moreover, local type 1-like immune responses were
detectable with increased levels of IFN-
production by lung-derived
host CD4 and CD8 T cells from Tc2-treated tumor-bearing mice. Adoptive
transfer of Tc2 effector cells into syngeneic IFN-
-deficient
tumor-bearing mice were less effective than into wild-type recipients.
This suggest that recipient-derived IFN-
plays a significant role in
Tc2 cell-mediated antitumor responses and that Tc2 effector cell
immunotherapy is predominantly mediated at later stages after therapy
by type 1-like IFN-
-dependent antitumor responses of the
host.
| Materials and Methods |
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Female C57BL/6 mice, 6 to 10 wk of age, were obtained from the
Animal Breeding Facility at Trudeau Institute (Saranac, NY). The OT-I
mouse strain (Thy-1.2), on a C57BL/6 background
(H-2b), was originally obtained from Dr. M. Bevan
(University of Washington, Seattle, WA). These mice express a
transgenic TCR V
2 and V
5 specific for the SIINFEKL peptide of OVA
in the context of MHC class I, H2-Kb
(29). Perforin-/-,
IL-4-/-, IL-5-/-,
IFN-
-/-, and B6.PL/Thy-1.1 mice, on a B6
background, were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor,
ME). Homozygous perforin-/- (OT-I.PKO),
IL-4-/- (OT-I.IL-4),
IL-5-/- (OT-I.IL-5), and
IFN-
-/-
(OT-I.IFN-
-/-) knockout mice, expressing the
TCR V
2 and V
5 transgenes, were generated by backcrossing OT-I
mice onto specified syngeneic knockout mice
(H-2b) for more than two generations. Animals
were maintained and treated according to animal care committee
guidelines of the National Institutes of Health and Trudeau
Institute.
Tumor cells
The weakly immunogenic OVA-transfected B16 melanoma tumor cell line (B16-OVA) that is syngeneic to the C57BL/6 background was kindly provided by Drs. E. Lord and J. Frelinger (University of Rochester, Rochester, NY). EL4 and the derivative OVA-expressing EG.7-OVA cell lines were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA).
Lung cell preparation
For preparation of single-cell suspensions from lung parenchyma, lungs were flushed in situ with HBSS via cannulation of the heart to remove residual intravascular blood pools. Minced lung tissues were incubated for 1 h at 37°C on a rocker platform, in 1.5 ml/lung RPMI 1640 supplemented with DNase I (50 U/ml; Sigma, St. Louis, MO), collagenase I type 4197 (250 U/ml; Sigma), and 5% FCS. After incubation, digested lung tissues were mechanically dispersed through stainless steel mesh screens in RPMI 16405% FCS. After three washes in RPMI 16405% FCS, lymphoid cells were resuspended in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD), supplemented with 2 mM pyruvate, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, 10 mM HEPES, and 10% heat-inactivated FCS (Life Technologies) to attain a cell concentration of 1 x 107 viable cells/ml.
Generation of OVA-specific CD8 effector T cells
To obtain effector cells to OVA peptide, single-cell suspensions
from spleen and lymph nodes of OT-I mice were washed twice in HBSS and
resuspended in RPMI 164010% FCS. CD8-enriched T cells were obtained
by passing lymphoid cell suspensions through nylon wool columns and
treating with anti-CD4 (RL172.4), anti-heat-stable Ag (J11D),
and anti-MHC class II (D3.137, M5114, CA4) mAbs and complement.
Small resting CD8 T cells were harvested from Percoll gradients (Sigma)
and resuspended to appropriate cell concentrations in culture medium.
Naive CD8 cells were typically 90% pure as demonstrated by
immunofluorescent Ab staining. APCs were enriched from spleens of
normal C57BL/B6 mice by anti-Thy-1.2 (HO13.14 and F7D5),
anti-CD4 (RL172.4), and anti-CD8 (3.155) mAbs and complement. T
cell-depleted APCs were pulsed with OVA peptide (10 M) for 30 min at
37°C and treated with mitomycin C (50 g/ml; Sigma) for an additional
30 min at 37°C. For Tc2 effector cell generation, naive CD8 T cells
from OT-I-transgenic mice (2 x 105
cells/ml) were stimulated with mitomycin C-treated OVA peptide-pulsed
APCs (6 x 105 cells/ml) in the presence of
IL-2 (20 U/ml; X63.IL-2 supernatants), IL-4 (200 U/ml; X63.IL-4
supernatants; Ref. 30), and anti-IFN-
mAb (20
µg/ml; XMG1.2). Effector cell cultures were incubated for 4 days with
additional IL-2 (20 U/ml) added to the cultures on day 2 to promote CD8
cell expansion of Tc2 populations.
Adoptive immunotherapy model
Syngeneic B6 or B6.PL/Thy-1.1 mice were injected i.v. with 2 x 105 B16-OVA melanoma cells to establish pulmonary metastases. Seven days after tumor challenge, mice were treated i.v. with various doses of Tc2 OVA-specific effector T cells and survival times monitored daily. Control groups received no treatment. At either early (512 days) or late (2128 days) time points after Tc2 effector cell transfer, mice were sacrificed for enumeration of pulmonary metastatic nodules. Metastases on freshly isolated lungs appeared as discrete black pigmented foci that were easily distinguishable from normal lung tissue. The number of pulmonary metastases in treated and untreated control groups was counted in a blind manner. Metastatic foci too numerous to count were assigned an arbitrary value of >250. For survival studies, data are expressed as either the percent survival or the relative percent rate of mortality (31). The later was determined by regression analysis (95% confidence intervals) of values derived from the percent survival of tumor-bearing mice over time. The absolute value of the negative slope of the regression line is the mortality rate. Data are expressed as the ratio of the mortality rate for groups of effector cell-treated mice to corresponding groups of untreated mice x 100. The significance of the regression coefficients was determined by analysis of variance (31).
Flow cytometric analysis
Single-cell suspensions of processed murine lung were washed three times in a fluorescent Ab buffer (FAB) consisting of 1% BSA and 0.02% sodium azide in 0.01 M PBS, pH 7.2. Recipient immune cell populations were phenotyped by their expression of surface markers using direct immunofluorescence staining techniques. Lymphocytes (106), pretreated with FcR block, were mixed with 100 µl FAB containing 1 µg either/or fluorescein-conjugated anti-CD90.1 (Thy-1.1; BD PharMingen; clone HIS51), fluorescein-conjugated anti-CD90.2 (Thy-1.2; BD PharMingen; clone 53-2.1), CyChrome-conjugated anti-CD8 or anti-CD4 (BD PharMingen), PE-conjugated CD44 (BD PharMingen; clone IM7), PE-conjugated MAC-1 (CD11b), PE-conjugated CD19, or PE-conjugated NK1.1 mAbs and incubated for 20 min on ice. Stained cell preparations were than washed three times in FAB and analyzed by multiparameter flow cytometry using a FACScan (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA). For B16-OVA tumor cells, direct immunofluorescent staining with either fluorescein-conjugated class I H2-Kb, class I H2-Db, or class II Iab or PE-conjugated CD95, FasL, and CD44. Ten thousand cells were analyzed per sample with dead cells excluded on the basis of forward light scatter. Surface marker analysis was performed using CellQuest software (BD Biosciences), and the percent positive and absolute cell numbers were determined.
MHC tetrameric reagents and analysis
The construction of folded MHC class I-peptide complexes and their tetramerization have been described previously (32). Tetramers were generated by the Molecular Biology Core Facility at Trudeau Institute. The OVA tetramer is Kb folded with the SIINFEKL peptide derived from OVA. Tetramer titration was determined by using spleen and lymph node cell preparations from OT-I mice expressing a transgenic TCR specific for the Kb/SIINFEKL epitope. No cross-reactivity was detected in studies using cell preparations from OT-I mice mixed with wild-type C57BL/B6 or non-strain-related BALB/c mice. T cell-enriched populations from either spleen or lungs of either effector cell-treated or untreated tumor-bearing mice were incubated with FcR block for 10 min and stained with PE-conjugated tetrameric reagent for 1 h at 20°C, followed by staining with Tricolor anti-CD8 and FITC-Thy-1.1 or FITC-Thy-1.2 mAbs on ice for 20 min. Stained samples were washed and analyzed using a FACScan flow cytometer and CellQuest software.
Intracellular cytokine staining
Single-cell suspensions were obtained from lungs of effector
cell-treated or untreated tumor-bearing mice as described above. Cells
were stimulated with PMA (10-7 M) and ionomycin (1
µg/ml) for 4 h. Two hours before harvesting, brefeldin A (10
µg/ml) was added to cultures to retain cytoplasmic cytokines. Cells
were pretreated with FcR block followed by either/or FITC-conjugated
anti-CD90.1 (Thy-1.1; BD PharMingen; clone HIS51), FITC-conjugated
anti-CD90.2 (Thy-1.2; BD PharMingen; clone 53-2.1),
CyChrome-conjugated anti-CD8, or anti-CD4 (BD PharMingen).
Subsequently, cells were fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde followed by
intracellular staining in permeabilization buffer containing 0.5%
saponin and 1% BSA in PBS and PE-conjugated IFN-
, IL-4, or IL-10
(BD PharMingen). Cells were washed and resuspended in 1% BSA-PBS
solution and analyzed by flow cytometry. Data were analyzed using
CellQuest software.
Cytokine/chemokine mRNA expression in lung tissue
Lungs were flushed in situ with HBSS via cannulation of the heart to remove residual intravascular blood pools. Total RNA from either cell cultures or whole lungs of effector cell-treated or untreated tumor-bearing mice were prepared by tissue homogenization in TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies). mRNA levels were quantitated using the RiboQuant Multiprobe Ribonuclease Protection Assay system (BD PharMingen) with the mCK-1, mCK-3, and mCK-5 cytokine/chemokine mRNA detection probe sets. Bands were detected using the Molecular Imager FX with the Quantity One Software analysis program (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) and normalized against the L32 housekeeping gene as relative U.
Statistical analysis
For statistical analysis, the two-tailed Student t test or nonparametric Mann-Whitney rank sum test was used.
| Results |
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CD8+ Tc2 effector T cells were generated in
vitro from OVA-specific TCR-transgenic OT-I mice as described in
Materials and Methods. As shown in earlier in vitro studies
(17), Tc2 effector cells demonstrated potent tumor
Ag-specific cytolytic activity to OVA Ag-expressing tumor cell targets
(EG.7-OVA) that was predominantly mediated by the perforin pathway.
Furthermore, Tc2 populations released considerable amounts of IL-5
(>20,000 U/ml/106 cells in 24 h) and IL-4
(>20 ng/ml/106 cells in 24 h), with low yet
detectable levels of IFN-
on restimulation with OVA-expressing tumor
cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that Tc2 effector cell
populations expressed similar patterns of cell surface Ag markers that
are characteristic of effector cell phenotype (17).
Effector cell populations were TCR V
2+,
CD8+CD4- and expressed
up-regulated levels of both CD44 and CD25 and down-regulated levels of
CD62 ligand.
Because chemokines have been shown to facilitate and aid in the
generation of antitumor immune responses (11), we extended
our phenotypic characterization of Tc2 effector cell populations by
assessing Tc2 effector cell-derived chemokine gene expression after in
vitro restimulation with plate-bound anti-CD3 mAb. Effector cells
were generated in vitro and chemokine mRNA was assessed in a standard
RNase protection assay as described in Materials and
Methods. Chemokine mRNA expression among naive OT-I CD8 and
unstimulated Tc2 effector cell populations was negligible (data not
shown). However, after restimulation with plate-bound anti-CD3 for
5 h, Tc2 effector cell populations showed a marked up-regulation
in effector cell-derived chemokine mRNA expression for MIP-1
, T cell
activation gene-3, MIP-1
, and lymphotactin. Lower levels of eotaxin,
RANTES, IP-10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA were also
detected at similar times. Similar Tc2 effector cell-derived chemokine
mRNA profiles were detectable 24 h after restimulation, but at
lower levels (data not shown). In other studies, we have shown that Tc1
and Tc2 cells express message for the chemokine receptors CCR5 and
CCR4, respectively. Tc2 effector cell populations derived from either
perforin, IL-4 or IL-5 knockout mice were phenotypically comparable
with those of corresponding wild-type Tc2 effector cell populations
with the exception of function associated with the deleted genes (data
not shown).
Therapeutic effects by adoptively transferred Tc2 effector cells in mice with established pulmonary malignancy is partially attributed to effector cell-derived IL-4 or IL-5 and not to perforin
The therapeutic efficacy of Tc2 effector cell subpopulations was
previously described in a B16-OVA lung metastases model (17, 18). Briefly, normal syngeneic C57BL/6 mice (n =
68/group) were injected i.v. with 2 x 105
B16-OVA tumor cells. Seven days later, when metastases were
established, 2 x 106 OVA Ag-specific Tc2
effector cells were systemically transferred into tumor-bearing mice,
and survival times were monitored daily. To address the therapeutic
role of effector cell-derived perforin, we generated perforin-deficient
Tc2 effector cells from perforin gene knockout OT-I.PKO mice. As shown,
Fig. 1
A, adoptive transfer of
perforin-deficient Tc2 effector cells into syngeneic C57BL/6 mice
bearing 7-day established B16-OVA tumors showed no significant
difference in therapeutic efficacy when compared with that
corresponding wild-type Tc2 effector cells. In contrast, OVA
Ag-specific Tc2 effector cells, generated from either OT-I.IL-4 or
OT-I.IL-5 knockout mice, showed that survival times among tumor-bearing
mice receiving either IL-5- or IL-4-deficient Tc2 effector cells were
significantly prolonged (p < 0.001) when
compared with those of untreated control tumor-bearing mice (Fig. 1
B). However, both cytokine gene-deficient effector cell
populations were less effective in prolonging survival times than those
of corresponding groups of tumor-bearing mice receiving similar doses
of wild-type Tc2 effector cell therapy. All mice receiving no treatment
succumbed to progressively growing tumors within 31 days post-tumor
challenge (Fig. 1
, A and B). Transfer of either
wild-type or cytokine gene-modified Tc2 effector cells into mice
challenged with the non-OVA Ag-expressing B16 parent line showed no
detectable therapeutic effect in survival times when compared with
those of untreated B16 tumor-bearing control mice (data not shown).
This suggests that Tc2 effector cell-derived IL-4 and IL-5, but not
perforin, play a significant and unique role in Tc2 effector
cell-mediated tumor Ag-specific immunity and rejection.
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Exogenous IL-4 and IL-5 have no direct effects on B16-OVA tumor cell growth or phenotype in vitro
We have previously shown that exogenous cytokines, such as
IFN-
, can substantially inhibit B16-OVA tumor cell growth and
increase tumor cell immunogenicity by up-regulating select tumor cell
surface Ag or chemokine and "death" (proapoptotic) gene expression
in vitro (19). In the current study, we assessed the
direct effects of the Tc2-related cytokines, IL-4 and IL-5, on B16-OVA
tumor cell surface phenotype. B16-OVA tumor cells were cultured in the
presence of IL-4 or IL-5 and harvested at various intervals for flow
cytometric analysis. Tumor cell treatment with either IL-4 (20 ng/ml)
or IL-5 (20,000 U/ml) induced no change in the surface expression of
either MHC class I Ag (Kb and
Db), MHC class II Ag
(I-Ab), CD95, or CD44 when compared with that of
corresponding untreated B16-OVA tumor cell populations (data not
shown). Moreover, cell counts at various time intervals during a
culture period of 36 h showed that neither IL-4 nor IL-5 affected
tumor cell growth in vitro (data not shown). Concomitantly, IL-4- or
IL-5-treated tumor cells showed no change in the levels of either
chemokine or "death" gene expression when compared with that of
untreated cultures, suggesting that neither IL-4 nor IL-5 had any
detectable direct effect on B16-OVA tumor cell phenotype (data not
shown).
Tc2 effector cell immunotherapy induces local accumulation of activated recipient CD8+ T cells that are partially dependent on donor effector cell-derived IL-4 or IL-5
Therapeutic efficacy of class I-expressing tumors is largely
dependent on the localization and persistence of tumor-reactive
CD8+ T cells at the site of tumor growth. We next
attempted to assess the local accumulation of activated recipient
CD8+ T cells by using Thy-1.1 congenic mice.
Normal syngeneic B6.PL/Thy-1.1 recipient mice were injected i.v. with
2 x 105 B16-OVA tumor cells. Seven days
later, when metastases were established, 2 x
106 OVA Ag-specific Tc2 effector cells, generated
from either Thy-1.2 wild-type OT-I, IL-4-deficient
OT-I.IL4-/-, or IL-5-deficient
OT-I.IL5-/- knockout mice were systemically
transferred into tumor-bearing mice as previously described. Recipient
Thy-1.1/CD8 cell subpopulations from lungs of effector cell-treated
mice at either early (512 days) or late (2128 days) time points
following effector cell therapy were enumerated by multicolor analysis.
Because up-regulated CD44 expression is indicative of T cell activation
and Ag recognition (33), we assessed the numbers of
recipient Thy-1.1/CD8+ T cell subpopulations
coexpressing elevated levels of CD44 surface Ag
(Thy-1.1/CD8+/CD44high) at
sites of tumor growth. As shown in Fig. 2
, both the absolute cell numbers and
percentages of recipient
Thy-1.1/CD8+/CD44high cells
in the lungs of mice receiving wild-type Tc2 effector cell therapy were
significantly (p < 0.05) greater at early time
points after effector cell transfer (days 512) than those in groups
of either untreated IL-4-deficient Tc2 or IL-5-deficient Tc2-treated
mice. In contrast,
Thy-1.1/CD8+/CD44high T
cell numbers from groups of mice receiving IL-4- or IL-5-deficient Tc2
effector cells were not significantly (p >
0.05) different from that of corresponding groups of untreated
tumor-bearing control mice (Fig. 2
). Similar results were obtained in
corresponding groups of mice at later (>21 days) times after effector
cell transfer (Fig. 2
). This suggested that accumulation and activation
of recipient Thy-1.1/CD8+ T cells were dependent,
in part, on donor effector cell-derived IL-4 and/or IL-5. Similar
results were obtained in three independent experiments.
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Because Tc2 effector cell therapy induced accumulation and
localization of activated recipient-derived CD8 T cells at the site of
tumor growth, we assessed the local accumulation of tumor Ag-specific
CD8 T cells in tumor-bearing mice at either early or late stages after
Tc2 effector cell therapy. Using Thy-1.1 congenic mice, donor (Thy-1.2)
and recipient (Thy-1.1) CD8+ T cell populations,
from lungs of effector cell-treated mice at either early (512 days)
or late (>21 days) stages of effector cell-mediated therapy, were
enumerated by OVA Ag-specific tetramer staining and multicolor flow
cytometric analysis. As shown in Fig. 3
, OVA Ag-specific donor Thy1.2/CD8+ Tc2 effector
cells accumulated in lungs of tumor-bearing mice at early time points
after effector cell transfer. Similar proportions were obtained in
corresponding groups of mice receiving either IL-4-deficient or
IL-5-deficient Tc2 effector cells, suggesting that effector
cell-derived IL-4 or IL-5 was not necessary for donor cell accumulation
at the site of tumor growth. However, in all instances, the percentages
of donor Thy-1.2/CD8+ T cells markedly diminished
to nearly undetectable levels over time (Fig. 3
). In contrast, the
percentages and frequencies of recipient OVA Ag-specific
Thy-1.1/CD8+ T cells persisted at both early and
late time points after effector cell transfer, suggesting that Tc2
effector cell therapy can induce recipient tumor Ag-specific
CD8+ T cell populations at sites of established
tumor growth. Although untreated tumor-bearing mice did contain low yet
detectable levels of OVA tetramer-positive staining
Thy-1.1/CD8+ T cells, recipient
CD8+ T cell percentages and frequencies remained
comparatively lower than that of corresponding cell populations in
lungs of effector cell-treated mice at later time points after therapy.
Concomitantly, the number of lung metastases in mice
receiving effector cell therapy was substantially lower than that of
untreated tumor-bearing control mice at both early and late time points
after cell transfer (Fig. 3
). This suggested that although
tumor-reactive Tc2 effector cell numbers diminished over time in
tumor-bearing mice, recipient tumor Ag-specific
CD8+ T cells persisted at the site of tumor
growth and potentially prolonged antitumor immunity and survival in
effector cell-treated mice with established pulmonary malignancy.
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Because CD4+ T cells have been shown to
express cytokines that participate in the recruitment and maturation of
other antitumor effector cells to the sites of tumor growth (8, 10), we evaluated the accumulation and activation of recipient
CD4+ T cells at the site of tumor growth after
Tc2 effector cell-mediated therapy. Recipient
Thy-1.1/CD4+ T cell subpopulations from lungs of
effector cell-treated mice at either early (512 days) or late (2128
days) time points after effector cell transfer were enumerated by
multicolor flow cytometric analysis. As shown in Fig. 4
, the cell numbers and percentages of
activated early stage recipient CD4+ T cell
subpopulations, coexpressing elevated levels of CD44 surface Ag
(Thy-1.1/CD4+/CD44high),
were significantly (p < 0.05) greater in the
lungs of mice receiving wild-type Tc2 effector cell therapy than that
of either untreated or cytokine-deficient Tc2 effector cell-treated
mice. Moreover,
Thy-1.1/CD4+/CD44high T
cell numbers from groups of mice receiving IL-4- or IL-5-deficient Tc2
effector cells were not significantly (p >
0.05) different from that of corresponding groups of untreated
tumor-bearing control mice (Fig. 4
). Similar results were obtained in
corresponding groups of mice at later (>21 days) times after effector
cell transfer (Fig. 4
). This suggested that accumulation and activation
of recipient Thy-1.1/CD4+ T cells were dependent,
in part, on donor effector cell-derived IL-4 and/or IL-5. Similar
results were obtained in three independent experiments.
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Because nonspecific inflammatory responses have been shown to
effectively delay tumor progression (34), we assessed the
kinetics of myeloid and NK cell recruitment to sites of tumor cell
growth after Tc2 effector cell-mediated therapy. Lung metastases were
induced in normal syngeneic C57BL/6 mice by systemic injection of
2 x 105 B16-OVA tumor cells. Seven days
later, Tc2 effector cells were adoptively transferred into
tumor-bearing mice as previously described. Lung cell populations from
effector cell-treated tumor-bearing mice at either early (512 days)
or late (2128 days) time points after therapy were enumerated by
single-color flow cytometry. As shown in Fig. 5
A, the absolute cell numbers
of host NK1.1+ cells from lungs of wild-type Tc2
effector cell-treated mice were nearly 3- to 4-fold greater than that
of corresponding cell populations from mice either untreated or treated
with either IL-4 or IL-5 cytokine-deficient Tc2 effector cells.
Moreover, NK1.1+ cell numbers from groups of mice
receiving either IL-4 or IL-5 cytokine-deficient Tc2 effector cell
therapies were not significantly (p < 0.60)
different from that of corresponding groups of untreated tumor-bearing
control mice (Fig. 5
A).
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Tc2 effector cell therapy selectively up-regulates gene expression of chemokines associated with type I immune responses in lungs of tumor-bearing mice in vivo
Because Tc2 effector cell therapy induced accumulation of
activated recipient immune cell populations in mice with established
pulmonary malignancy, we investigated the expression of lung-derived
chemokine genes in mice at either early or late stages of effector cell
therapy. RNase protection assays were performed to assess chemokine
gene expression among whole lungs of tumor-bearing mice either
untreated or receiving wild-type Tc2 effector cell therapy. As shown in
Fig. 6
, the latter showed a consistent
and preferential elevation in the type I-related chemoattractants
IP-10, MIP-1
, and MIP-1
at early time points after therapy when
compared with that of the former. Moreover, expression of IP-10,
MIP-1
, and MIP-1
was significantly (p <
0.05) lower at corresponding times in mice receiving either IL-4- or
IL-5-deficient Tc2 effector cells. In contrast, expression of RANTES
was similarly elevated in both untreated and all effector cell-treated
mice at early time points, suggesting that early RANTES expression was
not dependent on either Tc2 cells or their cytokines.
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, and RANTES when compared with
either untreated or IL-4 and IL-5 cytokine-deficient Tc2 effector cell
treatments (Fig. 6
mRNA were not
significantly different than that of untreated tumor-bearing control
mice. MIP-1
was not detectable at later stages of therapy for either
untreated or all groups of effector cell-treated tumor-bearing mice
(Fig. 6
Elevated levels of T cell-derived IFN-
in lungs of late
surviving mice treated with Tc2 effector cell therapy
Because Tc2 effector cell therapy induced heightened numbers of
recipient T cells and selectively up-regulated gene expression of type
1-related chemokines at sites of tumor growth in mice with established
malignancy, we investigated type 1 (IFN-
) and type 2 (IL-4, IL-5,
IL-10, and IL-13)-related T cell cytokine gene expression in surviving
tumor-bearing mice treated with Tc2 effector cell therapy. Enriched T
cells, from lungs of mice surviving beyond 45 days after tumor
challenge, were restimulated for 5 h with plate-bound anti-CD3
and IFN-
, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 cytokine gene expression were
assessed by RNase protection assays as described in Materials and
Methods. As shown in Fig. 7
A, T cells derived from lungs
of Tc2 effector cell-treated tumor-bearing mice showed a nearly 3-fold
elevation in the levels of IFN-
after restimulation with
anti-CD3 when compared with that of corresponding T cell
populations from normal age-matched mice. IFN-
gene expression
levels from unstimulated control cultures of T cells derived from
either effector cell-treated or normal mice were negligible (Fig. 7
A). Concomitantly, expression of IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and
IL-13 was significantly (p < 0.05) lower among
T cells derived from effector cell-treated mice and for the most part
greater than that of unstimulated control cultures. Type 2-like
cytokine gene profiles from either stimulated or unstimulated
corresponding T cells from lungs of normal age-matched mice were
negligible (Fig. 7
A). Similar results were obtained from T
cell populations of spleens from these same mice (data not shown).
Moreover, we investigated type 1 (IFN-
) and type 2 (IL-4 and IL-10)
T cell cytokine profiles at the single-cell level at corresponding time
points by intracellular staining and flow cytometry. As shown in Fig. 7
B, the frequency of host-derived CD4/Thy-1.1 and
CD8/Thy-1.1 T cells producing IFN-
was predominantly greater than
corresponding host-derived T cells producing IL-4 and IL-10 in lungs of
tumor-bearing mice after Tc2 effector cell treatment. Moreover, both
IFN-
-producing recipient CD8 (CD8/Thy-1.1) and CD4 (CD4/Thy-1.1) T
cell populations from Tc2-treated mice between days 2128 after
therapy (late stage) were noticeably elevated by nearly 2- to 3-fold
when compared with that of corresponding T cell populations in
untreated tumor-bearing mice (data not shown). Levels of either
intracellular IL-4 or IL-10 among corresponding T cells from these same
animals were nearly negligible. Collectively, this suggested that
treatment with Tc2 effector cells elicit both systemic and local Th1
and Tc1 IFN-
-producing T cell responses in mice with established
pulmonary disease and that such responses may aid in prolonging
survival in these mice.
|

The findings that treatment with Tc2 effector cells can elicit
local IFN-
-producing T cell responses in mice with established
pulmonary disease and that IFN-
has a profound effect on both B16
tumor cell growth and immunogenicity in vitro (19) suggest
that IFN-
may play a potential role in Tc2-mediated tumor rejection
in vivo. Because we have previously shown that Tc2 effector
cell-derived IFN-
does not play a significant role in Tc2 effector
cell-mediated therapy (17, 18), we extended our current
studies to assess the role of recipient-derived IFN-
in Tc2-mediated
therapy. OVA-Ag-specific Tc2 effector cell populations were generated
as previously described and transferred into either wild-type or
syngeneic IFN-
-/- knockout C57BL/6 mice
bearing 7-day-established B16-OVA lung tumors. As shown in Fig. 8
, survival times among Tc2 effector
cell-treated tumor-bearing wild-type recipients were significantly
(p < 0.001) prolonged when compared with that
of corresponding groups of untreated control mice. However, transfer of
these same effector cell populations into tumor-bearing
IFN-
-/- knockout recipients showed no
significant (p > 0.05) therapeutic effect when
compared with corresponding groups of untreated control knockout mice
(Fig. 8
). Both groups of untreated tumor-bearing wild-type or
IFN-
-/- knockout mice similarly died within
32 days post-tumor challenge (Fig. 8
). This suggested that effective
Tc2 effector cell-mediated therapy was markedly dependent on
host-derived IFN-
.
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
, and
MIP-1
chemokine message in vivo but also increased the local
accumulation of activated host-derived
CD8/CD44high, CD4/CD44high,
and OVA Ag-specific tetramer-positive CD8 T cells at the tumor site.
With time, the numbers of host-derived T and non-T immune cells
significantly increased in the lung, which correlated with an elevated
production of IP-10, RANTES, and MIP-1
and a continued reduction in
tumor burden. Conversely, donor Tc2 effector cell numbers became
markedly diminished at corresponding times, suggesting that prolonged
therapeutic responses were due in part to the presence of host-derived
antitumor mechanisms at later stages following therapy. Effective tumor rejection by adoptively transferred cell populations may be dependent on several potential direct and indirect mechanisms. Effector T cell populations have been shown to directly eradicate tumor cells through cognate interactions that involve predominantly perforin-mediated lytic mechanisms (34). Interestingly, perforin derived from Tc2 effector cells had little or no effect on enhancing survival among tumor-bearing mice, whereas absence of effector cell-derived IL-4 or IL-5 severely impaired survival among tumor-bearing mice receiving Tc2 cell therapy, suggesting that both cytokines contributed to the effector phase of the immune response. Although neither IL-4 or IL-5 had any detectable direct effects on B16-OVA tumor cell growth, immunogenicity, or cytotoxicity in vitro, we found that such cytokines were, in part, necessary for the localization and accumulation of host-derived CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes and NK and myeloid cell populations at the tumor site. This was consistent with previous reports that tumors transfected with either IL-4 or IL-5 inhibited in vivo tumor growth through a strong inflammatory effect associated with local recruitment of granulocytes and macrophages (1, 3, 6). These effects were partially attributed to the ability of both cytokines to rapidly induce infiltration of nonspecific inflammatory cells that resulted in increased vascular permeability and heightened leukocyte infiltration at the tumor site. In contrast, our data show that Tc2 effector cell therapy not only elevated nonspecific tumor-reactive leukocytes but also enhanced the generation and persistence of tumor Ag-specific host-derived CD8 T cells among tumor-bearing mice. These observations emphasize the potentially critical role of Tc2 effector cells in two phases of the antitumor immune response: 1) priming of de novo Ag-specific host-derived CD8 T cells, as determined by tetramer-positive staining; and 2) amplification of the effector response through the recruitment of activated host-derived effector cell populations directed in part by local release of cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-5.
Although both IL-4 and IL-5 appear to have overlapping regulatory effects that induce similar physiological responses, we show in our tumor model that differences in the mortality rates exist among tumor-bearing mice receiving either IL-4- or IL-5-deficient Tc2 effector cell therapy. In the former, the rates of mortality were lower than those of the latter, which suggests that alternative mechanisms of action by Tc2-derived IL-4 and IL-5 may be involved. In other tumor models, it has been proposed that IL-4, but not IL-5, can function as growth/differentiation factors for CD8 T cells and enhance CTL responses during primary stimulation (35, 36, 37, 38). Whereas IL-5 may act either independently or synergistically with other cytokines by enhancing development, activation, and tissue survival of eosinophils recruited to the site of tumor growth (2, 3, 37, 38). Aside from such potentially different mechanisms of action involving different cell populations, differences in therapeutic efficacy by cytokines may be further dependent on different spatial and temporal patterns of expression during the effector phase of Tc2-mediated antitumor responses (11, 39, 40, 41). Further studies to examine the potential interrelationship between these and other cytokines for the development of effective Tc2-mediated antitumor immune responses in our adoptive immunotherapy tumor model are currently under way.
Another explanation for differences in the mortality rates among IL-4-
and IL-5-deficient Tc2 effector cells may be attributed to differences
by either cytokine to influence the production and secretion of
different chemokines from the tumor site. Others have shown that type 2
cytokines, such as IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13, can influence the
production and secretion of select chemokines and their receptors among
various cell populations including mononuclear, epithelial, and
endothelial cells that can regulate the influx of various immune cell
populations at sites of inflammation (11, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47). Our
data showed that Tc2 cells not only produced substantial amounts of
various chemokines on restimulation in vitro but also selectively
up-regulated local gene expression of IP-10, MIP-1
, MIP-1
, or
RANTES at both early and late stages after therapy in vivo. Moreover,
this effect appeared to be dependent, either directly or indirectly, on
adoptively transferred Tc2 effector cell-derived IL-4 and IL-5.
Conceivably, the differential and/or preferential induction and
expression of such chemokines by either IL-4 or IL-5 secreted by Tc2
cells may provide a mechanism by which host-derived T cell and non-T
cell populations can selectively be recruited to sites of tumor growth
and subsequently enhance therapeutic effects.
Although some experimental tumor models have demonstrated either
favorable or deleterious contributions by type 2 cytokines in tumor
rejection (1, 2, 8, 10, 48, 49), multiple models have
suggested a dominant role for type 1 T cell responses in promoting
optimal tumor rejection (50, 51, 52). Previous studies from
this laboratory and others have demonstrated that differential
migration patterns by Tc1/Th1 (type 1) and Tc2/Th2 (type 2) effector
cell populations are dependent, in part, on select chemokines and the
expression of T cell subset-specific chemokine receptors
(12, 13, 14, 15, 16). Because Tc2 effector cells not only induced
recruitment and accumulation of activated recipient-derived CD4 and CD8
T cells at the site of tumor growth but also selectively up-regulated
local gene expression levels of type 1-related chemoattractants (IP-10,
MIP-1
, MIP-1
, or RANTES) in vivo, we investigated local T
cell-derived cytokine response profiles in lungs of surviving mice at
later stages after therapy. Our data showed elevated levels of host T
cell-derived IFN-
in lungs of mice treated with Tc2 effector cells
when compared with those of corresponding type 2-like cytokines (IL-4,
IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13). This suggested that treatment with Tc2
effector cells may in part elicit both systemic and local Th1 and Tc1
IFN-
-producing T cell responses in tumor-bearing recipients that may
aid in prolonging survival in these animals. To further address this,
we assessed the role IFN-
in Tc2 effector cell-mediated therapy by
using tumor-bearing IFN-
knockout recipient. Our results showed that
effective Tc2 effector cell-mediated therapy was markedly dependent on
host-derived IFN-
at later stages after therapy and further
supported a dominant role for type 1 T cell responses in promoting
tumor rejection in mice with established malignancy.
Another interesting finding with therapeutic relevance to vaccine design was that Tc2 effector cell therapy induced the generation and persistence of OVA-specific host-derived CD8 T cells among B16-OVA-bearing mice. Although metastatic lesions in effector cell-treated mice were greatly reduced, residual disease, tumor outgrowth, and eventual mortality among these animals were still prevalent. Collectively, these observations suggest that Tc2 effector cells, which are relatively short-lived in vivo, initiate antitumor responses but are unable to successfully maintain and/or induce "complete" tumor immunity that competes with aggressive tumor growth. Multiple mechanisms of tumor escape have been proposed to explain the failure of such adoptive T cell immunotherapies and include global immunosuppression (53), tumor-specific anergy (54), insufficient T cell costimulation (55), apoptosis of tumor-specific effector cells (56), recruitment of other inhibitory cell types such as myeloid cells (57), and a barrier effect of the tumor stroma (58). Alternatively, it has been shown that diverse CTL repertoires that exhibit different clonal origins and TCR usage can be generated to a single immunodominant epitope after some chronic viral infections and in patients with melanoma (59, 60, 61). Subsequently, these T cell populations exhibited qualitatively different functional behaviors after Ag reencounter (61). Such functional heterogeneity among clonally expanded Ag-specific CD8 T cell populations may emerge during the immune response and possess high levels of functional heterogeneity with respect to tumor Ag-TCR signal recognition, activation, persistence, and effector function (62). This may influence the level of host-mediated effector cell therapeutic efficacy after adoptively transferred Tc2 effector cell disappearance in vivo. Moreover, such T cell heterogeneity may suggest that functionally and phenotypically different types of tumor-reactive T cells may play distinct roles in tumor immunity and thus affect host-mediated tumor protection and therapeutic efficacy. Studies are currently under way to determine whether such host-derived tetramer-positive staining T cells, recognizing OVA Ag, possess different clonal origins and/or TCR usage repertoires that ineffectively respond to cognate recognition of OVA-Ag-expressing tumor cells and thus render ineffective antitumor responses in vivo.
In summary, we speculate that Tc2 effector cell-mediated immunotherapy
involves sequential events involving initial tumor-reactive Tc2
effector cell accumulation and localization to the tumor site. On
appropriate Ag recognition, release of IL-4 and IL-5 induce, in part,
selective expression of either donor- or host-derived chemokines that
contribute to recruitment and perhaps activation of recipient CD8, CD4,
myeloid, and NK cells to the site of tumor growth. At later stages
after therapy, this process appears to be amplified in the presence of
host-derived type 1-like tumor immunity that is markedly dependent on
host-derived IFN-
. Moreover, these results suggest that adoptive
transfer of these potentially multifunctional Tc2 effector cell
populations not only participate directly in primary antitumor
responses but may also contribute to the induction and generation of
secondary tumor Ag-specific and nonspecific immune cell responses in
recipients with established malignancy. With the current capacity to
isolate tumor Ag-specific T cell populations from cancer patients
(63), ex vivo generation, propagation, and reinfusion of
Tc2-like effector cell populations may offer a new strategy for
successful tumor immunotherapy and vaccine development for cancer
patients with select primary and metastatic disease.
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Mark J. Dobrzanski, Trudeau Institute, Algonquin Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. E-mail address: mdobrzanski{at}trudeauinstitute.org ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: Tc2, CD8+ CTL-producing type 2 cytokines; B16-OVA, OVA-expressing B16 melanoma; OT-I.IL-4 mice, OVA TCR+ IL-4 knockout mice; OT-I.IL-5 mice, OVA TCR+ IL-5 knockout mice; OT-I.PKO mice, OVA TCR+ perforin knockout mice; IP-10, IFN-inducible protein-10; MIP, macrophage-inflammatory protein; FAB, fluorescent Ab buffer. ![]()
Received for publication January 18, 2001. Accepted for publication April 26, 2001.
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reveals a large repertoire of melan-A-specific CD8 T cells in melanoma
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