|
|
||||||||
OX-40 with
CTLA-41

*
Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center, Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, OR 97213; and
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
OX40, and the Ag-specific Ab response after immunization with
soluble OVA and
OX40. Finally, we compared the adjuvant properties
of
OX40 to those of
CTLA-4. Engagement of OX-40 in vivo was most
effective when the Ag was administered s.c. Time course studies
revealed that it was crucial for
OX40 to be delivered within 2448
h after Ag exposure. Examination of anti-OVA Ab titers revealed a
10-fold increase in mice that received
OX40 compared with mice that
received OVA alone. Both
OX40 and
CTLA-4 increased the percentage
of OVA-specific CD4+ T cells early after immunization (day
4), but
OX40-treated mice had much higher percentages of
OVA-specific memory CD4+ T cells from days 11 to 29. These
studies demonstrate that OX40 engagement early after immunization with
soluble Ag enhances long-term T cell and humoral immunity in a manner
distinct from that provided by blocking CTLA-4. | Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
OX40, a 50-kDa transmembrane protein of the TNFR family, is expressed primarily on activated CD4+ T lymphocytes (5, 6, 7). Engagement of OX40 enhances proliferation and cytokine production by CD4+ T cells in vitro (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) as well as survival of Ag-specific CD4+ T cells in vivo (12). Expression of OX40 has been detected on T cells at the site of inflammation during clinical signs of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE),3 graft-vs-host disease, and on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (13, 14, 15, 16, 17). OX40+ T cells isolated from inflammatory lesions in EAE were shown to be the autoantigen-specific cells. The ligand for OX40, OX40L, is a type II transmembrane protein and a member of the TNF family. It is expressed on activated endothelium (18, 19), B cells (6, 20), macrophages/microglia isolated from the central nervous system of mice with EAE (21), and on CD40-activated dendritic cells (22). Blocking OX40/OX40L can ameliorate EAE (21, 23), whereas engagement of OX40 with a soluble OX40L:Ig fusion protein or an agonist Ab enhances anti-tumor immunity (24).
In this study, we investigate the adjuvant properties associated with
an agonistic
OX40 Ab. OVA-specific CD4+ T
cells were used to examine the effect of OX40 engagement on long-term
survival and responsiveness (up to 95 days) of Ag-specific T cells and
on OVA-specific humoral immunity. Administration of
OX40 within
2448 h after Ag resulted in increased numbers of Ag-specific T cells
in the periphery capable of producing Th1 cytokines upon Ag
restimulation. In addition, engagement of OX40 greatly enhanced an
anti-OVA humoral immune response. A comparison of
OX40 to
CTLA-4 showed that
OX40 was more effective at maintaining high
numbers of long-lived Ag-specific T cells and at enhancing an
Ag-specific humoral immune response. Thus, engagement of OX40 during
immunization is a potent adjuvant for enhancing long-term T cell and
humoral immunity.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Four- to 6-wk-old female BALB/cJ mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) and used at 610 wk of age. D011.10 TCR-transgenic mice, which recognize the OVA peptide residues 323339 (OVA323339) in the context of MHC class II I-Ad (25), were maintained on a BALB/c background and used at 812 wk of age. Mice were housed at the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute animal care facility (Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, OR) and cared for under the National Institutes of Health guidelines.
Adoptive transfer and immunization
The protocol for adoptive transfer of D011.10 cells was slightly
modified from a previously published report (1). Spleens
were removed from D011.10 mice, and erythrocytes were lysed in ammonium
chloride potassium lysis buffer and suspended in Dulbeccos PBS (DPBS;
BioWhittaker, Walkersville, MD). The percentage of cells in the
spleen expressing the transgenic TCR specific for OVA was determined
before adoptive transfer by flow cytometry using biotinylated KJ1-26
and Cy-chrome
CD4 Abs in combination with PE-SAV. A total of
15 x 106
KJ1-26+CD4+ spleen cells in
0.2 ml of DPBS were adoptively transferred i.v. into the tail vein of
unirradiated female BALB/c recipients. Two to 3 days after adoptive
transfer, mice were immunized with 500 µg OVA (Sigma-Aldrich, St.
Louis, MO) in 0.2 ml DPBS, by the indicated route. They also received
50 µg of
OX40 or a rat IgG control (Sigma-Aldrich) in DPBS by the
indicated route. The next day, mice received an additional injection of
the respective Ab. The adoptively transferred OVA-specific DO11.10
cells were detected by dual staining with a fluorochrome-conjugated CD4
Ab and a biotinylated KJ1-26 Ab (26, 27) and then
fluorochrome-conjugated streptavidin.
Antibodies
FITC
CD25 (7D4), FITC
CD44 (IM7), CyChrome
CD4, PE
IL-4 (11B11), PE
IL-2 (JES6-5H4), PE
IL-10 (JES5-16E3), PE
TNF-
(MP6-XT22), PE
IFN-
(XMG1.2), PE
IL-12 (C15.6), and
purified
CD28 (37.51) were purchased from BD PharMingen (La Jolla,
CA). PE-conjugated streptavidin was purchased from Jackson
ImmunoResearch Laboratories (West Grove, PA). Biotinylated KJ1-26 was
kindly provided by N. Kerkvliet (Oregon State University, Corvallis,
OR). Anti-CTLA-4 (9H10) was grown in a bio-reactor and purified
on protein G. The hybridoma that produces the rat-
murine OX40 mAb
(OX86) was obtained from the European Cell Culture Collection (Porton
Down, U.K.) and was produced and purified by UniSyn (Hopkinton,
MA).
Staining of peripheral blood
Mice were bled by the tail vein into 5-ml heparin-treated polystyrene tubes (Falcon; BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ). One milliliter of RPMI 10 was added, and the blood was underlayed with 0.7 ml of Lympholyte M (Cedarlane Laboratories, Hornby, Ontario, Canada) and spun at 2500 rpm for 12 min at room temperature. The cells at the medium/lympholyte M interface were collected, washed, and stained with the indicated Abs in FACS buffer (1% FBS, 0.1% sodium azide in PBS). The samples were run on a FACScan flow cytometer, and analysis was performed using CellQuest analysis software (BD Biosciences, Mountain View, CA).
Intracellular cytokine staining
Two days after adoptive transfer of 5 x
106
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells (day
0), mice were injected with 500 µg of OVA (s.c.) and 50 µg of
OX40 or rat IgG (i.v.). The next day, mice received an additional 50
µg of Ab; one-half of the mice also received 50 µg of LPS (i.v.) on
day 1. Spleens were removed at the indicated times and were stimulated
for 5 h in vitro with 10 µM OVA323339
peptide in RPMI 10 growth medium containing 10% FBS and 1
µg/ml brefeldin A (Sigma-Aldrich). The cells were harvested and
surface stained with bio-KJ1-26, CyChrome-SAV, and FITC
CD4. The
cells were subsequently fixed overnight with 1% formaldehyde
(Polysciences, Warrington, PA) in FACS buffer. The following
morning the cells were permeabilized in Perm/Wash buffer (BD
PharMingen) and stained with the indicated PE-labeled cytokine
Ab.
Detection of an Ab response to OVA
OVA-specific Abs were detected by ELISA (28). Standard 96-well ELISA plates were incubated overnight with 100 µl of 1 mg/ml OVA in PBS. The plates were washed in PBS Tween-20 and blocked for 4 h at room temperature with 3% BSA in PBS. The plates were washed and incubated overnight at 4°C with dilutions of the appropriate serum. The plates were washed four times and incubated for 1 h at room temperature with a biotinylated goat anti-mouse IgG1 or IgG2a Ab (Southern Biotechnology Associates, Birmingham, AL) in PBS containing 3% BSA. The plates were washed and incubated for 30 min at room temperature with streptavidin-peroxidase. Tetramethylbenzidine substrate (Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD) was added. The reaction was stopped with 10% phosphoric acid and the absorbance was read at 450 nm. The Ab titer was defined as the reciprocal of the serum dilution with an OD at least three times the OD of serum from unimmunized mice (lowest dilution).
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
OX40 administration
Two different TCR transgenic systems have shown that engagement of
OX40 can dramatically enhance the number of Ag-specific T cells in the
spleen and draining lymph nodes after s.c. administration of moth
cytochrome c in CFA (12) or i.p. administration
of soluble OVA (4). Activation and expansion of T cells in
the secondary lymphoid tissues are important for mounting an effective
immune response against a potential pathogen. Equally important is the
migration of effector T cells into the peripheral circulation and
ultimately to the site of infection. Thus, we explored whether
OX40
treatment would increase the number of Ag-specific T cells entering the
periphery (blood) after immunization with a soluble Ag. The DO11.10
transfer model (1) was used to track Ag-specific T cells
after immunization. In this model, TCR transgenic T cells specific for
OVA peptide (OVA323339) in the context of class
II I-Ad were transferred to normal BALB/c
recipients and detected by flow cytometry with the TCR
clonotype-specific Ab KJ1-26 (27). The kinetics of
migration of KJ1-26+CD4+ T
cells into the peripheral circulation after immunization with OVA and
treatment with
OX40 and/or LPS was examined (Fig. 1
a). The percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood 3 days after administration of Ag was low in all groups (<3% of
the CD4+ T cells). However, on day 4 the
percentage of KJ1-26+CD4+ T
cells in the blood increased dramatically in mice that received
OX40
(20% of CD4+) or
OX40/LPS (38% of
CD4+) compared with the rat IgG control (5% of
CD4+). On day 7, the percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood was lower in all groups, but remained higher in mice that
received
OX40 compared with control rat IgG. Thus, engagement of
OX40 during soluble Ag immunization results in a dramatic increase in
the percentage of Ag-specific T cells detected in the peripheral blood
between days 3 and 4 after immunization. OVA-specific T cells in the
peripheral blood have a memory phenotype, as assessed by increased CD44
expression after immunization with OVA and
OX40 (Fig. 1
b).
|
The effect the route of administration of Ag has on the percentage
of Ag-specific T cells found in the peripheral blood after OX40
engagement was examined. After adoptive transfer of naive
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells, mice
were immunized with 500 µg of OVA by one of the indicated routes and
treated with
OX40 or rat IgG. Five days after immunization,
KJ1-26+ T cells comprised 20%, 6.1%, and 4.8%
of the CD4+ population in the peripheral blood
when OVA was administered s.c., i.p., or i.v., respectively (Fig. 2
). When we followed the percentage of
OVA-specific T cells in the peripheral blood over time, the percentage
of KJ1-26+ T cells declined in all groups between
days 12 and 26 (data not shown). However, the percentage of
KJ1-26+ T cells was always highest when OVA was
administered s.c. In addition, s.c. and i.v. administration of
OX40
during OVA immunization were equally effective at increasing the number
of OVA-specific T cells in the peripheral blood (data not shown). Based
on these data, it appeared that s.c. administration of Ag was the most
effective way to increase the percentage of Ag-specific T cells in the
peripheral blood (Fig. 2
) and in the secondary lymphoid organs (data
not shown) after OX40 ligation in vivo.
|
We investigated the kinetics of the
OX40-accentuated immune
response by providing
OX40 at different times after Ag priming.
After receiving DO11.10 spleen cells (as previously described), mice
were injected with OVA on day 0 and 50 µg of LPS on day 1. In two
separate experiments, two doses of anti-OX40 were administered as
follows: days 0 and 1 or 1 and 2 (Fig. 3
a); days 1 and 2, 2 and 3, or
3 and 4 (Fig. 3
b). When
OX40 was administered on days 0
and 1 or 1 and 2, a 10-fold increase in the percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells was
observed in the peripheral blood. Surprisingly, when
OX40 was
delayed as little as 48 h, the anticipated expansion of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells never
occurred (Fig. 3
b). Thus,
OX40 is effective at enhancing
expansion and survival of naive T cells when administered within
24 h of Ag encounter, but not 48 h or later.
|
Engagement of OX40 in vivo in the presence of Ag led to increased
numbers of KJ1-26+CD4+ T
cells. However, whether memory T cells generated with soluble Ag and
OX40 remained responsive to Ag months after immunization had not
been investigated. To address this issue, we examined cytokine
production by splenic T cells isolated 95 days after immunization with
OVA and
OX40,
OX40/LPS, or rat IgG/LPS. On day 95, a
significantly higher percentage of the CD4+ T
cells from mice treated with
OX40 or
OX40/LPS were
KJ1-26+ (4% and 20%, respectively) compared
with CD4+ T cells from mice that received rat
IgG/LPS (0.3%) (data not shown). CD4+ T cells
from mice immunized with OVA and LPS did not produce detectable levels
of cytokines when stimulated in vitro with OVA peptide (Fig. 4
). In contrast,
CD4+ T cells from OVA/
OX40-treated mice
produced TNF-
, (4.9%), IFN-
(3.08%), and IL-2 (3.6%)
when stimulated in vitro with OVA peptide. Mice immunized with OVA in
combination with
OX40 and LPS had even higher percentages of
CD4+ T cells that produced TNF-
(17%),
IFN-
(13%), and IL-2 (14%) when stimulated with OVA peptide
in vitro. Th2 cytokine (IL-4 and IL-10) producing cells were not
detected in any group (data not shown). It was not possible to examine
directly the percentage of KJ1-26+ T cells that
were producing cytokines, because the TCR was down-regulated after in
vitro stimulation with OVA peptide (data not shown). However, the
percentage of CD4+ T cells that were
KJ1-26+ in the absence of restimulation was
similar to the percentage of CD4+ T cells that
were producing cytokines. Thus, the majority of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells present
95 days after administration of Ag and
OX40 remained Ag
responsive.
|
Although it has been shown that engagement of OX40 during Ag
priming increases the survival of Ag-specific T cells, the effect on
the humoral immune response had not been examined. Therefore, we
examined whether engagement of OX40 would affect the Ab response to
OVA. Engagement of OX40 during priming with OVA led to anti-OVA
IgG1 Ab titers that were 20-fold higher compared with OVA plus rat IgG
(Fig. 5
a). When LPS was
administered with
OX40, the IgG1 Ab response decreased, with only a
6- to 9-fold increase compared with rat IgG and rat IgG/LPS controls.
Anti-OVA IgG2a Ab titers were also greatly enhanced by
OX40; 37-fold
higher anti-OVA IgG2a Ab titers were observed in mice treated with
OX40 vs rat IgG. Furthermore, the combination of
OX40 and LPS
resulted in 14-fold higher IgG2a titers compared with rat IgG plus LPS
(Fig. 5
b). Thus, it appears that engagement of OX40 during
priming with a soluble Ag enhances a TH2 (IgG1)
Ab response. Our data suggest that LPS skews the
OX40-mediated Ab
response to a TH1 (IgG2a) isotype-biased Ab
response. The data support the hypothesis that OX40 engagement can
facilitate both TH1 and TH2
responses, depending on the stimuli present within the local
microenvironment.
|
CTLA-4 have different effects on T cell activation
and survival
It has been demonstrated in other systems that blocking a negative
signal through CTLA-4 can enhance T cell activation
(29, 30, 31, 32, 33). Thus, we were interested in how blocking CTLA-4
and OX40 engagement compared in their ability to enhance T cell
expansion and survival. We examined expansion and survival of
OVA-specific T cells after immunization with OVA and treatment with
either a blocking CTLA-4 or an agonist OX40 Ab. We chose a dose of
CTLA-4 that had previously been shown to enhance Ag-specific T cell
responses in vivo (32). Mice injected with OVA and
OX40
or with OVA,
OX40, and LPS had increased percentages of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood at all days examined compared with control groups (Fig. 6
a). The percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood on day 4 was also enhanced in mice that received
CTLA-4 (Fig. 6
a). However, although
OX40- and
OX40/LPS-treated mice
exhibited greater expansion on day 11, the percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood of
CTLA-4- and
CTLA-4/LPS-treated mice had already fallen
to one-half the level observed on day 4 (Fig. 6
a). Whereas
on day 29 the percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
blood was lower in mice that received either
OX40 or
CTLA-4
(±LPS), they remained higher in
OX40-treated compared with
CTLA-4-treated mice (±LPS), and the
CTLA-4-treated mice were not
different from controls (Fig. 6
a). The mice were sacrificed
and the KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells
in the spleen, lymph nodes, and lungs were examined. The percentages of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells were
6-fold and 4-fold higher in the spleens and lymph nodes (Fig. 6
b) of mice treated with
OX40/LPS vs
CTLA-4/LPS, which
were at levels observed with the controls. Compared with
CTLA-4/LPS,
mice that received
OX40 and LPS also had 4- to 6-fold higher numbers
of KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in
the spleen and lymph nodes (data not shown). Similar percentages were
observed with the spleen, nodes, and lungs in mice treated with
OX40
or
CTLA-4 in the absence of LPS (Fig. 6
b). We also
examined CD25 expression on
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells from
mice immunized with OVA and treated with
OX40/LPS or
CTLA-4/LPS.
Interestingly, there were increased levels of CD25 on the cell surface
of KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells on
day 4 after treatment with
OX40/LPS but not
CTLA-4/LPS or rat
IgG/LPS (Fig. 6
c). By day 11, however, CD25 expression was
at background levels in all groups (data not shown).
|
OX40 or
CTLA-4. The anti-OVA IgG2a titers
were 7-fold higher in the
OX40/LPS group compared with the rat
IgG/LPS control group (Fig. 6
CTLA-4/LPS group were not different from those of the
hamster IgG/LPS control group (Fig. 6
OX40,
CTL-4 had no effect on the
anti-OVA IgG1 or IgG2a response under the conditions examined. | Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
When a potential pathogen gains entry, it usually elicits a robust
innate and adaptive immune response that ultimately results in the
elimination of the organism. The initial activation of Ag-specific T
and B cells does not occur at the site of infection, but instead in
secondary lymphoid organs such as the spleen and lymph nodes, where
they proliferate and mature into effector and memory T cells. The
effector and memory T cells then travel through the blood and into
peripheral tissues, where they are important for immune surveillance
and clearance of the pathogen (34, 35). Memory and
effector T cells that reside in peripheral tissues are phenotypically
and functionally distinct from those in the secondary lymphoid organs.
They may express chemokine receptors that direct them into a specific
tissue (36) and they may be functionally more active.
Masopust et al. (35) demonstrated that vesicular
stomatitis virus-specific CD8 memory T cells from the liver, lung, and
lamina propria, but not from the spleen, were cytolytic when assayed
directly ex vivo. Previously, we have shown that engagement of OX40
with an Ab during Ag immunization could increase the number of
Ag-specific T cells that persist long-term in the spleen and lymph
nodes (4). Here we demonstrate that OX40 engagement during
immunization also results in increased numbers of Ag-specific T cells
in the peripheral blood (Figs. 1
a, 2, and 6a) and
lungs (Fig. 6
b). Increased "mobilization" of Ag-specific
T cells into the periphery after Ag immunization and OX40 engagement
may be the result of increased numbers of activation-induced, cell
death-resistant, Ag-specific T cells in the secondary lymphoid organs
simply spilling out into the periphery or from up-regulation of
chemokine or homing receptors on the T cell surface. We have examined
for CD25, CD69, CD62L, and CD44 expression on peripheral blood
Ag-specific T cells after Ag immunization and OX40 engagement. Of the
molecules we examined, CD44 (Fig. 1
b) and CD25 (Fig. 6
c) were expressed at differential levels on
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
peripheral blood after Ag and engagement of OX40. Increased CD44
expression after engagement of OX40 is consistent with a memory
phenotype (37). Increased CD25 expression was short lived
(only observed on day 4) and is consistent with increased expansion of
Ag-activated T cells after engagement of OX40. However, it may be an
indirect effect of OX40-enhanced IL-2 production. It is possible that
up-regulation of CD44 (Fig. 1
b) or a yet identified adhesion
or chemokine receptor is responsible for enhanced mobilization of
recently activated T cells into the peripheral tissues after OX40
engagement.
It is interesting that engagement of OX40 during Ag immunization
resulted in an increased pool of memory T cells. Potentially more
important is whether the T cells remained functional. We demonstrate
that memory T cells generated during Ag immunization and OX40
engagement remain functional and produce Th1 cytokines when
restimulated in vitro with Ag (Fig. 4
). Although in vivo the
combination of
OX40 and LPS vs OX40 alone increased the percentage
of T cells that survived and produced Th1 cytokines, it did not alter
the cytokine secretion profile; e.g., the T cells did not produce Th2
cytokines under either condition (data not shown). Although we did not
observe Th2 cytokine production by memory T cells 95 days after Ag and
OX40 immunization, Th2 cytokines may have been
produced early during the immune response, as evidenced by the Th2-like
Ab response (IgG1) with
OX40 alone (Fig. 5
a). In support,
Gramaglia et al. (12) observed that OX40 engagement
enhanced both Th1 and Th2 cytokine secretion after in vivo immunization
with peptide in CFA. Similarly, mice deficient for OX40 exhibited
reduced secretion of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines (12).
In this report, we demonstrated that an agonist Ab to OX40 enhances an
IgG1 (Th2) Ab response when OVA is administered in the absence of a
"danger" signal (LPS) (Fig. 5
a). In a model for
leishmaniasis, Akiba et al. (38) found that blocking the
OX40/OX40L interaction prevented progressive disease in BALB/c mice,
which was associated with reduced levels of Leishmania
major-specific IgG1 and IgE Ab production. Thus, OX40/OX40L
appeared to play a role in the development of a detrimental Th2
response to L. major infection. OX40/OX40L probably also
plays a role in development of Th1 Ab responses. We found that soluble
OVA in combination with
OX40 elicited an enhanced IgG2a (Th1)
response in the presence of LPS (Fig. 5
b). In addition,
OX40L knockout mice have a reduced capacity to produce both Th1- and
Th2-mediated Abs when immunized with keyhole limpet hemocyanin in CFA
(39). Thus, a signal through OX40 appeared to augment both
Th1 and Th2 humoral responses, depending on what additional signals
were received by the T cell.
Expansion, deletion, and tolerance induction are all controlled by a
number of positive and negative signals. T cell expansion after TCR
engagement can be augmented by costimulatory signals through molecules
such as CD28, 4-1BB, and OX40 and can be inhibited by a negative signal
through CTLA-4. Induction of tolerance can be inhibited by providing
costimulatory signals (40, 41) or by blocking an
inhibitory signal through CTLA-4 (42, 43). In support of
the hypothesis that CTLA-4 is important for modulating early T cell
activation (29), we observed an increase in the percentage
of KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in
the blood 4 days after immunization with OVA in the presence of a
blocking CTLA-4 Ab (Fig. 6
a). However, blockade of CTLA-4
did not prevent the percentage of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
peripheral blood from dramatically decreasing from days 1126 (Fig. 6
a). In addition, the numbers of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
CTLA-4-stimulated group were at background levels in the spleen,
lymph nodes, and lungs at time points later than 26 days (Fig. 6
b). These data indicate that, although blockade of CTLA-4
augments T cell activation and expansion, it does not appear to enhance
CD4+ T cell memory. In contrast to CTLA-4
blockade, signaling through OX40 during naive T cell priming enhanced
both short-term expansion (Figs. 1
a and 6a) and
long-term persistence (Figs. 4
and 6
a) of
KJ1-26+CD4+ T cells in the
peripheral blood and secondary lymphoid organs. OX40 engagement and
CTLA-4 blockade also appeared to have different effects on humoral
immunity. Although OX40 engagement in the presence of LPS enhanced an
anti-OVA IgG2a response (Fig. 5
b), blockade of CTLA-4
had little if any effect on humoral immunity (Fig. 6
d). This
difference might be due to differential trafficking of T cells to
germinal centers or to enhanced survival of OVA-specific T cells after
OX40 engagement vs CTLA-4 blockade. In support of differential
trafficking, Walker et al. (44) showed that germinal
center formation was inhibited when OX40 interactions were blocked with
an OX40-Ig fusion protein. OX40-mediated T cell homing to B cell areas
of secondary lymphoid organs might be due to OX40 up-regulation of
chemokine receptor CXCR5 mRNA (45). Although we favor that
OX40 delivers a signal that is qualitatively different from that of
inhibiting CTLA-4, it is possible that the observed differences are due
to
CTLA-4 having a shorter half-life in vivo. If so, giving
additional doses of
CTLA-4 may further enhance T cell expansion and
survival. In addition, because the two Abs are probably enhancing T
cell expansion and survival by different mechanisms, they may be
synergistic when delivered together. We are currently performing
combination experiments to assess whether together they are synergistic
for T cell expansion, survival, and Ab production.
It has been proposed that the number of memory T cells specific for a
particular pathogen or tumor Ag must reach a certain threshold to
provide protection against potential pathogens or malignant cells
(46). Because OX40 engagement dramatically enhances the
numbers of memory T cells and Ab titers to the immunizing Ag,
engagement of OX40 may be a helpful adjuvant for future vaccines to
various pathogens or tumors. Recently, we have shown in several tumor
models derived from distinct tissues (sarcoma, melanoma, glioma, colon
cancer, mammary cancer) that engagement of OX40 with either
OX40 or
soluble OX40L:Ig after administration of tumor s.c. prevented a
significant percentage of mice from developing tumor (24, 47). These mice remained resistant to tumor development upon
rechallenge with the same tumor, but not to a tumor of different tissue
origin. The data suggested that generation of tumor-specific memory T
cells was enhanced by engagement of OX40. We also demonstrated that
tumor immunity generated by OX40 engagement could be conferred to naive
recipients by the adoptive transfer of CD4+
splenic T cells from the OX40-cured mice (24). The data
suggest that increasing the number tumor-specific T cells above a
certain threshold allowed for protective tumor immunity in these
mice.
We demonstrate that in vivo injection of
OX40 within 2448 h of
administration of soluble Ag enhances both cellular and humoral immune
responses to the immunizing Ag. In addition, the adjuvant effects
associated with
OX40 appeared to be distinct from those of
CTLA-4. Although both Abs are quite effective at increasing the
number of Ag-specific T cells in the peripheral blood early after
immunization, only
OX40 enhanced the number of memory T cells
detected in the peripheral blood and lymphoid organs on day 26.
Anti-OX40 also enhanced an Ag-specific Ab response, whereas
CTLA-4
did not. In conclusion, the administration of
OX40 during
immunization could serve as a potent adjuvant by enhancing long-term
immunity.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Andrew D. Weinberg, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center, 4805 NE Glisan, Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, OR 97213. E-mail address: weinbera{at}ohsu.edu ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: EAE, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis; OX40L, OX40 ligand; DPBS, Dulbeccos PBS; PCC, pigeon cytochrome c. ![]()
Received for publication April 26, 2001. Accepted for publication October 9, 2001.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
8.2+ T cells within the spinal cord of Lewis rats with autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J. Neurosci. Res. 43:42.[Medline]
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
M. J. Gough, C. E. Ruby, W. L. Redmond, B. Dhungel, A. Brown, and A. D. Weinberg OX40 Agonist Therapy Enhances CD8 Infiltration and Decreases Immune Suppression in the Tumor Cancer Res., July 1, 2008; 68(13): 5206 - 5215. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. E. Ruby, R. Montler, R. Zheng, S. Shu, and A. D. Weinberg IL-12 Is Required for Anti-OX40-Mediated CD4 T Cell Survival J. Immunol., February 15, 2008; 180(4): 2140 - 2148. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. L. Redmond, M. J. Gough, B. Charbonneau, T. L. Ratliff, and A. D. Weinberg Defects in the Acquisition of CD8 T Cell Effector Function after Priming with Tumor or Soluble Antigen Can Be Overcome by the Addition of an OX40 Agonist J. Immunol., December 1, 2007; 179(11): 7244 - 7253. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. R. Humphreys, A. Loewendorf, C. de Trez, K. Schneider, C. A. Benedict, M. W. Munks, C. F. Ware, and M. Croft OX40 Costimulation Promotes Persistence of Cytomegalovirus-Specific CD8 T Cells: A CD4-Dependent Mechanism J. Immunol., August 15, 2007; 179(4): 2195 - 2202. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Fukushima, T. Yamaguchi, W. Ishida, K. Fukata, H. Yagita, and H. Ueno Roles of OX40 in the Development of Murine Experimental Allergic Conjunctivitis: Exacerbation and Attenuation by Stimulation and Blocking of OX40 Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., February 1, 2006; 47(2): 657 - 663. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. D. Vu, M. R. Clarkson, H. Yagita, L. A. Turka, M. H. Sayegh, and X. C. Li Critical, but Conditional, Role of OX40 in Memory T Cell-Mediated Rejection J. Immunol., February 1, 2006; 176(3): 1394 - 1401. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
B. Valzasina, C. Guiducci, H. Dislich, N. Killeen, A. D. Weinberg, and M. P. Colombo Triggering of OX40 (CD134) on CD4+CD25+ T cells blocks their inhibitory activity: a novel regulatory role for OX40 and its comparison with GITR Blood, April 1, 2005; 105(7): 2845 - 2851. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E. Biagi, G. Dotti, E. Yvon, E. Lee, M. Pule, S. Vigouroux, S. Gottschalk, U. Popat, R. Rousseau, and M. Brenner Molecular transfer of CD40 and OX40 ligands to leukemic human B cells induces expansion of autologous tumor-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes Blood, March 15, 2005; 105(6): 2436 - 2442. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S.-H. Tseng, Y. Chen, C.-J. Chang, K.-F. Tai, S.-M. Lin, and L.-H. Hwang Inductio |