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* Hepatobiliary Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021; and
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| Abstract |
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+CD4- or
CD8
-CD4- but not
CD8
+CD4+ or
CD8
-CD4+. This differs substantially from
subsets recruited in normal or Flt3 ligand-treated mice or using GM-CSF
protein injections. GM-CSF-recruited DC secreted extremely high levels
of TNF-
compared with minimal amounts in DC from normal or Flt3
ligand-treated mice. Recruited DC also produced elevated levels of IL-6
but almost no IFN-
. GM-CSF DC had robust immune function compared
with controls. They had an increased rate of Ag capture and caused
greater allogeneic and Ag-specific T cell stimulation. Furthermore,
GM-CSF-recruited DC increased NK cell lytic activity after coculture.
The enhanced T cell and NK cell immunostimulation by GM-CSF DC was in
part dependent on their secretion of TNF-
. Our findings show that
GM-CSF can have an important role in DC development and recruitment in
vivo and has potential application to immunotherapy in recruiting
massive numbers of DC with enhanced ability to activate effector
cells. | Introduction |
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+
CD11bdull/-DEC205+ DC
(putative lymphoid related) are located in the T cell-rich areas of the
periarteriolar lymphatic sheaths (PALS), whereas
CD11c+CD8
-CD11bbrightDEC205-
DC (putative myeloid related) reside in the marginal zone
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). The latter group may be subdivided further into a
33D1+CD4+ subset and a
33D1-CD4- subset.
Regardless of subset, freshly isolated splenic DC express low to
moderate levels of MHC class II, CD54, and the costimulatory molecules
CD40, CD80, and CD86. After overnight culture, all DC subsets mature
considerably. CD8
+ DC populations are known to
express high levels of IL-12 upon exposure to a variety of bacterial
pathogens or LPS (4, 7, 8, 9). Furthermore, IL-12 secretion
from CD8
+ DC acts in an autocrine fashion to
induce DC release of IFN-
(7). However,
CD8
- DC are also capable of IL-12 secretion
depending on the antigenic stimulus (10, 11). Both DC
subsets take up and process soluble Ags but
CD8
- DC are more efficient at capturing
particulate Ag (4, 6, 12). The relative capacity of
CD8
+ and CD8
- DC to
stimulate T cells is controversial. Although both potently stimulate
allogeneic T cells (12), the CD8
+
subset induces apoptosis in CD4+ T cells in vitro
(13) and is unable to induce cytokine production from
CD8+ T cells (14). In vivo, both DC
subsets can prime Ag-specific CD4+ T cells;
however, CD8
+ DC generally elicit a Th1
response while CD8
- DC mediate a Th2 or Th0
response (8).
Although the classical stratification of DC into myeloid
(CD8
-CD11bbright) and
lymphoid
(CD8
+CD11bdull/-)
subsets has a phenotypic, anatomic, and functional basis
(15), recent findings have led investigators to question
whether the subsets are developmentally distinct. Traver et al.
(16) showed that both CD8
+ and
CD8
- DC can arise from clonogenic common
myeloid progenitors in the spleen and thymus. Martinez et al.
(17) also showed that CD8
- DC
can transform into CD8
+ DC in vivo. The
precise factors that regulate the commitment of DC precursors to a
CD8
+ or CD8
- pathway
are unknown (18).
GM-CSF is a critical growth factor for DC in vitro. GM-CSF has also been shown to enhance the ability of DC to present Ag and to stimulate T cells in culture (19, 20). However, the role of GM-CSF in DC generation and function in vivo is less certain. Initial studies using mice deficient in GM-CSF or GM-CSF-transgenic mice suggested that GM-CSF was not vital for DC development in vivo (5, 21). Similarly, Maraskovsky et al. (22) found only modest elevations in splenic DC after daily injection of GM-CSF protein. However, daily injections of GM-CSF conjugated to polyethylene glycol, which has a half-life of several hours, produced a short-lived 8-fold increase in splenic DC, suggesting that a threshold serum level of GM-CSF may be required to exert biologic effects on DC recruitment (12). Similarly, administration of tumors transduced to express GM-CSF have been shown to recruit DC locally (23, 24, 25).
Because GM-CSF plays a critical role in DC generation from bone marrow
in vitro and has been shown to recruit DC in mice, we examined the
effects of continuous endogenous secretion of GM-CSF on DC development
in vivo. We found that transient (<2 wk) overexpression of GM-CSF in
mice produced massive recruitment (up to 3 x
108 DC) of a
CD11c+CD4- DC population
to the spleen. Strikingly, recruited DC secreted high amounts of
TNF-
. Other murine DC populations are not known to constitutively
produce elevated levels of TNF-
. Recruited DC also had an enhanced
ability to capture Ag and to stimulate T cells and NK cells. Their
enhanced immunostimulation depended in part on their secretion of
TNF-
. Our findings show that endogenous GM-CSF recruits a distinct
DC population that has altered secretory properties but is highly
functional. Additionally, because of its large and sustained (>75
days) effect on DC recruitment, endogenous overexpression of GM-CSF may
have an important role in immunotherapy.
| Materials and Methods |
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Single-cell suspensions of splenocytes were prepared by splenic
injection of collagenase (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) and mechanical
disruption. DC were then purified using anti-CD11c immunomagnetic
microbeads and high-gradient LS separation columns (Miltenyi Biotec,
Auburn, CA). The purity of isolated DC was >85% by CD11c staining. DC
were either used immediately or after culture in complete medium (RPMI
1640 with 10% heat-inactivated FBS, 2 mM
L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin,
and 0.05 mM 2-ME). Flow cytometry was performed on an EPICS-XL flow
cytometer (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA) after incubating 5 x
105 DC/tube with 1 µg of
Fc block (anti-CD16/CD32 (2.4G2), Monoclonal
Ab Core; Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY) and then labeling
with 1 µg of FITC- or PE-conjugated Ab. Splenocytes were stained for
DC (CD11c (HL3)), B cells (B220 (RA3-6B2) and CD19 (SJ25C1)), NK cells
(NK1.1 (PK136)), macrophages (Mac-3 (M3/84)), T cells (CD90.2 (Thy1.2),
CD4 (Gk1.5) and CD8
(536.7); all from BD PharMingen, Franklin
Lakes, NJ). Splenocytes or purified DC were also stained for MHC class
I (H-2Kb) and class II
(I-Ab), intercellular adhesion marker CD54
(ICAM-1 (3E2)), CD40 (3/23), CD80 (B7-1 (1G10)), CD86 (B7-2 (GL1)),
CD11b (M1/70), Ly-6G (Gr-1 (RB6-8C5)), and CD16/CD32 (2.4G2; all from
BD PharMingen).
Recombinant adenoviruses
Recombinant adenoviruses were propagated, purified, and stored as previously described (26). Adenovirus encoding the murine GM-CSF transgene (AdGM) (27) and another Ad vector encoding green fluorescent protein (AdGFP; Quantum Biotechnologies, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) each contain the CMV promoter. Ad encoding murine Flt3 ligand (AdFlt3L) was constructed as follows: a plasmid containing the Flt3L cDNA was obtained from the National Gene Vector Laboratories (Ann Arbor, MI). The SalI fragment was ligated into the SalI site of the shuttle plasmid pDC316 (Microbix, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) that contains a portion of the adenoviral genome and the murine CMV promoter (26). Cre-mediated homologous recombination at specific loxP sites was then performed on 293 human embryonic kidney cells (American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Manassas, VA) with pBHGlox (Microbix) that contains the adenovirus type 5 genome with E1 and E3 region deletions. DNA was isolated from candidate viral plaques and screened with the restriction enzymes to confirm the presence of the Flt3L transgene. Dose for all viruses was calculated as multiplicity of infection, which equals the number of virus particles per target cell. Endotoxin was undetectable in viral stocks using the Limulus amebocyte lysate clot test (sensitivity 6 pg/ml; Associates of Cape Cod, Woods Hole, ME).
Immunohistochemistry
Tissue was placed in OCT medium (Miles, Elkhart, IN) and frozen in an isopentane/dry ice bath. Cryostat sections (8 µm) were fixed in Formalin, rinsed with PBS, blocked with 0.3% H2O2, and then stained for DC using a biotin-conjugated anti-CD11c Ab (BD PharMingen) for 1 h at room temperature. Afterward, sections were incubated with streptavidin-HRP for 30 min at room temperature and visualized using diaminobenzidine substrate solution (BD PharMingen) for 5 min. Slides were counterstained in hematoxylin and dehydrated in ethanol and mounted. Photographs were taken with an Olympus SZH10 stereoscope (Olympus, Melville, NY) and a Zeiss Axioplan 1 microscope (Zeiss, Thornwood, NY). For cytospins, DC were spun at 500 rpm onto ProbeOn slides (Fischer Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA), fixed in Formalin and then in 100% methanol, and visualized with Giesma stain.
Cytokine measurement and Ag uptake assays
Serum or cell culture supernatant was tested by ELISA for IL-4
(BD PharMingen), IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), TNF-
, GM-CSF, Flt3L, and
IFN-
(all R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) according to the respective
manufacturers protocol. For in vitro cytokine assays, freshly
isolated DC were cultured in 24-well dishes at a concentration of
1 x 106 cells/ml. Supernatant was harvested
after 24 h of culture. LPS (Sigma-Aldrich) was used at 10 ng/ml
and TNF-
(R&D Systems) was used at 100 ng/ml. For in vitro Ag uptake
assays, DC (2 x 105) were incubated with
FITC-dextran, FITC-albumin, or FITC-mannose albumin (all Sigma-Aldrich)
for various durations at 37°C at a concentration of 1 mg/ml
(28). To stop reactions, cells were harvested and placed
on ice. In vivo Ag uptake assays were performed by i.v. injecting 2.5
mg of FITC-dextran into mice. After 30 min, splenic DC were harvested
and analyzed by flow cytometry.
T cell proliferation and CTL assays
For MLR, DC were irradiated (3000 rad) and added at various
amounts to 3 x 105 syngeneic or allogeneic
T lymphocytes (purified using Thy1.2 (CD90.2) immunomagnetic microbeads
(Miltenyi Biotec)) in 96-well plates and then pulsed with thymidine (1
µCi/well) on day 3 for 20 h. For some assays, TNF-
blockade
was performed using the clone 2E2 (29) at 50 µg/ml. 2E2
was produced in the Monoclonal Ab Core Facility at Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. For Ag-specific T cell stimulation
assays, an H-2Kb-restricted
CD8+ T cell hybridoma specific for
OVA257264 peptide was used (30).
DC were incubated with either OVA (10 µg/ml; Peptide Synthesis Core,
Sloan-Kettering Institute) or OVA protein (2 mg/ml; Sigma-Aldrich) for
90 min before being irradiated (3000 rad) and plated at various
concentrations with 5 x 104 OVA-restricted
T cells in a 96-well plate for 2 days. T cell stimulation was
determined by assessing IL-2 levels in its supernatant by ELISA (BD
PharMingen). CTL assays were performed as described with modifications
(31). Briefly, splenocytes from treated and control
animals were harvested and plated at 5 x
106 cells/well in 24-well plates with 10 µg/ml
OVA for 5 days. Afterward, effectors were harvested and tested against
1 x 104 51Cr-labeled EL4.OVA (EG7) or EL-4
(both from ATCC) target cells for 4 h in 96-well plates. After the
incubation, 30 µl of supernatant was transferred to Luma plates
(Packard Bioscience, Meriden, CT) and radioactivity was read in a
TopCount NXT gamma counter (Packard Bioscience). Percent lysis was
calculated according to the following formula: percent specific
lysis = ((cpm experimental - cpm spontaneous release)
x 100)/(cpm maximum release - cpm spontaneous release).
Spontaneous release was always <10% of maximum release. All assays
were done in triplicate and repeated at least three times.
NK coculture and cytotoxicity assays
DC-NK coculture assays were performed as described previously (32) with slight modifications. Briefly, 1 x 106 splenic NK cells were isolated using DX5 immunomagnetic microbeads and high-gradient LS separation columns (Miltenyi Biotec) and plated with 2 x 106 DC in 24-well plates in a total of 700 µl of complete RPMI 1640 medium for 18 h. The purity of the isolated NK cell populations was >85% by FACS analysis using PE-conjugated NK1.1 and DX5 Abs (both BD PharMingen). After coculture, NK cells were harvested and tested against 3 x 103 51Cr-labeled Yac-1 cells (ATCC). Spontaneous release and maximum release were assayed in a manner similar to the CTL assays.
Animals procedures and tumor models
Male C57BL/6 (H-2Kb) and BALB/c (H-2Kd) mice (610 wk old) were purchased from Taconic Farms (Germantown, NY). All procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Animals were given a single tail vein injection of recombinant adenovirus or saline. All adenovirus injections were at a dose of 8 x 1010 particles unless otherwise indicated. For some tumor experiments, mice were administered an intrasplenic injection of 2.5 x 104 B16F10 murine melanoma cells (B16) or 5 x 104 CT26 colorectal tumor cells (both from ATCC) via a left flank incision followed by splenectomy. For other tumor experiments, mice were challenged with a s.c. flank inoculation of 1 x 105 CT26 or 3.5 x 105 EL4.OVA cells. For DC immunization experiments, mice were given two i.p. immunizations of 5 x 105 DC pulsed with OVA at 1-wk intervals and then 1 wk later sacrificed for CTL assays or challenged with a flank injection of 3.5 x 105 EL4.OVA cells.
| Results |
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To determine the amount of GM-CSF produced in vivo after i.v.
administration of AdGM, we tested several viral doses (Fig. 1
A). Serum levels of GM-CSF
became detectable (>8 pg/ml) after injection of 5 x
109 virus particles and markedly higher GM-CSF
levels were noted as the dosage was increased. Three days after
injection of 2 x 1011 viral particles,
GM-CSF levels reached 55 ng/ml. However, this dose produced fatal
toxicity in nearly 50% of mice within 2 wk. A dose of 8 x
1010 particles was therefore chosen for further
studies. This dose is known to accomplish gene transfer to
90% of
murine hepatocytes (31). Next, we determined the time
course and duration of GM-CSF expression. After inoculation of 8
x 1010 particles of AdGM, serum GM-CSF levels
peaked at 8 ng/ml by day 3, but dropped precipitously to 0.5 ng/ml by
day 7 and were no longer detectable by 2 wk (Fig. 1
B).
Comparatively, recombinant GM-CSF protein has a half-life in vivo of
<12 min and even GM-CSF stabilized by polyethylene glycol modification
has a half-life of only
5 h (12).
|
To determine whether endogenous secretion of GM-CSF results in DC
recruitment to the spleen, we inoculated mice with various doses of
AdGM and determined the number of splenocytes that stained for CD11c by
flow cytometry (Fig. 2
A). At
doses below 4 x 1010 particles, the total
number of splenocytes increased 2- to 4-fold and modest increases were
also noted in the percentage of CD11c+ cells
(from 12% to 79%). Conversely, at doses of 8 x
1010 particles or higher, the number of
splenocytes increased >10-fold and the percentage of
CD11c+ cells increased to 1424%. This resulted
in a 200- to 260-fold increase (depending on the experiment) in the
total number of splenic DC. In contrast, the percentage of T cells, NK
cells, and macrophages were unchanged while there was a sharp decrease
(6638%) in the percentage of splenic B cells (Table I
). However, the absolute numbers of all
cell types was increased. This resulted in an 8-fold increase in
splenic weight compared with saline-treated mice. Only a small fraction
of the effects was due to adenovirus alone (Table I
).
|
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4 wk. The minimal DC recruitment effect
of systemic adenovirus alone did not appear to be from
adenoviral-induced secretion of GM-CSF or Flt3L because serum levels of
these cytokines were undetectable after AdGFP injection. In addition to
expanding the splenic DC population for an extended duration, treatment
with AdGM also increased the absolute numbers of all splenic leukocytes
for a comparable period (Fig. 2AdGM recruits distinct DC subsets
We next compared the phenotype of saline, AdGFP, AdFlt3L,
and AdGM recruited splenic DC. There were major differences in the
DC subsets that were recruited among the groups (Fig. 3
A). GM-CSF recruited DC were
mostly CD8
-CD11bbright
consistent with a myeloid origin while Flt3L DC were predominantly
CD8
+ CD11bdim/-with
a smaller population that was
CD8
-CD11bbright.
Cross-staining of CD4 and CD8
revealed additional differences
between the groups (Table II
). GM-CSF DC
were 72% CD8
-CD4- and
the remainder were essentially
CD8
+CD4-. In contrast,
2027% of DC from saline- and AdGFP-treated mice expressed CD4. B220
expression (but not CD19 which is more restricted to B cells) was
present in CD11c+ DC from control mice but
GM-CSF-recruited DC had minimal staining (Fig. 3
B). In
contrast, GM-CSF recruited DC had high staining for CD16/CD32, the
Fc
III/II receptor (33), compared with controls
necessitating blockade of this receptor to reduce nonspecific Ab
binding during flow cytometric analysis.
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The predominantly CD8
- DC population
recruited by endogenously produced GM-CSF was located in the marginal
zone of the spleen consistent with previous reports of myeloid-related
DC (Fig. 5
, A and
B) (4). On cytospin analysis, AdGM-recruited DC
were slightly larger and had more pronounced dendritic processes than
DC from untreated or AdGFP-treated mice (Fig. 5
, CE). The
larger size of the GM-CSF-recruited DC was further evidenced on flow
cytometry. In a representative experiment (of >10) in which 20,000
cells were counted per group, AdGM DC had a mean forward scatter of 360
compared with 250 for DC from untreated mice and 270 for DC from
AdGFP-treated animals.
|

To determine whether there were other differences between
GM-CSF-recruited DC and controls, we tested their cytokine secretory
profiles at baseline and after stimulation. We cultured freshly
isolated DC (106 cells/ml for 24 h) either
alone or with LPS or TNF-
. We used ELISA to quantify supernatant
cytokine levels. Strikingly, GM-CSF-recruited DC secreted 2000 pg/ml
TNF-
by 24 h compared with only 80 pg/ml or lower for saline or
AdGFP DC (Fig. 6
B). In
contrast, Flt3L-recruited DC did not secrete any detectable TNF-
even after stimulation by LPS or CD40 ligand (data not shown). The
production of TNF-
by GM-CSF-recruited DC occurred regardless of
whether they were cultured in GM-CSF. In addition, GM-CSF-recruited DC
secreted up to 500% higher levels of IL-6 compared with controls when
stimulated with either LPS (10 ng/ml) or TNF-
(100 ng/ml; Fig. 6
B). In contrast to their elevated production of TNF-
and
IL-6, DC from mice treated with AdGM produced dramatically lower
IFN-
compared with DC from saline-treated mice. IL-10 expression was
similar for all DC groups. However, DC secretion of IL-10 decreased
after stimulation with LPS or TNF-
(Fig. 6
C). IL-4,
IL-12, or GM-CSF production was not detected from any of the DC groups
even after stimulation.
|
We postulated that GM-CSF-recruited DC would have an enhanced
ability to capture Ag since GM-CSF has been shown to increase Ag uptake
in splenic DC and in peritoneal cells (12, 19, 34). DC
macropinocytosis was assessed by uptake of both albumin and dextran
while specialized endocytosis via the mannose receptor was tested by
uptake of mannosylated albumin. In all cases, DC recruited by GM-CSF
had both a faster rate of Ag capture (based on the percentage of
fluorescent cells) and a higher total amount of Ag taken up per cell
(represented by median fluorescence) (Fig. 7
). For example, after 60 min of
incubation with FITC-albumin, the median fluorescence for
GM-CSF-recruited DC was 10 compared with 35 for DC from saline- and
AdGFP-treated controls. However, splenic DC from mice treated with a
similar injection of AdFlt3L had an even higher rate of uptake of
albumin (Fig. 7
B) and mannosylated albumin (Fig. 7
C) than DC from AdGM-treated mice. To determine whether
GM-CSF-recruited DC had increased Ag capture in vivo, mice were
inoculated i.v. with 2.5 mg of FITC-dextran and then their splenic DC
were harvested and analyzed for Ag uptake by flow cytometry. Again,
GM-CSF-recruited DC had a far greater rate of Ag capture than DC from
saline- or AdGFP-treated mice (Fig. 7
D). However, in consort
with our in vitro data, DC from mice treated with AdFlt3L demonstrated
the highest uptake (data not shown).
|
is a potent
T cell activator, we postulated that the enhanced alloproliferation
induced by GM-CSF-recruited DC was a result of their TNF-
secretion.
In consort with this hypothesis, TNF-
blockade partially abrogated
their increased T cell stimulation (Fig. 8
|
To determine whether the distinct DC population recruited by
endogenously produced GM-CSF could stimulate cytotoxic T cells in vivo,
we immunized naive mice with GM-CSF-recruited DC or controls that had
been loaded in vitro with OVA257264 peptide
(DC.OVA). After two immunizations, we isolated splenocytes from
immunized mice, restimulated them in vitro with OVA, and then tested
them against EL4.OVA cells in a CTL assay. Splenocytes from mice
immunized with DC.OVA, regardless of DC origin, induced similarly
potent CTL-mediated lysis of EL4.OVA target cells (Fig. 9
A). Lysis against EL4 targets
was 75% lower, confirming the specificity of the assay (data not
shown). However, in contrast to our MLR and Ag-restricted T cell
stimulation data, immunization with Ag-pulsed GM-CSF-recruited DC did
not induce higher CTL than Ag-pulsed DC from control mice. Nonetheless,
splenic T cells from mice immunized with GM-CSF-recruited DC.OVA
secreted nearly 50% higher levels of IFN-
than controls (Fig. 9
B).
|

In addition to their primary role in stimulating T cells, DC have
recently been shown to directly enhance NK cell lytic activity by
cellular contact (32). Since TNF-
can have pleiotropic
effects on a variety of effector cells, we postulated that
GM-CSF-recruited DC may have an enhanced ability to activate NK cells.
To test this, we cocultured GM-CSF DC and controls with freshly
isolated NK cells and then harvested the NK cells and plated them
against 51Cr-labeled Yac-1 target cells. NK cells
that had been cultured with GM-CSF DC induced considerably higher lysis
of targets compared with controls at all dilutions tested (Fig. 10
). Moreover, consistent with our
hypothesis, TNF-
blockade completely abrogated the effects.
|
Since endogenous secretion of GM-CSF recruits massive numbers of
DC with enhanced immunostimulatory function, we postulated that
treatment with AdGM would confer tumor protection in vivo. However, it
failed to protect against tumor in a variety of models including s.c.
CT26 colorectal cancer, CT26 liver metastases, B16 melanoma liver
metastases, and s.c. EL4.OVA lymphoma (Table III
). Neither administering AdGM
simultaneous to tumor challenge nor extending the interval between
viral inoculation and tumor challenge to 14 days changed the outcome.
Similarly, and in consort with the CTL data, immunization of naive mice
with OVA-pulsed GM-CSF-recruited DC failed to provide additional tumor
protection against EL4.OVA tumor growth compared with immunization with
peptide-pulsed DC from saline- or AdGFP-treated mice (Fig. 11
).
|
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| Discussion |
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15- to 20-fold (35). Daily administration of GM-CSF
conjugated to polyethylene glycol resulted in a nearly 8-fold increase
in splenic DC (12). Minimal effects have been achieved
with unmodified GM-CSF. Even ProGP-1, which is an agonist of both the
Flt3 and GM-CSF receptors, only increased the total number of splenic
DC to 5 x 107 cells (36). In
contrast, we recruited up to 3 x 108 DC to
the spleen. Furthermore, DC expansion after daily administration of any
of the above proteins was only sustained for a few days after the
cessation of treatments (36). In contrast, we have shown a
greater than 15-fold increase in the number of splenic DC over normal
even 75 days later. Considering that serum GM-CSF levels returned to
baseline by 2 wk after AdGM injection (Fig. 1
Distinct DC subsets were recruited by endogenous overexpression of
GM-CSF when compared with splenic DC subsets found in normal or
Flt3L-treated mice. The vast majority of DC had classical myeloid
staining
(CD8
-CD11bbright). In
contrast, Flt3L recruits a higher percentage of lymphoid DC
(CD8
+CD11bdull/-).
However, AdGM also expanded the lymphoid DC population, albeit to a
much lesser extent than the myeloid population. This contrasts with a
previous reports in which pegylated GM-CSF reportedly
expanded only the CD11bbright population but not
CD11bdull/- DC (12). Even more
striking, virtually all of the GM-CSF-recruited DC were
CD4-. This is distinctly different from
Flt3L-recruited or normal DC and further contrasts with DC recruited by
GM-CSF protein injections which reportedly do not have reduced
CD4+ staining (36). Other
distinctive phenotypic characteristics of AdGM-recruited DC included
high expression of the Fc
III/II receptor CD16/CD32 but minimal B220
staining. The functional importance of each of these phenotypic
differences remains unresolved.
Beside the phenotypic differences, there are numerous functional differences between DC recruited by endogenous overexpression of GM-CSF and previous reports using daily GM-CSF protein injections. DC recruited by endogenous GM-CSF overexpression had increased Ag capture in vitro and in vivo consistent with its effects reported previously on peritoneal macrophages (34). These findings are also compatible with those of Daro et al. (12) who showed that DC from mice treated with pegylated GM-CSF captured and processed Ag more efficiently than controls. However, unlike Daro et al. (12), we found that DC recruited by endogenous GM-CSF actually had lower Ag uptake than Flt3L-recruited DC. Furthermore, DC recruited by endogenous GM-CSF stimulated allogeneic and Ag-specific T cells to a greater extent than controls. Conversely, DC recruited by either recombinant or pegylated GM-CSF protein did not have enhanced immunostimulation (12, 36). The functional differences that we observed using DC recruited by endogenous GM-CSF secretion compared with protein injections may simply reflect the disparity in the phenotype and secretory profile of the DC subsets recruited.
Although the production of IL-12 and several other cytokines by DC has
been investigated, there are few data regarding DC secretion of
TNF-
. In mice, TNF-
matures bone marrow-derived DC. By virtue of
its maturational effects, TNF-
renders bone marrow-derived DC more
effective in generating antitumor immunity after adoptive transfer
(37). However, the effects appeared to be due primarily to
maturation and not TNF-
per se because CpG and CD40, potent
stimulators of DC maturation, achieve even greater antitumor effects
(37, 38). Although the maturational effects of TNF-
on
DC are known, the importance of TNF-
production by DC has not been
defined. In fact, there have been scarce reports of any constitutive
TNF-
secretion by DC subsets. Lu et al. (39) reported
that various murine liver DC populations secrete high levels of TNF-
only when stimulated by high-dose LPS (10 µg/ml) for 48 h. Human
Langerhans cells can also be induced to produce TNF-
by virus or LPS
(40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45). Human monocyte-derived DC produce TNF-
upon
exposure to LPS or Escherichia coli (46, 47).
In our system, normal splenic DC only produced low levels of TNF-
while Flt3L DC did not make detectable quantities. This is consistent
with the report by Pulendran et al. (48), who demonstrated
that CD8
+ splenic DC do not secrete TNF-
while CD8
- DC subsets produce very low levels
(<100 pg/ml by 24 h).
This appears to be the first report of unstimulated DC producing
markedly elevated quantities of TNF-
. The regulation of TNF-
secretion by GM-CSF-recruited DC is uncertain. The consequences of
TNF-
production by DC on their capacity to stimulate effector cells
have also not been delineated. We showed that the enhanced
allostimulatory capacity of GM-CSF-recruited DC is partially mediated
by their high TNF-
secretion. TNF-
also accounted for the
increased ability of GM-CSF-recruited DC to stimulate NK cells. Thus,
TNF-
may enable GM-CSF-recruited DC to link innate and adaptive
immunity. The minimal production of IFN-
by GM-CSF-recruited DC
compared with controls may also be a relevant factor in their enhanced
immunostimulation. DC production of IFN-
has been shown to mediate
tolerogenic effects on T cells in certain DC subsets
(49).
In addition to TNF-
, GM-CSF-recruited DC expressed high levels of
IL-6 compared with controls. Both the regulation of DC secretion of
IL-6 as well as its effect on DC immune function are not completely
understood. Chomarat et al. (50) reported that IL-6 is a
critical factor in the molecular control of APC development and that
IL-6 release from fibroblasts switches the differentiation of monocytes
from DC to macrophages. Nevertheless, the relevance of IL-6 produced by
the DC or monocytes themselves in this process in not defined. Grohmann
et al. (49) reported that IL-6 plays a critical role in
mediating the effects of CD40 ligation in CD8
+
DC and enhancing their immunogenicity. The role of IL-6 included
down-regulation of the IFN-
R expression on
CD8
+ DC and correlated with the reduced
ability of these DC to initiate T cell apoptosis in vitro. However,
considering that the DC recruited by GM-CSF were largely
CD8
-, the potential role of IL-6 in mediating
their enhanced immunostimulatory function requires further study.
Considering that DC recruited by endogenous GM-CSF have enhanced T cell
and NK cell stimulatory properties, it was somewhat surprising that
recruitment of large numbers of these DC did not confer tumor
protection in any of the models tested. However, it is possible that
GM-CSF-recruited DC only acquire enhanced immunostimulatory function
after in vitro culture where they became more mature and express higher
levels of costimulatory and accessory molecules (51, 52).
In contrast, these DC may be relatively quiescent in situ. Similarly,
it is uncertain whether recruited DC actually produce activating
cytokines such as TNF-
in vivo or only after isolation. The failure
of GM-CSF-recruited DC to stimulate tumor protection raises
considerable interest in the potential for substances that can directly
activate DC in vivo to harness the immune potential of this massive DC
recruitment. Merad et al. (53) recently reported that
systemic administration of immunostimulatory DNA activates DC in vivo
and augments the antitumor effects of Flt3L. Application of other in
vivo DC activators to our model holds considerable promise for the
immunotherapy of disease.
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ronald P. DeMatteo, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Box 203, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021. E-mail address: dematter{at}mskcc.org ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: DC, dendritic cell; PALS, periarteriolar lymphatic sheath; AdGM, adenovirus encoding the GM-CSF transgene; Flt3L, Flt3 ligand; AdFlt3L, Ad encoding the Flt3L transgene; AdGFP, Ad encoding green fluorescent protein. ![]()
Received for publication April 19, 2002. Accepted for publication July 9, 2002.
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