Hyun-Jeong Ko

Paneth cells as a site of origin for intestinal inflammation

The recognition of autophagy related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1) as a genetic risk factor has exposed the critical role of autophagy in Crohn’s disease. Homozygosity for the highly prevalent ATG16L1 risk allele, or murine hypomorphic (HM) activity, causes Paneth cell dysfunction. As Atg16l1HM mice do not develop spontaneous intestinal inflammation, the mechanism(s) by which ATG16L1 contributes to disease remains obscure. Deletion of the unfolded protein response (UPR) transcription factor X-box binding protein-1 (Xbp1) in intestinal epithelial cells, the human orthologue of which harbours rare inflammatory bowel disease risk variants, results in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, Paneth cell impairment and spontaneous enteritis. Unresolved ER stress is a common feature of inflammatory bowel disease epithelium, and several genetic risk factors of Crohn’s disease affect Paneth cells. Here we show that impairment in either UPR (Xbp1ΔIEC) or autophagy function (Atg16l1ΔIEC or Atg7ΔIEC) in intestinal epithelial cells results in each other’s compensatory engagement, and severe spontaneous Crohn’s-disease-like transmural ileitis if both mechanisms are compromised. Xbp1ΔIEC mice show autophagosome formation in hypomorphic Paneth cells, which is linked to ER stress via protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), elongation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). Ileitis is dependent on commensal microbiota and derives from increased intestinal epithelial cell death, inositol requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α)-regulated NF-κB activation and tumour-necrosis factor signalling, which are synergistically increased when autophagy is deficient. ATG16L1 restrains IRE1α activity, and augmentation of autophagy in intestinal epithelial cells ameliorates ER stress-induced intestinal inflammation and eases NF-κB overactivation and intestinal epithelial cell death. ER stress, autophagy induction and spontaneous ileitis emerge from Paneth-cell-specific deletion of Xbp1. Genetically and environmentally controlled UPR function within Paneth cells may therefore set the threshold for the development of intestinal inflammation upon hypomorphic ATG16L1 function and implicate ileal Crohn’s disease as a specific disorder of Paneth cells.

A Combination of Chemoimmunotherapies Can Efficiently Break Self-Tolerance and Induce Antitumor Immunity in a Tolerogenic Murine Tumor Model

Her-2/neu is a well-characterized tumor-associated antigen overexpressed in human carcinomas such as breast cancer. Because Her-2/neu is a self-antigen with poor immunogenicity due to immunologic tolerance, active immunotherapy targeting Her-2/neu should incorporate methods to overcome immunologic tolerance to self-proteins. In this study, we developed a tolerogenic tumor model in mice using mouse Her-2/neu as self-antigen and investigated whether genetic vaccination with DNA plasmid and/or adenoviral vector expressing the extracellular and transmembrane domain of syngeneic mouse Her-2/neu or xenogenic human Her-2/neu could induce mouse Her-2/neu-specific CTL responses. Interestingly, adenoviral vectors expressing xenogenic human Her-2/neu (AdhHM) proved capable of breaking immune tolerance and of thereby inducing self-reactive CTL and antibodies, but not to the degree required to induce therapeutic antitumor immunity. In attempting to generate therapeutic antitumor immunity against established tumors, we adopted several approaches. Treatment with agonistic anti-glucocorticoid-induced TNFR family-related receptor (GITR) antibody plus AdhHM immunization significantly increased self-reactive CTL responses, and alpha-galactosylceramide (alphaGalCer)-loaded dendritic cells (DC) transduced with AdhHM were shown to break self-tolerance in a tolerogenic murine tumor model. Furthermore, gemcitabine treatment together with either AdhHM plus agonistic anti-GITR antibody administration or alphaGalCer-loaded DC transduced with AdhHM showed potent therapeutic antitumor immunity and perfect protection against preexisting tumors. Gemcitabine treatment attenuated the tumor-suppressive environment by eliminating CD11b(+)/Gr-1(+) myeloid-derived suppressor cells. When combined with immunotherapies, gemcitabine offers a promising strategy for the Ag-specific treatment of human cancer.

Immunosuppressive Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Can Be Converted into Immunogenic APCs with the Help of Activated NKT Cells: An Alternative Cell-Based Antitumor Vaccine

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are known to be accumulated in the blood, spleen, and bone marrow of tumor-bearing mice and cancer patients, were tested as APCs for a cellular vaccine because they have phenotypical similarity with inflammatory monocytes and may be differentiated from the same precursors as monocytes. Although MDSCs have immunosuppressive properties, in vivo transferred MDSCs, which present tumor Ag and NKT cell ligand (α-galactosylceramide), significantly prolonged survival time in metastatic tumor-bearing mice in a CD8+ cell-, NK cell-, and NKT cell-dependent manner vs a CD4+ T cell- and host dendritic cell-independent manner. Major concerns about using MDSCs as APCs in a vaccine are their suppression of CTLs and their induction of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. However, α-galactosylceramide-loaded MDSCs did not suppress CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and allowed for the generation of Ag-specific CTL immunity without increasing the generation of regulatory T cells. Furthermore, stimulation with activated NKT cells induced changes on MDSCs in phenotypical or maturation markers, including CD11b, CD11c, and CD86. Taken together, these findings suggest that NKT cells facilitate the conversion of immunosuppressive MDSCs into immunogenic APCs, eliciting successful antitumor immunity and providing the basis for alternative cell-based vaccines.

AMPK–SKP2–CARM1 signalling cascade in transcriptional regulation of autophagy

Autophagy is a highly conserved self-digestion process, which is essential for maintaining homeostasis and viability in response to nutrient starvation. Although the components of autophagy in the cytoplasm have been well studied, the molecular basis for the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of autophagy is poorly understood. Here we identify co-activator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1) as a crucial component of autophagy in mammals. Notably, CARM1 stability is regulated by the SKP2-containing SCF (SKP1-cullin1-F-box protein) E3 ubiquitin ligase in the nucleus, but not in the cytoplasm, under nutrient-rich conditions. Furthermore, we show that nutrient starvation results in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent phosphorylation of FOXO3a in the nucleus, which in turn transcriptionally represses SKP2. This repression leads to increased levels of CARM1 protein and subsequent increases in histone H3 Arg17 dimethylation. Genome-wide analyses reveal that CARM1 exerts transcriptional co-activator function on autophagy-related and lysosomal genes through transcription factor EB (TFEB). Our findings demonstrate that CARM1-dependent histone arginine methylation is a crucial nuclear event in autophagy, and identify a new signalling axis of AMPK–SKP2–CARM1 in the regulation of autophagy induction after nutrient starvation.

Optimization of Codon Usage Enhances the Immunogenicity of a DNA Vaccine Encoding Mycobacterial Antigen Ag85B

ABSTRACT In spite of its many other benefits, DNA vaccine is limited in its application by its insufficient immunogenicity. One promising approach for enhancing its immunogenicity is to maximize its expression in the immunized host. In the current study, we investigated whether codon optimization of the mycobacterial antigen Ag85B gene could enhance the expression and immunogenicity of the Ag85B DNA vaccine. We generated a synthetic humanized Ag85B (hAg85B) gene in which codon usage was optimized for expression in human cells. DNA plasmids with codon-optimized hAg85B increased the level of protein expression in vitro and in vivo. DNA vaccine with hAg85B induced stronger Th1-like and cytotoxic T-cell immune responses in BALB/c mice and generated higher protective immunity in a BALB/c mouse model of Mycobacterium tuberculosis aerosol infection than did the DNA vaccine with wild-type Ag85B. Therefore, our results suggest that codon optimization of mycobacterial antigens (e.g., Ag85B) could improve protein expression and thereby enhance the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines against M. tuberculosis.

A distinct subset of natural killer T cells produces IL-17, contributing to airway infiltration of neutrophils but not to airway hyperreactivity

Activated natural killer T (NKT) cells produce a broad range of cytokines, including IL-4 and IFN-gamma, that determine immunomodulatory functions in various animal models. In this report, we show that a well-known proinflammatory cytokine, IL-17 is also produced by a distinct population of NKT cells upon TCR stimulation. Administration of alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), a strong agonist of NKT cells, induces rapid IL-17 production by a small population of NKT cells, mostly belonging to a population different from that of IL-4- and IFN-gamma-producing NKT cells. IL-17-producing NKT cells showed unresponsiveness after stimulation of alpha-GalCer as conventional NKT cells. During airway inflammation induced by pulmonary activation of NKT cells with alpha-GalCer, IL-17 contributes to the infiltration of neutrophils into the airway but has no effect on airway hyperreactivity (AHR). These results indicate that TCR stimulation induces IL-17 expression by a novel population of NKT cells and may help to explain diverse NKT cell functions.

Enhanced efficacy of DNA vaccination against Her-2/neu tumor antigen by genetic adjuvants

Certain types of malignant tumors overexpress Her‐2/neu, a transmembrane glycoprotein of the class I receptor tyrosine kinase erbB family. To develop an effective Her‐2/neu vaccine for selective immunotherapy of these malignancies, we prepared Her‐2/neu DNA plasmid encoding the transmembrane and extracellular domain (pHM) and tested the ability of this construct to induce antitumor immunity in animal models. In addition, we investigated the effects of cytokine used as a genetic adjuvant. Modulation by factors that affect T‐cell function or hematopoiesis, including interleukin‐12, interleukin‐15, interleukin‐18, interleukin‐23, Eta‐1, Flt3L and GM‐CSF, was studied in the forms of monocistronic and bicistronic plasmid. Our results demonstrated that vaccination of pHM could induce successful antitumor immunity against Her‐2/neu‐expressing murine tumor cells in BALB/c mice. We also showed that the antitumor activity of pHM was augmented by coadministration and coexpression of different cytokines. Despite the similar levels of gene expression, the antitumor effects of bicistronic plasmids coexpressing Her‐2/neu antigen and cytokine were improved in comparison with coadministration of separate monocistronic plasmid. In particular, coexpression of interleukin‐18 or GM‐CSF with Her‐2/neu increased antitumor activity in both preventive and therapeutic experiments. These findings can help in the decision concerning which of the various cytokine adjuvants should be used for the development of a Her‐2/neu DNA vaccine. In addition, our results from a large panel of cytokine adjuvants in the various tumor models may provide an insight into the important immune components of antitumor immunity.

Mucosal dendritic cells shape mucosal immunity

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key modulators that shape the immune system. In mucosal tissues, DCs act as surveillance systems to sense infection and also function as professional antigen-presenting cells that stimulate the differentiation of naive T and B cells. On the basis of their molecular expression, DCs can be divided into several subsets with unique functions. In this review, we focus on intestinal DC subsets and their function in bridging the innate signaling and adaptive immune systems to maintain the homeostasis of the intestinal immune environment. We also review the current strategies for manipulating mucosal DCs for the development of efficient mucosal vaccines to protect against infectious diseases.

Innate Immunity Mediated by MyD88 Signal Is Not Essential for Induction of Lipopolysaccharide-Specific B Cell Responses but Is Indispensable for Protection against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection

Salmonella organisms are Gram negative and facultative anaerobic bacteria that cause typhoid fever in humans. In this study, we evaluated LPS-specific adaptive immunity in innate immune-deficient mice after oral administration of attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) strains. Of interest, identical levels of LPS-specific IgG and IgA Abs were elicited in the systemic (i.e., serum and spleen) and mucosal (i.e., fecal extract and small intestine) compartments of wild-type, TLR4−/−, and MyD88−/− mice following oral vaccination with recombinant attenuated S. Typhimurium (RASV). Depletion of CD4+ T cells during RASV vaccination completely abrogated the generation of LPS-specific Abs in MyD88−/− mice. In addition, mRNA expression levels of a B cell-activating factor of the TNF family were significantly increased in the spleens of MyD88−/− mice after oral administration, implying that T cell-independent B cell switching might be also enhanced in the MyD88 signal-deficient condition. Of most interest, orally vaccinated MyD88−/− mice that possessed high levels of LPS-specific IgG and IgA, which had a neutralizing effect against Salmonella, died earlier than nonvaccinated wild-type mice following lethal oral challenge with virulent Salmonella species. These results suggest that innate immunity mediated by MyD88 signal is dispensable for induction of LPS-specific Ab responses following oral administration of attenuated Salmonella strains but indispensable for efficient protection.

α-Galactosylceramide-loaded, antigen-expressing B cells prime a wide spectrum of antitumor immunity

Most of the current tumor vaccines successfully elicit strong protection against tumor but offer little therapeutic effect against existing tumors, highlighting the need for a more effective vaccine strategy. Vaccination with tumor antigen‐presenting cells can induce antitumor immune responses. We have previously shown that NKT‐licensed B cells prime cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) with epitope peptide and generate prophylactic/therapeutic antitumor effects. To extend our B cell vaccine approach to the whole antigen, and to overcome the MHC restriction, we used a nonreplicating adenovirus to transduce B cells with antigenic gene. Primary B cells transduced with an adenovirus‐encoding truncated Her‐2/neu (AdHM) efficiently expressed Her‐2/neu. Compared with the moderate antitumor activity induced by vaccination with adenovirus‐transduced B cells (B/AdHM), vaccination with α‐galactosylceramide‐loaded B/AdHM (B/AdHM/αGalCer) induced significantly stronger antitumor immunity, especially in the tumor‐bearing mice. The depletion study showed that CD4+, CD8+ and NK cells were all necessary for the therapeutic immunity. Confirming the results of the depletion study, B/AdHM/αGalCer vaccination induced cytotoxic NK cell responses but B/AdHM did not. Vaccination with B/AdHM/αGalCer generated Her‐2/neu‐specific antibodies more efficiently than B/AdHM immunization. More importantly, B/AdHM/αGalCer could prime Her‐2/neu‐specific cytotoxic T cells more efficiently and durably than B/AdHM. CD4+ cells appeared to be necessary for the induction of antibody and CTL responses. Our results demonstrate that, with the help of NKT cells, antigen‐transduced B cells efficiently induce innate immunity as well as a wide range of adaptive immunity against the tumor, suggesting that they could be used to develop a novel cellular vaccine.