Joshua S. Woodworth

In Vivo Depletion of CD11c+ Cells Delays the CD4+ T Cell Response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Exacerbates the Outcome of Infection

Although dendritic cells (DC) are potent APC that prime T cells against many pathogens, there is no direct evidence that DC are required for immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. The requirement for DC to prime the CD4+ T cell response following Mtb infection was investigated using pCD11c-diptheria toxin receptor/GFP transgenic mice, in which DC can be transiently ablated in vivo. We show a critical role for DC in initiation of the CD4+ T cell response to the mycobacterial Ag early secretory Ag of tuberculosis 6. The delay in initiating the Ag-specific T cell response led to impaired control of Mtb replication. Interestingly, DC were not required for the secondary CD4+ T cell response following Mtb infection in peptide-vaccinated mice. Thus, this study shows that DC are essential for the initiation of the adaptive T cell response to the human pathogen Mtb.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific CD8+ T Cells Require Perforin to Kill Target Cells and Provide Protection In Vivo

Optimal immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection requires CD8+ T cells, and several current Mtb vaccine candidates are being engineered to elicit enhanced CD8+ T cell responses. However, the function of these T cells and the mechanism by which they provide protection is still unknown. We have previously shown that CD8+ T cells specific for the mycobacterial Ags CFP10 and TB10.4 accumulate in the lungs of mice following Mtb infection and have cytolytic activity in vivo. In this study, we determine which cytolytic pathways are used by these CD8+ T cells during Mtb infection. We find that Mtb-specific CD8+ T cells lacking perforin have reduced cytolytic capacity in vivo. In the absence of perforin, the residual cytolytic activity is CD95 and TNFR dependent. This is particularly true in Mtb-infected lung tissue where disruption of both perforin and CD95 eliminates target cell lysis. Moreover, adoptive transfer of immune CD8+ T cells isolated from wild-type, but not perforin-deficient mice, protect recipient mice from Mtb infection. We conclude that CD8+ T cells elicited following Mtb infection use several cytolytic pathways in a hierarchical and compensatory manner dominated by perforin-mediated cytolysis. Finally, although several cytolytic pathways are available, adoptively transferred Mtb-specific CD8+ T cells require perforin-mediated cytolysis to protect animals from infection. These data show that CD8+ T cell-mediated protection during Mtb infection requires more than the secretion of IFN-γ and specifically defines the CD8+ cytolytic mechanisms utilized and required in vivo.

Cytolytic CD8 T Cells Recognizing CFP10 Are Recruited to the Lung after Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Optimum immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis requires both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. In contrast with CD4+ T cells, few antigens are known that elicit CD8+ T cells during infection. CD8+ T cells specific for culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP10) are found in purified protein derivative positive donors, suggesting that CFP10 primes CD8+ T cells in vivo. Using T cells from M. tuberculosis–infected mice, we identified CFP10 epitopes recognized by CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells. CFP10-specific T cells were detected as early as week 3 after infection and at their peak accounted for up to 30% of CD8+ T cells in the lung. IFNγ-producing CD8+ and CD4+ T cells recognizing CFP10 epitopes were preferentially recruited to the lungs of M. tuberculosis–infected mice. In vivo cytolytic activity of CD8+ T cells specific for CFP10 and TB10.3/10.4 proteins was detected in the spleen, pulmonary lymph nodes, and lungs of infected mice. The cytolytic activity persisted long term and could be detected 260 d after infection. This paper highlights the cytolytic function of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells elicited by M. tuberculosis infection and demonstrates that large numbers of CFP10-specific cytolytic CD8+ T cells are recruited to the lung after M. tuberculosis infection.

Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cells and the Development of Central Memory during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Whether true memory T cells develop in the face of chronic infection such as tuberculosis remains controversial. To address this question, we studied CD8+ T cells specific for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESAT6-related Ags TB10.3 and TB10.4. The shared epitope TB10.3/10.420–28 is presented by H-2 Kd, and 20–30% of the CD8+ T cells in the lungs of chronically infected mice are specific for this Ag following respiratory infection with M. tuberculosis. These TB10.3/10.420–28-specific CD8+ T cells produce IFN-γ and TNF and express CD107 on their cell surface, which indicates their likely role as CTL in vivo. Nearly all of the Ag-specific CD8+ T cells in the lungs of chronically infected mice had a T effector cell phenotype based on their low expression of CD62L and CD45RB. In contrast, a population of TB10.3/10.420–28-specific CD8+ T cells was identified in the lymphoid organs that express high levels of CD62L and CD45RB. Antibiotic treatment to resolve the infection led to a contraction of the Ag-specific CD8+ T cell population and was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of CD8+ T cells with a central memory phenotype. Finally, challenge of memory-immune mice with M. tuberculosis was accompanied by significant expansion of TB10.3/10.420–28-specific CD8+ T cells, which suggests that these cells are in fact functional memory T cells.

EspA Acts as a Critical Mediator of ESX1-Dependent Virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Affecting Bacterial Cell Wall Integrity

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) requires the ESX1 specialized protein secretion system for virulence, for triggering cytosolic immune surveillance pathways, and for priming an optimal CD8+ T cell response. This suggests that ESX1 might act primarily by destabilizing the phagosomal membrane that surrounds the bacterium. However, identifying the primary function of the ESX1 system has been difficult because deletion of any substrate inhibits the secretion of all known substrates, thereby abolishing all ESX1 activity. Here we demonstrate that the ESX1 substrate EspA forms a disulfide bonded homodimer after secretion. By disrupting EspA disulfide bond formation, we have dissociated virulence from other known ESX1-mediated activities. Inhibition of EspA disulfide bond formation does not inhibit ESX1 secretion, ESX1-dependent stimulation of the cytosolic pattern receptors in the infected macrophage or the ability of Mtb to prime an adaptive immune response to ESX1 substrates. However, blocking EspA disulfide bond formation severely attenuates the ability of Mtb to survive and cause disease in mice. Strikingly, we show that inhibition of EspA disulfide bond formation also significantly compromises the stability of the mycobacterial cell wall, as does deletion of the ESX1 locus or individual components of the ESX1 system. Thus, we demonstrate that EspA is a major determinant of ESX1-mediated virulence independent of its function in ESX1 secretion. We propose that ESX1 and EspA play central roles in the virulence of Mtb in vivo because they alter the integrity of the mycobacterial cell wall.

Vaccine-Elicited 10-Kilodalton Culture Filtrate Protein-Specific CD8+ T Cells Are Sufficient To Mediate Protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

ABSTRACT The 10-kDa culture filtrate protein (CFP-10) and 6-kDa early secretory antigen of T cells (ESAT-6) are secreted in abundance by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are frequently recognized by T cells from infected people. The genes encoding these proteins have been deleted from the genome of the vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and it is hypothesized that these proteins are important targets of protective immunity. Indeed, vaccination with ESAT-6 elicits protective CD4+ T cells in C57BL/6 mice. We have previously shown that M. tuberculosis infection of C3H mice elicits CFP-10-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Here we demonstrate that immunization with a CFP-10 DNA vaccine stimulates a specific T-cell response only to the H-2Kk-restricted epitope CFP-1032-39. These CFP-1032-39-specific CD8+ cells undergo a rapid expansion and accumulate in the lung following challenge of immunized mice with aerosolized M. tuberculosis. Protective immunity is induced by CFP-10 DNA vaccination as measured by a CFU reduction in the lung and spleen 4 and 8 weeks after challenge with M. tuberculosis. These data demonstrate that CFP-10 is a protective antigen and that CFP-1032-39-specific CD8+ T cells elicited by vaccination are sufficient to mediate protection against tuberculosis.

Bacterial Protein Secretion Is Required for Priming of CD8+ T Cells Specific for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Antigen CFP10

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection elicits antigen-specific CD8+ T cells that are required to control disease. It is unknown how the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) pathway samples mycobacterial antigens. CFP10 and ESAT6 are important virulence factors secreted by M. tuberculosis, and they are immunodominant targets of the human and murine T-cell response. Here, we test the hypothesis that CFP10 secretion by M. tuberculosis is required for the priming of CD8+ T cells in vivo. Our results reveal an explicit dependence upon the bacterial secretion of the CFP10 antigen for the induction of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vivo. By using well-defined M. tuberculosis mutants and carefully controlling for virulence, we show that ESX-1 function is required for the priming of CD8+ T cells specific for CFP10. CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses to mycobacterial antigens secreted independently of ESX-1 were unaffected, suggesting that ESX-1-dependent phagosomal escape is not required for CD8+ T-cell priming during infection. We propose that the overrepresentation of secreted proteins as dominant targets of the CD8+ T-cell response during M. tuberculosis infection is a consequence of their preferential sampling by the MHC-I pathway. The implications of these findings should be considered in all models of antigen presentation during M. tuberculosis infection and in vaccine development.

Next generation: tuberculosis vaccines that elicit protective CD8+ T cells

Tuberculosis continues to cause considerable human morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in people coinfected with HIV. The emergence of multidrug resistance makes the medical treatment of tuberculosis even more difficult. Thus, the development of a tuberculosis vaccine is a global health priority. Here we review the data concerning the role of CD8+ T cells in immunity to tuberculosis and consider how CD8+ T cells can be elicited by vaccination. Many immunization strategies have the potential to elicit CD8+ T cells and we critically review the data supporting a role for vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells in protective immunity. The synergy between CD4+ and CD8+ T cells suggests that a vaccine that elicits both T-cell subsets has the best chance at preventing tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis directs immunofocusing of CD8+ T cell responses despite vaccination.

Vaccines that elicit T cell responses try to mimic protective memory T cell immunity after infection by increasing the frequency of Ag-specific T cells in the immune repertoire. However, the factors that determine immunodominance during infection and after vaccination and the relation between immunodominance and protection are incompletely understood. We previously identified TB10.4(20–28) as an immunodominant epitope recognized by H2-Kd–restricted CD8+ T cells after M. tuberculosis infection. Here we report a second epitope, EspA(150–158), that is recognized by a substantial number of pulmonary CD8+ T cells. The relative abundance of these T cells in the naive repertoire only partially predicts their relative frequency after M. tuberculosis infection. Furthermore, although vaccination with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing these epitopes changes their relative immunodominance in the preinfection T cell repertoire, this change is transient after challenge with M. tuberculosis. We speculate that factors intrinsic to the chronic nature of M. tuberculosis infection establishes the hierarchy of immunodominance and may explain the failure of some vaccines to provide protection.

Identifying Immunogenic CD4+ T-cell Epitopes of Myeloid Cell Leukemia 1 Using Overlapping 20-mer Peptides Spanning the Whole Protein

Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) is an anti-apoptotic protein which is overexpressed in various leukemia and other cancers [1]. Mcl-1 has a very short half-life [2], which has been suggested as a molecular mechanism for cells to switch into either the survival or apoptotic pathways in response to different stresses [3]. Recently, it has been demonstrated that downregulation of Mcl-1 by various pharmacological agents or genetic approaches dramatically increases ABT-737 lethality in various malignant cell types [4]. Different strategies for targeting Mcl-1 include (i) small interfering RNA [5] (ii) small-molecule inhibitors [6] and (iii) peptide inhibitors [7]. In recent years, therapeutic vaccination with synthetic peptides derived from anti-apoptotic proteins such as Mcl-1 has emerged as a promising strategy against hematological cancers. In this study, 34 overlapping 20-mer peptides, spanning the entire Mcl-1 protein, were adjuvanted with cationic liposomes [8] and tested in three different mouse strains with varied Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) haplotypes (FVB [H-2q], CB6F1[H-2b/d], B6CBAF1 [H-2b/k]) to identify immunogenic CD4+ T-cell epitopes.