Marcia A. Blackman

Age-associated decline in T cell repertoire diversity leads to holes in the repertoire and impaired immunity to influenza virus

A diverse T cell repertoire is essential for a vigorous immune response to new infections, and decreasing repertoire diversity has been implicated in the age-associated decline in CD8 T cell immunity. In this study, using the well-characterized mouse influenza virus model, we show that although comparable numbers of CD8 T cells are elicited in the lung and lung airways of young and aged mice after de novo infection, a majority of aged mice exhibit profound shifts in epitope immunodominance and restricted diversity in the TCR repertoire of responding cells. A preferential decline in reactivity to viral epitopes with a low naive precursor frequency was observed, in some cases leading to “holes” in the T cell repertoire. These effects were also seen in young thymectomized mice, consistent with the role of the thymus in maintaining naive repertoire diversity. Furthermore, a decline in repertoire diversity generally correlated with impaired responses to heterosubtypic challenge. This study formally demonstrates in a mouse infection model that naturally occurring contraction of the naive T cell repertoire can result in impaired CD8 T cell responses to known immunodominant epitopes and decline in heterosubtypic immunity. These observations have important implications for the design of vaccine strategies for the elderly.

Latent Murine γ-Herpesvirus Infection Is Established in Activated B Cells, Dendritic Cells, and Macrophages

Intranasal infection of mice with the murine γ-herpesvirus MHV-68 results in an acute lytic infection in the lung, followed by the establishment of lifelong latency. Development of an infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome correlates with the establishment of latency and is characterized by splenomegaly and the appearance of activated CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood. Interestingly, a large population of activated CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood expresses the Vβ4+ element in their TCR. In this report we show that MHV-68 latency in the spleen after intranasal infection is harbored in three APC types: B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Surprisingly, since latency has not previously been described in dendritic cells, these cells harbored the highest frequency of latent virus. Among B cells, latency was preferentially associated with activated B cells expressing the phenotype of germinal center B cells, thus formally linking the previously reported association of latency gene expression and germinal centers to germinal center B cells. Germinal center formation, however, was not required for the establishment of latency. Significantly, although three cell types were latently infected, the ability to stimulate Vβ4+CD8+ T cell hybridomas was limited to latently infected, activated B cells.

Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (CD223) Regulates the Size of the Expanding T Cell Population Following Antigen Activation In Vivo

Lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) is a CD4-related, activation-induced cell surface molecule that binds to MHC class II with high affinity. In this study, we used four experimental systems to reevaluate previous suggestions that LAG-3−/− mice had no T cell defect. First, LAG-3−/− T cells exhibited a delay in cell cycle arrest following in vivo stimulation with the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B resulting in increased T cell expansion and splenomegaly. Second, increased T cell expansion was also observed in adoptive recipients of LAG-3−/− OT-II TCR transgenic T cells following in vivo Ag stimulation. Third, infection of LAG-3−/− mice with Sendai virus resulted in increased numbers of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Fourth, CD4+ T cells exhibited a delayed expansion in LAG-3−/− mice infected with murine gammaherpesvirus. In summary, these data suggest that LAG-3 negatively regulates T cell expansion and controls the size of the memory T cell pool.

γ-Herpesvirus Latency Is Preferentially Maintained in Splenic Germinal Center and Memory B Cells

The γ-herpesviruses are oncogenic B cell lymphotrophic viruses that establish life-long latency in the host. Murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) infection of mice represents a unique system for analyzing γ-herpesvirus latency in splenic B cells at different stages of infection. After intranasal infection with MHV-68 we analyzed the establishment of latency 14 days after infection, and the maintenance of latency 3 months after infection in different purified subpopulations of B cells in the spleen. The data show that MHV-68 latency is mainly established in germinal center B cells and that long-term latency is preferentially maintained in two different subsets of isotype-switched B cells, germinal center and memory B cells. Cell cycle analysis indicates that MHV-68 is located in both cycling and resting isotype-switched B cells. Analysis of viral gene expression showed that both lytic and latent viral transcripts were differentially expressed in germinal center and memory B cells during long-term latency. Together, these observations suggested that γ-herpesviruses exploit the B cell life cycle in the spleen.

T-cell immunosenescence: lessons learned from mouse models of aging

It is well established that increasing age is associated with a decreased capacity of the immune system to mediate effective immune responses to vaccination and invading pathogens. Because of the inherent limitations of conducting experiments in humans, much of what we have learned is owed to the utility of experimental mouse models of aging. Recent studies performed in the mouse have demonstrated mechanisms responsible for age-related declines in the function of CD4+ and CD8+ cells. This review describes key findings regarding age-related defects in T-cell function and discusses the impact these defects have on vaccine efficacy and immunity.

T-cell memory and recall responses to respiratory virus infections

Summary:  The respiratory tract is characterized by its large surface area and the close association of an extensive vasculature with the external environment. As such, the respiratory tract is a major portal of entry for many pathogens. The immune system is able to effectively control most pulmonary pathogens and establish immunological memory that is capable of mediating an accelerated and enhanced recall response to secondary pathogen challenge. A key component of the recall response in the lung involves the rapid response of antigen‐specific memory CD8+ T cells. Recent studies have shown that memory CD8+ T cells are extremely heterogeneous in terms of phenotype, function, anatomical distribution, and longevity. However, we have little understanding of how the different subsets of memory cells actually contribute to the recall response, especially with respect to peripheral or mucosal sites, such as the lung. Since immunological memory is the cornerstone of vaccination, it is essential that we understand how different memory CD8+ T‐cell subsets are initially generated, maintained over time, and contribute to recall responses. This review focuses on memory T cells that mediate recall responses to influenza and parainfluenza virus infections in the lung.

Suppression of natural killing in vitro by monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes: requirement for reactive metabolites of oxygen.

Natural killer cells spontaneously lyse certain tumor cells and may defend against malignancy. We have previously shown that natural killing (NK) by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is suppressed in vitro by phorbol diester tumor promoters, including 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). We here demonstrate that suppression of NK is mediated by monocytes or polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and that suppression is dependent on the generation of reactive forms of molecular oxygen (RO), particularly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). NK was suppressed not only by TPA but also by opsonized zymosan (yeast cell walls), which, like TPA, was not toxic to PBMC. Both TPA and zymosan stimulated the production of superoxide anion (O2-) and H2O2 by PBMC. Production of RO correlated with suppression of NK. When PBMC were depleted of monocytes, the production of RO and the suppression of NK were both markedly reduced. Suppression could be restored by monocytes or PMN, both of which produced RO in response to TPA or zymosan. Suppression of NK was dependent on RO. Monocytes or PMN from a patient with chronic granulomatous disease, whose cells cannot generate RO, did not mediate suppression of NK. Suppression was also reduced in glucose-free medium, which did not support the generation of RO. Suppression of NK by TPA was inhibited by catalase. Bovine superoxide dismutase had a limited effect on suppression, even in high concentration, and tyrosine-copper (II) complex, which also enhances dismutation of O2- to H2O2, had almost no effect on suppression. When H2O2 was directly generated enzymatically from glucose oxidase and glucose, NK was suppressed and suppression was reversed by catalase. NK was also suppressed by the enzymatic generation of O2- from xanthine oxidase and xanthine, but suppression under these conditions was again inhibited by catalase and not by superoxide dismutase, indicating that suppression was due to the secondary formation of H2O2 from O2-. These results indicate that H2O2 is important in suppression of NK. Myeloperoxidase did not appear to play a role in suppression because inhibition of this enzyme by sodium azide, cyanide, or aminotriazole did not prevent suppression of NK. Suppression of NK was reversible; after exposure to zymosan, NK could be partially restored by the addition of catalase and superoxide dismutase or by the removal of zymosan. These studies demonstrate cellular regulation of NK by monocytes or polymorphonuclear leukocytes and indicate a role for RO in immunoregulation.

Clonal expansions and loss of receptor diversity in the naïve CD8 T cell repertoire of aged mice

There are well-characterized age-related changes in the peripheral repertoire of CD8 T cells characterized by reductions in the ratio of naive:memory T cells and the development of large clonal expansions in the memory pool. In addition, the TCR repertoire of naive T cells is reduced with aging. Because a diverse repertoire of naive T cells is essential for a vigorous response to new infections and vaccinations, there is much interest in understanding the mechanisms responsible for declining repertoire diversity. It has been proposed that one reason for declining repertoire diversity in the naive T cell pool is an increasing dependence on homeostatic proliferation in the absence of new thymic emigrants for maintenance of the naive peripheral pool. In this study, we have analyzed the naive CD8 T cell repertoire in young and aged mice by DNA spectratype and sequence analysis. Our data show that naive T cells from aged mice have perturbed spectratype profiles compared with the normally Gaussian spectratype profiles characteristic of naive CD8 T cells from young mice. In addition, DNA sequence analysis formally demonstrated a loss of diversity associated with skewed spectratype profiles. Unexpectedly, we found multiple repeats of the same sequence in naive T cells from aged but not young mice, consistent with clonal expansions previously described only in the memory T cell pool. Clonal expansions among naive T cells suggests dysregulation in the normal homeostatic proliferative mechanisms that operate in young mice to maintain diversity in the naive T cell repertoire.

Persistence and Turnover of Antigen-Specific CD4 T Cells During Chronic Tuberculosis Infection in the Mouse

CD4 T cells are critical for resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, but how effective T cell responses are maintained during chronic infection is not well understood. To address this question we examined the CD4 T cell response to a peptide from ESAT-6 during tuberculosis infection in the mouse. The ESAT-61–20/IAb-specific CD4 T cell response in the lungs, mediastinal lymph nodes, and spleen reached maxima 3–4 wk postinfection, when the bacteria came under the control of the immune response. Once chronic infection was established, the relative frequencies of Ag-specific CD4 T cells were maintained at nearly constant levels for at least 160 days. ESAT-61–20/IAb-specific CD4 T cells that responded in vitro expressed activation markers characteristic of chronically activated effector cells and used a limited Vβ repertoire that was clonally stable in vivo for at least 12 wk. 5-Bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation studies indicated a relatively high rate of cell division among both total CD4 and ESAT-61–20/IAb-specific CD4 T cells during acute infection, but the degree of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation by both the CD4 T cells and the Ag-specific cells declined at least 3-fold during chronic infection. The data indicate that the peripheral ESAT-61–20/IAb-specific CD4 T cell response to M. tuberculosis is characterized during the acute phase of infection by a period of extensive proliferation, but once bacterial control is achieved, this is followed during chronic infection by an extended containment phase that is associated with a persistent response of activated, yet more slowly proliferating, T cells.

Antibody-Mediated Control of Persistent γ-Herpesvirus Infection

The human γ-herpesviruses, EBV and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, establish life-long latency and can reactivate in immunocompromised individuals. T cells play an important role in controlling persistent EBV infection, whereas a role for humoral immunity is less clear. The murine γ-herpesvirus-68 has biological and structural similarities to the human γ-herpesviruses, and provides an important in vivo experimental model for dissecting mechanisms of immune control. In the current studies, CD28−/− mice were used to address the role of Abs in control of persistent murine γ-herpesvirus-68 infection. Lytic infection was controlled in the lungs of CD28−/− mice, and latency was maintained in B cells at normal frequencies. Although class-switched virus-specific Abs were initially generated in the absence of germinal centers, titers and viral neutralizing activity rapidly waned. T cell depletion in CD28−/− mice with compromised Ab responses, but not in control mice with intact Ab responses, resulted in significant recrudescence from latency, both in the spleen and the lung. Recrudescence could be prevented by passive transfer of immune serum. These data directly demonstrate an important contribution of humoral immunity to control of γ-herpesvirus latency, and have significant implications for clinical intervention.