Reinhard Obst

Antigen persistence is required throughout the expansion phase of a CD4+ T cell response

For CD8+ T cells, a relatively short antigen pulse seems sufficient for antigen-presenting cells to drive clonal expansion and differentiation. It is unknown whether the requirement for antigen is similarly ephemeral for CD4+ T cells. To study the dependence of a CD4+ T cell response on antigen persistence in a quantitatively and temporally controlled manner in vivo, we engineered a mouse line expressing a major histocompatibility complex class II–restricted epitope in dendritic cells under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter. Experiments tracking the proliferation of CD4+ T cells exposed to their cognate antigen in various amounts for different time periods revealed that the division of such cells was contingent on the presence of antigen throughout their expansion phase, even in the presence of an inflammatory stimulus. This previously unrecognized feature of a CD4+ T cell response contrasts with the proliferative behavior of CD8+ T cells that has been documented, and it implies that the two T cell subsets might require different strategies for efficient vaccination.

How Much TCR Does a T Cell Need

Kinetic features of TCR:MHC/peptide interactions dictate their outcome in vitro, some important parameters of which include the number of molecules engaged and the duration of engagement. We explored the in vivo significance of these findings in transgenic mice expressing TCRs in a quantitatively and temporally controlled manner. As anticipated, reduced TCR levels resulted in attenuated reactivity, but response thresholds were substantially lower than expected-at as low as 1/20th the normal TCR numbers and with no indication of phenotypic skewing at suboptimal levels. We also studied survival of T lymphocytes stripped of their TCRs. Unlike B cells, T cells lacking antigen receptors did not die precipitously; instead, populations decayed gradually, just as previously reported in the absence of MHC molecules.

Adaptation of TCR Repertoires to Self-Peptides in Regulatory and Nonregulatory CD4+ T Cells

Currently, it is not understood how the specificity of the TCR guides CD4+ T cells into the conventional lineage (Tconv) vs directing them to become regulatory (Treg) cells defined by the Foxp3 transcription factor. To address this question, we made use of the “Limited” (LTD) mouse, which has a restricted TCR repertoire with a fixed TCRβ chain and a TCRα chain minilocus. The TCR repertoires of Tconv and Treg cells were equally broad, were distinct, yet overlapped significantly, representing a less strict partition than previously seen between CD4 and CD8 T cells. As a group, the CDR3α motifs showed a significant trend to higher positive charge in Treg than in Tconv cells. The Tconv and Treg repertoires were both reshaped between thymus and periphery. Reducing the array of peptides presented by MHC class II molecules by introducing the H2-DMo/o mutation into the LTD mouse led to parallel shifts in the repertoires of Tconv and Treg cells. In both cases, the CDR3α elements were entirely different and strikingly shortened, relative to normal LTD mice. These peculiar sequences conferred reactivity to wild-type MHC class II complexes and were excluded from the normal repertoire, even among Treg cells, indicating that some forms of self-reactivity are incompatible with selection into the Treg lineage. In conclusion, the Treg repertoire is broad, with distinct composition and characteristics, yet significantly overlapping and sharing structural constraints with the repertoire of conventional CD4+ T cells.

Gene expression microarrays: glimpses of the immunological genome.

Successful microarray experimentation can generate enormous amounts of data, potentially very rich but also very unwieldy. Bold outlooks and new methods for data analysis and presentation should yield additional insight into the complexities of the immune system.

Sustained antigen presentation can promote an immunogenic T cell response, like dendritic cell activation

Activation of dendritic cells (DCs) enhances their ability to prime naïve T cells. How activation renders them immunogenic rather than tolerogenic is unclear. Here, we show, using temporally regulated expression of a transgene-encoded neoself antigen in DCs, that either prolonged antigen presentation or DC activation could elicit full expansion, effector cytokine production, and memory-cell differentiation. Microarray analysis of gene expression in T cells showed that all changes linked to DC activation through CD40 could be reproduced by persistent antigen delivery, suggesting that stabilization of antigen presentation is an important consequence of DC activation in vivo. In this system, DC activation by CD40 engagement indeed extended their ability to present antigen to CD4+ T cells in vivo, although different results were obtained with antigen delivered to DCs by means of endocytosis from the cell surface. These results suggest that antigen persistence may be an important discriminator of immunogenic and tolerogenic antigen exposure.

Allo- and self-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes against a peptide library: evidence for a functionally diverse allorestricted T cell repertoire

BALB/c‐derived spleen cells were depleted of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) recognizing allogeneic (H2b) and TAP‐negative cells followed by stimulation with the same cells loaded with a synthetic library binding to H2‐Kb. The resulting CTL lines were found to differ widely in peptide specificity and to exhibit an avidity towards the library as that demonstrated for syngeneic CTL. These results demonstrate that positive selection in the context of a certain MHC molecule does not seem to be required for generating high‐avidity TCR that are restricted by the same molecule. However, positive selection increases the frequency of such CTL. By raising T cell lines from a repertoire which did not undergo negative selection by the restriction element in question, it becomes possible to produce effective self‐peptide/MHC as well as nonself‐peptide/MHC‐specific CTL as tools for adoptive tumor immunotherapy.

Shedding of glycan-modifying enzymes by signal peptide peptidase-like 3 (SPPL3) regulates cellular N-glycosylation.

Protein N‐glycosylation is involved in a variety of physiological and pathophysiological processes such as autoimmunity, tumour progression and metastasis. Signal peptide peptidase‐like 3 (SPPL3) is an intramembrane‐cleaving aspartyl protease of the GxGD type. Its physiological function, however, has remained enigmatic, since presently no physiological substrates have been identified. We demonstrate that SPPL3 alters the pattern of cellular N‐glycosylation by triggering the proteolytic release of active site‐containing ectodomains of glycosidases and glycosyltransferases such as N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase V, β‐1,3 N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase 1 and β‐1,4 galactosyltransferase 1. Cleavage of these enzymes leads to a reduction in their cellular activity. In line with that, reduced expression of SPPL3 results in a hyperglycosylation phenotype, whereas elevated SPPL3 expression causes hypoglycosylation. Thus, SPPL3 plays a central role in an evolutionary highly conserved post‐translational process in eukaryotes.

Differential Kinetics of Antigen Dependency of CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells

Ag recognition via the TCR is necessary for the expansion of specific T cells that then contribute to adaptive immunity as effector and memory cells. Because CD4+ and CD8+ T cells differ in terms of their priming APCs and MHC ligands we compared their requirements of Ag persistence during their expansion phase side by side. Proliferation and effector differentiation of TCR transgenic and polyclonal mouse T cells were thus analyzed after transient and continuous TCR signals. Following equally strong stimulation, CD4+ T cell proliferation depended on prolonged Ag presence, whereas CD8+ T cells were able to divide and differentiate into effector cells despite discontinued Ag presentation. CD4+ T cell proliferation was neither affected by Th lineage or memory differentiation nor blocked by coinhibitory signals or missing inflammatory stimuli. Continued CD8+ T cell proliferation was truly independent of self-peptide/MHC-derived signals. The subset divergence was also illustrated by surprisingly broad transcriptional differences supporting a stronger propensity of CD8+ T cells to programmed expansion. These T cell data indicate an intrinsic difference between CD4+ and CD8+ T cells regarding the processing of TCR signals for proliferation. We also found that the presentation of a MHC class II–restricted peptide is more efficiently prolonged by dendritic cell activation in vivo than a class I bound one. In summary, our data demonstrate that CD4+ T cells require continuous stimulation for clonal expansion, whereas CD8+ T cells can divide following a much shorter TCR signal.

The Timing of T Cell Priming and Cycling.

The proliferation of specific lymphocytes is the central tenet of the clonal selection paradigm. Antigen recognition by T cells triggers a series of events that produces expanded clones of differentiated effector cells. TCR signaling events are detectable within seconds and minutes and are likely to continue for hours and days in vivo. Here, I review the work done on the importance of TCR signals in the later part of the expansion phase of the primary T cell response, primarily regarding the regulation of the cell cycle in CD4+ and CD8+ cells. The results suggest a degree of programing by early signals for effector differentiation, particularly in the CD8+ T cell compartment, with optimal expansion supported by persistent antigen presentation later on. Differences to CD4+ T cell expansion and new avenues toward a molecular understanding of cell cycle regulation in lymphocytes are discussed.

Making antigen invisible: a coinhibitory molecule regulates the interaction between T cells and dendritic cells

Evaluation of: Fife BT, Pauken KE, Eagar TN et al. Interactions between PD-1 and PD-L1 promote tolerance by blocking the TCR-induced stop signal. Nat. Immunol. 10(11), 1185–1191 (2009). Antigen-specific downregulation of T-cell effector function is critical for maintaining self-tolerance but it can promote pathogen persistence in chronic infections; consequently, the restoration of T-cell effector functions is a major goal of therapeutic vaccines against chronic viral infections and malignancies. Recently, a number of T-cell inhibitory receptors, most prominently programmed death-1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4, have been described that are associated with T-cell exhaustion and tolerance. Blocking these receptors can restore T-cell function and, depending on the model, lead to autoimmune disease or successful viral elimination. Antibodies to PD-1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 are currently being tested in clinical trials in several malignant diseases and chronic hepatitis C as they are promising candidates for combination with both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. Given the central role of T-cell inhibitory receptors in the regulation of immune responses, understanding their molecular mode of action is of major importance. In the report from Fife and colleagues, two-photon laser scanning microscopy of mouse lymphoid and peripheral tissue has been employed to study the interaction of tolerized PD-1-expressing T cells with antigen-bearing dendritic cells in vivo. While tolerized T cells moved freely and did not make prolonged contacts with dendritic cells, addition of an antibody that blocked the interaction between PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 lowered T-cell motility, enhanced T-cell–dendritic cell contacts and caused autoimmune disease in the nonobese diabetic mouse model of autoimmune diabetes. The authors conclude that PD-1–PD-L1 interactions mediate peripheral tolerance by inhibiting T-cell receptor-induced stop signals.