Immunology
Abstract
Perianal fistulizing Crohn’s disease (PCD) is a common and debilitating complication with elusive pathophysiology. To define actionable immunologic targets in PCD, we recruited patients with PCD (n = 24), CD without perianal disease (NPCD, n = 10), and idiopathic/cryptoglandular perianal fistulas (IPF, n = 29). Biopsies from fistula tracts, fistula opening, and rectal mucosa were analyzed using single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), mass cytometry (CyTOF), and spatial transcriptomics (ST). Global hyperactivation of IFN-g pathways distinguished PCD from idiopathic perianal fistulas and CD without perianal disease in the fistula tracts and/or intestinal mucosa. IFN-g and TNF-a signaling directly induced genes involved in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in PCD rectal epithelial cells. Enhanced IFN-g signaling in PCD was driven by pathogenic Th17 (pTh17) cells, which were recruited and activated by myeloid cells overexpressing LPS signature (LPS_myeloid). pTh17 and LPS_myeloid cells co-localized adjacent to PCD fistula tracts on ST and drove local IFN-g signaling. Anti-TNFs facilitated fistula healing by downregulating T and myeloid cell signatures, while promoting mucosal barrier repair and immunoregulatory processes. Key single-cell findings were validated by bulk RNA-seq data of an independent CD cohort. To summarize, we identified IFN-g-driven mechanisms contributing to pathogenesis and highlighted its blockade as a therapeutic strategy for PCD.
Authors
Siyan Cao, Khai M. Nguyen, Kaiming Ma, Tingyi Tan, Xin Yao, Ta-Chiang Liu, Malek Ayoub, Jalpa Devi, Sami Samaan, Yizhou Liu, Radhika Smith, Matthew L. Silviera, Steven R. Hunt, Paul E. Wise, Matthew G. Mutch, Sean C. Glasgow, William C. Chapman Jr, Michelle L. Cowan, Mathew A. Ciorba, Marco Colonna, Parakkal Deepak
Abstract
Gain of plasticity and loss of MHC-II enable tumor cells to evade immune surveillance contributing to tumor development. Here, we showed that the transcriptional corepressor RCOR2 is a key factor that integrates two epigenetic programs surveilling tumor plasticity and immunogenicity. RCOR2 was upregulated predominantly in tumor cells and promoted tumor development in mice through reducing tumor cell death by CD4+/CD8+ T cells and inducing cancer stemness. Mechanistically, RCOR2 repressed RNF43 expression through LSD1-mediated demethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 to induce activation of Wnt/β-catenin and tumor stemness. Simultaneously, RCOR2 inhibited CIITA expression through HDAC1/2-mediated deacetylation of histone H4 at lysine 16, leading to MHC-II silencing in tumor cells and subsequent impairment of CD4+/CD8+ T cell immunosurveillance, thereby promoting immune evasion. RCOR2 loss potentiated anti-PD-1 therapy in mouse models of cancer and correlated with better response to anti-PD-1 therapy in human patients. Collectively, these findings uncover a “two birds with one stone” effect for RCOR2, highlighting its potential as a valuable target for improved cancer therapy.
Authors
Lei Bao, Ming Zhu, Maowu Luo, Ashwani Kumar, Yan Peng, Chao Xing, Yingfei Wang, Weibo Luo
Abstract
Bloodstream bacterial infections cause one-third of deaths from bacterial infections, and eradication of circulating bacteria is essential to prevent disseminated infections. We here found that hepcidin, the master regulator of systemic iron homeostasis, affected Kupffer cell (KC) immune defense against bloodstream bacterial infections by modulating the gut commensal bacteria-derived tryptophan derivative indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). Hepcidin deficiency impaired bacterial capture by KCs and exacerbated systemic bacterial dissemination through morphological changes in KCs. Gut microbiota depletion and fecal microbiota transplantation revealed that the gut microbiota mediated the alteration of KCs volume. Mechanistically, hepcidin deficiency led to a decreased abundance of the IPA-producing commensal Lactobacillus intestinalis and a concomitant reduction in the gut-to-liver shuttling of its metabolite IPA. IPA supplementation or Lactobacillus intestinalis colonization restored the KC volume and hepatic immune defense against bloodstream bacterial infection in hepcidin-deficient mice. Moreover, hepcidin levels in patients with bacteremia were associated with days of antibiotic usage and hospitalization. Collectively, our findings described a previously unappreciated role of hepcidin in sustaining KC-mediated hepatic defense against bloodstream bacterial infections through the gut commensal Lactobacillus intestinalis and its tryptophan derivative IPA. More importantly, restoring the crosstalk between the gut microbiota and liver through IPA-inspired therapies may offer a promising strategy for enhancing the host defense against bloodstream bacterial infections in those with low hepcidin levels and a high risk for bacterial infections.
Authors
Yihang Pan, Lihua Shen, Zehua Wu, Xueke Wang, Xiwang Liu, Yan Zhang, Qinyu Luo, Sijin Liu, Xiangming Fang, Qiang Shu, Qixing Chen
Abstract
Coinhibitory receptors function as central modulators of the immune response to resolve T effector activation and/or to sustain immune homeostasis. Here, using humanized SCID mice, we found that neuropilin–2 (NRP2) is inducible on late effector and exhausted subsets of human CD4+ T cells and that it is coexpressed with established coinhibitory molecules including PD-1, CTLA4, TIGIT, LAG3, and TIM3. In murine models, we also found that NRP2 is expressed on effector memory CD4+ T cells with an exhausted phenotype and that it functions as a key coinhibitory molecule. Knockout (KO) of NRP2 resulted in hyperactive CD4+ T cell responses and enhanced inflammation in delayed-type hypersensitivity and transplantation models. After cardiac transplantation, allograft rejection and graft failure were accelerated in global as well as CD4+ T cell–specific KO recipients, and enhanced alloimmunity was dependent on NRP2 expression on CD4+ T effectors but not on CD4+Foxp3+ Tregs. Also, KO Tregs were found to be as efficient as WT cells in the suppression of effector responses in vitro and in vivo. These collective findings identify NRP2 as a potentially novel coinhibitory receptor and demonstrate that its expression on CD4+ T effector cells is of great functional importance in immunity.
Authors
Johannes Wedel, Nora Kochupurakkal, Sek Won Kong, Sayantan Bose, Ji-Won Lee, Madeline Maslyar, Bayan Alsairafi, Kayla MacLeod, Kaifeng Liu, Hengcheng Zhang, Masaki Komatsu, Hironao Nakayama, Diane R. Bielenberg, David M. Briscoe
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is endemic to Latin America and is characterized by chronic inflammation of cardiac tissues due to parasite persistence. Hypoxia within infected tissues may trigger the stabilization of HIF-1 and be linked to ATP release. Extracellular ATP exhibits microbicidal effects but is scavenged by CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases, which ultimately generate adenosine (ADO), a potent immunosuppressor. Here, we comprehensively study the importance of HIF-1 stabilization and the CD39/CD73/ADO axis, on CD4+ T cells with the cytotoxic phenotype, in facilitating the persistence of T. cruzi. Myocardial infection induces prominent areas of hypoxia, which is concomitant with HIF-1α stabilization in T cells and linked to early expansion of CD39+CD73+CD4+ T cell infiltrating population. Functional assays further demonstrate that HIF-1 stabilization and CD73 activity are associated with impaired CD4+ T cell cytotoxic potential. RNA-Seq analysis reveals that HIF-1 and purinergic signaling pathways are overrepresented in cardiac tissues of patients with end-stage Chagas disease. The findings highlight a major effect of purinergic signaling on CD4+ T cells with potential cytotoxic capacity in the setting of T. cruzi infection and have translational implications for therapy.
Authors
Gastón Bergero, Yanina L. Mazzocco, Sebastian Del Rosso, Ruining Liu, Zoé M. Cejas Gallardo, Simon C. Robson, Martin Rottenberg, Maria P. Aoki
Abstract
In preclinical mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), we show that a combination of chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and eribulin (Eri) was additive from an immunological point of view and was accompanied by the induction of an intratumoral immune and inflammatory response favored by the immunogenic cell death induced by CDDP, as well as by the vascular and tumor stromal remodeling induced by each chemotherapy. Unexpectedly, despite the favorable immune context created by this immunomodulatory chemotherapy combination, our models remained refractory to the addition of anti–PD-L1 immunotherapy. These surprising observations led us to discover that CDDP chemotherapy was simultaneously responsible for the production of TGF-β by several populations of cells present in tumors, which favored the emergence of different subpopulations of immune cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts characterized by immunosuppressive properties. Accordingly, co-treatment with anti–TGF-β restored the immunological synergy between this immunogenic doublet of chemotherapy and anti–PD-L1 in a CD8-dependent manner. Translational studies revealed the unfavorable prognostic effect of the TGF-β pathway on the immune response in human TNBC, as well as the ability of CDDP to induce this cytokine also in human TNBC cell lines, thus highlighting the clinical relevance of targeting TGF-β in the context of human TNBC treated with chemoimmunotherapy.
Authors
Laura Kalfeist, Fanny Ledys, Stacy Petit, Cyriane Poirrier, Samia Kada Mohammed, Loïck Galland, Valentin Derangère, Alis Ilie, David Rageot, Romain Aucagne, Pierre-Simon Bellaye, Caroline Truntzer, Marion Thibaudin, Mickaël Rialland, François Ghiringhelli, Emeric Limagne, Sylvain Ladoire
Abstract
COPA syndrome is a monogenic disorder of immune dysregulation that leads to interstitial lung disease and high-titer autoantibodies. Constitutive activation of the innate immune molecule STING is centrally involved in disease. However, the mechanisms by which STING results in autoimmunity is not well understood in COPA syndrome and other STING-associated diseases. Prior studies show a cell autonomous role for STING in thymocyte development. Single cell data of human thymus demonstrates STING is highly expressed in medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) and at levels much greater than T cells. Here, we show that in certain contexts activated STING exerts a functional role in the thymic epithelium to alter thymocyte selection and predisposes to autoimmunity. In CopaE241K/+ mice, activated STING in mTECs amplified interferon signaling, impaired macroautophagy and caused a defect in negative selection of T cell precursors. Wild-type mice given a systemic STING agonist phenocopied the selection defect and showed enhanced thymic escape of a T cell clone targeting a self-antigen also expressed in melanoma. Our work demonstrates STING activation in TECs shapes the T cell repertoire and contributes to autoimmunity, findings important for conditions that activate thymic STING.
Authors
Zimu Deng, Christopher S. Law, Santosh Kurra, Noa Simchoni, Anthony K. Shum
Abstract
The balance of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal versus differentiation is essential to ensure long-term repopulation capacity while allowing response to events that require increased hematopoietic output. Proliferation and differentiation of HSCs and their progeny is controlled by the JAK/STAT pathway downstream of cytokine signaling. E3 ubiquitin ligases, like Cullin 5 (Cul5), can regulate JAK/STAT signaling by degrading signaling intermediates. Here we report that mice lacking Cul5 in hematopoietic cells (Cul5Vav-Cre) have increased numbers of HSPCs, splenomegaly, and extramedullary hematopoiesis. Differentiation in Cul5Vav-Cre mice is myeloid- and megakaryocyte-biased, resulting in leukocytosis, anemia and thrombocytosis. Cul5Vav-Cre mice increased HSC proliferation and circulation, associated with a decrease in CXCR4 surface expression. In bone marrow cells, we identified LRRC41 co-immunoprecipitated with CUL5, and vice versa, supporting that CRL5 forms a complex with LRRC41. We identified an accumulation of LRRC41 and STAT5 in Cul5Vav-Cre HSCs during IL-3 stimulation, supporting their regulation by Cul5. Whole cell proteome (WCP) analysis of HSPCs from Cul5Vav-Cre bone marrow identified upregulation of many STAT5 target genes and associated pathways. Finally, JAK1/2 inhibition with ruxolitinib normalized hematopoiesis in Cul5Vav-Cre mice. These studies demonstrate the function of Cul5 in HSC function, stem cell fate decisions, and regulation of IL-3 signaling.
Authors
Siera A. Tomishima, Dale D. Kim, Nadia Porter, Ipsita Guha, Asif A. Dar, Yohaniz Ortega-Burgos, Jennifer Roof, Hossein Fazelinia, Lynn A. Spruce, Christopher S. Thom, Robert L. Bowman, Paula M. Oliver
Abstract
BACKGROUND. Reversal reactions (RR) in leprosy are acute immune episodes marked by inflammation and bacterial clearance, offering a model to study the dynamics of host responses to Mycobacterium leprae. These episodes are often severe and difficult to treat, frequently progressing to permanent disabilities. We aimed to characterize the immune mechanisms and identify antimicrobial effectors during RR. METHODS. We performed RNA sequencing on paired skin biopsy specimens from nine leprosy patients collected before and at RR diagnosis, followed by differential gene expression and functional analysis. A machine learning classifier was applied to predict membrane-permeabilizing proteins. Antimicrobial activity was assessed in M. leprae-infected macrophages and axenic cultures. RESULTS. In the paired pre-RR and RR biopsy specimens, a 64-gene antimicrobial response signature was upregulated during RR and correlated with reduced M. leprae burden. Predicted upstream regulators included IL-1β, TNF, IFN-γ, and IL-17, indicating activation of both Th1 and Th17 pathways. A machine learning classifier identified 28 genes with predicted membrane-permeabilizing antimicrobial activity, including S100A8. Four proteins (S100A7, S100A8, CCL17, CCL19) demonstrated antimicrobial activity against M. leprae in vitro. Scanning electron microscopy revealed membrane damage in bacteria exposed to these proteins. CONCLUSION. RR is associated with a robust antimicrobial gene program regulated by Th1/Th17 cytokines. We identified potentially novel host antimicrobial effectors that exhibit activity against M. leprae, suggesting potential strategies to bolster Th1/Th17 responses for combating intracellular mycobacterial infections. FUNDING. NIH grants R01 AI022553, R01 AR040312, R01 AR073252, R01 AI166313, R01 AI169526, P50 AR080594, 4R37 AI052453-21, and NSF grant DMR2325840.
Authors
Priscila R. Andrade, Feiyang Ma, Jing Lu, Jaime de Anda, Ernest Y. Lee, George W. Agak, Craig J. Dobry, Bruno J. de Andrade Silva, Rosane M.B. Teles, Lilah A. Mansky, Jonathan Perrie, Dennis J. Montoya, Bryan D. Bryson, Johann E. Gudjonsson, Gerard C.L. Wong, Euzenir N. Sarno, Matteo Pellegrini, Robert L. Modlin
Abstract
Since the lung is a mucosal barrier organ with a unique immunologic environment, mechanisms of immunoregulation in lung cancer may differ from those of other malignancies. Consistent with this notion, we found that CD8+ T cells play a paradoxical role in facilitating, rather than ameliorating, the growth of multiple lung adenocarcinoma models. These include spontaneous, carcinogen-induced, and transplantable tumor cell line models. Specifically, we found that CD8+ T cells promote homing of CD4+Foxp3+ T regulatory cells to the tumor bed by increasing levels of CCR5 chemokines in the tumor microenvironment in an IFN-γ and TNF-α dependent manner. Contrary to their canonical role, these Th1 cytokines contributed to accelerated growth of murine lung adenocarcinomas while suppressing the growth of other malignancies. Surprisingly, lung cancer cells themselves can serve as a dominant source of IFN-γ, and deletion of this cytokine from cancer cells using CRISPR/Cas-9 decreases tumor growth. Importantly for translational applications, a high level of IFN-γ was also found in human lung cancer patients at both the mRNA and protein level. Our data outlines what we deem a novel and previously undefined lung cancer specific immunoregulatory pathway that may be harnessed to tailor immune based therapy specifically for this malignancy.
Authors
Christina Kratzmeier, Mojtaba Taheri, Zhongcheng Mei, Isabelle Lim, May A. Khalil, Brandon Carter-Cooper, Rachel E. Fanaroff, Chin S. Ong, Eric B. Schneider, Stephanie Chang, Erica Leyder, Dongge Li, Irina G. Luzina, Anirban Banerjee, Alexander Sasha Krupnick
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)