CD4+ T cells interactions with B cells play a critical role in the pathogenesis of systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Extrafollicular CD44hiCD62LloPSGL1loCD4+ (PSGL1loCD4+) T cells are associated with the pathogenesis of lupus and cGVHD, but their causal role has not been established. With murine and humanized MHC–/–HLA-A2+DR4+ murine models of cGVHD, we show that both murine and human PSGL1loCD4+ T cells from GVHD target tissues have features of B cell helpers with upregulated-expression of PD1 and ICOS and production of IL-21. They reside in non-lymphoid tissues without circulating in the blood and have features of tissue-resident memory T cells with upregulated-expression of CD69. Murine PSGL1loCD4+ T cells from GVHD target tissues augmented B cell differentiation into plasma cells and production of autoantibodies via their PD1 interaction with PD-L2 on B cells. Human PSGL1loCD4+ T cells were apposed with memory B cells in the liver tissues of humanized mice and cGVHD patients. Human PSGL1loCD4+ T cells from humanized GVHD target tissues also augmented autologous memory B cell differentiation into plasma cells and antibody production in PD1/PD-L2-dependent manner. Further preclinical studies targeting tissue-resident T cells to treat antibody-mediated features of autoimmune diseases are warranted.
Xiaohui Kong, Deye Zeng, Xiwei Wu, Bixin Wang, Shijie Yang, Qingxiao Song, Yongping Zhu, Martha Salas, Hanjun Qin, Ubaydah Nasri, Karen M. Haas, Arthur D. Riggs, Ryotaro Nakamura, Paul J. Martin, Aimin Huang, Defu Zeng
Gene editing of the erythroid-specific BCL11A enhancer in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from sickle cell disease (SCD) patients induces fetal hemoglobin (HbF) without detectable toxicity as assessed by mouse xenotransplant. Here, we evaluated autologous engraftment and HbF induction potential of erythroid-specific BCL11A enhancer edited HSPCs in four non-human primates. We utilized a single guide RNA (sgRNA) with identical human and rhesus target sequences to disrupt a GATA1 binding site at the BCL11A +58 erythroid enhancer. Cas9 protein and sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP) was electroporated into rhesus HSPCs, followed by autologous infusion after myeloablation. We found that gene edits persisted in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) for up to 101 weeks similarly for BCL11A enhancer or control locus (AAVS1) targeted cells. Biallelic BCL11A enhancer editing resulted in robust γ-globin induction, with the highest levels observed during stress erythropoiesis. Indels were evenly distributed across PB and BM lineages. Off-target edits were not observed. Non-homologous end-joining repair alleles were enriched in engrafting HSCs. In summary, we find that edited HSCs can persist for at least 101 weeks post-transplant, and biallelic edited HSCs provide substantial HbF levels in PB red blood cells, together supporting further clinical translation of this approach.
Selami Demirci, Jing Zeng, Yuxuan Wu, Naoya Uchida, Anne H. Shen, Danilo Pellin, Jackson Gamer, Morgan Yapundich, Claire Drysdale, Jasmine Bonanno, Aylin C. Bonifacino, Allen Krouse, Nathaniel Seth Linde, Theresa Engels, Robert E. Donahue, Juan J. Haro-Mora, Alexis Leonard, Tina Nassehi, Kevin Luk, Shaina N. Porter, Cicera R. Lazzarotto, Shengdar Q. Tsai, Mitchell Weiss, Shondra M. Pruett-Miller, Scot A. Wolfe, Daniel E. Bauer, John F. Tisdale
BACKGROUND. Understanding outcomes and immunologic characteristics of cellular therapy recipients with SARS-CoV-2 is critical to performing these potentially life-saving therapies in the COVID-19 era. In this study of recipients of allogeneic (Allo) and autologous (Auto) hematopoietic cell transplant and CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we aimed to identify clinical variables associated with COVID-19 severity and assess lymphocyte populations. METHODS. We retrospectively investigated patients diagnosed between March 15th and May 7th, 2020. In a subset of patients, lymphocyte immunophenotyping, quantitative real-time PCR from nasopharyngeal swabs, and SARS-CoV-2 antibody status were available. RESULTS. We identified 77 SARS-CoV-2 + cellular therapy recipients (Allo = 35, Auto = 37, CAR-T = 5; median time from cellular therapy 782 days (IQR 354,1611). Overall survival at 30 days was 78%. Clinical variables significantly associated with the composite endpoint of non-rebreather or higher oxygen requirement and death (n events = 25/77) included number of co-morbidities (HR 5.41, P = 0.004), infiltrates (HR 3.08, P = 0.032), and neutropenia (HR 1.15, P = 0.04). Worsening graft-versus-host-disease was not identified among Allo subjects. Immune profiling revealed reductions and rapid recovery in lymphocyte populations across lymphocyte subsets. Antibody responses were seen in a subset of patients. CONCLUSION. In this series of Allo, Auto, and CAR-T recipients, we report overall favorable clinical outcomes for COVID-19 patients without active malignancy and provide preliminary insights into the lymphocyte populations that are key for the anti-viral response and immune reconstitution. FUNDING. NIH P01 CA23766, NIH/NCI P30 CA008748.
Gunjan L. Shah, Susan DeWolf, Yeon Joo Lee, Roni Tamari, Parastoo B. Dahi, Jessica A. Lavery, Josel D. Ruiz, Sean M. Devlin, Christina Cho, Jonathan U. Peled, Ioannis Politikos, Michael Scordo, N. Esther Babady, Tania Jain, Santosha Vardhana, Anthony F. Daniyan, Craig S. Sauter, Juliet N. Barker, Sergio A. Giralt, Cheryl Goss, Peter Maslak, Tobias M. Hohl, Mini Kamboj, Lakshmi Ramanathan, Marcel R.M. van den Brink, Esperanza B. Papadopoulos, Genovefa A. Papanicolaou, Miguel-Angel Perales
Clinical trials are currently testing whether induction of MHC-haploidentical mixed chimerism (Haplo-MC) induces organ transplantation tolerance. Whether Haplo-MC can be used to treat established autoimmune diseases remains unknown. Here, we show that established autoimmunity in euthymic and adult-thymectomized NOD (H-2g7) mice was cured by induction of Haplo-MC under a non-myeloablative anti-thymocyte globulin-based conditioning regimen and infusion of CD4+ T-depleted hematopoietic graft from H-2b/g7 F1 donors that express autoimmune-resistant H-2b or from H-2s/g7 F1 donors that express autoimmune susceptible H-2s. The cure was associated with enhanced thymic negative selection, increased thymic Treg (tTreg) production, and anergy or exhaustion of residual host-type autoreactive T cells in the periphery. The peripheral tolerance was accompanied with expansion of donor- and host-type CD62L1Helios+ tTreg as well as host-type Helios-Nrp1+ peripheral Treg (pTreg) and PD-L1hi plasmacytoid DCs (pDC). Depletion of donor- or host-type Treg cells led to reduction of host-type PD-L1hi pDCs and recurrence of autoimmunity; whereas PD-L1 deficiency in host-type DCs led to reduction of host-type pDCs and Helios-Nrp1+ pTreg cells. Thus, induction of Haplo-MC re-established both central and peripheral tolerance through mechanisms that depend on allo-MHC+ donor-type DC, PD-L1hi host-type DCs, and the generation and persistence of donor and host-type tTreg and pTreg cells.
Yuqing Liu, Xiaoqi Wang, Yongping Zhu, Mingfeng Zhang, Ubaydah Nasri, Sharne S. Sun, Stephen J. Forman, Arthur D. Riggs, Zhang Xi, Defu Zeng
Alarmins, sequestered self-molecules containing damage-associated molecular patterns, are released during tissue injury to drive innate immune cell pro-inflammatory responses. Whether endogenous negative regulators controlling early immune responses are also released at the site of injury is poorly understood. Herein, we establish that the stromal cell-derived alarmin interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a local factor that directly restricts the pro-inflammatory capacity of graft infiltrating macrophages early after transplantation. By assessing heart transplant recipient samples and using a mouse heart transplant model, we establish that IL-33 is upregulated in allografts to limit chronic rejection. Mouse cardiac transplants lacking IL-33 displayed dramatically accelerated vascular occlusion and subsequent fibrosis, which was not due to altered systemic immune responses. Instead, a lack of graft IL-33 caused local augmentation of pro-inflammatory iNOS+ macrophages that accelerated graft loss. IL-33 facilitated a metabolic program in macrophages associated with reparative and regulatory functions, and local delivery of IL-33 prevented the chronic rejection of IL-33-deficient cardiac transplants. Therefore, IL-33 represents a novel regulatory alarmin in transplantation that limits chronic rejection by restraining the local activation of pro-inflammatory macrophages. The local delivery of IL-33 in extracellular matrix based-based materials may be a promising biologic for chronic rejection prophylaxis.
Tengfang Li, Zhongqiang Zhang, Joseph Guido Bartolacci, Gaelen K. Dwyer, Quan Liu, Lisa Mathews, Murugesan Velayutham, Anna Roessing, Yoojin C. Lee, Helong Dai, Sruti Shiva, Martin H. Oberbarnscheidt, Jenna L. Dziki, Steven J. Mullett, Stacy G. Wendell, James D. Wilkinson, .Steven A Webber, Michelle A. Wood-Trageser, Simon C. Watkins, Anthony J. Demetris, George S. Hussey, Stephen F. Badylak, Heth R. Turnquist
Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Donor T cells are key mediators in pathogenesis but a contribution from host T cells has not been explored, as conditioning regimens are believed to deplete host T cells. To evaluate a potential role for host T cells in GVHD, the origin of skin and blood T cells was assessed prospectively in patients after HSCT in the absence of GVHD. While blood contained primarily donor-derived T cells, most T cells in the skin were host-derived. We next examined patient skin, colon and blood during acute GVHD. Host T cells were present in all skin and colon acute GVHD specimens studied yet were largely absent in blood. We observed acute skin GVHD in the presence of 100% host T cells. Analysis demonstrated that a subset of host T cells in peripheral tissues were proliferating (Ki67+) and producing the pro-inflammatory cytokines IFNγ and IL-17 in situ. Comparatively, the majority of antigen presenting cells (APC) in tissue in acute GVHD were donor-derived, and donor-derived APC were observed directly adjacent to host T cells. A humanized mouse model demonstrated that host skin-resident T cells could be activated by donor monocytes to generate a GVHD-like dermatitis. Thus, host tissue-resident T cells may play a previously unappreciated pathogenic role in acute GVHD.
Sherrie J. Divito, Anders T. Aasebo, Tiago R. Matos, Pei-Chen Hsieh, Matthew Collin, Christopher P. Elco, John T. O'Malley, Espen S. Bækkevold, Henrik M. Reims, Tobias Gedde-Dahl, Michael Hagerstrom, Jude Hilaire, John W. Lian, Edgar L. Milford, Geraldine S. Pinkus, Vincent T. Ho, Robert J. Soiffer, Haesook T. Kim, Martin C. Mihm Jr, Jerome Ritz, Indira Guleria, Corey S. Cutler, Rachael Clark, Frode L. Jahnsen, Thomas S. Kupper
The absence of alloantibodies is a feature of transplantation tolerance. Although the lack of T cell help has been evoked to explain this absence, herein we provide evidence for B cell–intrinsic tolerance mechanisms. Using a murine model of heart tolerance, we showed that alloreactive B cells were not deleted but rapidly lost their ability to differentiate into germinal center B cells and secrete donor-specific antibodies. We inferred that tolerant alloreactive B cells retained their ability to sense alloantigen because they continued to drive T cell maturation into CXCR5+PD-1+ T follicular helper cells. Unexpectedly, dysfunctional alloreactive B cells acquired the ability to inhibit antibody production by new naive B cells in an antigen-specific manner. Thus, tolerant alloreactive B cells contribute to transplantation tolerance by foregoing germinal center responses while retaining their ability to function as antigen-presenting cells and by actively suppressing de novo alloreactive B cell responses.
Stella H.W. Khiew, Dharmendra Jain, Jianjun Chen, Jinghui Yang, Dengping Yin, James S. Young, Alexander Dent, Roger Sciammas, Maria-Luisa Alegre, Anita S. Chong
Myelopoiesis is invariably present, and contributes to pathology, in animal models of graft versus host disease (GVHD). In humans, a rich inflammatory infiltrate bearing macrophage markers has also been described in histological studies. In order to determine the origin, functional properties and role in pathogenesis of these cells, we isolated single cell suspensions from acute cutaneous GVHD and subjected them to genotype, transcriptome and in vitro functional analysis. A donor-derived population of CD11c+CD14+ cells was the dominant population of all leukocytes in GVHD. Surface phenotype and nanostring gene expression profiling indicated the closest steady-state counterpart of these cells to be monocyte-derived macrophages. In GVHD, however, there was upregulation of monocyte antigens SIRPα and S100A8/9, and transcripts associated with leukocyte trafficking, pattern recognition, antigen presentation, and co-stimulation. Isolated GVHD macrophages stimulated greater proliferation and activation of allogeneic T cells, and secreted higher levels of inflammatory cytokines than their steady-state counterparts. In HLA-matched mixed leukocyte reactions, we also observed differentiation of activated macrophages with a similar phenotype. These exhibited cytopathicity to a cell line and mediated pathological damage to skin explants, independently of T cells. Together, these results define the origin, functional properties and potential pathogenic roles of human GVHD macrophages.
Laura Jardine, Urszula Cytlak, Merry Gunawan, Gary Reynolds, Kile Green, Xiao-nong Wang, Sarah Pagan, Maharani Paramitha, Christopher A. Lamb, Anna Long, Erin Hurst, Smeera Nair, Graham H. Jackson, Amy Publicover, Venetia Bigley, Muzlifah Haniffa, AJ Simpson, Matthew Collin
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). For decades, GVHD prophylaxis has included calcineurin-inhibitors, despite their incomplete efficacy and impairment of graft-versus-leukemia (GVL). Distinct from pharmacologic immune suppression, we have developed a novel, human CD83-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell for GVHD prevention. CD83 is expressed on allo-activated, conventional CD4+ T cells (Tconv) and proinflammatory dendritic cells (DC); which are both implicated in GVHD pathogenesis. Human CD83 CAR T cells eradicate pathogenic CD83+ target cells, significantly increase the ratio of regulatory T cells (Treg) to allo-activated Tconv, and provide durable prevention of xenogeneic GVHD. CD83 CAR T cells are also capable of treating xenogeneic GVHD. We show human, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) expresses CD83 and myeloid leukemia cell lines are readily killed by CD83 CAR T cells. Human CD83 CAR T cells are a promising cell-based approach to prevent two critical complications of allo-HCT; GVHD and relapse. Thus, human CD83 CAR T cells warrant clinical investigation in GVHD prevention and treatment, as well as targeting CD83+ AML.
Bishwas Shrestha, Kelly Walton, Jordan Reff, Elizabeth M. Sagatys, Nhan Tu, Justin C. Boucher, Gongbo Li, Tayyeb Ghafoor, Martin Felices, Jeffrey Miller, Joseph Pidala, Bruce R. Blazar, Claudio Anasetti, Brian C. Betts, Marco L. Davila
Despite the widespread use of antibiotics, bacterial pneumonias in donors strongly predispose to the fatal syndrome of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) following lung transplantation. We report that bacterial endotoxin persists in human donor lungs after pathogen is cleared with antibiotics and is associated with neutrophil infiltration and PGD. In mouse models, depletion of tissue-resident alveolar macrophages (TRAM) attenuated neutrophil recruitment in response to endotoxin as shown by compartmental staining and intravital imaging. Bone marrow chimeric mice revealed that neutrophils were recruited by TRAM through activation of TLR4 in a MyD88-dependent manner. Intriguingly, low levels of endotoxin, insufficient to cause donor lung injury, promoted TRAM-dependent production of CXCL2, increased neutrophil recruitment, and led to PGD, which was independent of donor non-classical monocytes. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased in human donor lungs starting from the warm-ischemia phase and were associated with increased transcription and translocation to the plasma membrane of TLR4 in donor TRAM. Consistently, scavenging ROS or inhibiting their production to prevent TLR4 transcription/translocation or blockade of TLR4 or co-receptor CD14 on donor TRAM prevented neutrophil recruitment in response to endotoxin and ameliorated PGD. Our studies demonstrate that residual endotoxin after successful treatment of donor bacterial pneumonia promotes PGD through ischemia-reperfusion-primed donor TRAM..
Mahzad Akbarpour, Emilia Lecuona, Stephen Chiu, Qiang Wu, Melissa Querrey, Ramiro Fernandez, Felix Luis Nunez-Santana, Haiying Sun, Sowmya Ravi, Chitaru Kurihara, James M. Walter, Nikita Joshi, Ziyou Ren, Scott C. Roberts, Alan R. Hauser, Daniel Kreisel, Wenjun Li, Navdeep Chandel, Alexander V. Misharin, Thalachallour Mohanakumar, G.R. Scott Budinger, Ankit Bharat
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