Marginal zone SIGN-R1+ macrophages are essential for the maturation of germinal center B cells in the spleen

FcRider: a recombinant Fc nanoparticle with endogenous adjuvant activities for hybrid immunization

Active immunization (vaccination) induces long-lasting immunity with memory, which takes weeks to months to develop. Passive immunization (transfer of neutralizing antibodies) provides immediate protection, yet with high cost and effects being comparatively short-lived. No currently approved adjuvants are compatible with formulations to combine active and passive immunizations, not to mention their huge disparities in administration routes and dosage. To solve this, we engineered the Fc fragment of human IgG1 into a hexamer nanoparticle and expressed its afucosylated form in Fut8-/- CHO cells, naming it "FcRider." FcRider is highly soluble with long-term stability, easily produced at high levels equivalent to those of therapeutic antibodies, and is amenable to conventional antibody purification schemes. Most importantly, FcRider possesses endogenous adjuvant activities. Using SWHEL B cell receptor (BCR) transgenic mice, we found that HEL-FcRider induced GL7+ germinal center B cells and HEL-specific IgG. Similarly, immunizing mice with UFO-BG-FcRider, a fusion containing the stabilized human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) Env protein as immunogen, promoted somatic hypermutation and generation of long CDR3 of the IgG heavy chains. Intramuscular injection of (Fba + Met6)3-FcRider, a fusion with two peptide epitopes from Candida albicans cell surface, stimulated strong antigen-specific IgG titers. In three different models, we showed that afucosylated FcRider functions as a multivalent immunogen displayer and stimulates antigen-specific B cells without any exogenous adjuvant. As an antibody derivative, afucosylated FcRider could be a novel platform combining vaccines and therapeutic antibodies, integrating active and passive immunizations into single-modality "hybrid immunization" to provide complete and long-lasting protection against infections, and may open new avenues in cancer immunotherapy as well.

Type I Interferon, Induced by Adenovirus or Adenoviral Vector Infection, Regulates the Cytokine Response to Lipopolysaccharide in a Macrophage Type-Specific Manner

INTRODUCTION

While TLR ligands derived from microbial flora and pathogens are important activators of the innate immune system, a variety of factors such as intracellular bacteria, viruses, and parasites can induce a state of hyperreactivity, causing a dysregulated and potentially life-threatening cytokine over-response upon TLR ligand exposure. Type I interferon (IFN-αβ) is a central mediator in the induction of hypersensitivity and is strongly expressed in splenic conventional dendritic cells (cDC) and marginal zone macrophages (MZM) when mice are infected with adenovirus. This study investigates the ability of adenoviral infection to influence the activation state of the immune system and underlines the importance of considering this state when planning the treatment of patients.

METHODS

Infection with adenovirus-based vectors (Ad) or pretreatment with recombinant IFN-β was used as a model to study hypersensitivity to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice, murine macrophages, and human blood samples. The TNF-α, IL-6, IFN-αβ, and IL-10 responses induced by LPS after pretreatment were measured. Mouse knockout models for MARCO, IFN-αβR, CD14, IRF3, and IRF7 were used to probe the mechanisms of the hypersensitive reaction.

RESULTS

We show that, similar to TNF-α and IL-6 but not IL-10, the induction of IFN-αβ by LPS increases strongly after Ad infection. This is true both in mice and in human blood samples ex vivo, suggesting that the regulatory mechanisms seen in the mouse are also present in humans. In mice, the scavenger receptor MARCO on IFN-αβ-producing cDC and splenic marginal zone macrophages is important for Ad uptake and subsequent cytokine overproduction by LPS. Interestingly, not all IFN-αβ-pretreated macrophage types exposed to LPS exhibit an enhanced TNF-α and IL-6 response. Pretreated alveolar macrophages and alveolar macrophage-like murine cell lines (MPI cells) show enhanced responses, while bone marrow-derived and peritoneal macrophages show a weaker response. This correlates with the respective absence or presence of the anti-inflammatory IL-10 response in these different macrophage types. In contrast, Ad or IFN-β pretreatment enhances the subsequent induction of IFN-αβ in all macrophage types. IRF3 is dispensable for the LPS-induced IFN-αβ overproduction in infected MPI cells and partly dispensable in infected mice, while IRF7 is required. The expression of the LPS co-receptor CD14 is important but not absolutely required for the elicitation of a TNF-α over-response to LPS in Ad-infected mice.

CONCLUSION

Viral infections or application of virus-based vaccines induces type I interferon and can tip the balance of the innate immune system in the direction of hyperreactivity to a subsequent exposure to TLR ligands. The adenoviral model presented here is one example of how multiple factors, both environmental and genetic, affect the physiological responses to pathogens. Being able to measure the current reactivity state of the immune system would have important benefits for infection-specific therapies and for the prevention of vaccination-elicited adverse effects.

Features of immune reactivity of the spleen and mechanisms of organ damage under the influence of animal venom toxins including scorpions (review)

OBJECTIVE

Aim: To establish features of immune reactivity of the spleen and mechanisms of organ damage under the influence of animal venom toxins including scorpions.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Materials and Methods: A thorough literature analysis was conducted on the basis of PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. When processing the search results, we chose the newest publications up to 5 years old or the most thorough publications that vividly described the essence of our topic.

CONCLUSION

Conclusions: Spleen plays a leading role in the implementation of the body's defense processes, the elimination of structural elements affected by toxins, and the restoration of immune homeostasis. Its participation in the formation of the immune response can be accompanied by qualitative and quantitative changes in histological organization. Morpho-functional changes in the spleen under the action of animal venom toxins currently require careful study, because from the information available in the literature today, it is not possible to clearly construct a complete picture of lesions of certain components of the organ at the microscopic or submicroscopic levels. Therefore, this direction of research in the medical field is currently relevant, taking into account the existence of a large number of poisonous animals, including scorpions.

Characterisation of macrophage infiltration and polarisation based on integrated transcriptomic and histological analyses in Primary Sjögren's syndrome

Background

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease. Immune cell infiltration into glandular lobules and ducts and glandular destruction are the pathophysiological hallmarks of pSS. Macrophages are one of the most important cells involved in the induction and regulation of an inflammatory microenvironment. Although studies have reported that an abnormal tissue microenvironment alters the metabolic reprogramming and polarisation status of macrophages, the mechanisms driving macrophage infiltration and polarisation in pSS remain unclear.

Methods

Immune cell subsets were characterised using the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with pSS (n = 5) and healthy individuals (n = 5) in a public dataset. To evaluate macrophage infiltration and polarisation in target tissues, labial salivary gland biopsy tissues were subjected to histological staining and bulk RNA-seq (pSS samples, n = 24; non-pSS samples, n = 12). RNA-seq data were analysed for the construction of macrophage co-expression modules, enrichment of biological processes and deconvolution-based screening of immune cell types.

Results

Detailed mapping of PBMCs using scRNA-seq revealed five major immune cell subsets in pSS, namely, T cells, B cells, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells (DCs) and monocyte-macrophages. The monocyte-macrophage subset was large and had strong inflammatory gene signatures. This subset was found to play an important role in the generation of reactive oxygen species and communicate with other innate and adaptive immune cells. Histological staining revealed that the number of tissue-resident macrophages was high in damaged glandular tissues, with the cells persistently surrounding the tissues. Analysis of RNA-seq data using multiple algorithms demonstrated that the high abundance of pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages was accompanied by the high abundance of other infiltrating immune cells, senescence-associated secretory phenotype and evident metabolic reprogramming.

Conclusion

Macrophages are among the most abundant innate immune cells in PBMCs and glandular tissues in patients with pSS. A bidirectional relationship exists between macrophage polarisation and the inflammatory microenvironment, which may serve as a therapeutic target for pSS.

Salmonella infection induces the reorganization of follicular dendritic cell networks concomitant with the failure to generate germinal centers

Germinal centers (GCs) are sites where plasma and memory B cells form to generate high-affinity, Ig class-switched antibodies. Specialized stromal cells called follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) are essential for GC formation. During systemic Salmonella Typhimurium (STm) infection GCs are absent, whereas extensive extrafollicular and switched antibody responses are maintained. The mechanisms that underpin the absence of GC formation are incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate that STm induces a reversible disruption of niches within the splenic microenvironment, including the T and B cell compartments and the marginal zone. Alongside these effects after infection, mature FDC networks are strikingly absent, whereas immature FDC precursors, including marginal sinus pre-FDCs (MadCAM-1+) and perivascular pre-FDCs (PDGFRβ+) are enriched. As normal FDC networks re-establish, extensive GCs become detectable throughout the spleen. Therefore, the reorganization of FDC networks and the loss of GC responses are key, parallel features of systemic STm infections.

Spleen regeneration after subcutaneous heterotopic autotransplantation in a mouse model

BACKGROUND

Splenectomy may lead to severe postoperative complications, including sepsis and cancers. A possible solution to this problem is heterotopic autotransplantation of the spleen. Splenic autografts rapidly restore the regular splenic microanatomy in model animals. However, the functional competence of such regenerated autografts in terms of lympho- and hematopoietic capacity remains uncertain. Therefore, this study aimed to monitor the dynamics of B and T lymphocyte populations, the monocyte-macrophage system, and megakaryocytopoiesis in murine splenic autografts.

METHODS

The model of subcutaneous splenic engraftment was implemented in C57Bl male mice. Cell sources of functional recovery were studied using heterotopic transplantations from B10-GFP donors to C57Bl recipients. The cellular composition dynamics were studied by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Expression of regulatory genes at mRNA and protein levels was assessed by real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively.

RESULTS

Characteristic splenic architecture is restored within 30 days post-transplantation, consistent with other studies. The monocyte-macrophage system, megakaryocytes, and B lymphocytes show the highest rates, whereas the functional recovery of T cells takes longer. Cross-strain splenic engraftments using B10-GFP donors indicate the recipient-derived cell sources of the recovery. Transplantations of scaffolds populated with splenic stromal cells or without them afforded no restoration of the characteristic splenic architecture.

CONCLUSIONS

Allogeneic subcutaneous transplantation of splenic fragments in a mouse model leads to their structural recovery within 30 days, with full reconstitution of the monocyte-macrophage, megakaryocyte and B lymphocyte populations. The circulating hematopoietic cells provide the likely source for the cell composition recovery.

The crosstalk between parenchymal cells and macrophages: A keeper of tissue homeostasis

Non-parenchymal cells (NPCs) and parenchymal cells (PCs) collectively perform tissue-specific functions. PCs play significant roles and continuously adjust the intrinsic functions and metabolism of organs. Tissue-resident macrophages (TRMs) are crucial members of native NPCs in tissues and are essential for immune defense, tissue repair and development, and homeostasis maintenance. As a plastic-phenotypic and prevalent cluster of NPCs, TRMs dynamically assist PCs in functioning by producing cytokines, inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals, growth factors, and proteolytic enzymes. Furthermore, the PCs of tissues modulate the functional activity and polarization of TRMs. Dysregulation of the PC-TRM crosstalk axis profoundly impacts many essential physiological functions, including synaptogenesis, gastrointestinal motility and secretion, cardiac pulsation, gas exchange, blood filtration, and metabolic homeostasis. This review focuses on the PC-TRM crosstalk in mammalian vital tissues, along with their interactions with tissue homeostasis maintenance and disorders. Thus, this review highlights the fundamental biological significance of the regulatory network of PC-TRM in tissue homeostasis.

IGF1R signalling is a guardian of self-tolerance restricting autoantibody production

Objective

Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) acts at the crossroad between immunity and cancer, being an attractive therapeutic target in these areas. IGF1R is broadly expressed by antigen-presenting cells (APC). Using mice immunised with the methylated albumin from bovine serum (BSA-immunised mice) and human CD14⁺ APCs, we investigated the role that IGF1R plays during adaptive immune responses.

Methods

The mBSA-immunised mice were treated with synthetic inhibitor NT157 or short hairpin RNA to inhibit IGF1R signalling, and spleens were analysed by immunohistology and flow cytometry. The levels of autoantibody and cytokine production were measured by microarray or conventional ELISA. The transcriptional profile of CD14⁺ cells from blood of 55 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was analysed with RNA-sequencing.

Results

Inhibition of IGF1R resulted in perifollicular infiltration of functionally compromised S²⁵⁶-phosphorylated FoxO1⁺ APCs, and an increased frequency of IgM⁺CD21⁺ B cells, which enlarged the marginal zone (MZ). Enlargement of MHCII⁺CD11b⁺ APCs ensured favourable conditions for their communication with IgM⁺ B cells in the MZ. The reduced expression of ICOSL and CXCR5 by APCs after IGF1R inhibition led to impaired T cell control, which resulted in autoreactivity of extra-follicular B cells and autoantibody production. In the clinical setting, the low expression of IGF1R on CD14⁺ APCs was associated with an involuted FOXO pathway, non-inflammatory cell metabolism and a high IL10 production characteristic for tolerogenic macrophages. Furthermore, autoantibody positivity was associated with low IGF1R signalling in CD14⁺ APCs.

Conclusions

In experimental model and in patient material, this study demonstrates that IGF1R plays an important role in preventing autoimmunity. The study raises awareness of that immune tolerance may be broken during therapeutic IGF1R targeting.

Crosstalk between macrophages and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in diseases

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and macrophages are tissue-resident cells that play important roles in tissue-immune homeostasis and immune regulation. ILCs are mainly distributed on the barrier surfaces of mammals to ensure immunity or tissue homeostasis following host, microbial, or environmental stimulation. Their complex relationships with different organs enable them to respond quickly to disturbances in environmental conditions and organ homeostasis, such as during infections and tissue damage. Gradually emerging evidence suggests that ILCs also play complex and diverse roles in macrophage development, homeostasis, polarization, inflammation, and viral infection. In turn, macrophages also determine the fate of ILCs to some extent, which indicates that network crossover between these interactions is a key determinant of the immune response. More work is needed to better define the crosstalk of ILCs with macrophages in different tissues and demonstrate how it is affected during inflammation and other diseases. Here, we summarize current research on the functional interactions between ILCs and macrophages and consider the potential therapeutic utility of these interactions for the benefit of human health.

Targeting tumor-associated macrophages for cancer immunotherapy

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are one of the most abundant immune components in the tumor microenvironment and play a plethora of roles in regulating tumorigenesis. Therefore, the therapeutic targeting of TAMs has emerged as a new paradigm for immunotherapy of cancer. Herein, the review summarizes the origin, polarization, and function of TAMs in the progression of malignant diseases. The understanding of such knowledge leads to several distinct therapeutic strategies to manipulate TAMs to battle cancer, which include those to reduce TAM abundance, such as depleting TAMs or inhibiting their recruitment and differentiation, and those to harness or boost the anti-tumor activities of TAMs such as blocking phagocytosis checkpoints, inducing antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis, and reprogramming TAM polarization. In addition, modulation of TAMs may reshape the tumor microenvironment and therefore synergize with other cancer therapeutics. Therefore, the rational combination of TAM-targeting therapeutics with conventional therapies including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and other immunotherapies is also reviewed. Overall, targeting TAMs presents itself as a promising strategy to add to the growing repertoire of treatment approaches in the fight against cancer, and it is hopeful that these approaches currently being pioneered will serve to vastly improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

Splenic Dendritic Cells and Macrophages Drive B Cells to Adopt a Plasmablast Cell Fate

Upon encountering cognate antigen, B cells can differentiate into short-lived plasmablasts, early memory B cells or germinal center B cells. The factors that determine this fate decision are unclear. Past studies have addressed the role of B cell receptor affinity in this process, but the interplay with other cellular compartments for fate determination is less well understood. Moreover, B cell fate decisions have primarily been studied using model antigens rather than complex pathogen systems, which potentially ignore multifaceted interactions from other cells subsets during infection. Here we address this question using a Plasmodium infection model, examining the response of B cells specific for the immunodominant circumsporozoite protein (CSP). We show that B cell fate is determined in part by the organ environment in which priming occurs, with the majority of the CSP-specific B cell response being derived from splenic plasmablasts. This plasmablast response could occur independent of T cell help, though gamma-delta T cells were required to help with the early isotype switching from IgM to IgG. Interestingly, selective ablation of CD11c⁺ dendritic cells and macrophages significantly reduced the splenic plasmablast response in a manner independent of the presence of CD4 T cell help. Conversely, immunization approaches that targeted CSP-antigen to dendritic cells enhanced the magnitude of the plasmablast response. Altogether, these data indicate that the early CSP-specific response is predominately primed within the spleen and the plasmablast fate of CSP-specific B cells is driven by macrophages and CD11c⁺ dendritic cells.

Chemo- and mechanosensing by dendritic cells facilitate antigen surveillance in the spleen

Spleen dendritic cells (DC) are critical for initiation of adaptive immune responses against blood-borne invaders. Key to DC function is their positioning at sites of pathogen entry, and their abilities to selectively capture foreign antigens and promptly engage T cells. Focusing on conventional DC2 (cDC2), we discuss the contribution of chemoattractant receptors (EBI2 or GPR183, S1PR1, and CCR7) and integrins to cDC2 positioning and function. We give particular attention to a newly identified role in cDC2 for adhesion G-protein coupled receptor E5 (Adgre5 or CD97) and its ligand CD55, detailing how this mechanosensing system contributes to splenic cDC2 positioning and homeostasis. Additional roles of CD97 in the immune system are reviewed. The ability of cDC2 to be activated by circulating missing self-CD47 cells and to integrate multiple red blood cell (RBC)-derived inputs is discussed. Finally, we describe the process of activated cDC2 migration to engage and prime helper T cells. Throughout the review, we consider the insights into cDC function in the spleen that have emerged from imaging studies.

Phagocytes produce prostaglandin E2 in response to cytosolic Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterium that elicits robust CD8+ T-cell responses. Despite the ongoing development of L. monocytogenes-based platforms as cancer vaccines, our understanding of how L. monocytogenes drives robust CD8+ T-cell responses remains incomplete. One overarching hypothesis is that activation of cytosolic innate pathways is critical for immunity, as strains of L. monocytogenes that are unable to access the cytosol fail to elicit robust CD8+ T-cell responses and in fact inhibit optimal T-cell priming. Counterintuitively, however, activation of known cytosolic pathways, such as the inflammasome and type I IFN, lead to impaired immunity. Conversely, production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) downstream of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is essential for optimal L. monocytogenes T-cell priming. Here, we demonstrate that vacuole-constrained L. monocytogenes elicit reduced PGE2 production compared to wild-type strains in macrophages and dendritic cells ex vivo. In vivo, infection with wild-type L. monocytogenes leads to 10-fold increases in PGE2 production early during infection whereas vacuole-constrained strains fail to induce PGE2 over mock-immunized controls. Mice deficient in COX-2 specifically in Lyz2+ or CD11c+ cells produce less PGE2, suggesting these cell subsets contribute to PGE2 levels in vivo, while depletion of phagocytes with clodronate abolishes PGE2 production completely. Taken together, this work demonstrates that optimal PGE2 production by phagocytes depends on L. monocytogenes access to the cytosol, suggesting that one reason cytosolic access is required to prime CD8+ T-cell responses may be to facilitate production of PGE2.

Macrophage-fibroblast circuits in the spleen

Macrophages are an integral part of all organs in the body, where they contribute to immune surveillance, protection, and tissue-specific homeostatic functions. This is facilitated by so-called niches composed of macrophages and their surrounding stroma. These niches structurally anchor macrophages and provide them with survival factors and tissue-specific signals that imprint their functional identity. In turn, macrophages ensure appropriate functioning of the niches they reside in. Macrophages thus form reciprocal, mutually beneficial circuits with their cellular niches. In this review, we explore how this concept applies to the spleen, a large secondary lymphoid organ whose primary functions are to filter the blood and regulate immunity. We first outline the splenic micro-anatomy, the different populations of splenic fibroblasts and macrophages and their respective contribution to protection of and key physiological processes occurring in the spleen. We then discuss firmly established and potential cellular circuits formed by splenic macrophages and fibroblasts, with an emphasis on the molecular cues underlying their crosstalk and their relevance to splenic functionality. Lastly, we conclude by considering how these macrophage-fibroblast circuits might be impaired by aging, and how understanding these changes might help identify novel therapeutic avenues with the potential of restoring splenic functions in the elderly.

Prenatal Development and Function of Human Mononuclear Phagocytes

The human mononuclear phagocyte (MP) system, which includes dendritic cells, monocytes, and macrophages, is a critical regulator of innate and adaptive immune responses. During embryonic development, MPs derive sequentially in yolk sac progenitors, fetal liver, and bone marrow haematopoietic stem cells. MPs maintain tissue homeostasis and confer protective immunity in post-natal life. Recent evidence - primarily in animal models - highlight their critical role in coordinating the remodeling, maturation, and repair of target organs during embryonic and fetal development. However, the molecular regulation governing chemotaxis, homeostasis, and functional diversification of resident MP cells in their respective organ systems during development remains elusive. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the development and functional contribution of tissue MPs during human organ development and morphogenesis and its relevance to regenerative medicine. We outline how single-cell multi-omic approaches and next-generation ex-vivo organ-on-chip models provide new experimental platforms to study the role of human MPs during development and disease.