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Sur M, Rasquinha MT, Arumugam R, Massilamany C, Gangaplara A, Mone K, Lasrado N, Yalaka B, Doiphode A, Gurumurthy C, Steffen D, Reddy J. Transgenic Mice Expressing Functional TCRs Specific to Cardiac Myhc-α 334-352 on Both CD4 and CD8 T Cells Are Resistant to the Development of Myocarditis on C57BL/6 Genetic Background. Cells 2023; 12:2346. [PMID: 37830560 PMCID: PMC10571761 DOI: 10.3390/cells12192346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Myocarditis is a predominant cause of congestive heart failure and sudden death in children and young adolescents that can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. Lymphocytic myocarditis mediated by T cells can result from the recognition of cardiac antigens that may involve CD4 or CD8 T cells or both. In this report, we describe the generation of T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice on a C57BL/6 genetic background specific to cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-α 334-352 and make the following observations: First, we verified that Myhc-α 334-352 was immunogenic in wild-type C57BL/6 mice and induced antigen-specific CD4 T cell responses despite being a poor binder of IAb; however, the immunized animals developed only mild myocarditis. Second, TCRs specific to Myhc-α 334-352 in transgenic mice were expressed in both CD4 and CD8 T cells, suggesting that the expression of epitope-specific TCR is common to both cell types. Third, although T cells from naïve transgenic mice did not respond to Myhc-α 334-352, both CD4 and CD8 T cells from animals immunized with Myhc-α 334-352 responded to the peptide, indicating that antigen priming is necessary to break tolerance. Fourth, although the transgenic T cells could produce significant amounts of interferon-γ and interleukin-17, the immunized animals developed only mild disease, indicating that other soluble factors might be necessary for developing severe myocarditis. Alternatively, the C57BL/6 genetic background might be a major contributing factor for resistance to the development of myocarditis. Taken together, our model permits the determination of the roles of both CD4 and CD8 T cells to understand the disease-resistance mechanisms of myocarditis in a single transgenic system antigen-specifically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghna Sur
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
| | - Mahima T. Rasquinha
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
| | - Rajkumar Arumugam
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- Bristol Myers Squibb, Summit, NJ 07901, USA
| | - Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- CRISPR Therapeutics, Boston, MA 02127, USA
| | - Arunkumar Gangaplara
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- Miltenyi Biotec, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA
| | - Kiruthiga Mone
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
| | - Ninaad Lasrado
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Bharathi Yalaka
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- Bristol Myers Squibb, Summit, NJ 07901, USA
| | - Aakash Doiphode
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
- Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Krantisinh Nana Patil College of Veterinary Science, Shirwal 412801, Maharashtra, India
| | - Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA;
| | - David Steffen
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; (M.S.); (M.T.R.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (A.G.); (K.M.); (N.L.); (B.Y.); (A.D.); (D.S.)
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2
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Lasrado N, Gangaplara A, Arumugam R, Massilamany C, Pokal S, Zhou Y, Xiang SH, Steffen D, Reddy J. Identification of Immunogenic Epitopes That Permit the Detection of Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses in Multiple Serotypes of Group B Coxsackievirus Infections. Viruses 2020; 12:v12030347. [PMID: 32245257 PMCID: PMC7150766 DOI: 10.3390/v12030347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Coxsackievirus group B (CVB) contains six serotypes that can affect various organs. Some of these organ-specific diseases such as myocarditis and pancreatitis can be caused by more than one serotype. Thus, development of immunological tools common to multiple serotypes is desired. This is especially critical for analyzing antigen-specific T cell responses at a single cell level. To this end, we made efforts to identify the immunogenic epitopes of CVB3 leading us to localize three T cell epitopes within the viral protein 1 (VP1) namely, VP1 681-700, VP1 721-740 and VP1 771-790. First, we confirmed their immunogenicity in the immunization settings. Second, we sought to verify the ability of VP1 epitopes to bind major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (IAk) molecules. Third, we created MHC class II (IAk) dextramers and tetramers and ascertained the T cell responses to be antigen-specific. Fourth, we analyzed the T cell responses in animals infected with CVB3 and noted the magnitude of antigen-specific T cell responses occurring in the order of VP1 721-740 and VP1 681-700 followed by VP1 771-790 as verified by proliferation assay and IAk tetramer staining. All epitopes induced interferon (IFN)-γ as a major cytokine. Finally, we investigated whether the VP1 tools generated for CVB3 can also be used to verify T cell responses in infections caused by other serotypes. To this end, we established the CVB4 infection model in A/J mice and found that the CVB4 infection led to the induction of IFN-γ-producing T cell responses primarily for VP1 721-740 and VP1 681-700. Thus, the VP1-specific tools, particularly IAk tetramers can be used to monitor anti-viral T cell responses in multiple CVB serotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ninaad Lasrado
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - Arunakumar Gangaplara
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - Rajkumar Arumugam
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - Sayli Pokal
- Department of Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (S.P.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Yuzhen Zhou
- Department of Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (S.P.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Shi-Hua Xiang
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - David Steffen
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68503, USA; (N.L.); (A.G.); (R.A.); (C.M.); (S.-H.X.); (D.S.)
- Correspondence:
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3
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Detection of Antigen-Specific T Cells Using In Situ MHC Tetramer Staining. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20205165. [PMID: 31635220 PMCID: PMC6834156 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20205165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of in situ major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramer (IST) staining to detect antigen (Ag)-specific T cells in tissues has radically revolutionized our knowledge of the local cellular immune response to viral and bacterial infections, cancers, and autoimmunity. IST combined with immunohistochemistry (IHC) enables determination of the location, abundance, and phenotype of T cells, as well as the characterization of Ag-specific T cells in a 3-dimensional space with respect to neighboring cells and specific tissue locations. In this review, we discuss the history of the development of IST combined with IHC. We describe various methods used for IST staining, including direct and indirect IST and IST performed on fresh, lightly fixed, frozen, and fresh then frozen tissue. We also describe current applications for IST in viral and bacterial infections, cancer, and autoimmunity. IST combined with IHC provides a valuable tool for studying and tracking the Ag-specific T cell immune response in tissues.
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Longino NV, Yang J, Iyer JG, Ibrani D, Chow IT, Laing KJ, Campbell VL, Paulson KG, Kulikauskas RM, Church CD, James EA, Nghiem P, Kwok WW, Koelle DM. Human CD4 + T Cells Specific for Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Localize to Merkel Cell Carcinomas and Target a Required Oncogenic Domain. Cancer Immunol Res 2019; 7:1727-1739. [PMID: 31405946 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-19-0103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Revised: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Although CD4+ T cells likely play key roles in antitumor immune responses, most immuno-oncology studies have been limited to CD8+ T-cell responses due to multiple technical barriers and a lack of shared antigens across patients. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer caused by Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) oncoproteins in 80% of cases. Because MCPyV oncoproteins are shared across most patients with MCC, it is unusually feasible to identify, characterize, and potentially augment tumor-specific CD4+ T cells. Here, we report the identification of CD4+ T-cell responses against six MCPyV epitopes, one of which included a conserved, essential viral oncogenic domain that binds/disables the cellular retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor. We found that this epitope (WEDLT209-228) could be presented by three population-prevalent HLA class II alleles, making it a relevant target in 64% of virus-positive MCC patients. Cellular staining with a WEDLT209-228-HLA-DRB1*0401 tetramer indicated that specific CD4+ T cells were detectable in 78% (14 of 18) of evaluable MCC patients, were 250-fold enriched within MCC tumors relative to peripheral blood, and had diverse T-cell receptor sequences. We also identified a modification of this domain that still allowed recognition by these CD4+ T cells but disabled binding to the Rb tumor suppressor, a key step in the detoxification of a possible therapeutic vaccine. The use of these new tools for deeper study of MCPyV-specific CD4+ T cells may provide broader insight into cancer-specific CD4+ T-cell responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie V Longino
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Junbao Yang
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington
| | - Jayasri G Iyer
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Dafina Ibrani
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - I-Ting Chow
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington
| | - Kerry J Laing
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Victoria L Campbell
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Kelly G Paulson
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Rima M Kulikauskas
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Candice D Church
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Eddie A James
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington
| | - Paul Nghiem
- Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. .,Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - William W Kwok
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington
| | - David M Koelle
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
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5
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Krishnan B, Massilamany C, Basavalingappa RH, Gangaplara A, Rajasekaran RA, Afzal MZ, Khalilzad-Sharghi V, Zhou Y, Riethoven JJ, Nandi SS, Mishra PK, Sobel RA, Strande JL, Steffen D, Reddy J. Epitope Mapping of SERCA2a Identifies an Antigenic Determinant That Induces Mainly Atrial Myocarditis in A/J Mice. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2018; 200:523-537. [PMID: 29229678 PMCID: PMC5760440 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 11/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ adenosine triphosphatase (SERCA)2a, a critical regulator of calcium homeostasis, is known to be decreased in heart failure. Patients with myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy develop autoantibodies to SERCA2a suggesting that they may have pathogenetic significance. In this report, we describe epitope mapping analysis of SERCA2a in A/J mice that leads us to make five observations: 1) SERCA2a contains multiple T cell epitopes that induce varying degrees of myocarditis. One epitope, SERCA2a 971-990, induces widespread atrial inflammation without affecting noncardiac tissues; the cardiac abnormalities could be noninvasively captured by echocardiography, electrocardiography, and magnetic resonance microscopy imaging. 2) SERCA2a 971-990-induced disease was associated with the induction of CD4 T cell responses and the epitope preferentially binds MHC class II/IAk rather than IEk By creating IAk/and IEk/SERCA2a 971-990 dextramers, the T cell responses were determined by flow cytometry to be Ag specific. 3) SERCA2a 971-990-sensitized T cells produce both Th1 and Th17 cytokines. 4) Animals immunized with SERCA2a 971-990 showed Ag-specific Abs with enhanced production of IgG2a and IgG2b isotypes, suggesting that SERCA2a 971-990 can potentially act as a common epitope for both T cells and B cells. 5) Finally, SERCA2a 971-990-sensitized T cells were able to transfer disease to naive recipients. Together, these data indicate that SERCA2a is a critical autoantigen in the mediation of atrial inflammation in mice and that our model may be helpful to study the inflammatory events that underlie the development of conditions such as atrial fibrillation in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharathi Krishnan
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
| | - Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
- Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Rakesh H Basavalingappa
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
| | - Arunakumar Gangaplara
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
- Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Rajkumar A Rajasekaran
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
| | | | - Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
| | - You Zhou
- Center for Biotechnology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588
| | | | - Shyam S Nandi
- Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198; and
| | - Paras K Mishra
- Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198; and
| | - Raymond A Sobel
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304
| | | | - David Steffen
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583;
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6
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Li S, Mwakalundwa G, Skinner PJ. In Situ MHC-tetramer Staining and Quantitative Analysis to Determine the Location, Abundance, and Phenotype of Antigen-specific CD8 T Cells in Tissues. J Vis Exp 2017. [PMID: 28994787 DOI: 10.3791/56130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
T cells are critical to many immunological processes, including detecting and eliminating virus-infected cells, preventing autoimmunity, assisting in B-cell and plasma-cell production of antibodies, and detecting and eliminating cancer cells. The development of MHC-tetramer staining of antigen-specific T cells analyzed by flow cytometry has revolutionized our ability to study and understand the immunobiology of T cells. While extremely useful for determining the quantity and phenotype of antigen-specific T cells, flow cytometry cannot determine the spatial localization of antigen-specific T cells to other cells and structures in tissues, and current disaggregation techniques to extract the T cells needed for flow cytometry have limited effectiveness in non-lymphoid tissues. In situ MHC-tetramer staining (IST) is a technique to visualize T cells that are specific for antigens of interest in tissues. In combination with immunohistochemistry (IHC), IST can determine the abundance, location, and phenotype of antigen-specific CD8 and CD4 T cells in tissues. Here, we describe a protocol to stain and enumerate antigen-specific CD8 T cells, with specific phenotypes located within specific tissue compartments. These procedures are the same that we used in our recent publication by Li et al., entitled "Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Producing Cells in Follicles Are Partially Suppressed by CD8+ Cells In Vivo." The methods described are broadly applicable because they can be used to localize, phenotype, and quantify essentially any antigen-specific CD8 T cell for which MHC tetramers are available, in any tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengbin Li
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota
| | | | - Pamela J Skinner
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota;
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7
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Bentzen AK, Marquard AM, Lyngaa R, Saini SK, Ramskov S, Donia M, Such L, Furness AJS, McGranahan N, Rosenthal R, Straten PT, Szallasi Z, Svane IM, Swanton C, Quezada SA, Jakobsen SN, Eklund AC, Hadrup SR. Large-scale detection of antigen-specific T cells using peptide-MHC-I multimers labeled with DNA barcodes. Nat Biotechnol 2016; 34:1037-1045. [PMID: 27571370 DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 225] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Identification of the peptides recognized by individual T cells is important for understanding and treating immune-related diseases. Current cytometry-based approaches are limited to the simultaneous screening of 10-100 distinct T-cell specificities in one sample. Here we use peptide-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) multimers labeled with individual DNA barcodes to screen >1,000 peptide specificities in a single sample, and detect low-frequency CD8 T cells specific for virus- or cancer-restricted antigens. When analyzing T-cell recognition of shared melanoma antigens before and after adoptive cell therapy in melanoma patients, we observe a greater number of melanoma-specific T-cell populations compared with cytometry-based approaches. Furthermore, we detect neoepitope-specific T cells in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and peripheral blood from patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Barcode-labeled pMHC multimers enable the combination of functional T-cell analysis with large-scale epitope recognition profiling for the characterization of T-cell recognition in various diseases, including in small clinical samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amalie Kai Bentzen
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andrea Marion Marquard
- Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Rikke Lyngaa
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sunil Kumar Saini
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sofie Ramskov
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Marco Donia
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Department of Hematology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lina Such
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andrew J S Furness
- CRUK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Cancer Immunology Unit, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nicholas McGranahan
- CRUK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Translational Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Rachel Rosenthal
- CRUK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Translational Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Per Thor Straten
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Department of Hematology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Zoltan Szallasi
- Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Inge Marie Svane
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Department of Hematology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Charles Swanton
- CRUK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Translational Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Sergio A Quezada
- CRUK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Cancer Immunology Unit, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Søren Nyboe Jakobsen
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Immudex, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Aron Charles Eklund
- Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Sine Reker Hadrup
- Section for Immunology and Vaccinology, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
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8
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Jia T, Anandhan A, Massilamany C, Rajasekaran RA, Franco R, Reddy J. Association of Autophagy in the Cell Death Mediated by Dihydrotestosterone in Autoreactive T Cells Independent of Antigenic Stimulation. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2015; 10:620-34. [PMID: 26416183 PMCID: PMC4662616 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-015-9633-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Gender disparity is well documented in the mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced with proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151, in which female, but not male, SJL mice show a chronic relapsing-remitting paralysis. Furthermore, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) has been shown to ameliorate the severity of EAE, but the underlying mechanisms of its protective effects are unclear. Using major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II dextramers for PLP 139-151, we tested the hypothesis that DHT selectively modulates the expansion and functionalities of antigen-specific T cells. Unexpectedly, we noted that DHT induced cell death in antigen-specific, autoreactive T cells, but the effects were not selective, because both proliferating and non-proliferating cells were equally affected independent of antigenic stimulation. Furthermore, DHT-exposed PLP 139-151-specific T cells did not show any shift in cytokine production; rather, frequencies of cytokine-producing PLP-specific T cells were significantly reduced, irrespective of T helper (Th) 1, Th2, and Th17 subsets of cytokines. By evaluating cell death and autophagy pathways, we provide evidence for the induction of autophagy to be associated with cell death caused by DHT. Taken together, the data provide new insights into the role of DHT and indicate that cell death and autophagy contribute to the therapeutic effects of androgens in autoreactive T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Jia
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
| | - Annandurai Anandhan
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
| | - Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
| | - Rajkumar A Rajasekaran
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
| | - Rodrigo Franco
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
| | - Jay Reddy
- Room 202, Bldg. VBS, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA.
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9
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Massilamany C, Krishnan B, Reddy J. Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Dextramers: New Tools for the Detection of antigen-Specific, CD4 T Cells in Basic and Clinical Research. Scand J Immunol 2015; 82:399-408. [PMID: 26207337 PMCID: PMC4610346 DOI: 10.1111/sji.12344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2015] [Accepted: 07/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The advent of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramer technology has been a major contribution to T cell immunology, because tetramer reagents permit detection of antigen-specific T cells at the single-cell level in heterogeneous populations by flow cytometry. However, unlike MHC class I tetramers, the utility of MHC class II tetramers has been less frequently reported. MHC class II tetramers can be used successfully to enumerate the frequencies of antigen-specific CD4 T cells in cells activated in vitro, but their use for ex vivo analyses continues to be a problem, due in part to their activation dependency for binding with T cells. To circumvent this problem, we recently reported the creation of a new generation of reagents called MHC class II dextramers, which were found to be superior to their counterparts. In this review, we discuss the utility of class II dextramers vis-a-vis tetramers, with respect to their specificity and sensitivity, including potential applications and limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - B Krishnan
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - J Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
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Krishnan B, Massilamany C, Basavalingappa RH, Rajasekaran RA, Kuszynski C, Switzer B, Peterson DA, Reddy J. Versatility of using major histocompatibility complex class II dextramers for derivation and characterization of antigen-specific, autoreactive T cell hybridomas. J Immunol Methods 2015; 426:86-94. [PMID: 26268454 PMCID: PMC4651793 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2015.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/07/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Antigen-specific, T cell hybridomas are useful to study the cellular, molecular and functional events, but their generation is a lengthy process. Thus, there is a need to develop robust methods to generate the hybridoma clones rapidly in a short period of time. To this end, we have demonstrated a novel approach using major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II dextramers to generate T cell hybridomas for an autoantigen, proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151. Using MHC class II dextramers assembled with PLP 139-151 as screening and sorting tools, we successfully obtained mono antigen-specific clones within seven to eight weeks. In conjunction with other T cell markers, dextramers permitted phenotypic characterization of hybridoma clones for their antigen specificity in a single step by flow cytometry. Importantly, we achieved successful fusions using dextramer(+) cells sorted by flow cytometry as a starting population, resulting in direct identification of multiple antigen-specific clones. Characterization of selected clones led us to identify chemokine receptor, CCR4(+) to be expressed consistently, but their cytokine-producing ability was variable. Our work provides a proof-of principle that the antigen-specific, CD4 T cell hybridoma clones can be generated directly using MHC class II dextramers. The availability of hybridoma clones that bind dextramers may serve as useful tools for various in vitro and in vivo applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharathi Krishnan
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Rakesh H Basavalingappa
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Rajkumar A Rajasekaran
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Charles Kuszynski
- Nebraska Center for Virology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Barbara Switzer
- College of Medicine, Dean's Research Laboratory, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68918, United States
| | - Daniel A Peterson
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States.
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11
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Massilamany C, Gangaplara A, Basavalingappa RH, Rajasekaran RA, Khalilzad-Sharghi V, Han Z, Othman S, Steffen D, Reddy J. Localization of CD8 T cell epitope within cardiac myosin heavy chain-α334-352 that induces autoimmune myocarditis in A/J mice. Int J Cardiol 2015; 202:311-21. [PMID: 26422020 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2015] [Revised: 09/02/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cardiac myosin heavy chain-α (Myhc), an intracellular protein expressed in the cardiomyocytes, has been identified as a major autoantigen in cardiac autoimmunity. In our studies with Myhc334-352-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis in A/J mice (H-2a), we discovered that Myhc334-352, supposedly a CD4 T cell epitope, also induced antigen-specific CD8 T cells that transfer disease to naive animals. METHODS AND RESULTS In our efforts to identify the CD8 T cell determinants, we localized Myhc338-348 within the full length-Myhc334-352, leading to four key findings. (1) By acting as a dual epitope, Myhc338-348 induces both CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. (2) In a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-stabilization assay, Myhc338-348 was found to bind H-2Dd-but not H-2Kk or H-2Ld-alleles. (3) The CD8 T cell response induced by Myhc338-348 was antigen-specific, as evaluated by MHC class I/H-2Dd dextramer staining. The antigen-sensitized T cells predominantly produced interferon-γ, the critical cytokine of effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes. (4) Myhc338-348 was found to induce myocarditis in immunized animals as determined by histology and magnetic resonance microscopy imaging. CONCLUSIONS Our data provide new insights as to how different immune cells can recognize the same antigen and inflict damage through different mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chandirasegaran Massilamany
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Arunakumar Gangaplara
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Rakesh H Basavalingappa
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Rajkumar A Rajasekaran
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Zhongji Han
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Shadi Othman
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - David Steffen
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States.
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Dileepan T, Kim HO, Cleary PP, Skinner PJ. In Situ Peptide-MHC-II Tetramer Staining of Antigen-Specific CD4+ T Cells in Tissues. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0128862. [PMID: 26067103 PMCID: PMC4465905 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2014] [Accepted: 05/01/2015] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The invention of peptide-MHC-tetramer technology to label antigen-specific T cells has led to an enhanced understanding of T lymphocyte biology. Here we describe the development of an in situ pMHC-II tetramer staining method to visualize antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in tissues. This method complements other methods developed that similarly use MHC class II reagents to stain antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in situ. In this study, we used group A streptococcus (GAS) expressing a surrogate peptide (2W) to inoculate C57BL/6 mice, and used fresh nasal-associated lymphoid tissues (NALT) in optimizing the in situ staining of 2W:I-Ab specific CD4+ T cells. The results showed 2W:I-Ab tetramer-binding CD4+ T cells in GAS-2W but not GAS infected mice. This method holds promise to be broadly applicable to study the localization, abundance, and phenotype of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in undisrupted tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hyeon O. Kim
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, United States of America
| | - P. Patrick Cleary
- Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | - Pamela J. Skinner
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Massilamany C, Gangaplara A, Jia T, Elowsky C, Li Q, Zhou Y, Reddy J. In situ detection of autoreactive CD4 T cells in brain and heart using major histocompatibility complex class II dextramers. J Vis Exp 2014:e51679. [PMID: 25145797 PMCID: PMC4389722 DOI: 10.3791/51679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This report demonstrates the use of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II dextramers for detection of autoreactive CD4 T cells in situ in myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in SJL mice and cardiac myosin heavy chain-α (Myhc) 334-352-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) in A/J mice. Two sets of cocktails of dextramer reagents were used, where dextramers(+) cells were analyzed by laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM): EAE, IA(s)/PLP 139-151 dextramers (specific)/anti-CD4 and IA(s)/Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) 70-86 dextramers (control)/anti-CD4; and EAM, IA(k)/Myhc 334-352 dextramers/anti-CD4 and IA(k)/bovine ribonuclease (RNase) 43-56 dextramers (control)/anti-CD4. LSCM analysis of brain sections obtained from EAE mice showed the presence of cells positive for CD4 and PLP 139-151 dextramers, but not TMEV 70-86 dextramers suggesting that the staining obtained with PLP 139-151 dextramers was specific. Likewise, heart sections prepared from EAM mice also revealed the presence of Myhc 334-352, but not RNase 43-56-dextramer(+) cells as expected. Further, a comprehensive method has also been devised to quantitatively analyze the frequencies of antigen-specific CD4 T cells in the 'Z' serial images.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arunakumar Gangaplara
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
| | - Ting Jia
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
| | | | - Qingsheng Li
- Nebraska Center for Virology and School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
| | - You Zhou
- Center for Biotechnology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
| | - Jay Reddy
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln;
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