Lentivirus-transduced human monocyte-derived dendritic cells efficiently stimulate antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that are highly effective adjuvants for immunizing against pathogens and tumor antigens. The potential merit of genetic approaches to loading DCs with antigens is to express high and sustained levels of proteins that can be subsequently processed and presented to T lymphocytes. Replication-defective oncoretroviruses are able to efficiently transduce CD34(+) progenitor-derived DCs but not monocyte-derived DCs. Here, it is shown that efficient gene transfer is obtained using a human immunodeficiency virus-1-derived lentiviral vector deleted of all structural and accessory genes. Infection of immature DCs with the lentiviral vector at a multiplicity of infection of 20 resulted in stable gene expression in 30% to 40% of the matured DCs. Proviral DNA was detectable by Alu polymerase chain reaction for the lentiviral but not the oncoretroviral vector. Most importantly, it is demonstrated that lentivirus-transduced DCs were fully functional and effectively activated autologous HLA A2.1(+) peripheral blood cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). DCs expressing lentiviral vector-encoded Flu peptide were at least as efficient as DCs pulsed with the same peptide in stimulating specific CTLs. The efficacy of the lentivirus-transduced DCs was further demonstrated by their ability to directly activate freshly harvested peripheral blood Flu-specific CTLs in the absence of CD4(+) T-cell help and exogenous cytokines. The availability of a stable gene delivery system based on a multiply attenuated lentivirus that does not encode any viral protein and that allows sustained antigen presentation by DCs derived from blood monocytes will be very useful for the biologic investigation of DCs and the improvement of immunotherapeutic strategies involving DCs.

Restoration of alloreactivity of melanoma by transduction with B7.1

Melanoma cells are unusual because, unlike most epithelial tumors, constitutive expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II molecules is common. To elucidate the role of HLA class II expression in the immunopathogenesis of melanoma, the authors compared HLA class II+ melanoma cells to autologous B cells with respect to their ability to stimulate primary (naïve) histoincompatible lymphocytes and T-cell clones (antigen experienced). Using primary lymphocytes (peripheral blood lymphocytes [PBLs]), melanoma cells were nonstimulatory when compared to autologous B cells. To determine whether this was caused by defective antigen processing, the authors used alloreactive T-cell clones, which require alloantigen presentation by a histocompatible stimulator cell but not costimulation. Melanoma cells stimulated the alloreactive T-cell clones in two of three clones tested, indicating that they processed and presented alloantigen. To determine whether the failure of melanoma cells to stimulate primary lymphocytes was caused by their inability to costimulate the T cells, the authors transduced the melanoma cells with B7.1 and achieved stable expression in more than 95% of the cells. The transduced cells were highly stimulatory, eliciting a 17- to 25-fold increase in proliferation by the peripheral blood lymphocytes compared with controls. Indeed, B7-expressing melanoma cells were more stimulatory than autologous B cells, which elicited an 11- to 15-fold increase compared with controls. These data indicate that melanoma cells fail to stimulate primary lymphocytes because they do not deliver costimulatory signals. Engineering HLA class II+ melanoma cells to express high levels of B7.1 may provide a way to elicit primary T-cell responses to melanoma-associated antigens.

Induction of human cytotoxic T lymphocytes by artificial antigen-presenting cells

The adoptive transfer of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) is a promising therapeutic approach for a number of diseases. To overcome the difficulty in generating specific CTLs, we established stable artificial antigen-presenting cells (AAPCs) that can be used to stimulate T cells of any patient of a given human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type. Mouse fibroblasts were retrovirally transduced with a single HLA-peptide complex along with the human accessory molecules B7.1, ICAM-1, and LFA-3. These AAPCs consistently elicit strong stimulation and expansion of HLA-restricted CTLs. Owing to the high efficiency of retrovirus-mediated gene transfer, stable AAPCs can be readily engineered for any HLA molecule and any specific peptide.

Antigen-dependent CD28 signaling selectively enhances survival and proliferation in genetically modified activated human primary T lymphocytes

Most tumor cells function poorly as antigen-presenting cells in part because they do not express costimulatory molecules. To provide costimulation to T lymphocytes that recognize tumor cells, we constructed a CD28-like receptor specific for GD2, a ganglioside overexpressed on the surface of neuroblastoma, small-cell lung carcinoma, melanoma, and other human tumors. Recognition of GD2 was provided by a single-chain antibody derived from the GD2-specific monoclonal antibody 3G6. We demonstrate that the chimeric receptor 3G6-CD28 provides CD28 signaling upon specific recognition of the GD2 antigen on tumor cells. Human primary T lymphocytes retrovirally transduced with 3G6-CD28 secrete interleukin 2, survive proapoptotic culture conditions, and selectively undergo clonal expansion in the presence of an antiidiotypic antibody specific for 3G6-CD28. Polyclonal CD8(+) lymphocytes expressing 3G6-CD28 are selectively expanded when cultured with cells expressing allogeneic major histocompatibility complex class I together with GD2. Primary T cells given such an antigen-dependent survival advantage should be very useful to augment immune responses against tumor cells.

[Acute necrotizing cutaneous streptococcal infection following bites or scratch by dog or cat]

INTRODUCTION

Domestic animal bites or scratches are quite frequent. Among banal bacteria isolated from infected bites or scratches, group A streptococcus seems to be frequently associated with severe infections.

CASE REPORTS

Three cases of acute necrotizing cutaneous streptococcal infections, following cat or dog bite or scratch are reported. Twice, group A streptococcus was isolated from cutaneous swabs. In the third case, previous antibiotic therapy had sterilised bacteriological samples. Diagnosis was ascertained on the basis of clinical presentation and significant antistreptococcal antibodies elevation. Skin necrosis around the inoculation area was observed in the 3 cases. Cicatrisation required an average of two months under appropriate treatment.

DISCUSSION

An evolution towards cutaneous necrosis localized to the initially injured area is common to these three cases. This peculiar evolution is worth to be known in order to choose an effective anti streptococcal antibiotherapy whenever domestic animals bites and scratches are to be treated.

Identification of novel germline hMLH1 mutations including a 22 kb Alu-mediated deletion in patients with familial colorectal cancer

We analyzed the hMLH1 gene in 17 unrelated families with putative hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The complete hMLH1 cDNA was amplified in one step, and after a second amplification, four overlapping segments were directly sequenced. We detected, in five families that did not meet the complete Amsterdam criteria, five alterations, including a double-base change resulting in a missense mutation (Lys-618-Ala), a splicing mutation affecting the intron 4 splice acceptor site, a 2-bp deletion at codon 726, a 7-bp deletion at codon 626, and a deletion of exons 13-16. The latter alteration was shown to result from a 22-kb genomic deletion due to a homologous recombination between Alu repeats located in introns 12 and 16. The detection of five germline hMLH1 mutations in five families that only partially fulfilled the Amsterdam criteria shows that these criteria do not allow the identification of all familial colorectal cancers due to mutations of the mismatch repair genes. The numerous Alu repeats present within the hMLH1 gene and the observation of large genomic deletions suggest that (a) Alu-mediated deletions might frequently be involved in hMLH1 inactivation, and (b) reverse transcription-PCR analysis, which allows the amplification of the entire coding region of the hMLH1 gene in one step, might be the most appropriate method for the detection of hMLH1 alterations.