Author: Andrea

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are subsets of lymphoid cells that do not rearrange their antigen receptors like T cells and B cells but have other features of lymphocytes.  ILCs include the Natural Killer (NK) cell subset, as well as cells that behave similarly to T helper cell subsets by producing similar characteristic cytokines.  Type 2 ILCs (ILC2) resemble T_H2 cells in that they produce IL-5 and IL-13.  RORγt⁺ ILCs aka ILC3s, include subsets that resemble T_H17 and T_H22 cells by producing IL-17 and IL-22, respectively, as well as a subset that produces both cytokines.   Several recent articles have identified another class of ILCs in both humans and mice.  These cells resemble T_H1 cells in that they express T-bet/TBX21 and produce IFN-gamma, and are distinct from conventional NK cells found among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).  These newly characterized cellular subsets have been denoted as Type 1 ILCs (ILC1).

In the April 2013 issue of Immunity, Fuchs et. al sought to more fully characterize the ILC subsets present in human mucosal lymphoid tissues.  In human tonsils, a CD3^–CD56⁺ NKp44⁺CD103⁺ subset was identified that expressed T-bet and produced IFN-gamma when stimulated with either PMA/ionomycin, IL-12, or IL-15.  These cells also expressed perforin and granzyme and had cytolytic activity.  Although these cells express CD56⁺and NKp44⁺, which are markers characteristic of NK cells, they appear to be related to but distinct from prototypical CD56^hi NK cells found in PBMC.  For instance, unlike CD56^hi PBMC NK cells, these ILC1 did not exhibit a response to IL-18, as measured by a synergistic production of IFN-gamma when stimulated with IL-12+ IL-18 vs. IL-12 alone.

In a separate study, published in the March 2013 issue of Nature Immunology, Bernink et. al identified a mucosal human ILC1 subset in tonsils that differs from that found by Fuchs et. al, being CD56^–NKp44⁻ as well asCD127⁺ and c-Kit⁻.  Similarly to the cells described by Fuchs et. al, these cells expressed T-bet and produced  IFN-gamma when stimulated with PMA/ionomycin or IL-12.  However, they did not express perforin and granzyme.  Additional characterizations differentiated these cells from NK cells including the lack of the KIR3DL1 and IL-15Rα markers expressed by NK cells.

ILCs have been found to reside in mucosal associated lymphoid tissues include the oral, lung, and gastrointestinal mucosa, and are thought to function in immune responses to pathogens as well as in tissue repair.  ILCs including ILC3s have also been found to participate in inflammatory disease pathogenesis.  Both types of ILC1 cells were shown to be increased in the intestinal mucosa of Crohn’s disease patients, although their exact locations differed.  CD56⁺ NKp44⁺CD103⁺ cells were found to accumulate in the intraepithelial layer while CD127⁺CD56^–c-Kit⁻NKp44⁻ cells were found in the lamina propria.  Thus, these two subsets of ILC1 cells differ in multiple aspects including tissue localization.

In conclusion, both types of ILC1 cells identified in these studies are distinct from conventional PBMC CD56^hi NK cells, express T-bet, and produce IFN-gamma in response to IL-12 and IL-15 stimulation.  Notably, ILC3 cells also heterogeneously express CD56, IFN-gamma, granzymes and perforin.  Thus, many questions remain as to the functional and developmental differences between different ILC subsets and between CD56⁺ ILC1 cells and PBMC NK cells that reside in various tissues.

Reading:

Intraepithelial Type 1 Innate Lymphoid Cells Are a Unique Subset of IL-12- and IL-15-Responsive IFN-γ-Producing Cells.  Fuchs A, Vermi W, Lee JS, Lonardi S, Gilfillan S, Newberry RD, Cella M, Colonna M. Immunity. 2013 Apr 18;38(4):769-81.

Human type 1 innate lymphoid cells accumulate in inflamed mucosal tissues.  Bernink JH, Peters CP, Munneke M, te Velde AA, Meijer SL, Weijer K, Hreggvidsdottir HS, Heinsbroek SE, Legrand N, Buskens CJ, Bemelman WA, Mjösberg JM, Spits H.  Nat Immunol. 2013 Mar;14(3):221-9.

ILC1 Populations Join the Border Patrol.  Maloy KJ, Uhlig HH. Immunity. 2013 Apr 18;38(4):630-2. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.03.005.

Innate lymphoid cells: emerging insights in development, lineage relationships, and function.  Spits H, Cupedo T. Annu Rev Immunol. 2012;30:647-75.

A T-bet gradient controls the fate and function of CCR6-RORγt+ innate lymphoid cells.  Klose CS, Kiss EA, Schwierzeck V, Ebert K, Hoyler T, d’Hargues Y, Göppert N, Croxford AL, Waisman A, Tanriver Y, Diefenbach A.  Nature. 2013 Feb 14;494(7436):261-5.

Probably the most common way to cryopreserve cells, including human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is using a mixture of 90% serum with 10% DMSO.  However, serum is very expensive, and every new lot must first be tested for its effects on the background and performance of the various cellular assays performed.  A recent article in Cancer, Immunology, Immunotherapy, by Filbert et. al, reports on the results of an effort led by the Cancer Immunotherapy Immunoguiding Program to compare the viability, recovery, and performance in IFN-gamma ELISPOT assays of PBMCs cryopreserved in serum-containing versus various serum-free mediums.

This was a large-scale study which engaged 31 labs across ten countries.  This study is part of a larger concerted effort by the Immunoguiding Program of the Cancer Immunotherapy Association and the Cancer Research Institute’s Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium to assess the importance of harmonizing the most commonly utilized immunological assays across institutions, such that standardized results can be obtained.  The major inertia driving this effort is to establish a platform for standardized evaluation of patient immune responses to support the growing field of clinical immunotherapeutics.

In this study, three different freezing media were compared in 31 labs and seven freezing media were compared in a single center.  Human PBMCs from HLA-A*0201 donors were cryopreserved in these various freezing mediums and sent to the different labs for evaluation of viability, recovery, and performance in IFN-gamma ELISPOT protocols against several HLA-A*0201-restricted epitopes from HCMV, Influenza, and EBV viruses.  Each lab used its own established ELISPOT protocol.

All 31 labs compared PBMCs cryopreserved in (1) 90 % heat-inactivated human AB serum + 10 % DMSO, (2) CryoMaxx II, and (3) 10 % human serum albumin (HSA) + 10 % DMSO + 80 % RPMI.  Interestingly, the viability of cells after thawing as well as the number of cells recovered after thawing and after a 1-24 hour rest, were found to be significantly higher in both serum-free mediums compared to the human AB serum-containing media.  The overall cell loss from the number of cells initially cryopreserved ended up being an average of 35.2 % for PBMCs cryopreserved in the human AB serum-containing media, and roughly 22% for both of the serum-free mediums.  Thus, these assays suggest that these serum-free mediums provide more optimal freezing conditions compared with the human AB serum-containing media.  The performance in ELISPOT assays however, was not found to be significantly different for cells frozen in these different mediums.

In addition to those three mediums, a single laboratory made the same assessments for PBMCs cryopreserved in an additional four mediums: (4) CryoKit ABC, (5) 90 % heat-inactivated FCS + 10 % DMSO, (6) 12.5 % BSA + 77.5 % RPMI + 10 % DMSO, and (7) 12.5 % BSA + 77.5 % RPMI + 5 % DMSO + 5 % hydroxyethyl starch. In this comparison however, serum-free and serum-containing mediums had similar effects on viability, cell recovery, and in the ELISPOT assay, although the BSA-containing mediums had the worst performance overall.

In conclusion, although commonly used FBS and FCS-containing mediums were not compared in the multi-lab test, the strong performance of cells cryopreserved in serum-free media regarding subsequent viability, recovery, and in ELISPOT assays recommends that further consideration be given to cryopreservation in such serum-free media. Long term storage quality of cells frozen in various serum-free media is still an issue to be addressed as well as the comparative performance of PBMCs in the many other immunological assays.  Using defined serum-free media as opposed to lot-variant serum-containing media may allow for more robust standardization of immunological assays.

Serum-free freezing media support high cell quality and excellent ELISPOT assay performance across a wide variety of different assay protocols.  Filbert H, Attig S, Bidmon N, Renard BY, Janetzki S, Sahin U, Welters MJ, Ottensmeier C, van der Burg SH, Gouttefangeas C, Britten CM. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2013 Apr;62(4):615-27. doi: 10.1007/s00262-012-1359-5. Epub 2012 Nov 9.

The impact of harmonization on ELISPOT assay performance.  Janetzki S, Britten CM. Methods Mol Biol. 2012;792:25-36. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-325-7_2.

Harmonization of immune biomarker assays for clinical studies.  van der Burg SH, Kalos M, Gouttefangeas C, Janetzki S, Ottensmeier C, Welters MJ, Romero P, Britten CM, Hoos A. Sci Transl Med. 2011 Nov 9;3(108):108ps44. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002785.

Standardized Serum-Free Cryomedia Maintain Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Viability, Recovery, and Antigen-Specific T-Cell Response Compared to Fetal Calf Serum-Based Medium.  Germann A, Schulz JC, Kemp-Kamke B, Zimmermann H, von Briesen H. Biopreserv Biobank. 2011 Sep;9(3):229-236.

Dendritic cells (DC) are major antigen-presenting cells consisting of numerous heterogeneous subtypes.   In humans, several subtypes of DCs have been identified in different tissues including peripheral blood, secondary lymphoid organs, and in the skin.  In peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and secondary lymphoid organs, these subtypes include BDCA1⁺, BDCA3⁺, and plasmacytoid DCs which differ functionally and in expression of various markers. So how do these many human DC subsets differ functionally?

Antigen cross-presentation is a DC-specialized mechanism by which antigens are taken up through endocytic and phagocytic pathways but presented in the context of MHC-class I, to activate antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8 T cells.  Recent studies have sought to characterize the differences between the many tissue-associated DC subsets including their ability to cross-present antigen.

In PBMC, DCs are quite rare, comprising only 1 – 2% of PBMCs.  In previous blog posts, the generation of dendritic cells from PBMC monocytes and maturing and assaying monocyte-derived dendritic cells have been discussed.  However, blood DCs and in vitro generated DCs may not represent the true physiological state of DCs present in secondary lymphoid organs where natural antigen cross-presentation and T cell activation occur in vivo.

In a recent study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Segura et. al explored the antigen cross-presentation versus phagocytic capabilities of human BDCA1⁺, BDCA3⁺, and plasmacytoid DC subsets compared with CD11c⁺HLADR⁺CD14⁺ macrophages that were all freshly isolated from healthy donor tonsils.  The cross-presentation capabilities of different types of antigens, including necrotic dead cell antigens and soluble antigens were assessed.

For necrotic dead cell antigens, such as dead tumor cells, BDCA1⁺ and BDCA3⁺ DC subsets both took up antigens to a similar extent and were the most efficient in activating CD8⁺ T cell responses which were measured by IFN-gamma production in allogeneic mixed leukocyte reaction assays.  Macrophages far exceeded the ability of any DC subsets in dead cell phagocytosis, but were extremely poor at cross-presentation and CD8⁺ T cell activation.  Plasmacytoid DCs were the poorest at phagocytosis of dead cells, and were also unable to cross-present these antigens.  For soluble antigens however, all three DC subsets (BDCA1⁺, BDCA3⁺, and plasmacytoid DC) efficiently cross-presented both shorter and longer soluble peptides, while macrophages continued to be poor at cross-presentation.

In an additional set of assays, the authors explored mechanisms that may contribute to the differential phagocytosis versus antigen cross-presentation of DC subsets and macrophages.    Compared with macrophages which did not cross-present antigens, the endocytic compartments of cross-presenting DCs kept an alkaline pH and contained reactive oxygen species, and these DCs further were able to export internalized antigens to the cytosol where they can be loaded onto MHC-class I.  Thus, while macrophages are efficient phagocytes, they are unable to process antigens to allow for cross-presentation.

In conclusion, understanding the capabilities of immune cells in different tissues is critical to discovering the full spectrum of cellular functions.  DCs are a major target for vaccinations and immunotherapeutic strategies, and describing and understanding these subsets in vivo will lead to maximized success in immune modulating modalities.

Further Reading:

Similar antigen cross-presentation capacity and phagocytic functions in all freshly isolated human lymphoid organ-resident dendritic cells.  Segura E, Durand M, Amigorena S. J Exp Med. 2013 Apr 8.

Cross-presentation by dendritic cells.  Joffre OP, Segura E, Savina A, Amigorena S.  Nat Rev Immunol. 2012 Jul 13;12(8):557-69. doi: 10.1038/nri3254. Review.

BDCA-2, BDCA-3, and BDCA-4: three markers for distinct subsets of dendritic cells in human peripheral blood. Dzionek, A., A. Fuchs, P. Schmidt, S. Cremer, M. Zysk, S. Miltenyi, D.W. Buck, and J. Schmitz. 2000. J. Immunol. 165:6037–6046.

Characterization of resident and migratory dendritic cells in human lymph nodes.  Segura, E., J. Valladeau-Guilemond, M.H. Donnadieu, X. Sastre-Garau, V. Soumelis, and S. Amigorena. 2012. J. Exp. Med. 209:653– 660.

Gene family clustering identifies functionally associated subsets of human in vivo blood and tonsillar dendritic cells. Lindstedt, M., K. Lundberg, and C.A. Borrebaeck. 2005. J. Immunol. 175:4839–4846.

Functional specializations of human epidermal Langerhans cells and CD14+ dermal dendritic cells.  Klechevsky, E., R. Morita, M. Liu, Y. Cao, S. Coquery, L. Thompson- Snipes, F. Briere, D. Chaussabel, G. Zurawski, A.K. Palucka, et al. 2008. Immunity. 29:497–510.

Characterization of dermal dendritic cells obtained from normal human skin reveals phenotypic and functionally distinctive subsets. Nestle, F.O., X.G. Zheng, C.B. Thompson, L.A. Turka, and B.J. Nickoloff. 1993. J. Immunol. 151:6535–6545.