Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Correspondence: Dipankar Nandi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India. E-mail: nandi{at}biochem.iisc.ernet.in
|
|
|---|
Key Words: costimulation apoptosis transforming growth factor-ß antigen-presenting cells
|
|
|---|
The mechanisms by which CTLA4 inhibits T cell activation are controversial [1
2
3
, 19
]. CTLA4 is expressed on the cell surface after T cell activation and binds CD80/CD86 with higher affinity, which results in sequestration of B7 from binding to CD28. In addition, CTLA4-triggering reduces "raft" formation and inhibits T cell activation and cell-cycle progression [20
21
22
23
24
25
]. However, it is unclear whether CTLA4 mediates its actions directly or indirectly via transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) [7
, 26
, 27
]. TGF-ß is known to inhibit T (Treg) cell activation by decreasing IL-2 receptor expression and IL-2 production and by inducing apoptosis [28
, 29
]. In fact, a subset of CD4+ T cells known as regulatory CD25+CD4+ T cells produces TGF-ß in a CTLA4-dependent manner and suppresses autoreactive T cells [30
, 31
]. CTLA4 interaction with CD80 and CD86 may be important in maintenance of peripheral tolerance by induction of anergy [32
33
34
]; however, other reports have demonstrated the induction of anergy in the absence of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interaction [35
, 36
]. CTLA4 triggering of naïve T cells results in inhibition of T cell proliferation without the induction of apoptosis [6
, 37
, 38
], whereas activated T cells undergo Fas-independent apoptosis on CTLA4 cross-linking [38
, 39
]. It is interesting that T cells from ctla4-/- mice are resistant to
-irradiation-induced apoptosis [40
], suggesting a role for CTLA4 in enhancing apoptosis under some conditions.
The combination of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; P) + ionomycin (I) is routinely used as a TCR-independent model to study T cell activation and proliferation [41 ]. In addition, the combination of P + I has been shown to positively select CD4+ T cells in thymocyte cultures [42 ], modulate differentiation of Th and T cytotoxic (Tc) subsets [43 ], and study molecules involved in T cell death [44 ]. However, the role of cell surface interactions in enhancing proliferation of T cells with P + I is not known. We purified mouse CD4+ T cells and studied the effect of soluble antibodies (Ab) to CD80, CD86, CD28, CTLA4 [5 ], and the fusion protein mCTLA4h immunoglobulin G (IgG)1 [45 ] on T cell proliferation after activation with P + I in vitro. We demonstrate that CTLA4 interaction with CD80 and CD86 on freshly isolated mouse CD4+ T cells is required for optimal proliferation of T cell activated with P + I. In the absence of this interaction, T cell activation is inhibited, followed by decreased cell-cycle progression and enhanced apoptosis in a large percentage of cells.
|
|
|---|
Media, Ab, and cell lines
Cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 25 mM HEPES (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO), 2 mM L-glutamine (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD), 5 µM ß-mercaptoethanol (Sigma Chemical Co.), 100 µg/ml penicillin, 250 µg/ml streptomycin, 50 µg/ml gentamycin (HiMedia Labs, Mumbai, India), and 5% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS; Sigma Chemical Co.). Anti-CD3 (145-2C11), anti-CD28 (37.51), anti-CTLA4 (9H10), anti-CD80 (16-10A1), anti-CD86 (GL1), and anti-trinitrophenol (TNP; control Ab) were from Pharmingen (San Diego, CA). Ascites containing anti-CD28, anti-CTLA4, and mCTLA4hIgG1 were generated by priming 6- to 8-week-old BALB/c mice with pristane (Sigma Chemical Co.), followed by immunosuppression with hydrocortisone (3 mg/mouse; HiMedia Labs) and low-dose (500 rad) irradiation. After this treatment,
2 x 106 hybridomas/mouse were injected intraperitoneally every 23 days. For flow cytometry, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugates of anti-CD3, anti-CD80, anti-CD86, and anti-CD69 and phycoerythrin (PE) conjugates of anti-CD28 and anti-CTLA4 were obtained from eBioscience (San Diego, CA). Anti-CD4-FITC and control-FITC/PE Ab were obtained from Pharmingen. Anti-CD25 (PC61-5.3) and the irrelevant rat (11B11) isotype controls were used as culture supernatant for flow cytometry experiments. Secondary Ab were from Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories (West Grove, PA). Antibodies to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (BP107), CD8 (3.155), and heat-stable antigen (J11D) culture supernatants were used to purify lymph node CD4+ T cells. Antibodies to TGF-ß1, -2, and -3 [46
] and CCL-64, a TGF-ß sensitive cell line [47
], were kindly provided by P. Kondaiah, IISC, Bangalore, and CTEV-2 cells, a derivative of the IL-2 responsive cell line CTLL-2, were provided by A. Sarin, NCBS, Bangalore.
Preparation of lymph node T cells
CD4+ T cells were purified by complement-mediated lysis of MHC class II+, heat stable antigen, and CD8+ cells. Live cells were collected by Histopaque 1083 (Sigma Chemical Co.) gradient centrifugation and were subjected to panning over a T25 flask coated with 100 µg/ml anti-mouse Ig. CD4+ T cell preparations were typically
98% pure, as measured by flow cytometry. Purification of CD4+CD25- T cell populations was carried out by initially purifying CD4+ T cells, followed by complement-mediated depletion of CD25+ cells using 7D4 culture supernatant. Flow cytometric analysis using anti-CD25 (PC61) failed to detect CD25 on the cell surface after this treatment.
T cell activation assays
Purified T cells were plated at
6 x 104 cells/well in 96-well U-bottom plates (Costar, Corning Inc., Corning, NY) in a final volume of 100 µl/well. For most experiments, all wells were precoated with RPMI 1640 containing 5% FBS to minimize nonspecific adhesion of monoclonal Ab (mAb) to the plate. Cells were activated with 10 ng/ml PMA (Sigma Chemical Co.) and 0.1 µM I (Sigma Chemical Co.). Cross-linking was performed using purified anti-CD3 (50 µl 0.1 µg/ml), anti-TNP (50 µl 1 µg/ml), or anti-CTLA4 (50 µl 1 µg/ml) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for
8 h at 68°C followed by extensive washes and blocking of wells with RPMI + 5% FBS to prevent nonspecific adhesion of mAb added subsequently [5
]. Anti-CD28, anti-CTLA4, and mCTLA4hIgG ascites were used at 1:100 throughout, whereas the control Ab (anti-TNP) was used at 20 µg/ml. Other purified Ab were used at the indicated concentration. Fetuin (Sigma Chemical Co.) or the control protein, ovalbumin (ova; Sigma Chemical Co.), was titered and used at 0.5 mg/ml, and recombinant (r)IL-2 [National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), UK] was used at 50 U/ml. Unless otherwise mentioned, T cell cultures were pulsed 36 h after activation with 0.25 or 0.5 µCi/well [3H]-thymidine (TdT; NEN, Perkin-Elmer, Boston, MA, or BRIT, Mumbai, India) and were harvested 12 h later. Incorporated radioactivity was measured using a liquid scintillation counter (Wallac, Perkin-Elmer, Foster City, CA) to assess levels of proliferation. The data are presented as mean ± SD of triplicates in one representative of at least three individual experiments.
Cytokine assays
Supernatants from T cell assays were collected 36 h after activation, and cytokine-specific bioassays were performed for IL-2 and TGF-ß using the cell lines CTEV-2 and CCL-64, respectively. The amount of cytokine in the supernatants was determined using an equation derived from values obtained from known amounts of standard cytokines. Specific T cell secretion of cytokines was determined by deducting appropriate controls, e.g., supernatants containing Ab, P + I, etc., only. CTEV-2 were grown in 25 U/ml IL-2, starved of IL-2 for 10 h, and cultured at 3000 cells/well with standard amounts of rIL-2 (NIBSC) or various dilutions of culture supernatants. Typically, the linear detection range of the IL-2 bioassay was 3.150 U/ml. TGF-ß was measured as an index of growth inhibition of CCL-64 cells [47
], which were cultured (
3000 cells/well) with supernatants or with known amounts of rTGF-ß1 (R&D Systems, Mineapolis, MN). The linear detection range of the TGF-ß bioassay was 7.5500 pg/ml. Active TGF-ß present in the supernatants was directly measured by this assay. To measure total levels of TGF-ß, heat activation of supernatants at 80°C for 15 min was performed to convert all latent TGF-ß into its active form.
Flow cytometric analysis
For surface staining,
2 x 105 cells were washed in cold Hanks balanced saline solution (Sigma Chemical Co.) containing 0.5% FBS, stained with pretitred amounts of culture supernatants or direct conjugates, washed, and incubated with the appropriate FITC-conjugated, preadsorbed secondary Ab. Flow cytometry was performed on FACScan or FACSVantage (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA) using CellQuest (Becton Dickinson) software for acquisition and WinList (Verity, Topsham, ME) software for analysis. To detect changes in mitochondrial potential, cells were stained with 40 nM DiOC6 (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR) in PBS for 20 min, washed in excess PBS, and acquired immediately [48
]. Cell-cycle analysis was performed as previously reported [49
]. Briefly,
2 x 105 cells were centrifuged, and the pellet was resuspended in ice-cold permeabilization buffer consisting of 0.1% sodium citrate and 0.1% Triton X-100 followed by the addition of propidium iodide (PI; 1 mg/ml; Sigma Chemical Co.). The tubes were incubated for 1824 h at 68°C before performing flow cytometry.
|
|
|---|
![]() View larger version (29K): [in a new window] |
Figure 1. Flow cytometric analysis of cell surface markers on unactivated and activated CD4+ mouse T cells. Freshly isolated, unactivated (U) mouse lymph node CD4+ T cells or P + I-activated for 12 h (A-12h) or 42 h (A-42h) were stained with specific Ab and acquired on a FACSVantage cytometer. The light gray dotted lines indicate control Ab; solid light gray lines indicate unactivated cells; black stippled lines indicate 12-h activated cells; and solid black lines indicate cells activated for 42 h.
|
1.7-fold with anti-CTLA4 and mCTLA4hIgG1 and
sixfold with anti-CD28. Similarly, anti-CD28 + P greatly enhanced proliferation of CD4+ T cells. Anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 in combination with P did not significantly enhance T cell proliferation but synergized with P + anti-CD28. The combination of P + I resulted in proliferation, which was enhanced by the addition of anti-CD28 (Fig. 2A)
. Surprisingly, addition of anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 in these cultures greatly reduced proliferation by
sevenfold. The effects of anti-CTLA4 and mCTLA4hIgG1 with plate-bound anti-CD3 and P + anti-CD28 were consistent with the modest increase in proliferation above the first signal alone, as reported earlier [5
]. However, the inhibition of P + I-mediated T cell proliferation by anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 was intriguing, and we decided to study this observation in depth. Kinetic studies (Fig. 2B)
revealed that there was no great difference between cultures treated with P + I alone or P + I along with anti-CD28, anti-CTLA4, or mCTLA4hIgG1 after 24 h activation with P + I. Proliferation of T cells with P + I and control Ab increased up to 36 h after activation. Increased proliferation was observed in cultures treated with anti-CD28 until 72 h, in keeping with the known role of anti-CD28 to increase and sustain proliferation [4
5
6
]. However, there was no increase in T cell proliferation after 24 h of activation in cultures treated with anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 compared with cultures treated with control Ab. These results suggest that initially, T cells were activated with P + I and anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 to similar extents compared with control, but the subsequent increase in proliferation was not observed. As CTLA4, CD80, and CD86 are induced on T cell activation with P + I (Fig. 1)
, we wished to determine the effect of adding Ab at different time points after activation. Addition of control Ab or anti-CD28 at 0 h or 36 h after activation did not affect overall proliferation (Fig. 2C)
. However, maximal inhibition of proliferation with anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 was observed between 0 and 12 h after activation with P + I, although cell surface CTLA4 levels were much higher at 42 h than 12 h. These results demonstrate that CTLA4 interaction with CD80 and CD86 was required during the initial 12-h period for maximal activation with P + I.
![]() View larger version (32K): [in a new window] |
Figure 2. Anti-CTLA4 and mCTLA4hIgG1 inhibits P + I-mediated T cell proliferation. (A) Freshly isolated CD4+ T cells were cultured with mCTLA4hIgG1 and soluble Ab to CD28 and CTLA4 (ascites 1:100) in wells coated with plate-bound ( CD3pc) anti-CD3 (0.1 µg/ml) or in the presence of P (PMA; 10 ng/ml) or P (10 ng/ml) + I (0.1 µM). Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested after 12 h. The all-minus group is cells alone, whereas the control group was treated with anti-TNP (20 µg/ml). (B) CD4+ T cells were cultured under different conditions and pulsed with TdT during the last 12 h of the indicated time points and harvested. (C) CD4+ T cells were cultured in the presence of P + I, and the indicated Ab were added at different time points. Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 and harvested after 12 h.
|
50% of cells [mean fluorescence intensity (MFI),
40], and by 42 h of activation,
70% of cells expressed high levels of CD25 (MFI,
40). Anti-CD28 enhanced CD25 expression on
90% of CD4+ T cells activated with P + I for 42 h (MFI,
150), as previously reported [5
]. It is interesting that activation of CD4+ T cells with P + I in the presence of anti-CTLA4 (
44% positive; MFI,
25) or mCTLA4hIgG1 (
47% positive; MFI,
20) resulted in transient induction (18 h) of CD25. However, the number of cells expressing CD25 decreased after 42 h of activation with anti-CTLA4 (
20% positive; MFI, 25) and mCTLA4hIgG1 (
28% positive; MFI,
25). These data together with Figure 2B
demonstrate that blockade of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interactions after activation of CD4+ T cells with P + I results in inhibition of T cell activation and proliferation at a late stage.
![]() View larger version (25K): [in a new window] |
Figure 3. Blockade of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interaction inhibits P + I activation of CD4+ mouse T cells. (A) Freshly isolated CD4+ T cells were activated in wells coated (pc) with purified anti-TNP (1 µg/ml) or anti-CTLA4 (1 µg/ml) together with soluble anti-CD3 (5 µg/ml) + anti-CD28 ascites (1:1000) or P + I. Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested after 12 h. (B) Freshly isolated CD4+ T cells were cultured with P + I and soluble Ab [pure (pur) or ascites (asc)], as indicated. Purified Ab to TNP and CTLA4 were used at 20 µg/ml, and anti-CD28 was used at 5 µg/ml. All ascites were used at a 1:100 dilution. Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested after 12 h. (C) CD4+ T cells were cultured with P + I and the indicated Ab for 18 h and 42 h and were stained for CD25.
|
![]() View larger version (18K): [in a new window] |
Figure 4. CD4+CD25+ T cells are not responsible for the inhibition of proliferation of mouse T cells activated with P + I and anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1. Freshly isolated CD4+ T cells, with or without depletion of CD25+ cells, were cultured with P + I in the presence of the indicated Ab (1:100 ascites). Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested after 12 h.
|
42 h. The percentage of viable cells recovered (measured by trypan blue exclusion) after the rest period under different conditions as compared with the initial number of cells added was P + I 75 ± 14%, P + I + anti-CD28 182 ± 16%, P + I + anti-CTLA4 34 ± 8%, and P + I + mCTLA4hIgG1 33 ± 9%. Equal numbers of viable cells recovered under different conditions were restimulated with P + I or plate-bound anti-CD3 in the absence or presence of anti-CD28. Cells initially stimulated with P + I + anti-CD28 responded well to restimulation with anti-CD3 or P + I (Fig. 5
). There was no major difference in restimulation with P + I between cells initially stimulated with P + I in the presence or absence of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade. However, cells initially stimulated with P + I along with CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade restimulated less efficiently with anti-CD3 compared with P + I-stimulated cells. Further studies are required to assess whether these differences are a result of lowered ability of these T cells (initially activated with P + I and subjected to CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade) to respond to restimulation via the TCR or as a result of differences in sensitivity to the degree of TCR cross-linking. However, the fact that T cells responded to restimulation under all conditions demonstrated that the inhibition of proliferation observed in Figures 2
3
4
was possibly a result of the secretion of inhibitory factors, e.g., TGF-ß, and not the induction of anergy.
![]() View larger version (16K): [in a new window] |
Figure 5. T cells initially activated with P + I and anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 can be reactivated. Cells were activated under the enlisted primary stimulation conditions for 48 h, washed, and rested for 42 h. Live cells/well ( 5x104) were restimulated under different conditions: A, plate-bound CD3; B, plate-bound CD3 + CD28; C, P + I; D, P + I + CD28. Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested after 12 h. Cells alone, without any restimulation, gave 280, 338, 210, and 212 cpm for the four primary stimulation conditions (left to right), respectively.
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
Table 1. Anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 Treatment of CD4+ T Cells Activated with P + I Resulted in Decreased IL-2 Production and Enhanced TGF-ß Production
|
2.5-fold over control values in anti-CTLA4 and mCTLA4hIgG1-treated cells after 18 h of activation followed by decreased levels (
1.5-fold over control values) by 42 h of activation. The decreased level of Bcl-XL is probably one of the mechanisms contributing to increased apoptosis in this system. The ability of anti-CD28, IL-2, or fetuin, a protein that blocks TGF-ß activity [54
], to rescue cell-cycle progression was studied. Briefly, CD4+ T cells were activated under different conditions in the absence or presence of the three molecules for 72 h followed by cell-cycle analysis. As observed in Table 2
, all three lowered the amount of apoptotic cells compared with controls, although fetuin was comparatively less effective than IL-2 or anti-CD28. As compared with cultures treated with the control protein ova, no significant increase was observed in the numbers of cycling cells with fetuin. Strikingly, anti-CD28 or IL-2 treatment increased the proportion of actively cycling S/G2M phase cells.
![]() View larger version (48K): [in a new window] |
Figure 6. Prolonged CTLA4-B7 blockade together with P + I activation leads to lower levels of Bcl-XL followed by lower cell-cycle progression and enhanced apoptosis. (A) CD4+ T cells were incubated under the conditions described above for the indicated time points, after which they were stained with PI and analyzed by flow cytometry. The numbers indicate the percentage of cells in G0/G1 (top) phase, G2/M (middle) phase, and the hypodiploid (bottom) population, respectively. (B) Treatment of CD4+ T cells with P + I and anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1 (1:100 ascites) for 60 h resulted in loss of mitochondrial potential. The numbers indicate the percentage of normal DiOC6high (above) and DiOC6low cells (below). (C) CD4+ T cells were activated with P + I and Ab to different costimulatory molecules for 18 and 42 h. After activation, the cells were washed and stained for intracellular Bcl-XL. The dotted lines are controls, and the gray and black lines indicate levels of Bcl-XL at 18 and 42 h, respectively.
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
Table 2. Rescue by anti-CD28 or IL-2 Results in Increased Cell-Cycle Progression in CD4+ Mouse T Cells Activated with P + I and Anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1
|
40%), and the addition of neutralizing Ab to all three isoforms did not increase proliferation over that with anti-TGF-ß1 alone. Thus, the inhibition of proliferation observed in this system (Figs. 2
3
4)
is partially a result of the production of TGF-ß1. There is a possibility that CD80/CD86 binding to CTLA-4 provides positive signals to the T cells that are not mimicked by the blocking reagents used, which may explain the partial rescue by anti-TGF-ß. Next, we determined whether the addition of anti-CD28, IL-2, or fetuin at different time points after P + I activation and CTLA4-B7 blockade modulated the degree of rescue (Fig. 7B)
. Maximum rescue with anti-CD28 and IL-2 is observed at 0 h addition, and the degree of rescue decreased at later time points of addition. However, the addition of fetuin at 0 or 24 h did not affect the extent of rescue, which suggested that the TGF-ß-mediated effects were late-acting.
![]() View larger version (26K): [in a new window] |
Figure 7. Differences in the levels of rescue and kinetics between IL-2/anti-CD28 are observed as compared with TGF-ß antagonists. (A) CD4+ T cells were activated with P + I and anti-CTLA4, mCTLA4hIgG1, or control Ab, together with anti-CD28 (1:100 ascites), IL-2 (50 U/ml), ova (1.0 mg/ml), fetuin (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 mg/ml), or anti-TGF-ß (1:500). (B) CD4+ T cells were activated with P + I + anti-CTLA4 or mCTLA4hIgG1. Ova, fetuin, IL-2, or anti-CD28 was added at different time points, as indicated. Cells were pulsed with TdT at 36 h and harvested 12 h later. The mean cpm of P + I-activated cells was 14,372.
|
|
|
|---|
All receptor-ligand interactions in this system involved binding CD4+ T cells to each other. CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interactions are specifically required to enhance P + I-mediated T cell activation, as blockade of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1-intercellular adhesion molecule-1/2 interaction did not have any effect on T cell proliferation (data not shown). The initial effects of activation with P + I in the presence and absence of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade are similar with respect to three different readouts: TdT incorporation (Fig. 2B) , CD25 (Fig. 3C) , and Bcl-XL (Fig. 6C) . Thus, CTLA4, CD80, and CD86 are induced by P + I, and their interaction in the first 12 h results in production of IL-2 and decrease in the amounts of TGF-ß and other inhibitory factors, which results in increased cell-cycle progression and survival (Fig. 8 ). However, the effects of blockade of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interaction were manifested later (4248 h) during T cell activation. Our results are different from the reported inhibition of proliferation of human T cells with P + I and Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing CD80 in which CD28-CD80 and CTLA4-CD80 interactions play a negative role [63 ]. In our system, CD28-CD80/CD86 interaction was unable to rescue cells from the dominant inhibitory effects of in vitro CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade, although triggering CD28 using an Ab rescued T cell proliferation. This difference between the effects of anti-CD28 and CD28-CD80/CD86 binding may be because CD80 and CD86 molecules expressed by mouse T cells are unable to bind CD28 but are capable of functionally binding CTLA4 [64 ]. In addition, there are other functional differences between CD80 and CD86 on APC and T cells [65 , 66 ]. Also, there is evidence to suggest that the effects of CD28-CD80/CD86 binding may be different from those observed using anti-CD28 [67 , 68 ].
![]() View larger version (43K): [in a new window] |
Figure 8. A model depicting the essential role of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interaction in activation and survival of CD4+ T cells with P + I. CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interaction during the first 12 h of activation with P + I lowers TGF-ß production and induction of apoptosis but enhances IL-2 production and Bcl-XL levels, leading to increased cell-cycle progression and survival.
|
40% (Fig. 7A)
. Finally, TGF-ß-mediated actions were late-acting (Fig. 7B)
and partially contributed to increased apoptosis (Table 2)
. These results also suggest the involvement of yet-to-be-identified, non-TGF-ß-dependent mediator/s or mechanisms. Anti-IL-10 did not rescue proliferation of inhibited cells, thereby ruling out IL-10 as a likely candidate (data not shown). It is interesting that TGF-ß and unidentified mediators are involved in an in vivo cytokine-mediated model of suppression [69
], and future studies will attempt to identify the mediators of the non-TGF-ß pathway. The inverse correlation between production of IL-2 and TGF-ß in our system was striking. Decreased IL-2 production or a delay in adding exogenous IL-2 resulted in the inability to rescue cells completely from the inhibitory effects of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade. It is possible that high levels of IL-2 were required early to counteract the action of the TGF-ß and the non-TGF-ß-dependent pathway. Although fetuin partially rescued proliferation in inhibited cultures, its action was insufficient to increase the numbers of cycling cells 72 h after activation. Conversely, anti-CD28 or IL-2 completely rescued the inhibition of proliferation on CTLA4 blockade by reducing the hypodiploid population and increasing numbers of cycling cells, which were detected 72 h after activation. This suggests that an additional mitogenic stimulus (e.g., IL-2), in addition to P + I-mediated activation, was required to fully counteract the effects of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade. In our system, the induction of apoptosis as a result of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade may be because of decreased Bcl-XL levels after 42 h of activation and low levels of IL-2 produced, which could contribute to lowered mitochondrial potential [52
, 53
]. Also, TGF-ß is known to be produced by apoptotic cells [70
], but it is not clear whether the increased TGF-ß levels observed in this system are a result of CTLA4-CD80/CD86 blockade or release by cells undergoing apoptosis. It is known that the combination of P + I induces Fas ligand on the surface of T cells [44
]; however, the role of Fas and additional mediators of apoptosis in this system needs to be investigated further. The roles of CD80 and CD86 in mouse T cells are not well studied. High expression of CD80 or CD86 on naïve CD4+ T cells results in proliferation in response to low concentrations of anti-CD3 alone without exogenous costimulation [71 ]. TCR signal strength appears to modulate CTLA4 expression [72 ] and response [61 , 62 ]. The present work demonstrates a role for CD80, CD86, and CTLA4 on CD4+ T cells in enhancing or inhibiting proliferation, depending on activation conditions. Our findings demonstrate that after activation with P + I, CD80 and CD86 on mouse CD4+ T lymphocytes bind to CTLA4 in a T:T cell interaction manner to enhance activation and survival. These results shed new light on the role of CD80, CD86, and CTLA4 on CD4+ T cells in modulating the induction of Bcl-XL, IL-2, and TGF-ß. Further studies are underway to understand the mechanisms involved in enhancement or inhibition of T cell responses by CD80, CD86, and CTLA4 under different activation conditions. These studies will enhance our knowledge of the role of costimulatory interactions and modulation of the T cell-immune response.
Received April 9, 2002; accepted July 23, 2002.
|
|
|---|
1 Immunology 80,56-61[Medline]
2-HS glycoprotein is a transforming growth factor-ß type II receptor mimic and cytokine antagonist J. Biol. Chem. 271,12755-12761This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
M. GHONEUM, L. TOLENTINO, and Y. SETO Phenotypic Correction of Age-associated Functional Decline in Murine Immune Cells by Thymax, A Thymic Extract In Vivo, November 1, 2009; 23(6): 895 - 902. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. GHONEUM, Y. SETO, and S. AGRAWAL Activation of Human Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells In Vitro by Thymax, a Gross Thymic Extract Anticancer Res, November 1, 2009; 29(11): 4367 - 4371. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Mukherjee, A. Ahmed, S. Malu, and D. Nandi Modulation of cell cycle progression by CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interactions on CD4+ T cells depends on strength of the CD3 signal: critical role for IL-2 J. Leukoc. Biol., July 1, 2006; 80(1): 66 - 74. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Mukherjee, A. Ahmed, and D. Nandi CTLA4-CD80/CD86 interactions on primary mouse CD4+ T cells integrate signal-strength information to modulate activation with Concanavalin A J. Leukoc. Biol., July 1, 2005; 78(1): 144 - 157. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S.-H. Tseng, Y. Chen, C.-J. Chang, K.-F. Tai, S.-M. Lin, and L.-H. Hwang Induction of T-Cell Apoptosis in Rats by Genetically Engineered Glioma Cells Expressing Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and B7.1 Clin. Cancer Res., February 15, 2005; 11(4): 1639 - 1649. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||