Yersinia pseudotuberculosis supports Th17 differentiation and limits de novo regulatory T cell induction by directly interfering with T cell receptor signaling

Adaptive immunity critically contributes to control acute infection with enteropathogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis; however, the role of CD4(+) T cell subsets in establishing infection and allowing pathogen persistence remains elusive. Here, we assessed the modulatory capacity of Y. pseudotuberculosis on CD4(+) T cell differentiation. Using in vivo assays, we report that infection with Y. pseudotuberculosis resulted in enhanced priming of IL-17-producing T cells (Th17 cells), whereas induction of Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) was severely disrupted in gut-draining mesenteric lymph nodes (mLNs), in line with altered frequencies of tolerogenic and proinflammatory dendritic cell (DC) subsets within mLNs. Additionally, by using a DC-free in vitro system, we could demonstrate that Y. pseudotuberculosis can directly modulate T cell receptor (TCR) downstream signaling within naïve CD4(+) T cells and Tregs via injection of effector molecules through the type III secretion system, thereby affecting their functional properties. Importantly, modulation of naïve CD4(+) T cells by Y. pseudotuberculosis resulted in an enhanced Th17 differentiation and decreased induction of Foxp3(+) Tregs in vitro. These findings shed light to the adjustment of the Th17-Treg axis in response to acute Y. pseudotuberculosis infection and highlight the direct modulation of CD4(+) T cell subsets by altering their TCR downstream signaling

COVID-19 immune signatures reveal stable antiviral T cell function despite declining humoral responses

Cellular and humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is critical to control primary infection and correlates with severity of disease. The role of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity, its relationship to antibodies, and pre-existing immunity against endemic coronaviruses (huCoV), which has been hypothesized to be protective, were investigated in 82 healthy donors (HDs), 204 recovered (RCs), and 92 active COVID-19 patients (ACs). ACs had high amounts of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike IgG but lymphopenia and overall reduced antiviral T cell responses due to the inflammatory milieu, expression of inhibitory molecules (PD-1, Tim-3) as well as effector caspase-3, -7, and -8 activity in T cells. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity conferred by polyfunctional, mainly interferon-γ-secreting CD4+ T cells remained stable throughout convalescence, whereas humoral responses declined. Immune responses toward huCoV in RCs with mild disease and strong cellular SARS-CoV-2 T cell reactivity imply a protective role of pre-existing immunity against huCoV

Variances in Antiviral Memory T-Cell Repertoire of CD45RA- and CD62L-Depleted Lymphocyte Products Reflect the Need of Individual T-Cell Selection Strategies to Reduce the Risk of GvHD while Preserving Antiviral Immunity in Adoptive T-Cell Therapy

Introduction!#!Viral infections and reactivations still remain a cause of morbidity and mortality after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation due to immunodeficiency and immunosuppression. Transfer of unmanipulated donor-derived lymphocytes (DLI) represents a promising strategy for improving cellular immunity but carries the risk of graft versus host disease (GvHD). Depleting alloreactive naïve T cells (T!##!Methods!#!T-cell responses against ppEBV_EBNA1, ppEBV_Consensus and ppAdV_Hexon within T!##!Results!#!According to differences in the phenotype composition, antigen-specific T-cell responses in CD45RA!##!Conclusion!#!Taken together, our results indicate that CD45RA depletion is a more suitable strategy for generating

Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis Modulates Regulatory T Cell Stability via Injection of Yersinia Outer Proteins in a Type III Secretion System-Dependent Manner

Adaptive immunity is essentially required to control acute infection with enteropathogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb). We have recently demonstrated that Yptb can directly modulate naïve CD4+ T cell differentiation. However, whether fully differentiated forkhead box protein P3 (Foxp3+) regulatory T cells (Tregs), fundamental key players to maintain immune homeostasis, are targeted by Yptb remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that within the CD4+ T cell compartment Yptb preferentially targets Tregs and injects Yersinia outer proteins (Yops) in a process that depends on the type III secretion system and invasins. Remarkably, Yop-translocation into ex vivo isolated Foxp3+ Tregs resulted in a substantial downregulation of Foxp3 expression and a decreased capacity to express the immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). Together, these findings highlight that invasins are critically required to mediate Yptb attachment to Foxp3+ Tregs, which allows efficient Yop-translocation and finally enables the modulation of the Foxp3+ Tregs' suppressive phenotype

Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis Modulates Regulatory T Cell Stability via Injection of Yersinia Outer Proteins in a Type III Secretion System-Dependent Manner.

Adaptive immunity is essentially required to control acute infection with enteropathogeni

Long-Lasting Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2: Dream or Reality?

Since its declaration as a pandemic in March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 217 million people worldwide and despite mild disease in the majority of the cases, more than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19-associated death have been reported as of September 2021. The question whether recovery from COVID-19 results in prevention of reinfection can be answered with a "no" since cases of reinfections have been reported. The more important question is whether during SARS-CoV-2 infection, a protective immunity is built and maintained afterwards in a way which protects from possibly severe courses of disease in case of a reinfection. A similar question arises with respect to vaccination: as of September 2021, globally, more than 5.2 billion doses of vaccines have been administered. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to study the cellular and humoral immunity toward SARS-CoV-2 in a longitudinal manner. In this study, reconvalescent COVID-19 patients have been followed up for more than 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection to characterize in detail the long-term humoral as well as cellular immunity. Both SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells and antibodies could be detected for a period of more than 1 year after infection, indicating that the immune protection established during initial infection is maintained and might possibly protect from severe disease in case of reinfection or infection with novel emerging variants. Moreover, these data demonstrate the opportunity for immunotherapy of hospitalized COVID-19 patients via adoptive transfer of functional antiviral T cells isolated from reconvalescent individuals

Staphylococcus aureus Alpha-Toxin Limits Type 1 While Fostering Type 3 Immune Responses.

Staphylococcus aureus can cause life-threatening diseases, and hospital- as well as community-associated antibiotic-resistant strains are an emerging global public health problem. Therefore, prophylactic vaccines or immune-based therapies are considered as alternative treatment opportunities. To develop such novel treatment approaches, a better understanding of the bacterial virulence and immune evasion mechanisms and their potential effects on immune-based therapies is essential. One important staphylococcal virulence factor is alpha-toxin, which is able to disrupt the epithelial barrier in order to establish infection. In addition, alpha-toxin has been reported to modulate other cell types including immune cells. Since CD4+ T cell-mediated immunity is required for protection against S. aureus infection, we were interested in the ability of alpha-toxin to directly modulate CD4+ T cells. To address this, murine naïve CD4+ T cells were differentiated in vitro into effector T cell subsets in the presence of alpha-toxin. Interestingly, alpha-toxin induced death of Th1-polarized cells, while cells polarized under Th17 conditions showed a high resistance toward increasing concentrations of this toxin. These effects could neither be explained by differential expression of the cellular alpha-toxin receptor ADAM10 nor by differential activation of caspases, but might result from an increased susceptibility of Th1 cells toward Ca2+-mediated activation-induced cell death. In accordance with the in vitro findings, an alpha-toxin-dependent decrease of Th1 and concomitant increase of Th17 cells was observed in vivo during S. aureus bacteremia. Interestingly, corresponding subsets of innate lymphoid cells and γδ T cells were similarly affected, suggesting a more general effect of alpha-toxin on the modulation of type 1 and type 3 immune responses. In conclusion, we have identified a novel alpha-toxin-dependent immunomodulatory strategy of S. aureus, which can directly act on CD4+ T cells and might be exploited for the development of novel immune-based therapeutic approaches to treat infections with antibiotic-resistant S. aureus strains

CAR-Ts redirected against the Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen CD176 mediate specific elimination of malignant cells from leukemia and solid tumors

This research was in part funded by: "From CARs to TRUCKs: Induction of a concerted anti-tumor immune response by engineered T cells" (Deutsche Krebshilfe/German Cancer Aid-Priority Program in Translational Oncology #111975), "The Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen CD176: New target of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified immune cells in adoptive cancer immunotherapy" (Deutsche Kinderkrebsstiftung, Projekt DKS 2020.17), and Glycotope GmbH. AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cells (CAR-Ts) are investigated in various clinical trials for the treatment of cancer entities beyond hematologic malignancies. A major hurdle is the identification of a target antigen with high expression on the tumor but no expression on healthy cells, since "on-target/off-tumor" cytotoxicity is usually intolerable. Approximately 90% of carcinomas and leukemias are positive for the Thomsen-Friedenreich carbohydrate antigen CD176, which is associated with tumor progression, metastasis and therapy resistance. In contrast, CD176 is not accessible for ligand binding on healthy cells due to prolongation by carbohydrate chains or sialylation. Thus, no "on-target/off-tumor" cytotoxicity and low probability of antigen escape is expected for corresponding CD176-CAR-Ts. Methods: Using the anti-CD176 monoclonal antibody (mAb) Nemod-TF2, the presence of CD176 was evaluated on multiple healthy or cancerous tissues and cells. To target CD176, we generated two different 2 generation CD176-CAR constructs differing in spacer length. Their specificity for CD176 was tested in reporter cells as well as primary CD8 T cells upon co-cultivation with CD176 tumor cell lines as models for CD176 blood and solid cancer entities, as well as after unmasking CD176 on healthy cells by vibrio cholerae neuraminidase (VCN) treatment. Following that, both CD176-CARs were thoroughly examined for their ability to initiate target-specific T-cell signaling and activation, cytokine release, as well as cytotoxicity. Results: Specific expression of CD176 was detected on primary tumor tissues as well as on cell lines from corresponding blood and solid cancer entities. CD176-CARs mediated T-cell signaling (NF-κB activation) and T-cell activation (CD69, CD137 expression) upon recognition of CD176 cancer cell lines and unmasked CD176, whereby a short spacer enabled superior target recognition. Importantly, they also released effector molecules (e.g. interferon-γ, granzyme B and perforin), mediated cytotoxicity against CD176 cancer cells, and maintained functionality upon repetitive antigen stimulation. Here, CD176L-CAR-Ts exhibited slightly higher proliferation and mediator-release capacities. Since both CD176-CAR-Ts did not react towards CD176 control cells, their response proved to be target-specific. Discussion: Genetically engineered CD176-CAR-Ts specifically recognize CD176 which is widely expressed on cancer cells. Since CD176 is masked on most healthy cells, this antigen and the corresponding CAR-Ts represent a promising approach for the treatment of various blood and solid cancers while avoiding "on-target/off-tumor" cytotoxicity