Maturation-Dependent Licensing of Naive T Cells for Rapid TNF Production

The peripheral naïve T cell pool is comprised of a heterogeneous population of cells at various stages of development, which is a process that begins in the thymus and is completed after a post-thymic maturation phase in the periphery. One hallmark of naïve T cells in secondary lymphoid organs is their unique ability to produce TNF rapidly after activation and prior to acquiring other effector functions. To determine how maturation influences the licensing of naïve T cells to produce TNF, we compared cytokine profiles of CD4+ and CD8+ single positive (SP) thymocytes, recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) and mature-naïve (MN) T cells during TCR activation. SP thymocytes exhibited a poor ability to produce TNF when compared to splenic T cells despite expressing similar TCR levels and possessing comparable activation kinetics (upregulation of CD25 and CD69). Provision of optimal antigen presenting cells from the spleen did not fully enable SP thymocytes to produce TNF, suggesting an intrinsic defect in their ability to produce TNF efficiently. Using a thymocyte adoptive transfer model, we demonstrate that the ability of T cells to produce TNF increases progressively with time in the periphery as a function of their maturation state. RTEs that were identified in NG-BAC transgenic mice by the expression of GFP showed a significantly enhanced ability to express TNF relative to SP thymocytes but not to the extent of fully MN T cells. Together, these findings suggest that TNF expression by naïve T cells is regulated via a gradual licensing process that requires functional maturation in peripheral lymphoid organs

Differentiation induced by physiological and pharmacological stimuli leads to increased antigenicity of human neuroblastoma cells

Sympathetic neuronal differentiation is associated with favorable prognosis of neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extra-cranial solid tumor of early childhood. Differentiation agents have proved useful in clinical protocols of NB treatment, but using them as a sole treatment is not sufficient to induce tumor elimination in patients. Therefore, complementary approaches, such as immunotherapy, are warranted. Here we demonstrate that differentiation of NB cell lines and ex vivo isolated tumor cells in response to physiological or pharmacological stimuli is associated with acquisition of increased antigenicity. This manifests as increased expression of surface major histocompatibility class I complexes and ICAM-1 molecules and translates into increased sensitivity of NB cells to lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer (NK) cells. The latter is paralleled by enhanced ability of differentiated cells to form immune conjugates and bind increased amounts of granzyme B to the cell surface. We demonstrate, for the first time, that, regardless of the stimulus applied, the differentiation state in NBs is associated with increased tumor antigenicity that enables more efficient elimination of tumor cells by cytotoxic lymphocytes and paves the way for combined application of differentiation-inducing agents and immunotherapy as an auxiliary approach in NB patients

In vitro membrane reconstitution of the T-cell receptor proximal signaling network

T-cell receptor (TCR) phosphorylation is controlled by a complex network that includes Lck, a Src family kinase (SFK), the tyrosine phosphatase CD45, and the Lck-inhibitory kinase Csk. How these competing phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions are modulated to produce T-cell triggering is not fully understood. Here we reconstituted this signaling network using purified enzymes on liposomes, recapitulating the membrane environment in which they normally interact. We demonstrate that Lck's enzymatic activity can be regulated over a ~10-fold range by controlling its phosphorylation state. By varying kinase and phosphatase concentrations, we constructed phase diagrams that reveal ultrasensitivity in the transition from the quiescent to the phosphorylated state and demonstrate that coclustering TCR-Lck or detaching Csk from the membrane can trigger TCR phosphorylation. Our results provide insight into the mechanism of TCR signaling as well as other signaling pathways involving SFKs