MHC Class I Endosomal and Lysosomal Trafficking Coincides with Exogenous Antigen Loading in Dendritic Cells

BACKGROUND: Cross-presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) is a crucial prerequisite for effective priming of cytotoxic T-cell responses against bacterial, viral and tumor antigens; however, this antigen presentation pathway remains poorly defined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In order to develop a comprehensive understanding of this process, we tested the hypothesis that the internalization of MHC class I molecules (MHC-I) from the cell surface is directly involved in cross-presentation pathway and the loading of antigenic peptides. Here we provide the first examination of the internalization of MHC-I in DCs and we demonstrate that the cytoplasmic domain of MHC-I appears to act as an addressin domain to route MHC-I to both endosomal and lysosomal compartments of DCs, where it is demonstrated that loading of peptides derived from exogenously-derived proteins occurs. Furthermore, by chasing MHC-I from the cell surface of normal and transgenic DCs expressing mutant forms of MHC-I, we observe that a tyrosine-based endocytic trafficking motif is required for the constitutive internalization of MHC-I molecules from the cell surface into early endosomes and subsequently deep into lysosomal peptide-loading compartments. Finally, our data support the concept that multiple pathways of peptide loading of cross-presented antigens may exist depending on the chemical nature and size of the antigen requiring processing. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that DCs have 'hijacked' and adapted a common vacuolar/endocytic intracellular trafficking pathway to facilitate MHC I access to the endosomal and lysosomal compartments where antigen processing and loading and antigen cross-presentation takes place

Proof of concept, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the effect of simvastatin on the course of age-related macular degeneration

BACKGROUND: HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors are ubiquitous in our community yet their potential role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains to be determined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of simvastatin on AMD progression and the effect modification by polymorphism in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and complement factor H (CFH) genes. DESIGN: A proof of concept double-masked randomized controlled study. PARTICIPANTS: 114 participants aged 53 to 91 years, with either bilateral intermediate AMD or unilateral non-advanced AMD (with advanced AMD in fellow eye), BCVA ≥ 20/60 in at least one eye, and a normal lipid profile. INTERVENTION: Simvastatin 40 mg/day or placebo, allocated 1:1. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Progression of AMD either to advanced AMD or in severity of non-advanced AMD. Results. The cumulative AMD progression rates were 70% in the placebo and 54% in the simvastatin group. Intent to treat multivariable logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, smoking and baseline AMD severity, showed a significant 2-fold decrease in the risk of progression in the simvastatin group: OR 0.43 (0.18-0.99), p = 0.047. Post-hoc analysis stratified by baseline AMD severity showed no benefit from treatment in those who had advanced AMD in the fellow eye before enrolment: OR 0.97 (0.27-3.52), p = 0.96, after adjusting for age, sex and smoking. However, there was a significant reduction in the risk of progression in the bilateral intermediate AMD group compared to placebo [adjusted OR 0.23 (0.07-0.75), p = 0.015]. The most prominent effect was observed amongst those who had the CC (Y402H) at risk genotype of the CFH gene [OR 0.08 (0.02-0.45), p = 0.004]. No evidence of harm from simvastatin intervention was detected. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Simvastatin may slow progression of non-advanced AMD, especially for those with the at risk CFH genotype CC (Y402H). Further exploration of the potential use of statins for AMD, with emphasis on genetic subgroups, is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN1260500032065

The role of tapasin and its isoforms in antigen presentation and tumor immunity

Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I molecules present peptides to CD8⁺ T cells and are essential for most adaptive immune responses. The first described-spliced tapasin (“isoform 1”) plays a critical role in MHC-I antigen presentation by facilitating peptide loading onto MHC-I molecules in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This thesis examines the expression, localization and function of two novel, alternatively-spliced isoforms of human tapasin that lack exon 7 (“isoform 2”) or both exons 6 and 7 (“isoform 3”). Isoform 1 contains a di-lysine ER-retention motif; the two novel isoforms encode different carboxy (C) termini that lack this motif. It was hypothesized that isoforms 2 and 3 would function in MHC-I cross-presentation of exogenous antigens in non-ER compartments. Isoform 2, like isoform 1, was found to be mainly ER-localized; however, both these isoforms were also found to co-localize in smaller amounts with the trans Golgi network and endo/lysosomes by confocal microscopy. Isoform 3 lacks a transmembrane domain and was found to be secreted from cells as well as being found within the ER. All isoforms were widely expressed at the RNA level in many tissues and cell types; however, mature dendritic cells (DCs) expressed the highest levels of all three isoforms, consistent with the high cross-presenting abilities of DCs. Both isoform 1 and 2 stabilized the transporters associated with antigen processing (TAP) in murine tapasin-/- cells, but isoform 3 did not due to its missing transmembrane domain. Isoform 1 and 2 mediated very similar effects on endogenous MHC-I presentation of self and viral peptides, on surface MHC-I thermostability, and on MHC-I maturation rates. Isoform 3 was found to decrease loading of exogenous peptides onto MHC-I. None of the isoforms influenced cross-presentation of the soluble antigen ovalbumin in a mouse dendritic cell line. This thesis also examines the effect of antigen presentation machinery (APM) re-expression in MHC-I-deficient tumor cell lines, B16F10 and CMT.64, which are deficient in TAP and tapasin. Virally-driven TAP1 and Tapasin expression increased MHC-I expression in the tumor cell lines, augmented tumor cell immunogenicity, and decreased tumor growth in vivo due to increased tumor cell elimination by the immune system.Science, Faculty ofZoology, Department ofGraduat

Epigenetic Control of the Immune Escape Mechanisms in Malignant Carcinomas▿

Downregulation of the transporter associated with antigen processing 1 (TAP-1) has been observed in many tumors and is closely associated with tumor immunoevasion mechanisms, growth, and metastatic ability. The molecular mechanisms underlying the relatively low level of transcription of the tap-1 gene in cancer cells are largely unexplained. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that epigenetic regulation plays a fundamental role in controlling tumor antigen processing and immune escape mechanisms. We found that the lack of TAP-1 transcription in TAP-deficient cells correlated with low levels of recruitment of the histone acetyltransferase, CBP, to the TAP-1 promoter. This results in lower levels of histone H3 acetylation at the TAP-1 promoter, leading to a decrease in accessibility of the RNA polymerase II complex to the TAP-1 promoter. These observations suggest that CBP-mediated histone H3 acetylation normally relaxes the chromatin structure around the TAP-1 promoter region, allowing transcription. In addition, we found a hitherto-unknown mechanism wherein interferon gamma up-regulates TAP-1 expression by increasing histone H3 acetylation at the TAP-1 promoter locus. These findings lie at the heart of understanding immune escape mechanisms in tumors and suggest that the reversal of epigenetic codes may provide novel immunotherapeutic paradigms for intervention in cancer

Extensive Profiling of a Complex Microbial Community by High-Throughput Sequencing

Complex microbial communities remain poorly characterized despite their ubiquity and importance to human and animal health, agriculture, and industry. Attempts to describe microbial communities by either traditional microbiological methods or molecular methods have been limited in both scale and precision. The availability of genomics technologies offers an unprecedented opportunity to conduct more comprehensive characterizations of microbial communities. Here we describe the application of an established molecular diagnostic method based on the chaperonin-60 sequence, in combination with high-throughput sequencing, to the profiling of a microbial community: the pig intestinal microbial community. Four libraries of cloned cpn60 sequences were generated by two genomic DNA extraction procedures in combination with two PCR protocols. A total of 1,125 cloned cpn60 sequences from the four libraries were sequenced. Among the 1,125 cloned cpn60 sequences, we identified 398 different nucleotide sequences encoding 280 unique peptide sequences. Pairwise comparisons of the 398 unique nucleotide sequences revealed a high degree of sequence diversity within the library. Identification of the likely taxonomic origins of cloned sequences ranged from imprecise, with clones assigned to a taxonomic subclass, to precise, for cloned sequences with 100% DNA sequence identity with a species in our reference database. The compositions of the four libraries were compared and differences related to library construction parameters were observed. Our results indicate that this method is an alternative to 16S rRNA sequence-based studies which can be scaled up for the purpose of performing a potentially comprehensive assessment of a given microbial community or for comparative studies