How chemokines organize the tumour microenvironment.

For our immune system to contain or eliminate malignant solid tumours, both myeloid and lymphoid haematopoietic cells must not only extravasate from the bloodstream into the tumour tissue but also further migrate to various specialized niches of the tumour microenvironment to functionally interact with each other, with non-haematopoietic stromal cells and, ultimately, with cancer cells. These interactions regulate local immune cell survival, proliferative expansion, differentiation and their execution of pro-tumour or antitumour effector functions, which collectively determine the outcome of spontaneous or therapeutically induced antitumour immune responses. None of these interactions occur randomly but are orchestrated and critically depend on migratory guidance cues provided by chemokines, a large family of chemotactic cytokines, and their receptors. Understanding the functional organization of the tumour immune microenvironment inevitably requires knowledge of the multifaceted roles of chemokines in the recruitment and positioning of its cellular constituents. Gaining such knowledge will not only generate new insights into the mechanisms underlying antitumour immunity or immune tolerance but also inform the development of biomarkers (or 'biopatterns') based on spatial tumour tissue analyses, as well as novel strategies to therapeutically engineer immune responses in patients with cancer. Here we will discuss recent observations on the role of chemokines in the tumour microenvironment in the context of our knowledge of their physiological functions in development, homeostasis and antimicrobial responses.

Microbial uptake in oral mucosa-draining lymph nodes leads to rapid release of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells lacking a gut-homing phenotype.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract constitutes an essential barrier against ingested microbes, including potential pathogens. Although immune reactions are well studied in the lower GI tract, it remains unclear how adaptive immune responses are initiated during microbial challenge of the oral mucosa (OM), the primary site of microbial encounter in the upper GI tract. Here, we identify mandibular lymph nodes (mandLNs) as sentinel lymphoid organs that intercept ingested Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). Oral Lm uptake led to local activation and release of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells that constituted most of the early circulating effector T cell (TEFF) pool. MandLN-primed TEFF disseminated to lymphoid organs, lung, and OM and contributed substantially to rapid elimination of target cells. In contrast to CD8+ TEFF generated in mesenteric LN (MLN) during intragastric infection, mandLN-primed TEFF lacked a gut-seeking phenotype, which correlated with low expression of enzymes required for gut-homing imprinting by mandLN stromal and dendritic cells. Accordingly, mandLN-primed TEFF decreased Lm burden in spleen but not MLN after intestinal infection. Our findings extend the concept of regional specialization of immune responses along the length of the GI tract, with CD8+ TEFF generated in the upper GI tract displaying homing profiles that differ from those imprinted by lymphoid tissue of the lower GI tract.

Dendritic cell actin dynamics control contact duration and priming efficiency at the immunological synapse.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for the priming of naive T cells and the initiation of adaptive immunity. Priming is initiated at a heterologous cell-cell contact, the immunological synapse (IS). While it is established that F-actin dynamics regulates signaling at the T cell side of the contact, little is known about the cytoskeletal contribution on the DC side. Here, we show that the DC actin cytoskeleton is decisive for the formation of a multifocal synaptic structure, which correlates with T cell priming efficiency. DC actin at the IS appears in transient foci that are dynamized by the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC). The absence of the WRC in DCs leads to stabilized contacts with T cells, caused by an increase in ICAM1-integrin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. This results in lower numbers of activated and proliferating T cells, demonstrating an important role for DC actin in the regulation of immune synapse functionality.

Salivary gland macrophages and tissue-resident CD8+ T cells cooperate for homeostatic organ surveillance.

It is well established that tissue macrophages and tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells (TRM) play important roles for pathogen sensing and rapid protection of barrier tissues. In contrast, the mechanisms by which these two cell types cooperate for homeostatic organ surveillance after clearance of infections is poorly understood. Here, we used intravital imaging to show that TRM dynamically followed tissue macrophage topology in noninflamed murine submandibular salivary glands (SMGs). Depletion of tissue macrophages interfered with SMG TRM motility and caused a reduction of interepithelial T cell crossing. In the absence of macrophages, SMG TRM failed to cluster in response to local inflammatory chemokines. A detailed analysis of the SMG microarchitecture uncovered discontinuous attachment of tissue macrophages to neighboring epithelial cells, with occasional macrophage protrusions bridging adjacent acini and ducts. When dissecting the molecular mechanisms that drive homeostatic SMG TRM motility, we found that these cells exhibit a wide range of migration modes: In addition to chemokine- and adhesion receptor-driven motility, resting SMG TRM displayed a remarkable capacity for autonomous motility in the absence of chemoattractants and adhesive ligands. Autonomous SMG TRM motility was mediated by friction and insertion of protrusions into gaps offered by the surrounding microenvironment. In sum, SMG TRM display a unique continuum of migration modes, which are supported in vivo by tissue macrophages to allow homeostatic patrolling of the complex SMG architecture.

Th2-TRMs Maintain Life-Long Allergic Memory in Experimental Asthma in Mice.

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory remitting-relapsing disease affecting the airways. Long-lived allergen-specific memory CD4+ T helper 2 (Th2) cells in mice persist in lungs for more than 2 years after the induction of experimental allergic asthma (EAA). To further understand lung Th2 memory cells, we tracked CD4+ T cells in spleen and lungs from healthy mice, through the initiation of acute EAA, recovery (remission), and allergen-induced disease relapse. We identified a lung CD3+CD4+ cell subset that expresses CD44hiCD62L-CD69+ST2+, produces Th2 cytokines, and mediates allergen-induced disease relapse despite treatment with FTY720 and anti-CD4 antibody. These cells reside in the lung tissue for the lifetime of mice (>665 days) and represent long-lived pathogenic Th2 tissue resident memory cells (TRMs) that maintain "allergic memory" in lung. We speculate that these data implicate that human Th2-TRMs sentinels in lungs of patients are poised to rapidly respond to inhaled allergen and induce asthma attacks and that therapeutic approaches targeting these cells may provide relief to patients with allergic asthma.

Ionizing radiation regulates long non-coding RNAs in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein coding transcripts that modulate mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) expression, thereby controlling multiple cellular processes, including transcriptional regulation of gene expression, cell differentiation and apoptosis. Ionizing radiation (IR), a strong cellular stressor, is known to influence gene expression of irradiated cells, mainly by activation of oxidative processes. Whether and how IR also affects lncRNA expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is still poorly understood. Exposure of PBMCs to IR dose-dependently activated p53 and its downstream target p21, ultimately leading to cell-cycle arrest and/or apoptosis. Cleavage of caspase-3, a specific process during apoptotic cell death, was detectable at doses as low as 30 Gy. Transcriptome analysis of 60 Gy-irradiated PBMCs revealed a strong time-dependent regulation of a variety of lncRNAs. Among many unknown lncRNAs we also identified a significant upregulation of Trp53cor1, MEG3 and TUG1, which have been shown to be involved in the regulation of cell cycle and apoptotic processes mediated by p53. In addition, we found 177 miRNAs regulated in the same samples, including several miRNAs that are known targets of upregulated lncRNAs. Our data show that IR dose-dependently regulates the expression of a wide spectrum of lncRNAs in PBMCs, suggesting a crucial role for lncRNAs in the complex regulatory machinery activated in response to IR.