Inflammatory spleen monocytes can upregulate CD11c expression without converting into dendritic cells.

Monocytes can differentiate into various cell types with unique specializations depending on their environment. Under certain inflammatory conditions, monocytes upregulate expression of the dendritic cell marker CD11c together with MHC and costimulatory molecules. These phenotypic changes indicate monocyte differentiation into a specialized subset of dendritic cells (DCs), often referred to as monocyte-derived DCs or inflammatory DCs (iDCs), considered important mediators of immune responses under inflammatory conditions triggered by infection or vaccination. To characterize the relative contribution of cDCs and iDCs under conditions that induce strong immunity to coadministered Ags, we analyzed the behavior of spleen monocytes in response to anti-CD40 treatment. We found that under sterile inflammation in mice triggered by CD40 ligation, spleen monocytes can rapidly and uniformly exhibit signs of activation, including a surface phenotype typically associated with their conversion into DCs. These inflammatory monocytes remain closely related to their monocytic lineage, preserving expression of CD115, scavenging function, tissue distribution and poor capacity for Ag presentation characteristic of their monocyte precursors. In addition, 3-4 d after delivery of the inflammatory stimuli, these cells reverted to a monocyte-associated phenotype typical of the steady state. These findings indicate that, in response to anti-CD40 treatment, spleen monocytes are activated and express certain DC surface markers without acquiring functional characteristics associated with DCs.

Enhancing immunogenicity by limiting susceptibility to lysosomal proteolysis.

T cells recognize protein antigens as short peptides processed and displayed by antigen-presenting cells. However, the mechanism of peptide selection is incompletely understood, and, consequently, the differences in the immunogenicity of protein antigens remain largely unpredictable and difficult to manipulate. In this paper we show that the susceptibility of protein antigens to lysosomal proteolysis plays an important role in determining immunogenicity in vivo. We compared the immunogenicity of proteins with the same sequence (same T cell epitopes) and structure (same B cell epitopes) but with different susceptibilities to lysosomal proteolysis. After immunizing mice with each of the proteins adsorbed onto aluminum hydroxide as adjuvant, we measured serum IgG responses as a physiological measure of the antigen's ability to be presented on major histocompatibility complex class II molecules and to prime CD4+ T cells in vivo. For two unrelated model antigens (RNase and horseradish peroxidase), we found that only the less digestible forms were immunogenic, inducing far more efficient T cell priming and antibody responses. These findings suggest that stability to lysosomal proteolysis may be an important factor in determining immunogenicity, with potential implications for vaccine design.

Dendritic cells continue to capture and present antigens after maturation in vivo.

Dendritic cell (DC) maturation is critical for the regulation of T cell responses. The downregulation of endocytosis on maturation is considered a key adaptation that dissociates prior Ag capture by DCs from subsequent T cell engagement. To study the dynamics of Ag capture and presentation in situ, we studied the capacity for Ag uptake by DCs matured in their natural tissue environment. We found that after maturation in vivo, mouse DCs retained a robust capacity to capture soluble Ags. Furthermore, Ags internalized by mature DCs were efficiently presented on MHC class II and cross-presented on MHC class I. These results suggest that under inflammatory conditions, mature DCs may contribute to T cell stimulation without exclusively relying on prior exposure to Ags as immature DC precursors.

CHMP5 is essential for late endosome function and down-regulation of receptor signaling during mouse embryogenesis.

Charged MVB protein 5 (CHMP5) is a coiled coil protein homologous to the yeast Vps60/Mos10 gene and other ESCRT-III complex members, although its precise function in either yeast or mammalian cells is unknown. We deleted the CHMP5 gene in mice, resulting in a phenotype of early embryonic lethality, reflecting defective late endosome function and dysregulation of signal transduction. Chmp5-/- cells exhibit enlarged late endosomal compartments that contain abundant internal vesicles expressing proteins that are characteristic of late endosomes and lysosomes. This is in contrast to ESCRT-III mutants in yeast, which are defective in multivesicular body (MVB) formation. The degradative capacity of Chmp5-/- cells was reduced, and undigested proteins from multiple pathways accumulated in enlarged MVBs that failed to traffic their cargo to lysosomes. Therefore, CHMP5 regulates late endosome function downstream of MVB formation, and the loss of CHMP5 enhances signal transduction by inhibiting lysosomal degradation of activated receptors.

Cross-talk between the endocytic pathway and the endoplasmic reticulum in cross-presentation by MHC class I molecules.

Cross-presentation of exogenous proteins on MHC class I complexes contributes to the priming CD8(+) T-cell responses. However, the mechanisms by which antigen-presenting cells transfer internalized proteins to the MHC class I loading pathway are not well understood. Endocytosed proteins often appear to require proteasomal processing and transport into the endoplasmic reticulum, but the intracellular routes involved in cross-presentation remain unclear. Understanding the molecular and cellular basis of cross-presentation will illuminate novel aspects of cell physiology and might lead to improved vaccine design.

Aquaporin-3 regulates endosome-to-cytosol transfer via lipid peroxidation for cross presentation.

Antigen cross presentation, whereby exogenous antigens are presented by MHC class I molecules to CD8+ T cells, is essential for generating adaptive immunity to pathogens and tumor cells. Following endocytosis, it is widely understood that protein antigens must be transferred from endosomes to the cytosol where they are subject to ubiquitination and proteasome degradation prior to being translocated into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), or possibly endosomes, via the TAP1/TAP2 complex. Revealing how antigens egress from endocytic organelles (endosome-to-cytosol transfer, ECT), however, has proved vexing. Here, we used two independent screens to identify the hydrogen peroxide-transporting channel aquaporin-3 (AQP3) as a regulator of ECT. AQP3 overexpression increased ECT, whereas AQP3 knockout or knockdown decreased ECT. Mechanistically, AQP3 appears to be important for hydrogen peroxide entry into the endosomal lumen where it affects lipid peroxidation and subsequent antigen release. AQP3-mediated regulation of ECT was functionally significant, as AQP3 modulation had a direct impact on the efficiency of antigen cross presentation in vitro. Finally, AQP3-/- mice exhibited a reduced ability to mount an anti-viral response and cross present exogenous extended peptide. Together, these results indicate that the AQP3-mediated transport of hydrogen peroxide can regulate endosomal lipid peroxidation and suggest that compromised membrane integrity and coordinated release of endosomal cargo is a likely mechanism for ECT.

Selective SIRPα blockade reverses tumor T cell exclusion and overcomes cancer immunotherapy resistance.

T cell exclusion causes resistance to cancer immunotherapies via immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Myeloid cells contribute to resistance by expressing signal regulatory protein-α (SIRPα), an inhibitory membrane receptor that interacts with ubiquitous receptor CD47 to control macrophage phagocytosis in the tumor microenvironment. Although CD47/SIRPα-targeting drugs have been assessed in preclinical models, the therapeutic benefit of selectively blocking SIRPα, and not SIRPγ/CD47, in humans remains unknown. We report a potent synergy between selective SIRPα blockade and ICB in increasing memory T cell responses and reverting exclusion in syngeneic and orthotopic tumor models. Selective SIRPα blockade stimulated tumor nest T cell recruitment by restoring murine and human macrophage chemokine secretion and increased anti-tumor T cell responses by promoting tumor-antigen crosspresentation by dendritic cells. However, nonselective SIRPα/SIRPγ blockade targeting CD47 impaired human T cell activation, proliferation, and endothelial transmigration. Selective SIRPα inhibition opens an attractive avenue to overcoming ICB resistance in patients with elevated myeloid cell infiltration in solid tumors.

Anti-KIT Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Enhances the Antitumor Activity of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors by Reversing Tumor-Induced Immunosuppression.

The receptor tyrosine kinase KIT is an established oncogenic driver of tumor growth in certain tumor types, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors, in which constitutively active mutant forms of KIT represent an actionable target for small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors. There is also considerable potential for KIT to influence tumor growth indirectly based on its expression and function in cell types of the innate immune system, most notably mast cells. We have evaluated syngeneic mouse tumor models for antitumor effects of an inhibitory KIT mAb, dosed either alone or in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Anti-KIT mAb treatment enhanced the antitumor activity of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 mAbs, and promoted immune responses by selectively reducing the immunosuppressive monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cell population and by restoring CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell populations to levels observed in naïve mice. These data provide a rationale for clinical investigation of the human KIT-specific mAb KTN0158 in novel immuno-oncology combinations with immune checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapeutic agents across a range of tumor types. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(4); 671-80. ©2017 AACR.

Expression profiling reveals novel pathways in the transformation of melanocytes to melanomas.

Affymetrix and spotted oligonucleotide microarrays were used to assess global differential gene expression comparing normal human melanocytes with six independent melanoma cell strains from advanced lesions. The data, validated at the protein level for selected genes, confirmed the overexpression in melanoma cells relative to normal melanocytes of several genes in the growth factor/receptor family that confer growth advantage and metastasis. In addition, novel pathways and patterns of associated expression in melanoma cells not reported before emerged, including the following: (a) activation of the NOTCH pathway; (b) increased Twist expression and altered expression of additional transcriptional regulators implicated in embryonic development and epidermal/mesenchymal transition; (c) coordinated activation of cancer/testis antigens; (d) coordinated down-regulation of several immune modulation genes, in particular in the IFN pathways; (e) down-regulation of several genes implicated in membrane trafficking events; and (f) down-regulation of growth suppressors, such as the Prader-Willi gene NECDIN, whose function was confirmed by overexpression of ectopic Flag-necdin. Validation of differential expression using melanoma tissue microarrays showed that reduced ubiquitin COOH-terminal esterase L1 in primary melanoma is associated with worse outcome and that increased expression of the basic helix-loop-helix protein Twist is associated with worse outcome. Some differentially expressed genes reside on chromosomal regions displaying common loss or gain in melanomas or are known to be regulated by CpG promoter methylation. These results provide a comprehensive view of changes in advanced melanoma relative to normal melanocytes and reveal new targets that can be used in assessing prognosis, staging, and therapy of melanoma patients.

Emerging Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Drug Targets: Implications for Antibody-Based Therapies for Oncology and Immunologic Disorders.

Protein kinases play a critical regulatory role in essentially every aspect of cell biology. Of the 518 known kinases, the most successful class for drug targeting is the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family consisting of 58 distinct and diverse members. RTKs regulate a broad range of cellular functions, including proliferation, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis and have been intensively studied in development and cancer. Targeting of RTKs has resulted in many marketed small molecule and antibody-based drugs in a number of different solid tumors and hematological malignancies, and more recently in inflammatory diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In this review, we discuss some of the RTKs in cancer in which drugs targeting the ErbB family (EGFR, HER2, and ErbB3) and KIT have had meaningful clinical benefit to cancer patients, RTKs' emerging role in regulating innate immunity, and the potential to explore targeting RTKs outside of oncology.

Glycoprotein reglucosylation.

Proteins following the secretory pathway acquire their proper tertiary and in certain cases also quaternary structures in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Incompletely folded species are retained in the ER and eventually degraded. One of the molecular mechanisms by which cells achieve this conformational sorting is based on monoglucosylated N-glycans (Glc1Man5-9GlcNAc2) present on nascent glycoproteins in the ER. This chapter discusses two of the steps that regulate the abundance of such N-glycan structures, including glycoprotein deglucosylation (by glucosidase II) and reglucosylation (by the UDP-Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase), as well as an overview of methods to evaluate the N-glycans prevalent during glycoprotein biogenesis in the ER.

Cell biology of antigen processing in vitro and in vivo.

The conversion of exogenous and endogenous proteins into immunogenic peptides recognized by T lymphocytes involves a series of proteolytic and other enzymatic events culminating in the formation of peptides bound to MHC class I or class II molecules. Although the biochemistry of these events has been studied in detail, only in the past few years has similar information begun to emerge describing the cellular context in which these events take place. This review thus concentrates on the properties of antigen-presenting cells, especially those aspects of their overall organization, regulation, and intracellular transport that both facilitate and modulate the processing of protein antigens. Emphasis is placed on dendritic cells and the specializations that help account for their marked efficiency at antigen processing and presentation both in vitro and, importantly, in vivo. How dendritic cells handle antigens is likely to be as important a determinant of immunogenicity and tolerance as is the nature of the antigens themselves.

Differential lysosomal proteolysis in antigen-presenting cells determines antigen fate.

Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) internalize antigens and present antigen-derived peptides to T cells. Although APCs have been thought to exhibit a well-developed capacity for lysosomal proteolysis, here we found that they can exhibit two distinct strategies upon antigen encounter. Whereas macrophages contained high levels of lysosomal proteases and rapidly degraded internalized proteins, dendritic cells (DCs) and B lymphocytes were protease-poor, resulting in a limited capacity for lysosomal degradation. Consistent with these findings, DCs in vivo degraded internalized antigens slowly and thus retained antigen in lymphoid organs for extended periods. Limited lysosomal proteolysis also favored antigen presentation. These results help explain why DCs are able to efficiently accumulate, process, and disseminate antigens and microbes systemically for purposes of tolerance and immunity.

The contribution of N-glycans and their processing in the endoplasmic reticulum to glycoprotein biosynthesis.

The attachment of N-glycans to nascent glycoproteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is intimately related to glycoprotein biogenesis. Processing of N-linked oligosaccharides begins in the ER and participates in glycoprotein folding and assembly. The elucidation of N-glycan processing mechanisms in the ER is uncovering their role in glycoprotein biosynthesis.

Quality control and protein folding in the secretory pathway.

The biosynthesis of secretory and membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) yields mostly properly folded and assembled structures with full biological activity. Such fidelity is maintained by quality control (QC) mechanisms that avoid the production of nonnative structures. QC relies on chaperone systems in the ER that monitor and assist in the folding process. When folding promotion is not sufficient, proteins are retained in the ER and eventually retranslocated to the cytosol for degradation by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Retention of proteins that fail QC can sometimes occur beyond the ER, and degradation can take place in lysosomes. Several diseases are associated with proteins that do not pass QC, fail to be degraded efficiently, and accumulate as aggregates. In other cases, pathology arises from the downregulation of mutated but potentially functional proteins that are retained and degraded by the QC system.

Activation of lysosomal function during dendritic cell maturation.

In response to a variety of stimuli, dendritic cells (DCs) transform from immature cells specialized for antigen capture into mature cells specialized for T cell stimulation. During maturation, the DCs acquire an enhanced capacity to form and accumulate peptide-MHC (major histocompatibility complex) class II complexes. Here we show that a key mechanism responsible for this alteration was the generalized activation of lysosomal function. In immature DCs, internalized antigens were slowly degraded and inefficiently used for peptide loading. Maturation induced activation of the vacuolar proton pump that enhanced lysosomal acidification and antigen proteolysis, facilitating efficient formation of peptide-MHC class II complexes. Lysosomal function in DCs thus appears to be specialized for the developmentally regulated processing of internalized antigens.

Abnormal acidification of melanoma cells induces tyrosinase retention in the early secretory pathway.

In tyrosinase-positive amelanotic melanoma cells, inactive tyrosinase accumulates in the endoplasmic reticulum. Based on studies described here, we propose that aberrant vacuolar proton ATPase (V-ATPase)-mediated proton transport in melanoma cells disrupts tyrosinase trafficking through the secretory pathway. Amelanotic but not melanotic melanoma cells or normal melanocytes display elevated proton export as observed by the acidification of the extracellular medium and their ability to maintain neutral intracellular pH. Tyrosinase activity and transit through the Golgi were restored by either maintaining the melanoma cells in alkaline medium (pH 7.4-7.7) or by restricting glucose uptake. The translocation of tyrosinase out of the endoplasmic reticulum and the induction of cell pigmentation in the presence of the ionophore monensin or the specific V-ATPase inhibitors concanamycin A and bafilomycin A1 supported a role for V-ATPases in this process. Because it was previously shown that V-ATPase activity is increased in solid tumors in response to an acidified environment, the appearance of hypopigmented cells in tyrosinase-positive melanoma tumors may indicate the onset of enhanced glycolysis and extracellular acidification, conditions known to favor metastatic spread and resistance to weak base chemotherapeutic drugs.