DNMT1 Deficiency Impacts on Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in Homeostasis and Autoimmune Disease.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are heterogeneous immune regulators involved in autoimmune diseases. Epigenomic mechanisms orchestrating DC development and DC subset diversification remain insufficiently understood but could be important to modulate DC fate for clinical purposes. By combining whole-genome methylation assessment with the analysis of mice expressing reduced DNA methyltransferase 1 levels, we show that distinct DNA methylation levels and patterns are required for the development of plasmacytoid DC and conventional DC subsets. We provide clonal in vivo evidence for DC lineage establishment at the stem cell level, and we show that a high DNA methylation threshold level is essential for Flt3-dependent survival of DC precursors. Importantly, reducing methylation predominantly depletes plasmacytoid DC and alleviates systemic lupus erythematosus in an autoimmunity mouse model. This study shows how DNA methylation regulates the production of DC subsets and provides a potential rationale for targeting autoimmune disease using hypomethylating agents.

Myeloid leukemia with transdifferentiation plasticity developing from T-cell progenitors.

Unfavorable patient survival coincides with lineage plasticity observed in human acute leukemias. These cases are assumed to arise from hematopoietic stem cells, which have stable multipotent differentiation potential. However, here we report that plasticity in leukemia can result from instable lineage identity states inherited from differentiating progenitor cells. Using mice with enhanced c-Myc expression, we show, at the single-cell level, that T-lymphoid progenitors retain broad malignant lineage potential with a high capacity to differentiate into myeloid leukemia. These T-cell-derived myeloid blasts retain expression of a defined set of T-cell transcription factors, creating a lymphoid epigenetic memory that confers growth and propagates myeloid/T-lymphoid plasticity. Based on these characteristics, we identified a correlating human leukemia cohort and revealed targeting of Jak2/Stat3 signaling as a therapeutic possibility. Collectively, our study suggests the thymus as a source for myeloid leukemia and proposes leukemic plasticity as a driving mechanism. Moreover, our results reveal a pathway-directed therapy option against thymus-derived myeloid leukemogenesis and propose a model in which dynamic progenitor differentiation states shape unique neoplastic identities and therapy responses.

Visualizing the dynamic of adoptively transferred T cells during the rejection of large established tumors.

Adoptive T-cell therapy (ATCT) can result in tumor rejection, yet the behavior and fate of the introduced T cells remain unclear. We developed a novel bioluminescence mouse model, which enabled highly sensitive detection of T-cell signals at the single-cell level. Transferred T cells preferentially accumulated within antigen-positive tumors, relative to the unaffected areas in each mouse, and remarkably, expanded within both lymphopenic and P14 mice. This expansion was controlled and efficient, as evaluated by bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of the T-cell signals and by tumor rejection respectively. Analysis of the population dynamics of transferred T cells in ATCT of large tumors revealed that proliferation did not always follow a simple linear pattern of expansion, but showed an oscillating pattern of expansion and contraction that was often followed by a rebound, until full tumor rejection was achieved. Furthermore, visualizing the recall response showed that the transferred T cells responded expeditiously, indicating the ability of these cells to survive, establish memory and compete with endogenous T cells for as long as 1 year after rejecting the tumor.

The yin and yang of microglia.

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), play a pivotal role in both physiological and pathological conditions such as the restoration of CNS integrity and the progression of neurodegenerative disorders. Extensive data have been published that describe neuroinflammation by microglial activation to have detrimental consequences on the developing and mature brain. On the other hand, a properly directed and limited inflammatory response is known to be a natural healing process after an insult in several other tissues. Thus, it is not surprising that research results illustrating benefits of neuroinflammation have been emerging over the past decade. Inflammation-mediated benefits for CNS outcomes include mechanisms such as neuroprotection, mobilization of neural precursors for repair, remyelination and axonal regeneration. Here, we review data that highlight the dual aspects of microglia with a focus on the developing brain, i.e. as aggressors potentiating damage and as helpers in the recovery process following CNS damage.

Uncovering a new cellular origin for acute myeloid leukemia with lineage plasticity.

Although acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is assumed to be driven by transformed haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, we have described recently a new pathway leading to AML from T-cell progenitors. Furthermore, we could identify a subgroup of human AML with gene expression profile suggesting T-lymphoid origin and potentially novel treatment.

Immunogenicity of premalignant lesions is the primary cause of general cytotoxic T lymphocyte unresponsiveness.

Cancer is sporadic in nature, characterized by an initial clonal oncogenic event and usually a long latency. When and how it subverts the immune system is unknown. We show, in a model of sporadic immunogenic cancer, that tumor-specific tolerance closely coincides with the first tumor antigen recognition by B cells. During the subsequent latency period until tumors progress, the mice acquire general cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) unresponsiveness, which is associated with high transforming growth factor (TGF) beta1 levels and expansion of immature myeloid cells (iMCs). In mice with large nonimmunogenic tumors, iMCs expand but TGF-beta1 serum levels are normal, and unrelated CTL responses are undiminished. We conclude that (a) tolerance to the tumor antigen occurs at the premalignant stage, (b) tumor latency is unlikely caused by CTL control, and (c) a persistent immunogenic tumor antigen causes general CTL unresponsiveness but tumor burden and iMCs per se do not.