RESUMEN
Ikaros transcription factors are essential for adaptive lymphocyte function, yet their role in innate lymphopoiesis is unknown. Using conditional genetic inactivation, we show that Ikzf1/Ikaros is essential for normal natural killer (NK) cell lymphopoiesis and IKZF1 directly represses Cish, a negative regulator of interleukin-15 receptor resulting in impaired interleukin-15 receptor signaling. Both Bcl2l11 and BIM levels, and intrinsic apoptosis were increased in Ikzf1-null NK cells, which in part accounts for NK lymphopenia as both were restored to normal levels when Ikzf1 and Bcl2l11 were co-deleted. Ikzf1-null NK cells presented extensive transcriptional alterations with reduced AP-1 transcriptional complex expression and increased expression of Ikzf2/Helios and Ikzf3/Aiolos. IKZF1 and IKZF3 directly bound AP-1 family members and deletion of both Ikzf1 and Ikzf3 in NK cells resulted in further reductions in Jun/Fos expression and complete loss of peripheral NK cells. Collectively, we show that Ikaros family members are important regulators of apoptosis, cytokine responsiveness and AP-1 transcriptional activity.
Asunto(s)
Células Asesinas Naturales , Factor de Transcripción AP-1 , Factor de Transcripción AP-1/genética , Células Asesinas Naturales/metabolismo , Receptores de Interleucina-15 , Factor de Transcripción Ikaros/genética , Factor de Transcripción Ikaros/metabolismoRESUMEN
Gene expression by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The pausing checkpoint following transcription initiation is primarily controlled by CDK9. We discovered that CDK9-mediated, RNAPII-driven transcription is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex that is recruited to transcription sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. PP2A dynamically antagonizes phosphorylation of key CDK9 substrates including DSIF and RNAPII-CTD. Loss of INTS6 results in resistance to tumor cell death mediated by CDK9 inhibition, decreased turnover of CDK9 phospho-substrates, and amplification of acute oncogenic transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill both leukemic and solid tumor cells, providing therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that fine control of gene expression relies on the balance between kinase and phosphatase activity throughout the transcription cycle, a process dysregulated in cancer that can be exploited therapeutically.
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Quinasa 9 Dependiente de la Ciclina/metabolismo , Terapia Molecular Dirigida , Neoplasias/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias/genética , Proteína Fosfatasa 2/metabolismo , Proteínas de Unión al ARN/metabolismo , Transcripción Genética , Proteínas Supresoras de Tumor/metabolismo , Animales , Línea Celular Tumoral , Quinasa 9 Dependiente de la Ciclina/antagonistas & inhibidores , Resistencia a Antineoplásicos/genética , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Humanos , Ratones Endogámicos NOD , Fosforilación , Unión Proteica , ARN Polimerasa II/química , ARN Polimerasa II/metabolismo , Especificidad por SustratoRESUMEN
Cell death plays an important role during pathogen infections. Here, we report that interferon-γ (IFNγ) sensitizes macrophages to Toll-like receptor (TLR)-induced death that requires macrophage-intrinsic death ligands and caspase-8 enzymatic activity, which trigger the mitochondrial apoptotic effectors, BAX and BAK. The pro-apoptotic caspase-8 substrate BID was dispensable for BAX and BAK activation. Instead, caspase-8 reduced pro-survival BCL-2 transcription and increased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), thus facilitating BAX and BAK signaling. IFNγ-primed, TLR-induced macrophage killing required iNOS, which licensed apoptotic caspase-8 activity and reduced the BAX and BAK inhibitors, A1 and MCL-1. The deletion of iNOS or caspase-8 limited SARS-CoV-2-induced disease in mice, while caspase-8 caused lethality independent of iNOS in a model of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. These findings reveal that iNOS selectively licenses programmed cell death, which may explain how nitric oxide impacts disease severity in SARS-CoV-2 infection and other iNOS-associated inflammatory conditions.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19/inmunología , Caspasa 8/metabolismo , Interferón gamma/metabolismo , Linfohistiocitosis Hemofagocítica/inmunología , Macrófagos/inmunología , Mitocondrias/metabolismo , SARS-CoV-2/fisiología , Animales , Caspasa 8/genética , Células Cultivadas , Citotoxicidad Inmunológica , Humanos , Interferón gamma/genética , Activación de Macrófagos , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Noqueados , Óxido Nítrico Sintasa de Tipo II/metabolismo , Moléculas de Patrón Molecular Asociado a Patógenos/inmunología , Transducción de Señal , Proteína Destructora del Antagonista Homólogo bcl-2/genética , Proteína Destructora del Antagonista Homólogo bcl-2/metabolismo , Proteína X Asociada a bcl-2/genética , Proteína X Asociada a bcl-2/metabolismoRESUMEN
Programmed cell death pathways play an important role in innate immune responses to infection. Activation of intrinsic apoptosis promotes infected cell clearance; however, comparatively little is known about how this mode of cell death is regulated during infections and whether it can induce inflammation. Here, we identify that the pro-survival BCL-2 family member, A1, controls activation of the essential intrinsic apoptotic effectors BAX/BAK in macrophages and monocytes following bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) sensing. We show that, due to its tight transcriptional and post-translational regulation, A1 acts as a molecular rheostat to regulate BAX/BAK-dependent apoptosis and the subsequent NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent and inflammasome-independent maturation of the inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß. Furthermore, induction of A1 expression in inflammatory monocytes limits cell death modalities and IL-1ß activation triggered by Neisseria gonorrhoeae-derived outer membrane vesicles (NOMVs). Consequently, A1-deficient mice exhibit heightened IL-1ß production in response to NOMV injection. These findings reveal that bacteria can induce A1 expression to delay myeloid cell death and inflammatory responses, which has implications for the development of host-directed antimicrobial therapeutics.
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Inflamasomas , Proteína con Dominio Pirina 3 de la Familia NLR , Animales , Ratones , Inflamasomas/metabolismo , Proteína con Dominio Pirina 3 de la Familia NLR/genética , Proteína con Dominio Pirina 3 de la Familia NLR/metabolismo , Proteína X Asociada a bcl-2/metabolismo , Células Mieloides/metabolismo , Muerte Celular , Interleucina-1beta/metabolismoRESUMEN
The NZB/W F1 (F1) mice develop severe disease that is similar to human systemic lupus erythematosus. By contrast, each parent strain, NZB or NZW, has limited autoimmunity, suggesting traits of both strains contribute to pathogenesis. Although many of the contributing genes have been identified, the contributing cellular abnormality associated with each parent strain remains unresolved. Given that plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are key to the pathogenesis of lupus, we investigated the properties of pDCs from NZB and NZW mice. We found that NZB mouse had higher numbers of pDCs, with much of the increase being contributed by a more abundant CD8+ pDC subset. This was associated with prolonged survival and stronger proliferation of CD4+ T cells. By contrast, NZW pDCs had heightened capacity to produce interferon-α (IFNα) and IFNλ, and promoted stronger B-cell proliferation upon CpG stimulation. Thus, our data reveal the different functional and numerical characteristics of pDCs from NZW and NZB mouse.
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Autoinmunidad , Linfocitos T CD4-Positivos/inmunología , Células Dendríticas/inmunología , Lupus Eritematoso Sistémico/inmunología , Activación de Linfocitos/inmunología , Animales , Linfocitos B/inmunología , Antígenos CD8/inmunología , Antígenos CD8/metabolismo , Supervivencia Celular/inmunología , Células Dendríticas/citología , Células Dendríticas/metabolismo , Células Dendríticas/patología , Factores de Transcripción Forkhead/metabolismo , Interferón-alfa/metabolismo , Interferones/metabolismo , Lupus Eritematoso Sistémico/metabolismo , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Endogámicos NZB , Ratones Noqueados , Ratones Transgénicos , Oligodesoxirribonucleótidos/farmacologíaRESUMEN
The majority of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients have a poor response to conventional chemotherapy. The survival of chemoresistant cells is thought to depend on leukemia-bone marrow (BM) microenvironment interactions, which are not well understood. The CXCL12/CXCR4 axis has been proposed to support AML growth but was not studied at the single AML cell level. We recently showed that T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells are highly motile in the BM; however, the characteristics of AML cell migration within the BM remain undefined. Here, we characterize the in vivo migratory behavior of AML cells and their response to chemotherapy and CXCR4 antagonism, using high-resolution 2-photon and confocal intravital microscopy of mouse calvarium BM and the well-established MLL-AF9-driven AML mouse model. We used the Notch1-driven T-ALL model as a benchmark comparison and AMD3100 for CXCR4 antagonism experiments. We show that AML cells are migratory, and in contrast with T-ALL, chemoresistant AML cells become less motile. Moreover, and in contrast with T-ALL, the in vivo exploratory behavior of expanding and chemoresistant AML cells is unaffected by AMD3100. These results expand our understanding of AML cells-BM microenvironment interactions, highlighting unique traits of leukemia of different lineages.
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Movimiento Celular , Quimiocina CXCL12/metabolismo , Compuestos Heterocíclicos/antagonistas & inhibidores , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/tratamiento farmacológico , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/patología , Receptores CXCR4/metabolismo , Animales , Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Bencilaminas , Médula Ósea/metabolismo , Médula Ósea/patología , Línea Celular Tumoral , Ciclamas , Resistencia a Antineoplásicos/efectos de los fármacos , Compuestos Heterocíclicos/metabolismo , Microscopía Intravital , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/metabolismo , Ratones , Microscopía Confocal , Microscopía de Fluorescencia por Excitación Multifotónica , Microambiente TumoralRESUMEN
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes to the development of a significant subset of human lymphomas. As a herpes virus, EBV can transition between a lytic state which is required to establish infection and a latent state where a limited number of viral antigens are expressed which allows infected cells to escape immune surveillance. Three broad latency programs have been described which are defined by the expression of viral proteins RNA, with latency I being the most restrictive expressing only EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBERs) and latency III expressing the full panel of latent viral genes including the latent membrane proteins 1 and 2 (LMP1/2), and EBNA 2, 3, and leader protein (LP) which induce a robust T-cell response. The therapeutic use of EBV-specific T-cells has advanced the treatment of EBV-associated lymphoma, however this approach is only effective against EBV-associated lymphomas that express the latency II or III program. Latency I tumors such as Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) evade the host immune response to EBV and are resistant to EBV-specific T-cell therapies. Thus, strategies for inducing a switch from the latency I to the latency II or III program in EBV+ tumors are being investigated as mechanisms to sensitize tumors to T-cell mediated killing. Here, we review what is known about the establishment and regulation of latency in EBV infected B-cells, the role of EBV-specific T-cells in lymphoma, and strategies to convert latency I tumors to latency II/III.
Asunto(s)
Linfoma de Burkitt , Infecciones por Virus de Epstein-Barr , Infección Latente , Linfoma de Células B Grandes Difuso , Humanos , Herpesvirus Humano 4 , Infecciones por Virus de Epstein-Barr/complicaciones , Latencia del Virus , Linfoma de Burkitt/patología , Proteínas Virales/genética , Linfoma de Células B Grandes Difuso/patologíaRESUMEN
Necroptosis is a lytic form of regulated cell death reported to contribute to inflammatory diseases of the gut, skin and lung, as well as ischemic-reperfusion injuries of the kidney, heart and brain. However, precise identification of the cells and tissues that undergo necroptotic cell death in vivo has proven challenging in the absence of robust protocols for immunohistochemical detection. Here, we provide automated immunohistochemistry protocols to detect core necroptosis regulators - Caspase-8, RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL - in formalin-fixed mouse and human tissues. We observed surprising heterogeneity in protein expression within tissues, whereby short-lived immune barrier cells were replete with necroptotic effectors, whereas long-lived cells lacked RIPK3 or MLKL expression. Local changes in the expression of necroptotic effectors occurred in response to insults such as inflammation, dysbiosis or immune challenge, consistent with necroptosis being dysregulated in disease contexts. These methods will facilitate the precise localisation and evaluation of necroptotic signaling in vivo.
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Inmunohistoquímica , Necroptosis , Proteína Serina-Treonina Quinasas de Interacción con Receptores , Animales , Humanos , Ratones , Proteína Serina-Treonina Quinasas de Interacción con Receptores/metabolismo , Proteína Serina-Treonina Quinasas de Interacción con Receptores/genética , Inmunohistoquímica/métodos , Proteínas Quinasas/metabolismo , Proteínas Quinasas/genética , Caspasa 8/metabolismo , Transducción de Señal , Ratones Endogámicos C57BLRESUMEN
Background: Humoral immunity depends on the differentiation of B cells into antibody secreting cells (ASCs). Excess or inappropriate ASC differentiation can lead to antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases, while impaired differentiation results in immunodeficiency. Methods: We have used CRISPR/Cas9 technology in primary B cells to screen for regulators of terminal differentiation and antibody production. Results: We identified several new positive (Sec61a1, Hspa5) and negative (Arhgef18, Pold1, Pax5, Ets1) regulators that impacted on the differentiation process. Other genes limited the proliferative capacity of activated B cells (Sumo2, Vcp, Selk). The largest number of genes identified in this screen (35) were required for antibody secretion. These included genes involved in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation and the unfolded protein response, as well as post-translational protein modifications. Discussion: The genes identified in this study represent weak links in the antibody-secretion pathway that are potential drug targets for antibody-mediated diseases, as well as candidates for genes whose mutation results in primary immune deficiency.
Asunto(s)
Degradación Asociada con el Retículo Endoplásmico , Vías Secretoras , Anticuerpos , Linfocitos B , Inmunidad HumoralRESUMEN
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer of the myeloid lineage. Its prognosis remains poor, highlighting the need for new therapeutic and precision medicine approaches. AML symptoms often include cytopenias linked to loss of healthy hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). The mechanisms behind HSPC decline are complex and still poorly understood. Here, intravital microscopy (IVM) of a well-established experimental model of AML allows direct observation of the interactions between healthy and malignant cells in the bone marrow (BM), suggesting that physical dislodgment of healthy cells by AML through damaged vasculature may play an important role. Multiple matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), known to remodel extracellular matrix, are expressed by AML cells and the BM microenvironment. We reason MMPs could be involved in cell displacement and vascular leakiness; therefore, we evaluate the therapeutic potential of MMP pharmacological inhibition using the broad-spectrum inhibitor prinomastat. IVM analyses of prinomastat-treated mice reveal reduced vascular permeability and healthy cell clusters in circulation and lower AML infiltration, proliferation, and cell migration. Furthermore, treated mice have increased retention of healthy HSPCs in the BM and increased survival following chemotherapy. Analysis of a human AML transcriptomic database reveals widespread MMP deregulation, and human AML cells show susceptibility to MMP inhibition. Overall, our results suggest that MMP inhibition could be a promising complementary therapy to reduce AML growth and limit HSPC loss and BM vascular damage caused by MLL-AF9 and possibly other AML subtypes.
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Leucemia Mieloide Aguda , Animales , Médula Ósea/patología , Células Madre Hematopoyéticas/patología , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/tratamiento farmacológico , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda/patología , Metaloproteasas , Ratones , Pronóstico , Microambiente TumoralRESUMEN
High-throughput methodologies are the cornerstone of screening approaches to identify novel compounds that regulate immune cell function. To identify novel targeted therapeutics to treat immune disorders and haematological malignancies, there is a need to integrate functional cellular information with the molecular mechanisms that regulate changes in immune cell phenotype. We facilitate this goal by combining quantitative methods for dissecting complex simultaneous cell phenotypic effects with genomic analysis. This combination strategy we term Multiplexed Analysis of Cells sequencing (MAC-seq), a modified version of Digital RNA with perturbation of Genes (DRUGseq). We applied MAC-seq to screen compounds that target the epigenetic machinery of B cells and assess altered humoral immunity by measuring changes in proliferation, survival, differentiation and transcription. This approach revealed that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) inhibitors promote antibody secreting cell (ASC) differentiation in both murine and human B cells in vitro. This is further validated using T cell-dependent immunization in mice. Functional dissection of downstream effectors of PRC2 using arrayed CRISPR screening uncovered novel regulators of B cell differentiation, including Mybl1, Myof, Gas7 and Atoh8. Together, our findings demonstrate that integrated phenotype-transcriptome analyses can be effectively combined with drug screening approaches to uncover the molecular circuitry that drives lymphocyte fate decisions.
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Linfocitos B , Epigénesis Genética , Animales , Humanos , Ratones , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Diferenciación Celular/genética , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Fenotipo , Complejo Represivo Polycomb 2/metabolismoRESUMEN
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease with poor prognosis and limited treatment strategies. Determining the role of cell-extrinsic regulators of leukemic cells is vital to gain clinical insights into the biology of AML. Iron is a key extrinsic regulator of cancer, but its systemic regulation remains poorly explored in AML. To address this question, we studied iron metabolism in patients with AML at diagnosis and explored the mechanisms involved using the syngeneic MLL-AF9-induced AML mouse model. We found that AML is a disorder with a unique iron profile, not associated with inflammation or transfusion, characterized by high ferritin, low transferrin, high transferrin saturation (TSAT), and high hepcidin. The increased TSAT in particular, contrasts with observations in other cancer types and in anemia of inflammation. Using the MLL-AF9 mouse model of AML, we demonstrated that the AML-induced loss of erythroblasts is responsible for iron redistribution and increased TSAT. We also show that AML progression is delayed in mouse models of systemic iron overload and that elevated TSAT at diagnosis is independently associated with increased overall survival in AML. We suggest that TSAT may be a relevant prognostic marker in AML.
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Anemia , Leucemia Mieloide Aguda , Animales , Eritroblastos , Humanos , Hierro , Ratones , TransferrinaRESUMEN
Pharmacologic inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) are an approved treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and are currently under evaluation across hundreds of clinical trials for other cancer types. The clinical success of these inhibitors is largely attributed to well-defined tumor-intrinsic cytostatic mechanisms, whereas their emerging role as immunomodulatory agents is less understood. Using integrated epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses, we demonstrated a novel action of CDK4/6 inhibitors in promoting the phenotypic and functional acquisition of immunologic T-cell memory. Short-term priming with a CDK4/6 inhibitor promoted long-term endogenous antitumor T-cell immunity in mice, enhanced the persistence and therapeutic efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T cells, and induced a retinoblastoma-dependent T-cell phenotype supportive of favorable responses to immune checkpoint blockade in patients with melanoma. Together, these mechanistic insights significantly broaden the prospective utility of CDK4/6 inhibitors as clinical tools to boost antitumor T-cell immunity. SIGNIFICANCE: Immunologic memory is critical for sustained antitumor immunity. Our discovery that CDK4/6 inhibitors drive T-cell memory fate commitment sheds new light on their clinical activity, which is essential for the design of clinical trial protocols incorporating these agents, particularly in combination with immunotherapy, for the treatment of cancer.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2355.
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Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Neoplasias de la Mama/tratamiento farmacológico , Piperazinas/uso terapéutico , Inhibidores de Proteínas Quinasas/uso terapéutico , Piridinas/uso terapéutico , Animales , Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Línea Celular Tumoral , Quinasa 4 Dependiente de la Ciclina/antagonistas & inhibidores , Quinasa 6 Dependiente de la Ciclina/antagonistas & inhibidores , Femenino , Humanos , Células T de Memoria/efectos de los fármacos , Ratones , Piperazinas/farmacología , Inhibidores de Proteínas Quinasas/farmacología , Piridinas/farmacología , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
JQ1 is a BET-bromodomain inhibitor that has immunomodulatory effects. However, the precise molecular mechanism that JQ1 targets to elicit changes in antibody production is not understood. Our results show that JQ1 induces apoptosis, reduces cell proliferation, and as a consequence, inhibits antibody-secreting cell differentiation. ChIP-sequencing reveals a selective displacement of Brd4 in response to acute JQ1 treatment (<2 h), resulting in specific transcriptional repression. After 8 h, subsequent alterations in gene expression arise as a result of the global loss of Brd4 occupancy. We demonstrate that apoptosis induced by JQ1 is solely attributed to the pro-apoptotic protein Bim (Bcl2l11). Conversely, cell-cycle regulation by JQ1 is associated with multiple Myc-associated gene targets. Our results demonstrate that JQ1 drives temporal changes in Brd4 displacement that results in a specific transcriptional profile that directly affects B cell survival and proliferation to modulate the humoral immune response.
Asunto(s)
Proteína 11 Similar a Bcl2/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Animales , Apoptosis/efectos de los fármacos , Azepinas/farmacología , Linfocitos B/metabolismo , Proteína 11 Similar a Bcl2/fisiología , Puntos de Control del Ciclo Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Diferenciación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Línea Celular Tumoral , Proliferación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Supervivencia Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de los fármacos , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Noqueados , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/fisiología , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/fisiología , Triazoles/farmacología , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
Bone marrow vascular niches sustain hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and are drastically remodeled in leukemia to support pathological functions. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells produce angiogenic factors, which likely contribute to this remodeling, but anti-angiogenic therapies do not improve AML patient outcomes. Using intravital microscopy, we found that AML progression leads to differential remodeling of vasculature in central and endosteal bone marrow regions. Endosteal AML cells produce pro-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic cytokines and gradually degrade endosteal endothelium, stromal cells, and osteoblastic cells, whereas central marrow remains vascularized and splenic vascular niches expand. Remodeled endosteal regions have reduced capacity to support non-leukemic HSCs, correlating with loss of normal hematopoiesis. Preserving endosteal endothelium with the small molecule deferoxamine or a genetic approach rescues HSCs loss, promotes chemotherapeutic efficacy, and enhances survival. These findings suggest that preventing degradation of the endosteal vasculature may improve current paradigms for treating AML.