CTLA-4 Pathway Is Instrumental in Giant Cell Arteritis.

BACKGROUND: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) causes severe inflammation of the aorta and its branches and is characterized by intense effector T-cell infiltration. The roles that immune checkpoints play in the pathogenesis of GCA are still unclear. Our aim was to study the immune checkpoint interplay in GCA. METHODS: First, we used VigiBase, the World Health Organization international pharmacovigilance database, to evaluate the relationship between GCA occurrence and immune checkpoint inhibitors treatments. We then further dissected the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the pathogenesis of GCA, using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, transcriptomics, and flow cytometry on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and aortic tissues of GCA patients and appropriated controls. RESULTS: Using VigiBase, we identified GCA as a significant immune-related adverse event associated with anti-CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4) but not anti-PD-1 (anti-programmed death-1) nor anti-PD-L1 (anti-programmed death-ligand 1) treatment. We further dissected a critical role for the CTLA-4 pathway in GCA by identification of the dysregulation of CTLA-4-derived gene pathways and proteins in CD4+ (cluster of differentiation 4) T cells (and specifically regulatory T cells) present in blood and aorta of GCA patients versus controls. While regulatory T cells were less abundant and activated/suppressive in blood and aorta of GCA versus controls, they still specifically upregulated CTLA-4. Activated and proliferating CTLA-4+ Ki-67+ regulatory T cells from GCA were more sensitive to anti-CTLA-4 (ipilimumab)-mediated in vitro depletion versus controls. CONCLUSIONS: We highlighted the instrumental role of CTLA-4 immune checkpoint in GCA, which provides a strong rationale for targeting this pathway.

Reduction of Neutrophil Activation by Phosphodiesterase 4 Blockade in Behçet's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis with inflammatory lesions mediated by cytotoxic T cells and neutrophils. Apremilast, an orally available small-molecule drug that selectively inhibits phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), has been recently approved for the treatment of BD. We aimed to investigate the effect of PDE4 inhibition on neutrophil activation in BD. METHODS: We studied surface markers and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by flow cytometry, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) production and molecular signature of neutrophils by transcriptome analysis before and after PDE4 inhibition. RESULTS: Activation surface markers (CD64, CD66b, CD11b, and CD11c), ROS production, and NETosis were up-regulated in BD patient neutrophils compared to healthy donor neutrophils. Transcriptome analysis revealed 1,021 significantly dysregulated neutrophil genes between BD patients and healthy donors. Among dysregulated genes, we found a substantial enrichment for pathways linked to innate immunity, intracellular signaling, and chemotaxis in BD. Skin lesions of BD patients showed increased infiltration of neutrophils that colocalized with PDE4. Inhibition of PDE4 by apremilast strongly inhibited neutrophil surface activation markers as well as ROS production, NETosis, and genes and pathways related to innate immunity, intracellular signaling, and chemotaxis. CONCLUSION: We highlight key biologic effects of apremilast on neutrophils in BD.

Interferon signature in giant cell arteritis aortitis.

OBJECTIVES: Molecular mechanisms underlying large-vessel involvement in giant cell arteritis (LV-GCA) are largely unknown. Herein, we explore the critical involvement of pro-inflammatory signaling pathways in both aorta and T cells from patients with LV-GCA. METHODS: We analyzed transcriptome and interferon gene signature in inflamed aortas from LV-GCA patients and compared them to non-inflammatory control aorta. Differential transcriptomic analyses of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were also performed between patients with active GCA (not under any immunosuppressants or corticosteroid doses higher than 10 mg/day by the time of blood collection) and healthy donors. Interferon-alpha serum levels were measured using ultra-sensitive technique (HD-X Simoa Planar Technology) in GCA patients according to disease activity status. RESULTS: Transcriptomic analyses revealed 1042, 1479 and 2075 significantly dysregulated genes for aortas, CD4+ and CD8+ cells from LV-GCA patients, respectively, as compared to controls. A great enrichment for pathways linked to interferons (type I, II and III), JAK/STAT signaling, cytokines and chemokines was seen across aortas and circulating T cells. A type I interferon signature was identified as significantly upregulated in the aorta of patients with LV-GCA, notably regarding EPSTI1 and IFI44L genes. STAT3 was significantly upregulated in both aorta and T cells and appeared as central in related gene networks from LV-GCA patients. Interferon-alpha serum levels were higher in patients with active GCA when compared to those in remission (0.024 vs. 0.011 pg/mL; p = 0.028). CONCLUSION: LV-GCA presents a clear type I interferon signature in aortas, which paves the way for tailored therapeutical targeting.

Mast cells drive pathologic vascular lesions in Takayasu arteritis.

BACKGROUND: Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a large vessel vasculitis resulting in artery wall remodeling with segmental stenosis and/or aneurysm formation. Mast cells (MCs) are instrumental in bridging cell injury and inflammatory response. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to investigate the contribution of MCs on vessel permeability, angiogenesis, and fibrosis in patients with TAK. METHODS: MC activation and their tissue expression were assessed in sera and in aorta from patients with TAK and from healthy donors (HDs). In vivo permeability was assessed using a modified Miles assay. Subconfluent cultured human umbilic vein endothelial cells and fibroblasts were used in vitro to investigate the effects of MC mediators on angiogenesis and fibrogenesis. RESULTS: This study found increased levels of MC activation markers (histamine and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase) in sera of patients with TAK compared with in sera of HDs. Marked expression of MCs was shown in aortic lesions of patients with TAK compared with in those of noninflammatory aorta controls. Using Miles assay, this study showed that sera of patients with TAK significantly increased vascular permeability in vivo as compared with that of HDs. Vessel permeability was abrogated in MC-deficient mice. MCs stimulated by sera of patients with TAK supported neoangiogenesis (increased human umbilic vein endothelial cell proliferation and branches) and fibrosis by inducing increased production of fibronectin, type 1 collagen, and α-smooth muscle actin by fibroblasts as compared to MCs stimulated by sera of HD. CONCLUSIONS: MCs are a key regulator of vascular lesions in patients with TAK and may represent a new therapeutic target in large vessel vasculitis.

Immunomodulatory role of Interleukin-33 in large vessel vasculitis.

The mechanisms regulating inflammation in large vessels vasculitis (LVV) are poorly understood. Interleukin 33 (IL-33) has been shown to license innate and adaptive immunity by enhancing Th2 cytokines production. We aimed to examine the role of IL-33 in the immunomodulation of T cell activation in LVV. T cell homeostasis and cytokines production were determined in peripheral blood from 52 patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) and 50 healthy donors (HD), using Luminex assay, flow cytometry, quantitative RT-PCR and by immunofluorescence analysis in inflammatory aorta lesions. We found increased level of IL-33 and its receptor ST2/IL-1R4 in the serum of patient with LVV. Endothelial cells were the main source of IL-33, whereas Th2 cells, Tregs and mast cells (MC) express ST2 in LVV vessels. IL-33 had a direct immunomodulatory impact by increasing Th2 and Tregs. IL-33 and MC further enhanced Th2 and regulatory responses by inducing a 6.1 fold increased proportion of Tregs (p = 0.008). Stimulation of MC by IL-33 increased indoleamine 2 3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity and IL-2 secretion. IL-33 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with the expression of IL-10 and TGF-ß within aorta inflammatory lesions. To conclude, our findings suggest that IL-33 may exert a critical immunoregulatory role in promoting Tregs and Th2 cells in LVV.

Targeting JAK/STAT pathway in Takayasu's arteritis.

OBJECTIVE: Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) is a large vessel vasculitis with important infiltration of proinflammatory T cells in the aorta and its main branches, but its aetiology is still unknown. Our work aims to explore the involvement of Janus Kinase/Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (JAK/STAT) signalling pathway in proinflammatory T cells differentiation and disease activity of TAK. METHODS: We analysed transcriptome and interferons gene signatures of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS-sorted) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from healthy donors (HD) and in 25 TAK (median age of 37.6 years including 21 active TAK with National Institutes of Health (NIH) score >1). Then we tested, in vitro and in vivo, the effects of JAK inhibitors (JAKinibs) in TAK. RESULTS: Transcriptome analysis showed 248 and 432 significantly dysregulated genes for CD4+ and CD8+ samples between HD and TAK, respectively. Among dysregulated genes, we highlighted a great enrichment for pathways linked to type I and type II interferons, JAK/STAT and cytokines/chemokines-related signalling in TAK. We confirmed by Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) the upregulation of type I interferons gene signature in TAK as compared with HD. JAKinibs induced both in vitro and in vivo a significant reduction of CD25 expression by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, a significant decrease of type 1 helper T cells (Th1) and Th17 cells and an increase of Tregs cells in TAK. JAKinibs also decreased C reactive protein level, NIH score and corticosteroid dose in TAK patients. CONCLUSIONS: JAK/STAT signalling pathway is critical in the pathogenesis of TAK and JAKinibs may be a promising therapy.

TLR9 signalling in HCV-associated atypical memory B cells triggers Th1 and rheumatoid factor autoantibody responses.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection contributes to the development of autoimmune disorders such as cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis (CV). However, it remains unclear why only some individuals with HCV develop HCV-associated CV (HCV-CV). HCV-CV is characterized by the expansion of anergic CD19+CD27+CD21low/- atypical memory B cells (AtMs). Herein, we report the mechanisms by which AtMs participate in HCV-associated autoimmunity. METHODS: The phenotype and function of peripheral AtMs were studied by multicolour flow cytometry and co-culture assays with effector T cells and regulatory T cells in 20 patients with HCV-CV, 10 chronicallyHCV-infected patients without CV and 8 healthy donors. We performed gene expression profile analysis of AtMs stimulated or not by TLR9. Immunoglobulin gene repertoire and antibody reactivity profiles of AtM-expressing IgM antibodies were analysed following single B cell FACS sorting and expression-cloning of monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: The Tbet+CD11c+CD27+CD21- AtM population is expanded in patients with HCV-CV compared to HCV controls without CV. TLR9 activation of AtMs induces a specific transcriptional signature centred on TNFα overexpression, and an enhanced secretion of TNFα and rheumatoid factor-type IgMs in patients with HCV-CV. AtMs stimulated through TLR9 promote type 1 effector T cell activation and reduce the proliferation of CD4+CD25hiCD127-/lowFoxP3+ regulatory T cells. AtM expansions display intraclonal diversity with immunoglobulin features of antigen-driven maturation. AtM-derived IgM monoclonal antibodies do not react against ubiquitous autoantigens or HCV antigens including NS3 and E2 proteins. Rather, AtM-derived antibodies possess rheumatoid factor activity and target unique epitopes on the human IgG-Fc region. CONCLUSION: Our data strongly suggest a central role for TLR9 activation of AtMs in driving HCV-CV autoimmunity through rheumatoid factor production and type 1 T cell responses. LAY SUMMARY: B cells are best known for their capacity to produce antibodies, which often play a deleterious role in the development of autoimmune diseases. During chronic hepatitis C, self-reactive B cells proliferate and can be responsible for autoimmune symptoms (arthritis, purpura, neuropathy, renal disease) and/or lymphoma. Direct-acting antiviral therapy clears the hepatitis C virus and eliminates deleterious B cells.

Structural study and expression of the androgen receptors during the reproductive cycle in the Harderian gland of the male Meriones libycus.

The goal of this study was to evaluate for the first time the expression of the androgen receptors (AR) in Harderian glands (HG) of the male Meriones lybicus in relation to the reproductive cycle. Six male Harderian glands of the resting period and 6 of the breeding period were collected. The animals were trapped in the desert of Béni Abbès (Algeria). The morphology of the Harderian glands was studied by light microscopy and morphometry, whereas the expression of the androgen receptors was assessed and quantified based on immunohistochemistry techniques. We have shown that the Harderian glands of Meriones libycus are tubuloalveolar glands with wide lumen. The glandular epithelium is composed of two types of cells (types I and II) in the resting season and three types of cells (types I, II and III) in the breeding season. These three types of cells differ in size and shape. Type-I cells have a prismatic shape, an acidophilic cytoplasm, and small lipidic vacuoles, whereas type-II ones are pyramidal in shape, with basophilic cytoplasm. Type-III cells resemble those of type I, and so they are prismatic in shape and have an acidophilic cytoplasm with larger lipidic vacuoles. The immunoreactivity of type-I and type-III cells was mainly cytoplasmic and the intensity of the immunostaining was significantly higher during the breeding season. Among other functions, the Harderian gland seems to be involved in the production of pheromones under the effect of androgens.

Altered chemotactic response to CXCL12 in patients carrying GATA2 mutations.

GATA2 deficiency-formerly described as MonoMAC syndrome; dendritic cells, monocytes, B cells, and natural killer cell deficiency; familial myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia; or Emberger syndrome-encompasses a range of hematologic and nonhematologic anomalies, mainly characterized by monocytopenia, B lymphopenia, natural killer cell cytopenia, neutropenia, immunodeficiency, and a high risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia. Herein, we present 7 patients with GATA2 deficiency recruited into the French Severe Chronic Neutropenia Registry, which enrolls patients with all kinds of congenital neutropenia. We performed extended immunophenotyping of their whole blood lymphocyte populations, together with the analysis of their chemotactic responses. Lymphopenia was recorded for B and CD4(+) T cells in 6 patients. Although only 3 patients displayed natural killer cell cytopenia, the CD56(bright) natural killer subpopulation was nearly absent in all 7 patients. Natural killer cells from 6 patients showed decreased CXCL12/CXCR4-dependent chemotaxis, whereas other lymphocytes, and most significantly B lymphocytes, displayed enhanced CXCL12-induced chemotaxis compared with healthy volunteers. Surface expression of CXCR4 was significantly diminished in the patients' natural killer cells, although the total expression of the receptor was found to be equivalent to that of natural killer cells from healthy individual controls. Together, these data reveal that GATA2 deficiency is associated with impaired membrane expression and chemotactic dysfunctions of CXCR4. These dysfunctions may contribute to the physiopathology of this deficiency by affecting the normal distribution of lymphocytes and thus potentially affecting the susceptibility of patients to associated infections.

Basonuclins and disco: Orthologous zinc finger proteins essential for development in vertebrates and arthropods.

Basonuclin 1 and the recently discovered basonuclin 2 are vertebrate proteins with multiple paired C(2)H(2) zinc fingers. It has long been known that the zinc fingers of basonuclin 1 closely resembled those of the Drosophila disconnected and discorelated proteins, two proteins essential for head development, but the relation between the basonuclins and the disco proteins has remained unclear because the putative function of basonuclin 1 in the control of keratinocyte growth potential appeared unrelated to that of disco and there was no resemblance between basonuclin 1 and Drosophila disco outside of the zinc fingers. The recent generation of a basonuclin-2 knockout has demonstrated that basonuclin 2 shares with disco a function in head development and the availability of new arthropod genome sequences has shown that the basonuclins are the vertebrate orthologs of the insect disco proteins. All these proteins are thought to be transcription factors, and it will have to be determined to what extent they share similar targets.

Basonuclin 2 has a function in the multiplication of embryonic craniofacial mesenchymal cells and is orthologous to disco proteins.

Basonuclin 2 is a recently discovered zinc finger protein of unknown function. Its paralog, basonuclin 1, is associated with the ability of keratinocytes to multiply. The basonuclin zinc fingers are closely related to those of the Drosophila proteins disco and discorelated, but the relation between disco proteins and basonuclins has remained elusive because the function of the disco proteins in larval head development seems to have no relation to that of basonuclin 1 and because the amino acid sequence of disco, apart from the zinc fingers, also has no similarity to that of the basonuclins. We have generated mice lacking basonuclin 2. These mice die within 24 h of birth with a cleft palate and abnormalities of craniofacial bones and tongue. In the embryonic head, expression of the basonuclin 2 gene is restricted to mesenchymal cells in the palate, at the periphery of the tongue, and in the mesenchymal sheaths that surround the brain and the osteocartilagineous structures. In late embryos, the rate of multiplication of these mesenchymal cells is greatly diminished. Therefore, basonuclin 2 is essential for the multiplication of craniofacial mesenchymal cells during embryogenesis. Non-Drosophila insect databases available since 2008 reveal that the basonuclins and the disco proteins share much more extensive sequence and gene structure similarity than noted when only Drosophila sequences were examined. We conclude that basonuclin 2 is both structurally and functionally the vertebrate ortholog of the disco proteins. We also note the possibility that some human craniofacial abnormalities are due to a lack of basonuclin 2.