Cellular Reprogramming Allows Generation of Autologous Hematopoietic Progenitors From AML Patients That Are Devoid of Patient-Specific Genomic Aberrations.

Current treatments that use hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients substantially reduce the risk of relapse, but are limited by the availability of immune compatible healthy HPCs. Although cellular reprogramming has the potential to provide a novel autologous source of HPCs for transplantation, the applicability of this technology toward the derivation of healthy autologous hematopoietic cells devoid of patient-specific leukemic aberrations from AML patients must first be evaluated. Here, we report the generation of human AML patient-specific hematopoietic progenitors that are capable of normal in vitro differentiation to myeloid lineages and are devoid of leukemia-associated aberration found in matched patient bone marrow. Skin fibroblasts were obtained from AML patients whose leukemic cells possessed a distinct, leukemia-associated aberration, and used to create AML patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Through hematopoietic differentiation of AML patient iPSCs, coupled with cytogenetic interrogation, we reveal that AML patient-specific HPCs possess normal progenitor capacity and are devoid of leukemia-associated mutations. Importantly, in rare patient skin samples that give rise to mosaic fibroblast cultures that continue to carry leukemia-associated mutations; healthy hematopoietic progenitors can also be generated via reprogramming selection. Our findings provide the proof of principle that cellular reprogramming can be applied on a personalized basis to generate healthy HPCs from AML patients, and should further motivate advances toward creating transplantable hematopoietic stem cells for autologous AML therapy.

Innate immune response of human pluripotent stem cell-derived airway epithelium.

The acquisition of innate immune response is requisite to having bona fide differentiation of airway epithelium. Procedures developed to differentiate lung airway from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have demonstrated anecdotal evidence for innate immune response, but an in-depth exploration of response levels is lacking. Herein, using an established method of airway epithelial generation from hPSCs, we show that hPSC-derived epithelial cells are able to up-regulate expression of TNFα, IL8 and IL1ß in response to challenge with bacterial endotoxin LPS, but lack response from genes associated with innate immune response in other cell types. Further, stimulation of cells with TNF-α resulted in auto-induction of TNFα transcript, as well as cytokine responses of IL8 and IL1ß. The demonstration of innate immune induction in hPSC-derived airway epithelia gives further strength to the functionality of in vitro protocols aimed at generating differentiated airway cells that can potentially be used in a translational setting. Finally, we propose that innate immune challenge of airway epithelium from human pluripotent stem cell sources be used as a robust validation of functional in vitro differentiation.

Pleiotropic roles of Notch signaling in normal, malignant, and developmental hematopoiesis in the human.

The Notch signaling pathway is evolutionarily conserved across species and plays an important role in regulating cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival. It has been implicated in several different hematopoietic processes including early hematopoietic development as well as adult hematological malignancies in humans. This review focuses on recent developments in understanding the role of Notch signaling in the human hematopoietic system with an emphasis on hematopoietic initiation from human pluripotent stem cells and regulation within the bone marrow. Based on recent insights, we summarize potential strategies for treatment of human hematological malignancies toward the concept of targeting Notch signaling for fate regulation.

T cell unresponsiveness in a pediatric cystic fibrosis patient: a case report.

A girl was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at birth, with repeatedly positive sweat tests and homozygous F508del mutations of her CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. From an early age, her lung disease was more severe than her birth cohort peers despite aggressive treatment. At the age of 16 she was listed for lung transplantation, but prior to transplant was not on systemic corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive agents. In response to ex vivo stimulation, her pre-transplant peripheral blood T cells unexpectedly failed to produce detectable levels of IFN-γ, unlike cells from healthy controls or from another girl with CF and lung disease of comparable severity. Furthermore, naïve T cells freshly isolated from her peripheral blood showed a complete block of T cell differentiation into Th1, Th17 and Treg lineages, even in the presence of cytokines known to promote differentiation into the respective lineages. Her serology has been remarkably devoid of evidence of exposure to viruses that have been associated with T cell exhaustion. However, her freshly isolated naïve T cells showed sustained expression of markers of T cell exhaustion, which were further induced upon ex vivo stimulation, pointing to T cell exhaustion as the cause of the failure of naïve T cells to undergo differentiation in response to cytokine stimulation. Although excessive inflammation in CF lung can be both ineffective at clearing certain pathogens as well as destructive to the lung tissue itself, adequate inflammation is a component of an effective overall immune response to microbial pathogens. Our present findings suggest that intrinsic impairment of T cell differentiation may have contributed to the greater severity and more rapid progression of her CF lung disease than of the lung disease of most of her peers.

Intrinsic predisposition of naïve cystic fibrosis T cells to differentiate towards a Th17 phenotype.

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a complex, multi-system, life-shortening, autosomal recessive disease most common among Caucasians. Pulmonary pathology, the major cause of morbidity and mortality in CF, is characterized by dysregulation of cytokines and a vicious cycle of infection and inflammation. This cycle causes a progressive decline in lung function, eventually resulting in respiratory failure and death. The Th17 immune response plays an active role in the pathogenesis of CF pulmonary pathology, but it is not known whether the pathophysiology of CF disease contributes to a heightened Th17 response or whether CF naïve CD4+ T lymphocytes (Th0 cells) intrinsically have a heightened predisposition to Th17 differentiation. METHODS: To address this question, Th0 cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of CF mice, human CF subjects and corresponding controls. Murine Th0 cells were isolated from single spleen cell suspensions using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Lymphocytes from human buffy coats were isolated by gradient centrifugation and Th0 cells were further isolated using a human naïve T cell isolation kit. Th0 cells were then assessed for their capacity to differentiate along Th17, Th1 or Treg lineages in response to corresponding cytokine stimulation. The T cell responses of human peripheral blood cells were also assessed ex vivo using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Here we identify in both mouse and human CF an intrinsically enhanced predisposition of Th0 cells to differentiate towards a Th17 phenotype, while having a normal propensity for differentiation into Th1 and Treg lineages. Furthermore, we identify an active Th17 response in the peripheral blood of human CF subjects. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that these novel observations offer an explanation, at least in part, for the known increased Th17-associated inflammation of CF and the early signs of inflammation in CF lungs before any evidence of infection. Moreover, these findings point towards direct modulation of T cell responses as a novel potential therapeutic strategy for combating excessive inflammation in CF.

Analysis of pulmonary dendritic cell maturation and migration during allergic airway inflammation.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the key players involved in initiation of adaptive immune response by activating antigen-specific T cells. DCs are present in peripheral tissues in steady state; however in response to antigen stimulation, DCs take up the antigen and rapidly migrate to the draining lymph nodes where they initiate T cell response against the antigen. Additionally, DCs also play a key role in initiating autoimmune as well as allergic immune response. DCs play an essential role in both initiation of immune response and induction of tolerance in the setting of lung environment. Lung environment is largely tolerogenic, owing to the exposure to vast array of environmental antigens. However, in some individuals there is a break in tolerance, which leads to induction of allergy and asthma. In this study, we describe a strategy, which can be used to monitor airway DC maturation and migration in response to the antigen used for sensitization. The measurement of airway DC maturation and migration allows for assessment of the kinetics of immune response during airway allergic inflammation and also assists in understanding the magnitude of the subsequent immune response along with the underlying mechanisms. Our strategy is based on the use of ovalbumin as a sensitizing agent. Ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma is a widely used model to reproduce the airway eosinophilia, pulmonary inflammation and elevated IgE levels found during asthma. After sensitization, mice are challenged by intranasal delivery of FITC labeled ovalbumin, which allows for specific labeling of airway DCs which uptake ovalbumin. Next, using several DC specific markers, we can assess the maturation of these DCs and can also assess their migration to the draining lymph nodes by employing flow cytometry.

Induction of immunological tolerance to adenoviral vectors by using a novel dendritic cell-based strategy.

The success of helper-dependent adenoviral (HD-Ad) vector-mediated lung gene therapy is hampered by the host immune response, which limits pulmonary transgene expression following multiple rounds of vector readminstration. Here, we show that HD-Ad-mediated pulmonary gene expression is sustained even upon three rounds of readministration to immunodeficient mice, highlighting the need to suppress the adaptive immune response for sustained gene expression following vector readministration. Therefore, we devised a dendritic cell (DC)-based strategy for induction of immunological tolerance toward HD-Ad vectors. DCs derived in the presence of interleukin-10 (IL-10) are refractory to HD-Ad-induced maturation and instead facilitate generation of IL-10-producing Tr1 regulatory T cells which suppress HD-Ad-induced T cell proliferation. Delivery of HD-Ad-pulsed, IL-10-modified DCs to mice induces long-lasting immunological tolerance to HD-Ad vectors, whereby pulmonary DC maturation, the T cell response, and antibody response to HD-Ad vectors are suppressed even after three rounds of pulmonary HD-Ad readministration. Moreover, sustained transgene expression is also observed in the lungs of mice immunized with HD-Ad-pulsed, IL-10-modified DCs even after three rounds of pulmonary HD-Ad delivery. Taken together, these studies identify the use of DCs generated in the presence of IL-10 as a novel strategy to induce long-lasting immune tolerance to HD-Ad vectors.

Multiple roles of the epithelium-specific ETS transcription factor, ESE-1, in development and disease.

The E26 transformation-specific (ETS) family of transcription factors comprises of 27 and 26 members in humans and mice, respectively, which are known to regulate many different biological processes, including cell proliferation, cell differentiation, embryonic development, neoplasia, hematopoiesis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. The epithelium-specific ETS transcription factor-1 (ESE-1) is a physiologically important ETS transcription factor, which has been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of various diseases, and was originally characterized as having an epithelial-restricted expression pattern, thus placing it within the epithelium-specific ETS subfamily. Despite a large body of published work on ETS biology, much remains to be learned about the precise functions of ESE-1 and other epithelium-specific ETS factors in regulating diverse disease processes. Clues as to the specific function of ESE-1 in the setting of various diseases can be obtained from studies aimed at examining the expression of putative target genes regulated by ESE-1. Thus, this review will focus primarily on the various roles of ESE-1 in different pathophysiological processes, including regulation of epithelial cell differentiation during both intestinal development and lung regeneration; regulation of dendritic cell-driven T-cell differentiation during allergic airway inflammation; regulation of mammary gland development and breast cancer; and regulation of the effects of inflammatory stimuli within the setting of synovial joint and vascular inflammation. Understanding the exact mechanisms by which ESE-1 regulates these processes can have important implications for the treatment of a wide range of diseases.

Elf3 regulates allergic airway inflammation by controlling dendritic cell-driven T cell differentiation.

Elf3 belongs to the Ets family of transcription factors and has been implicated in inflammation. Elf3 is highly expressed in the lungs, and Elf3(-/-) mice are impaired in IL-6 production after intranasal LPS exposure. To identify the role of Elf3 in Th17-driven pulmonary inflammation, we have performed epicutaneous sensitization of Elf3(-/-) mice with OVA followed by airway OVA challenge and have identified Elf3(-/-) mice to be impaired in induction of Th17 response, attributable to impairment of IL-6 production by dendritic cells (DCs). However, increased serum levels of OVA-specific IgG1 and IgE were observed, pointing toward an exaggerated Th2 response. To study Th2 response, we performed i.p. sensitization of Elf3(-/-) mice with OVA and confirmed loss of Elf3 to result in an aggravated Th2 response, characterized by increased generation of IL-4-producing T cells, increased levels of OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 Ab titers, and increased serum levels of Th2 cytokines, together with extensive inflammation and mucus production in airways. Elf3(-/-) DCs were impaired in priming Th1 differentiation, which, in turn, promoted Th2 differentiation. This was mediated by the ability of Elf3(-/-) DCs to undergo hypermaturation but secrete significantly lower levels of IL-12 in response to inflammatory stimuli. The impairment of IL-12 production was due to impairment of IL-12p40 gene induction in Elf3(-/-) DCs in response to inflammatory stimuli. Taken together, our study identifies a novel function of Elf3 in regulating allergic airway inflammation by regulating DC-driven Th1, Th2, and Th17 differentiation.

Complexity of dendritic cell subsets and their function in the host immune system.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that are critical for induction of adaptive immunity and tolerance. Traditionally DCs have been divided into two discrete subtypes, which comprise conventional and non-conventional DCs. They are distributed across various organs in the body and comprise a heterogeneous population, which has been shown to display differences in terms of surface marker expression, function and origins. Recent studies have shed new light on the process of DC differentiation and distribution of DC subtypes in various organs. Although monocytes, macrophages and DCs share a common macrophage-DC progenitor, a common DC progenitor population has been identified that exclusively gives rise to DCs and not monocytes or macrophages. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of DC differentiation and subtypes and provide a comprehensive overview of various DC subtypes with emphasis on their function and origins. Furthermore, in light of recent developments in the field of DC biology, we classify DCs based on the precursor populations from which the various DC subsets originate. We classify DCs derived from common DC progenitor and pre-DC populations as conventional DCs, which includes both migratory and lymphoid-resident DC subsets and classify monocyte-derived DCs and plasmacytoid DCs as non-conventional DCs.

Elf3 plays a role in regulating bronchiolar epithelial repair kinetics following Clara cell-specific injury.

E74-like transcription factor-3 (Elf3), a member of the E26 transformation-specific transcription factor family, is strongly expressed in epithelial-rich tissues, such as small intestine, fetal lung, and various lung cancers. Although previous studies have shown a defect in terminal differentiation of the small intestinal epithelium of Elf3-deficient (Elf3-/-) mice during embryonic development, very little is known about the role Elf3 may play in repair of the airway epithelium after injury. In order to investigate whether Elf3 is involved in regeneration of the bronchiolar epithelium after Clara cell-specific injury, we administered naphthalene to both wild-type (Elf3+/+) and Elf3-/- mice. Histopathological analysis revealed no significant difference in the extent of naphthalene-induced Clara cell necrosis between Elf3+/+ mice and Elf3-/- mice. In the bronchiolar epithelium of Elf3-/- mice, there was a substantial delay in the kinetics of cell proliferation and mitosis along with Clara cell renewal, whereas in the peribronchiolar interstitium, there was a significantly greater level of cell proliferation and mitosis in Elf3-/- mice than in Elf3+/+ mice. Last, the intensity of immunopositive signal for transforming growth factor-ß type II receptor, which is a well-known transcriptional target gene of Elf3 and involved in the induction of epithelial cell differentiation, was significantly lower in the bronchiolar epithelium of Elf3-/- mice when compared with Elf3+/+ mice. Taken together, our results suggest that Elf3 plays an important role in the regulation of lung cell proliferation and differentiation during repair of the injured bronchiolar airway epithelium.

Role of dendritic cells in the induction of regulatory T cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in initiating immune responses and maintaining immune tolerance. In addition to playing a role in thymic selection, DCs play an active role in tolerance under steady state conditions through several mechanisms which are dependent on IL-10, TGF-ß, retinoic acid, indoleamine-2,3,-dioxygenase along with vitamin D. Several of these mechanisms are employed by DCs in induction of regulatory T cells which are comprised of Tr1 regulatory T cells, natural and inducible foxp3+ regulatory T cells, Th3 regulatory T cells and double negative regulatory T cells. It appears that certain DC subsets are highly specialized in inducing regulatory T cell differentiation and in some tissues the local microenvironment plays a role in driving DCs towards a tolerogenic response. In this review we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying DC driven regulatory T cell induction.

Adenoviral vectors stimulate innate immune responses in macrophages through cross-talk with epithelial cells.

Although adenovirus vectors (Ads) have been widely utilized for gene delivery, their clinical application has been hampered by host immune responses. It has been shown that macrophages can induce inflammatory response against Ads in vivo, but they are not easily activated by Ads in vitro, suggesting their activation requires interaction with other cells. In this study, we investigated the interaction between macrophages and epithelial cells during Ad infection. Ad infection of the macrophage-epithelial cell co-culture resulted in rapid and drastic changes in the cell culture such as decrease in pH within 24h, indicating macrophage activation. Ad infected co-culture showed several characteristics of inflammation including cytotoxicity, induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and generation of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species. These signs of macrophage activation and inflammation were observed exclusively in the co-culture and were absent or significantly weaker in the macrophage mono-culture suggesting that there was a synergistic response by the interaction between macrophages and epithelial cells. We found that inhibition of NF-κB activation significantly reduced the inflammatory responses in the co-culture. Furthermore, we show that only the macrophages adjacent to epithelial cells were activated during Ad infection demonstrating that the interaction between macrophages and epithelial cells are crucial for Ad-induced inflammatory response.

Dendritic cell apoptosis: regulation of tolerance versus immunity.

Dendritic cell (DC) apoptosis is an important event that regulates the balance between tolerance and immunity through multiple pathways, and defects in DC apoptosis can trigger autoimmunity. DC apoptosis is also associated with immunosuppression and has been observed under several pathologies and infections. Recent studies indicate that apoptotic DCs can also play an active role in induction of tolerance. This review discusses the regulatory pathways of DC apoptosis, stimuli inducing DC apoptosis, and the implications of DC apoptosis in the induction of immunosuppression and/or tolerance.

An improved method of measurement of ECG parameters for online medical diagnosis.

The accuracy in the online measurement of ECG parameters has a decisive role in the better diagnosis and effective treatment of the diseases. The present paper describes a Lab-VIEW based programming using Pan Tompkins method to extract out QRS complex whereas QT interval measurements were carried out using Mat-lab based math-script module. Hilbert transform has been applied on the ECG signal to convert it into an analytical signal for better peak detection. Peak detection and other parameters like RR interval, HR and several time domain measures of heart rate variability such as RR mean and standard deviations, HR mean and standard deviations, RMSSSD, NN50 count, pNN50 etc were calculated for several other clinical applications apart from online disease diagnosis.

Uptake of apoptotic DC converts immature DC into tolerogenic DC that induce differentiation of Foxp3+ Treg.

DC apoptosis has been observed in patients with cancer and sepsis, and defects in DC apoptosis have been implicated in the development of autoimmune diseases. However, the mechanisms of how DC apoptosis affects immune responses, are unclear. In this study, we showed that immature viable DC have the ability to uptake apoptotic DC as well as necrotic DC without it being recognized as an inflammatory event by immature viable DC. However, the specific uptake of apoptotic DC converted immature viable DC into tolerogenic DC, which were resistant to LPS-induced maturation. These tolerogenic DC secreted increased levels of TGF-beta1, which induced differentiation of naïve T cells into Foxp3(+) Treg. Furthermore, induction of Treg differentiation only occurred upon uptake of apoptotic DC and not apoptotic splenocytes by viable DC, indicating that it is specifically the uptake of apoptotic DC that gives viable immature DC the potential to induce Foxp3(+) Treg. Taken together, these findings identify uptake of apoptotic DC by viable immature DC as an immunologically tolerogenic event.

Apoptotic dendritic cells induce tolerance in mice through suppression of dendritic cell maturation and induction of antigen-specific regulatory T cells.

Dendritic cell (DC) apoptosis has been shown to play a role in maintaining a balance between tolerance and immunity. However, the mechanisms of how DC apoptosis affects the immune response are unclear. We have shown that in vitro culture of apoptotic DCs with immature DCs, results in their uptake by immature DCs, which subsequently turn into tolerogenic DCs, which then secrete TGF-beta1 and induce Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (T(regs)). In this study we looked at the effects of apoptotic DCs in vivo. Here we show that apoptotic DCs are taken up by viable DCs in vivo, which suppresses the ability of viable DCs to undergo maturation and subsequent migration to the lymph nodes in response to LPS. Additionally, delivery of apoptotic DCs to LPS inflamed lungs results in resolution of inflammation, which is mediated by the ability of apoptotic DCs to suppress response of viable DCs to LPS. Additionally, apoptotic DCs also induce TGF-beta1 secretion in the mediastinal lymph nodes, which results in expansion of Foxp3(+) T(regs). Most importantly, we show that delivery of apoptotic DCs followed by OVA in CFA to mice suppresses T cell response to OVA and instead induces de novo generation of OVA-specific T(regs). Furthermore, delivery of apoptotic DCs followed by OVA in CFA results in expansion of T(regs) in TCR transgenic (OT-II) mice. These findings demonstrate that apoptotic DCs are taken up by viable DCs in vivo, which promotes tolerance through suppression of DC maturation and induction of T(regs).

Characterization of pulmonary T cell response to helper-dependent adenoviral vectors following intranasal delivery.

In spite of the extensive research in the field of gene therapy, host immune responses continue to be the major barrier in translating basic research to clinical practice. Helper-dependent adenoviral (HD-Ad) vectors show great potential for pulmonary gene therapy, but the knowledge of pulmonary immune responses toward these vectors is very limited. In this study, we show that HD-Ad vectors are potent stimulators of dendritic cell (DC) maturation, thus leading to stimulation of T cell proliferation with approximately 6% of naive CD4(+) T cells from pulmonary mediastinal lymph node responding to HD-Ad-treated DCs. In contrast to the belief that HD-Ad vectors are unable to prime adaptive immune response, we show for the first time, through in vivo pulmonary studies in mice, that HD-Ad vectors can prime CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses in the lung at high and substantially low doses. This indicates cross-presentation of HD-Ad-derived epitopes by DCs to prime CD8(+) T cell responses. To assess the basis of pulmonary T cell response against HD-Ad vectors, we examined the response of conventional DCs (cDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) in the lung. In response to HD-Ad delivery, there is induction of maturation in both cDC and pDC subsets, but it is the cDCs, not pDCs, that migrate rapidly to draining lymph nodes within the first 2 days after vector delivery to prime adaptive immune response against these vectors. These findings have implications for development of strategies to prevent adaptive immune responses against gene therapy vectors.

Potential of helper-dependent adenoviral vectors in modulating airway innate immunity.

Innate immune responses form the first line of defense against foreign insults and recently significant advances have been made in our understanding of the initiation of innate immune response along with its ability to modulate inflammation. In airway diseases such as asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis, over reacting of the airway innate immune responses leads to cytokine imbalance and airway remodeling or damage. Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors have the potential to deliver genes to modulate airway innate immune responses and have many advantages over its predecessors. However, there still are a few limitations that need to be addressed prior to their use in clinical applications.