Immunosuppression by Mutated Calreticulin Released from Malignant Cells.

Mutations affecting exon 9 of the CALR gene lead to the generation of a C-terminally modified calreticulin (CALR) protein that lacks the KDEL endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal and consequently mislocalizes outside of the ER where it activates the thrombopoietin receptor in a cell-autonomous fashion, thus driving myeloproliferative diseases. Here, we used the retention using selective hooks (RUSH) assay to monitor the trafficking of CALR. We found that exon-9-mutated CALR was released from cells in response to the biotin-mediated detachment from its ER-localized hook, in vitro and in vivo. Cellular CALR release was confirmed in suitable mouse models bearing exon-9-mutated hematopoietic systems or tumors. Extracellular CALR mediated immunomodulatory effects and inhibited the phagocytosis of dying cancer cells by dendritic cells (DC), thereby suppressing antineoplastic immune responses elicited by chemotherapeutic agents or by PD-1 blockade. Altogether, our results demonstrate paracrine immunosuppressive effects for exon-9-mutated CALR.

Mast cell-mediated inflammation relies on insulin-regulated aminopeptidase controlling cytokine export from the Golgi.

BACKGROUND: On activation, mast cells rapidly release preformed inflammatory mediators from large cytoplasmic granules via regulated exocytosis. This acute degranulation is followed by a late activation phase involving synthesis and secretion of cytokines, growth factors, and other inflammatory molecules via the constitutive pathway that remains ill defined. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the role for an insulin-responsive vesicle-like endosomal compartment, marked by insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP), in the secretion of TNF-α and IL-6 in mast cells and macrophages. METHODS: Murine knockout (KO) mouse models (IRAP-KO and kit-Wsh/sh) were used to study inflammatory disease models and to measure and mechanistically investigate cytokine secretion and degranulation in bone marrow-derived mast cells in vitro. RESULTS: IRAP-KO mice are protected from TNF-α-dependent kidney injury and inflammatory arthritis. In the absence of IRAP, TNF-α and IL-6 but not IL-10 fail to be efficiently secreted. Moreover, chemical targeting of IRAP endosomes reduced proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Mechanistically, impaired TNF-α export from the Golgi and reduced colocalization of vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP) 3-positive TNF-α transport vesicles with syntaxin 4 (aka Stx4) was observed in IRAP-KO mast cells, while VAMP8-dependent exocytosis of secretory granules was facilitated. CONCLUSION: IRAP plays a novel role in mast cell-mediated inflammation through the regulation of exocytic trafficking of cytokines.

A unique CD8(+) T lymphocyte signature in pediatric type 1 diabetes.

Human type 1 diabetes results from a destructive auto-reactive immune response in which CD8(+) T lymphocytes play a critical role. Given the intense ongoing efforts to develop immune intervention to prevent and/or cure the disease, biomarkers suitable for prediction of disease risk and progress, as well as for monitoring of immunotherapy are required. We undertook separate multi-parameter analyses of single naïve and activated/memory CD8(+) T lymphocytes from pediatric and adult patients, with the objective of identifying cellular profiles associated with onset of type 1 diabetes. We observe global perturbations in gene and protein expression and in the abundance of T cell populations characterizing pediatric but not adult patients, relative to age-matched healthy individuals. Pediatric diabetes is associated with a unique population of CD8(+) T lymphocytes co-expressing effector (perforin, granzyme B) and regulatory (transforming growth factor ß, interleukin-10 receptor) molecules. This population persists after metabolic normalization and is especially abundant in children with high titers of auto-antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase and with elevated HbA1c values. These findings highlight striking differences between pediatric and adult type 1 diabetes, indicate prolonged large-scale perturbations in the CD8(+) T cell compartment in the former, and suggest that CD8(+)CD45RA(-) T cells co-expressing effector and regulatory factors are of interest as biomarkers in pediatric type 1 diabetes.

Islet cell stress induced by insulin-degrading enzyme deficiency promotes regeneration and protection from autoimmune diabetes.

Tuning of protein homeostasis through mobilization of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is key to the capacity of pancreatic beta cells to cope with variable demand for insulin. Here, we asked how insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) affects beta cell adaptation to metabolic and immune stress. C57BL/6 and autoimmune non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice lacking IDE were exposed to proteotoxic, metabolic, and immune stress. IDE deficiency induced a low-level UPR with islet hypertrophy at the steady state, rapamycin-sensitive beta cell proliferation enhanced by proteotoxic stress, and beta cell decompensation upon high-fat feeding. IDE deficiency also enhanced the UPR triggered by proteotoxic stress in human EndoC-ßH1 cells. In Ide-/- NOD mice, islet inflammation specifically induced regenerating islet-derived protein 2, a protein attenuating autoimmune inflammation. These findings establish a role of IDE in islet cell protein homeostasis, demonstrate how its absence induces metabolic decompensation despite beta cell proliferation, and UPR-independent islet regeneration in the presence of inflammation.

Insulin-Degrading Enzyme Interacts with Mitochondrial Ribosomes and Respiratory Chain Proteins.

Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a highly conserved metalloprotease that is mainly localized in the cytosol. Although IDE can degrade insulin and some other low molecular weight substrates efficiently, its ubiquitous expression suggests additional functions supported by experimental findings, such as a role in stress responses and cellular protein homeostasis. The translation of a long full-length IDE transcript has been reported to result in targeting to mitochondria, but the role of IDE in this compartment is unknown. To obtain initial leads on the function of IDE in mitochondria, we used a proximity biotinylation approach to identify proteins interacting with wild-type and protease-dead IDE targeted to the mitochondrial matrix. We find that IDE interacts with multiple mitochondrial ribosomal proteins as well as with proteins involved in the synthesis and assembly of mitochondrial complex I and IV. The mitochondrial interactomes of wild type and mutant IDE are highly similar and do not reveal any likely proteolytic IDE substrates. We speculate that IDE could adopt similar additional non-proteolytic functions in mitochondria as in the cytosol, acting as a chaperone and contributing to protein homeostasis and stress responses.

Pancreatic islet cell stress induced by insulin-degrading enzyme deficiency promotes islet regeneration and protection from autoimmune diabetes.

Appropriate tuning of protein homeostasis through mobilization of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is key to the capacity of pancreatic beta cells to cope with highly variable demand for insulin synthesis. An efficient UPR ensures a sufficient beta cell mass and secretory output but can also affect beta cell resilience to autoimmune aggression. The factors regulating protein homeostasis in the face of metabolic and immune challenges are insufficiently understood. We examined beta cell adaptation to stress in mice deficient for insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), a ubiquitous protease with high affinity for insulin and genetic association with type 2 diabetes. IDE deficiency induced a low-level UPR in both C57BL/6 and autoimmune non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, associated with rapamycin-sensitive beta cell proliferation strongly enhanced by proteotoxic stress. Moreover, in NOD mice, IDE deficiency protected from spontaneous diabetes and triggered an additional independent pathway, conditional on the presence of islet inflammation but inhibited by proteotoxic stress, highlighted by strong upregulation of regenerating islet-derived protein 2, a protein attenuating autoimmune inflammation. Our findings establish a key role of IDE in islet cell protein homeostasis, identify a link between low-level UPR and proliferation, and reveal an UPR-independent anti-inflammatory islet cell response uncovered in the absence of IDE of potential interest in autoimmune diabetes.

Gut Microbiota-Stimulated Innate Lymphoid Cells Support ß-Defensin 14 Expression in Pancreatic Endocrine Cells, Preventing Autoimmune Diabetes.

The gut microbiota is essential for the normal function of the gut immune system, and microbiota alterations are associated with autoimmune disorders. However, how the gut microbiota prevents autoimmunity in distant organs remains poorly defined. Here we reveal that gut microbiota conditioned innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) induce the expression of mouse ß-defensin 14 (mBD14) by pancreatic endocrine cells, preventing autoimmune diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. MBD14 stimulates, via Toll-like receptor 2, interleukin-4 (IL-4)-secreting B cells that induce regulatory macrophages, which in turn induce protective regulatory T cells. The gut microbiota-derived molecules, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligands and butyrate, promote IL-22 secretion by pancreatic ILCs, which induce expression of mBD14 by endocrine cells. Dysbiotic microbiota and low-affinity AHR allele explain the defective pancreatic expression of mBD14 observed in NOD mice. Our study reveals a yet unidentified crosstalk between ILCs and endocrine cells in the pancreas that is essential for the prevention of autoimmune diabetes development.

TGFß-dependent expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 controls CD8(+) T cell anergy in transplant tolerance.

CD8(+) T cell anergy is a critical mechanism of peripheral tolerance, poorly investigated in response to immunotherapy. Here, using a pancreatic islet allograft model and CD3 antibody therapy, we showed, by single cell gene profiling, that intragraft CD8(+) lymphocytes coexpressing granzyme B and perforin were selectively depleted through the Fas/FasL pathway. This step led to long-standing anergy of the remaining CD8(+) T cells marked by the absence of cytotoxic/inflammatory gene expression also confirmed by transcriptome analysis. This sustained unresponsiveness required the presence of the alloantigens. Furthermore, tissue-resident CD8(+) lymphocytes produced TGFß and expressed the inhibitory receptors PD-1 and PD-L1. Blockade of TGFß downregulated PD-1 and PD-L1 expression and precipitated graft rejection. Neutralizing PD-1, PD-L1 or TGFßRII signaling in T cells also abrogated CD3 antibody-induced tolerance. These studies unravel novel mechanisms underlying CD8(+) T cell anergy and reveal a cell intrinsic regulatory link between the TGFß and the PD-1/PD-L1 pathways.