Project description:We've recently shown that we can accelerate disease in a model of SLE (the NZB/W F1 model) using an anti-Ox40 mAb treatment regimen. The disease acceleration is rapid (within 2 weeks) but its unclear, mechanistically, how Ox40 promotes disease. To that end we performed RNASeq on in vitro cultured CD4 T cells during Ox40 and TCR stimulation (in a reductionist setting) to understand how Ox40 signaling impacts cellular phenotype and function, including with and without TCR stimulation
Project description:We've recently shown that we can accelerate disease in a model of SLE (the NZB/W F1 model) using an anti-Ox40 mAb treatment regimen. The disease acceleration is rapid (within 2 weeks) but its unclear, mechanistically, how OX40 functions to promote disease. To that end we want to perform RNASeq on the sorted OX40-expressing CD4 T cells during treatment to understand how they function in response to OX40 signaling in vivo
Project description:NZB/WF1 female mice spontaneously develop autoimmune lupus nephritis. Expression profiling of kidney tissue from (a) 12 week NZB/W F1 female mice defined as asymptomatic for lupus nephritis, (b) 36 and 42 week NZB/W F1 female mice defined as diseased/symptomatic for lupus nephritis and (c) 36 and 42 week NZB/W F1 female mice that are diseased/symptomatic for lupus nephritis and treated with Sirolimus was carried out. The goal of the study was to identify genes associated with lupus nephritis and modulated by Sirolimus, an inhibitor of mTOR. In addition, lupus nephritis genes resistant to Sirolimus therapy were also identfied This series of samples comprises of kidney tissue from (a) 12 week old NZB/W F1 female mice defined as asymptomatic for lupus nephritis (N=4), (b) 36 (N=3) and 42 week (N=3) old NZB/W F1 female mice defined as diseased/symptomatic for lupus nephritis and (c) 36 (N=3)and 42 (N=3) week old NZB/W F1 female mice that are asymptomatic for lupus nephritis on treatment with Sirolimus
Project description:NZB/WF1 female mice spontaneously develop autoimmune lupus nephritis. Expression profiling of kidney tissue from (a) 12 week NZB/W F1 female mice defined as asymptomatic for lupus nephritis, (b) 36 and 42 week NZB/W F1 female mice defined as diseased/symptomatic for lupus nephritis and (c) 36 and 42 week NZB/W F1 female mice that are diseased/symptomatic for lupus nephritis and treated with Sirolimus was carried out. The goal of the study was to identify genes associated with lupus nephritis and modulated by Sirolimus, an inhibitor of mTOR. In addition, lupus nephritis genes resistant to Sirolimus therapy were also identfied
Project description:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypical autoimmune disease of unknown cause. We show here that a novel T follicular helper cell type expressing the guanine nucleotide exchange factor DOCK8 on the cell surface causes SLE. These cells, which we have designated autoantibody-inducing CD4 T (aiCD4 T) cells, are generated after resuscitation from anergy following strong TCR stimulation by antigen. When mice normally not prone to autoimmune disease were repeatedly immunized with an antigen such as OVA, they generated DOCK8+ CD4 T cells. These DOCK8+ CD4 T cells, in vivo and also upon transfer to naïve mice, induced a variety of autoantibodies and lesions characteristic of SLE. TCR repertoire analyses showed that a substantial number of novel TCR repertoires were generated in the DOCK8+ CD4 T cells, which induced novel autoantibodies upon transfer to naïve mice. DOCK8+ CD4 T cells are localized in splenic red pulp, the space immunoreactive against a variety of antigens, and specifically increased in the peripheral blood of SLE patients in association with disease activity. Anti-DOCK8 antibody treatment ameliorated the lesions induced by DOCK8+ CD4 T cells and in lupus model (NZB x W) F1 mice. Thus, when CD4 T cells are overstimulated by an external disturbance, i.e., repeatedly stimulated with antigen, to levels that surpass the system’s self-organized criticality, these cells express DOCK8 on the cell surface and acquire autoreactivity via TCR re-revision at the periphery. These DOCK8+ CD4 T cells subsequently induce a variety of autoantibodies and SLE.
Project description:An Ox40-cre allele was used for lineage marking of CD4 T cells. Naive T cells that had previously expressed OX40 demonstrated a partially activated phenotype that was distinct from that of the majority of naive T cells. These results are consistent with a minor subpopulation of naive T cells being dependent on strong signaling responses to thymic self ligands. Keywords: T cell population comparison. Characterization of a novel subpopulation of naive T cells. Four types of T cells were sorted from mice (naive, CD44lo, CD44hi and Treg).
Project description:Regulatory T (Treg) maintain the tumor microenvironment in an immunosuppressive state preventing effective anti-tumor immune response. A possible strategy to overcome Treg cell suppression focuses on OX40, a costimulatory molecule expressed constitutively by Treg cells while induced in activated effector T (Teff) cells. OX40 stimulation by the agonist mAb OX86 inhibits Treg cell suppression and boosts Teff cell activation. Here we uncover the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic activity of OX86 treatment dissecting its distinct effects on Treg and on effector memory T (Tem) cells, which are the most abundant CD4+ populations strongly expressing OX40 at the tumor site. In response to OX86, tumor-infiltrating Treg cells produced significantly less interleukin 10 (IL-10), possibly in relation to a decrease in the transcription factor IRF1. Tem cells responded to OX86 by upregulating surface CD40L expression, providing a licensing signal to dendritic cells (DCs). The CD40L/CD40 axis was required for Tem cell-mediated in vitro DC maturation and in vivo DC migration. Accordingly, OX86 treatment was no longer therapeutic in CD40 KO mice. In conclusion, following OX40 stimulation, blockade of Treg cell suppression and enhancement of the Tem cell adjuvant effect both concurred to free DCs from immunosuppression and to activate the immune response against the tumor. Total RNA obtained from sorted mouse FoxP3-GFP+ Treg activated in vitro with anti-CD3 in the presence of an OX40-agonist mAb (OX86) or isotype control.