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Specific immunotherapy modifies allergen-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses in an epitope-dependent manner.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms by which the immune system induces and controls allergic inflammation at the T-cell epitope level is critical for the design of new allergy vaccine strategies.We sought to characterize allergen-specific T-cell responses linked with allergy or peripheral tolerance and to determine how CD4(+) T-cell responses to individual allergen-derived epitopes change over allergen-specific immunotherapy.Timothy grass pollen (TGP) allergy was used as a model for studying grass pollen allergies. The breadth, magnitude, epitope hierarchy, and phenotype of the DR04:01-restricted TGP-specific T-cell responses in 10 subjects with grass pollen allergy, 5 nonatopic subjects, and 6 allergy vaccine-treated subjects was determined by using an ex vivo peptide-MHC class II tetramer approach.CD4(+) T cells in allergic subjects are directed to a broad range of TGP epitopes characterized by defined immunodominance hierarchy patterns and with distinct functional profiles that depend on the epitope recognized. Epitopes that are restricted specifically to either TH2 or TH1/TR1 responses were identified. Allergen-specific immunotherapy was associated with preferential deletion of allergen-specific TH2 cells and without a significant change in the frequency of TH1/TR1 cells.Preferential allergen-specific TH2 cell deletion after repeated high-dose antigen stimulation can be another independent mechanism to restore tolerance to allergen during immunotherapy.

SUBMITTER: Wambre E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3961577 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Specific immunotherapy modifies allergen-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses in an epitope-dependent manner.

Wambre Erik E DeLong Jonathan H JH James Eddie A EA Torres-Chinn Nadia N Pfützner Wolfgang W Möbs Christian C Durham Stephen R SR Till Stephen J SJ Robinson David D Kwok William W WW

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 20131225 3

<h4>Background</h4>Understanding the mechanisms by which the immune system induces and controls allergic inflammation at the T-cell epitope level is critical for the design of new allergy vaccine strategies.<h4>Objective</h4>We sought to characterize allergen-specific T-cell responses linked with allergy or peripheral tolerance and to determine how CD4(+) T-cell responses to individual allergen-derived epitopes change over allergen-specific immunotherapy.<h4>Methods</h4>Timothy grass pollen (TGP ...[more]

PMID: 24373351

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Project description:Allergic diseases affect many individuals world-wide and are dependent on the interaction between allergens and antibodies of the IgE isotype. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) can alter the development of the disease, e.g., through induction of allergen-specific IgG that block allergen-IgE interactions. The knowledge of epitopes recognized by allergy-causing and protective antibodies are limited. Therefore, we developed an allergome-wide peptide microarray, aiming to track linear epitope binding patterns in allergic diseases and during AIT. Here, we focused on immune responses to grass pollen allergens and found that such epitopes were commonly recognized before initiation of AIT and that AIT commonly resulted in increased antibody production against additional epitopes already after 1 year of treatment. The linear epitope binding patterns were highly individual, both for subjects subjected to and for individuals not subjected to AIT. Still, antibodies against some linear epitopes were commonly developed during AIT. For example, the two rigid domains found in grass pollen group 5 allergens have previously been associated to a diversity of discontinuous epitopes. Here, we present evidence that also the flexible linker, connecting these domains, contains regions of linear epitopes against which antibodies are developed during AIT. We also describe some commonly recognized linear epitopes on Phl p 2 and suggest how antibodies against these epitopes may contribute to or prevent allergy in relation to a well-defined stereotyped/public IgE response against the same allergen. Finally, we identify epitopes that induce cross-reactive antibodies, but also antibodies that exclusively bind one of two highly similar variants of a linear epitope. Our findings highlight the complexity of antibody recognition of linear epitopes, with respect to both the studied individuals and the examined allergens. We expect that many of the findings in this study can be generalized also to discontinuous epitopes and that allergen peptide microarrays provide an important tool for enhancing the understanding of allergen-specific antibodies in allergic disease and during AIT.

Project description:Background: Multiple regulatory mechanisms have been identified employing conventional hypothesis-driven approaches as contributing to allergen-specific immunotherapy outcomes, but understanding of how these integrate to maintain immunological homeostasis is incomplete. Objective: To explore the potential for unbiased systems-level gene co-expression network analysis to advance understanding of immunotherapy mechanisms. Methods: We profiled genome-wide allergen-induced Th-cell responses prospectively during 24 months subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in 25 rhinitis, documenting changes in immunoinflammatory pathways and associated co-expression networks and their relationships to symptom scores out to 36 months. Results: Prior to immunotherapy, mite-induced Th-cell response networks involved multiple discrete co-expression modules including those related to Th2-, type1 IFN-, inflammation- and FOXP3/IL2-associated signalling. A signature comprising 109 genes correlated with symptom scores, and these mapped to cytokine signalling/T-cell activation-associated pathways, with upstream drivers including hallmark Th1/Th2- and inflammation-associated genes. Reanalysis after 3.5 months SCIT updosing detected minimal changes to pathway/upstream regulator profiles despite 32.5% symptom reduction; however, network analysis revealed underlying merging of FOXP3/IL2-with inflammation-and Th2-associated modules. By 12 months SCIT, symptoms had reduced by 41% without further significant changes to pathway/upstream regulator or network profiles. Continuing SCIT to 24 months stabilized symptoms at 47% of baseline, accompanied by upregulation of the type1 IFN-associated network module and its merging into the Th2/FOXP3/IL2/inflammation module. Conclusions: Subcutaneous immunotherapy stimulates progressive integration of mite-induced Th cell-associated Th2-, FOXP3/IL2-, inflammation- and finally type1 IFN-signalling subnetworks, forming a single highly integrated co-expression network module, maximizing potential for stable homeostatic control of allergen-induced Th2 responses via cross-regulation. Th2-antagonistic type1 IFN signalling may play a key role in stabilizing clinical effects of SCIT.

Dataset Information

Specific immunotherapy modifies allergen-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses in an epitope-dependent manner.

Publications

Specific immunotherapy modifies allergen-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses in an epitope-dependent manner.

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