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Unique properties of thymic antigen-presenting cells promote epigenetic imprinting of alloantigen-specific regulatory T cells.

ABSTRACT: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potential immunotherapeutic candidates to induce transplantation tolerance. However, stability of Tregs still remains contentious and may potentially restrict their clinical use. Recent work suggested that epigenetic imprinting of Foxp3 and other Treg-specific signature genes is crucial for stabilization of immunosuppressive properties of Foxp3+ Tregs, and that these events are initiated already during early stages of thymic Treg development. However, the mechanisms governing this process remain largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that thymic antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including thymic dendritic cells (t-DCs) and medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), can induce a more pronounced demethylation of Foxp3 and other Treg-specific epigenetic signature genes in developing Tregs when compared to splenic DCs (sp-DCs). Transcriptomic profiling of APCs revealed differential expression of secreted factors and costimulatory molecules, however neither addition of conditioned media nor interference with costimulatory signals affected Foxp3 induction by thymic APCs in vitro. Importantly, when tested in vivo both mTEC- and t-DC-generated alloantigen-specific Tregs displayed significantly higher efficacy in prolonging skin allograft acceptance when compared to Tregs generated by sp-DCs. Our results draw attention to unique properties of thymic APCs in initiating commitment towards stable and functional Tregs, a finding that could be highly beneficial in clinical immunotherapy.

SUBMITTER: Garg G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5482597 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Unique properties of thymic antigen-presenting cells promote epigenetic imprinting of alloantigen-specific regulatory T cells.

Garg Garima G Nikolouli Eirini E Hardtke-Wolenski Matthias M Toker Aras A Ohkura Naganari N Beckstette Michael M Miyao Takahisa T Geffers Robert R Floess Stefan S Gerdes Norbert N Lutgens Esther E Osterloh Anke A Hori Shohei S Sakaguchi Shimon S Jaeckel Elmar E Huehn Jochen J

Oncotarget 20170501 22

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potential immunotherapeutic candidates to induce transplantation tolerance. However, stability of Tregs still remains contentious and may potentially restrict their clinical use. Recent work suggested that epigenetic imprinting of Foxp3 and other Treg-specific signature genes is crucial for stabilization of immunosuppressive properties of Foxp3+ Tregs, and that these events are initiated already during early stages of thymic Treg development. However, the mechanism ...[more]

PMID: 28415767

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Project description:Regulatory T cell (Treg)-based therapeutics are receiving increased attention for their potential to treat autoimmune disease and prevent transplant rejection. Adoptively transferred Tregs have shown promise in early clinical trials, but cell-based therapies are expensive and complex to implement, and "off-the-shelf" alternatives are needed. Here, we investigate the potential of artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs) fabricated from a blend of negatively charged biodegradable polymer (poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), PLGA) and cationic biodegradable polymer (poly(beta-amino ester), PBAE) with incorporation of extracellular protein signals 1 and 2 and a soluble released signal 3 to convert naïve T cells to induced Foxp3+ Treg-like suppressor cells (iTregs) both in vitro and in vivo in a biomimetic manner. The addition of PBAE to the aAPC core increased the conjugation efficiency of signal proteins to the particle surface and resulted in enhanced ability to bind to naïve T cells and induce iTregs with potent suppressive function. Furthermore, PLGA/PBAE tolerogenic aAPCs (TolAPCs) supported the loading and sustained release of signal 3 cytokine TGF-β. A single dose of TolAPCs administered intravenously to C57BL/6 J mice resulted in an increased percentage of Foxp3+ cells in the lymph nodes. Thus, PLGA/PBAE TolAPCs show potential as an "off-the-shelf" biomimetic material for tolerance induction. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are promising for basic research and translational medicine as they can induce tolerance and have the potential to treat autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. As cell-based therapies are expensive and difficult to manufacture and implement, non-cellular methods of engineering endogenous Tregs are needed. The research reported here describes a new type of biomimetic particle, tolerogenic artificial antigen presenting cells (TolAPCs) fabricated from a blend of negatively charged biodegradable polymer, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), and positively charged biodegradable polymer, poly(beta-amino ester), along with key biomolecular signals: extracellularly presented protein signals 1 and 2 and a soluble released signal 3. These TolAPCs bind to naïve T cells and induce Foxp3+ Treg-like suppressor cells with potent suppressive function. In both in vitro and in vivo studies, it is shown that this non-cellular approach is useful to induce tolerance.

Dataset Information

Unique properties of thymic antigen-presenting cells promote epigenetic imprinting of alloantigen-specific regulatory T cells.

Publications

Unique properties of thymic antigen-presenting cells promote epigenetic imprinting of alloantigen-specific regulatory T cells.

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