Project description:Here we implemented a simple dendritic cell (DC)-mediated immunization approach to study the effects of commonly used adjuvants, Toll like receptor (TLR) ligands, on effector CD8 T cell differentiation and memory T cell development. To our surprise, we found that the TLR4 ligand LPS was far more superior to other TLR ligands in generating memory CD8 T cells upon immunization. LPS boosted clonal expansion similar to the other adjuvants, but fewer of the activated CD8 T cells died during contraction, generating a larger pool of memory cells. Intriguingly, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), another TLR4 ligand, enhanced clonal expansion of effector CD8 T cells, but also promoted their terminal differentiation and contraction; thus, fewer memory CD8 T cells formed and MPLA-primed animals were less protected against secondary infection compared to those primed with LPS. Furthermore, gene expression profiling revealed that LPS-primed effector cells displayed a stronger pro-memory gene expression signature, whereas the gene expression profile of MPLA-primed effector cells had aligned closer with terminal effector CD8 T cells. Mice that contain small number of P14 CD8 T cells were immunized with DC-33 either alone or in combination with LPS or MPLA. KLRG1loIL-7Rhi MPECs were purified by FACS sort, and mRNA isolated from MPECs was subjected to whole-genome expression profiling using Illumina MouseWG-6 v2.0 Expression BeadChip.
Project description:Here we implemented a simple dendritic cell (DC)-mediated immunization approach to study the effects of commonly used adjuvants, Toll like receptor (TLR) ligands, on effector CD8 T cell differentiation and memory T cell development. To our surprise, we found that the TLR4 ligand LPS was far more superior to other TLR ligands in generating memory CD8 T cells upon immunization. LPS boosted clonal expansion similar to the other adjuvants, but fewer of the activated CD8 T cells died during contraction, generating a larger pool of memory cells. Intriguingly, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), another TLR4 ligand, enhanced clonal expansion of effector CD8 T cells, but also promoted their terminal differentiation and contraction; thus, fewer memory CD8 T cells formed and MPLA-primed animals were less protected against secondary infection compared to those primed with LPS. Furthermore, gene expression profiling revealed that LPS-primed effector cells displayed a stronger pro-memory gene expression signature, whereas the gene expression profile of MPLA-primed effector cells had aligned closer with terminal effector CD8 T cells.
Project description:The experiment was designed to determine the gene expression changes cultured brown adipocytes in response to the inflammatory stimulus of LPS treatment. Both wild type and TLR4 knockout cells were applied to enable assessment of the contribution of TLR4 to the response.
Project description:Memory CD8+ T cells are an essential component of protective immunity. Signaling via mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been implicated in the regulation of the differentiation of effector and memory T cells. However, little is understood about the mechanisms that control mTOR activity, or the effector pathways regulated by mTOR, in this process. We describe here that tuberous sclerosis 1 (Tsc1), a regulator of mTOR signaling, plays a crucial role in promoting the differentiation and function of memory CD8+ T cells in response to Listeria monocytogenes infection. Mice with specific deletion of Tsc1 in antigen-experienced CD8+ T cells evoked normal effector responses, but were markedly impaired in the generation of memory T cells and their recall responses to antigen re-exposure in a cell-intrinsic manner. Tsc1 deficiency suppressed the generation of memory-precursor effector cells (MPECs) while promoting short-lived effector cell (SLEC) differentiation. Functional genomic analysis indicated that Tsc1 coordinated gene expression programs underlying immune function, transcriptional regulation and cell metabolism. Furthermore, Tsc1 deletion led to excessive mTORC1 activity and dysregulated cellular metabolism including glycolytic and oxidative metabolism. These findings establish a Tsc1-mediated checkpoint in linking immune signaling and cell metabolism to orchestrate memory CD8+ T cell development and function. We used microarrays to explore the gene expression profiles differentially expressed in OVA-specific CD8+ T-cells from wild-type (WT; Tsc1-fl/fl and cre-negative) and Tsc1-/- (Tsc1-fl/fl and Granzyme B-cre-positive) mice
Project description:DNMT3a is a de novo DNA methyltransferase expressed robustly after T cell activation that regulates plasticity of CD4+ T cell cytokine expression. Here we show that DNMT3a is critical for directing early CD8+ T cell effector and memory fate decisions. While effector function of DNMT3a knockout T cells is normal, they develop more memory precursor and fewer terminal effector cells in a T cell intrinsic manner compared to wild-type animals. Rather than increasing plasticity of differentiated effector CD8+ T cells, loss of DNMT3a biases differentiation of early effector cells into memory precursor cells. This is attributed in part to ineffective repression of Tcf1 expression in knockout T cells, as DNMT3a localizes to the Tcf7 promoter and catalyzes its de novo methylation in early effector WT CD8+ T cells. This data identifies DNMT3a as a crucial regulator of CD8+ early effector cell differentiation and effector versus memory fate decisions. Examination of global genomic DNA methylation by MBD-seq in naïve CD8 T cells and CD8 T cells 8 days post Vaccinia-Ova infection, comparing OT1 TCR-Tg CD8 T cells isolated from WT and T cell conditional DNMT3a KO mice.
Project description:Differentiation of CD8+ T lymphocytes into effector and memory cells is key for an adequate immune response and relies on complex interplay of pathways that convey signals from cell surface to nucleus. In this study, we fractionated four CD8+ T cell subtypes; naïve, recently activated effector, effector and memory cells into membrane, cytosol, soluble nucleus, chromatin-bound and cytoskeleton compartments. Using LC-MS/MS analysis, identified peptides were matched to human peptides/proteins (SwissProt). Compartment fractionation and gel-LC-MS separation identified 2399 proteins in total. Among these 735 were detected in all five, 241 in four, 257 in three, 368 in two and 798 found in only one fraction. Comparison between the two most different subsets, naïve and effector, yielded 146 significantly regulated proteins.
Project description:The generation of CD8+ T-cell memory is an important aim of immunization. While several distinct subsets of CD8+ T-cell memory have been described, the lineage relationships between effector (EFF), effector memory (EM) and central memory (CM) T cells remain contentious. Specifically, there is contradictory experimental evidence to support both the linear (Naive>EFF>EM>CM) and progressive differentiation (Naive>CM>EM>EFF) models. In this study, we applied a systems biology approach to examine global transcriptional relationships between the three major CD8+ T cell subsets arising endogenously as a result of vaccination with three different prime-boost vaccine regimens. Differential gene expression analysis and principle component analysis revealed that central memory cells were more closely related to naive T cells than both effector memory and effector cells. When the transcriptional relationships between subsets were enriched in an unbiased fashion with known global transcriptional changes that result when T-cells repeatedly encounter antigen, our analysis favored a model whereby cumulative antigenic stimulation drives differentiation specifically from Naive > CM > EM > EFF. These findings provide an insight into the lineage relationship between mature CD8+ T-cell subsets and will help in the rational design of vaccines aimed at generating effective immune responses against infections and cancer. Effector (EFF), effector memory (EM), central memory (CM) and naive CD8+ T cells from mice spleen. Memory subset arise endogenously as a result of vaccination with three different prime-boost vaccine regimens: DNA-rAd5, rAd5-rAd5 and rAd5-rLCMV.
Project description:Neonates often generate incomplete immunity against intracellular pathogens, although the mechanism of this defect is poorly understood. An important question is whether the impaired development of memory CD8+ T cells in neonates is due to an immature priming environment or lymphocyte-intrinsic defects. Here we show that neonatal and adult CD8+ T cells adopted different fates when responding to equal amounts of stimulation in the same host. While adult CD8+ T cells differentiated into a heterogeneous pool of effector and memory cells, neonatal CD8+ T cells preferentially gave rise to short-lived effector cells and exhibited a distinct gene expression profile. Surprisingly, impaired neonatal memory formation was not due to a lack of responsiveness, but instead because neonatal CD8+ T cells expanded more rapidly than adult cells and quickly became terminally differentiated. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that neonatal CD8+ T cells exhibit an imbalance in effector and memory CD8+ T cell differentiation, which impairs the formation of memory CD8+ T cells in early life mRNA profiles of effector CD8+ T cells from neonatal and adult mice