Name: in vivo augmentation of gut-homing regulatory t cell induction
Uploaded: 2020-01-22T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about In Vivo Augmentation of Gut-Homing Regulatory T Cell Induction at JoVE.com

This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program under Award No. W81XWH-15-1-0240 (XT). Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. This work was also partially supported by Research Innovation Grants from the Department of Medicine at Loma Linda University (681207-2967 [XT and GG], 681205-2967 [XT], and 325491 [DJB]).

All in vivo animal study protocols were reviewed and approved by the Loma Linda University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) as well as the Animal Care and Use Review Office (ACURO) of the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) of the Department of Defense.
1. Preparation of the Lentivirus that Expresses both 1&#945;-hydroxylase and RALDH2 (lenti-CYP-ALDH Virus)
<ol>
	<li>Day 0: In the early morning, prepare 5 x 105 cells/mL of 293T cells in the ...

<ol>
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In this article we describe the use of DC-CYP-ALDH cells, for augmenting the induction of gut-homing Treg cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues. Our data have shown that the DC-CYP-ALDH cells can synthesize locally high concentrations de novo of both 1,25(OH)2D and RA in vitro in the presence of corresponding substrates (i.e., 25[OH]D and retinol, respectively). Because sufficient blood concentrations of 25(OH)D and retinol can be easily achieved through vitamin D and A supplementations respectively in patients...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory chronic disease in the gastrointestinal tract (GUT). In the United States, there are approximately 1.4 million IBD patients. It is generally accepted that a dysregulated immune response to gut bacteria initiates the disease and disrupts the mucosal epithelial barrier1,2. For this reason, currently available U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs inhibit the functions of inflammatory mediators or block the homing of immune cells into the gut. However, the inflammatory mediators and immune cells that are targeted are also necessary for immune defenses. As a result, the inflammatory mediator inhibitors compromise systemic immune defense and the immune cell homing blockers weaken gut immune defense, both of which can lead to severe consequences3,4. In addition, the immune cell homing blockers can also block the homing of regulatory T (Treg) cells into the gut and hence can worsen the already compromised gut immune tolerance in IBD patients. Furthermore, blocking of Treg cell homing into the gut may also lead to systemic immune suppression due to the accumulation of Treg cells in the blood5. Finally, inhibitors and blockers function transiently and, thereby, require frequent administrations. Frequent administration of these inhibitors and blockers may further exacerbate the untoward side effects.
Recently, we proposed a novel strategy that can potentially mitigate or even eliminate the side effects associated with current drugs for IBD treatment6. This strategy augments the induction of gut-homing Treg cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues6. The rationale of this strategy is that gut-homing Treg cells specifically home to the gut and hence will not compromise systemic immune defenses. In addition, since Treg cells can potentially form memory7,8, gut-homing Treg cells can potentially provide a stable control of the chronic gut inflammation in IBD patients and, thereby, treatment should not need to be administered as frequently. Furthermore, since this strategy augments the induction of gut-homing Treg cells in vivo, it does not have the concern of in vivo instability in a highly proinflammatory environment that is associated with adoptive transfer of in vitro generated Treg cells9,10. In this regard, in vitro generated Treg cells are one of the proposed strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases11,12,13 and transplant rejection14,15. Finally, in this strategy, dendritic cells (DCs) are engineered to produce locally high concentrations of two molecules de novo: active vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or 1,25[OH]2D) and active vitamin A (retinoic acid or RA). We chose 1,25(OH)2D and RA because 1,25(OH)2D can induce the expression of regulatory molecules (e.g., forkhead box P3 [foxp3] and interleukin-10 [IL-10])16,17 and that RA can stimulate the expression of gut-homing receptors in T cells18. Because both 1,25(OH)2D and RA can also tolerize DCs28,29, we reason that the engineered DCs will be stably maintained in a tolerogenic status in vivo and hence circumvent the in vivo instability concerns that are associated with in vitro generated tolerogenic DCs (TolDCs)19,20,21. In this respect, TolDCs are also one of the proposed strategies for in vivo augmentation of Treg cell functions19,20,21. To support our reasoning, we have shown that the engineered DCs, upon in vivo delivery, can augment the induction of gut-homing Treg cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues6.
An additional advantage of our proposed strategy is that 1,25(OH)2D also has other functions that can potentially benefit IBD patients. These other functions include the ability of 1,25(OH)2D to stimulate the secretion of antimicrobials22 and to suppresses carcinogenesis23. Infections and cancers are frequently associated with IBD24,25.
To generate the DCs that can produce locally high concentrations of both 1,25(OH)2D and RA de novo, we use a lentiviral vector to engineer DCs to overexpress two genes. One gene is the cytochrome P450 family 27 subfamily B member 1 (CYP27B1) that encodes 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1&#945;-hydroxylase (1&#945;-hydroxylase), which physiologically catalyzes the synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D. The other gene is the aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A2 (ALDH1a2) that encodes retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (RALDH2), which physiologically catalyzes the synthesis of RA6.
Because in vivo augmentation of gut-homing Treg cell induction is potentially important in the treatment of IBD, in the following protocol we will detail the procedures for the generation of the 1&#945;-hydroxylase-RALDH2-overexpressing DCs (DC-CYP-ALDH cells) that can be used for the future investigation of gut-homing Treg cells in vivo.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>10 mL syringes</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 03-377-23</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>100 mm x 20 mm culture dishes</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# CLS430167</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>12-well culture plates</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 07-200-82</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>150 mm x 25 mm culture dishes</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# CLS430559</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25[OH]D)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# H4014</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>293T cells</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>CRL-3216</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2-mercaptoethanol</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#: 21985023</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6-well culture plates</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 07-200-83</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ALDEFLUOR kit</td>
			<td>Stemcell Technologies</td>
			<td>Cat# 01700</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-CYP27B1</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>Cat# ab95047</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BD FACSAria II</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CaCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# C1016</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CM-10-D cell culture medium</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>DMEM medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin, 0.055 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acid, and 2 mM L-glutamine.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CM-10-R cell culture medium</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>RPMI 1640 medium (no glutamine) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin, 0.055 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acid, and 2 mM L-glutamine.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CM-4-D cell culture medium</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>DMEM medium containing 4% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin, 0.055 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acid, and 2 mM L-glutamine.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Corning bottle-top vacuum filters, 0.22 mM, 500 mL</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# CLS430513</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Corning bottle-top vacuum filters, 0.45 mM, 500 mL</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# CLS430514</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissecting scissor</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 08-940</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM medium</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 11960044</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal bovine serum</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 16000044</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Forceps</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 22-327379</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gibco ACK lysing buffer</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# A1049201</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glycerol</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# G5516</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Goat anti-rabbit IgG</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>Cat# ab205718</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>Cat# 391340</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lenti-CYP-ALDH</td>
			<td>Custom-made</td>
			<td>1.6-kb mouse CYP27B1 and ALDH1a2 cDNAs were amplified by PCR using a plasmid containing the CYP27B1 cDNA and a plasmid containing the ALDH1a2 cDNA respectively (GeneCopoeia). The amplified CYP27B1 cDNA fragment with a 5&#39; KOZAK ribosome entry sequence was cloned into the pRRL-SIN.cPPt.PGKGFP.WPRE lentiviral vector (Addgene). The resulting construct was designated as lenti-CYP-GFP. The amplified ALDH1a2 cDNA fragment was cloned into the lenti-CYP-GFP to replace the GFP and was designated as lenti-CYP-ALDH. This bicistronic plasmid expresses CYP27B1 controlled by SFFV promoter and ALDH1a2 controlled by PGK promoter.</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-glutamine</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#25030081</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lipopolysaccharide</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# L3755</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Murine GM-CSF</td>
			<td>Peprotech</td>
			<td>Cat# 315-03</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Murine IL-4</td>
			<td>Peprotech</td>
			<td>Cat# 214-14</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Na2HPO4</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# NIST2186II</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# S9888</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Needles</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 14-841-02</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nonessential Amino Acids</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#: 11140076</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCMVR8.74</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>Plasmid# 22036</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin/Streptomycin</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#15140148</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phoshate Balanced Solution (PBS)</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#: 20012027</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PMD2G</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>Plasmid# 12259</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polypropylene tube, 15 mL</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# AM12500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polypropylene tube, 50 mL</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# AM12502</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Protamine sulfate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Cat# P3369</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rabbit polycloncal IgG isotype control</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>Cat# ab171870</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Radioimmunoassay for 1,25(OH)2D measurement</td>
			<td>Heartland Assays</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RPMI 1640 medium, no glutamine</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 21870076</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium pyruvat</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat#: 11360070</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sorvall Legend XTR Centrifuge</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 75004521</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterile Cell strainers, 40 mm</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# 07-201-430</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterile storage bottles, 500 mL</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Cat# CLS431432</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

in vivo augmentation of gut-homing regulatory t cell induction

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory chronic disease in the gastrointestinal tract (GUT). In the United States, there are approximately 1.4 million IBD patients. It is generally accepted that a dysregulated immune response to gut bacteria initiates the disease and disrupts the mucosal epithelial barrier. We recently show that gut-homing regulatory T (Treg) cells are a promising therapy for IBD. Accordingly, this article presents a protocol for in vivo augmentation of gut-homing Treg cell induction. In this protocol, dendritic cells are engineered to produce locally high concentrations of two molecules de novo, active vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or 1,25[OH]2D) and active vitamin A (retinoic acid or RA). We chose 1,25(OH)2D and RA based on previous findings showing that 1,25(OH)2D can induce the expression of regulatory molecules (e.g., forkhead box P3 and interleukin-10) and that RA can stimulate the expression of gut-homing receptors in T cells. To generate such engineered dendritic cells, we use a lentiviral vector to transduce dendritic cells to overexpress two genes. One gene is the cytochrome P450 family 27 subfamily B member 1 that encodes 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1&#945;-hydroxylase, which physiologically catalyzes the synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D. The other gene is the aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A2 that encodes retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2, which physiologically catalyzes the synthesis of RA. This protocol can be used for future investigation of gut-homing Treg cells in vivo.

DC-CYP-ALDH cells expressed significantly increased amount of 1&#945;-hydroxylase. To determine whether DC-CYP-ALDH cells generated from BMDCs expressed a significantly increased amount of 1&#945;-hydroxylase, BMDCs were transduced with the lenti-CYP-ALDH virus to produce bone-marrow-derived DC-CYP-ALDH cells (BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells). Subsequently, the BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells were examined for the expression of 1&#945;-hydroxylase by FACS. Our data showed that the BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells, when compared to the paren...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about In Vivo Augmentation of Gut-Homing Regulatory T Cell Induction at JoVE.com

In Vivo Augmentation of Gut-Homing Regulatory T Cell Induction

Here we present a protocol for in vivo augmentation of gut-homing regulatory T cell induction. In this protocol, dendritic cells are engineered to locally produce high concentrations of the active vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or 1,25[OH]2D) and the active vitamin A (retinoic acid or RA) de novo.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory chronic disease in the gastrointestinal tract (GUT). In the United States, there are approximately 1.4 ...

This protocol describes a potentially novel therapeutic strategy that can be readily modified for human applications. This technique directly enhances the induction of gut-homing regulatory T cells in peripheral lymphoid tissues and can be stably implemented even in highly pro-inflammatory environments. These techniques can also be used to investigate the role of active vitamin D and vitamin A within the peripheral immune system.This visual demonstration will provide step by step instructions for the generation of high quality engineered dendritic cells that are critical for the success of this technique. Begin by seeding one times 10 to the seven 293T cells in 20 milliliters of CM-10-D cell culture medium in 150 by 25 millimeter culture plates for a 24 hour incubation at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%carbon dioxide. The next day, add 1.62 milliliters of freshly prepared two-fold concentrated HBS solution, 9.5 micrograms of envelope plasmid, 17.5 micrograms of packaging plasmid, and 27 micrograms of the LENTI-CYP-ALDH plasmid to a 50 milliliter conical tube.Bring the final volume of the tube contents up to 3.0375 milliliters with water followed by the addition of 202.5 microliters of two molar calcium chloride dropwise. Leave the DNA precipitation mixture at room temperature for 20 minutes with occasional mixing before adding 3.24 milliliters of the solution dropwise per 293T culture while gently swirling the dish. Place the plates in the incubator for 24 hours before gently washing each plate with PBS and feeding the cells with CM-4-D culture medium.After another 24 hours of culture, harvest the supernatants into sterile bottles for storage at four to eight degrees Celsius and feed the cells with fresh CM-4-D medium for another 24 hours. On day four, harvest the supernatants again and strain the supernatants from both days three and four to a 0.45 micrometer filter. Then, concentrate the VSV-G pseudotyped virus by centrifugation for 24 hours.The next day decant the supernatants. Allow the tubes to drain on a paper towel in a sterile bio-safety cabinet for several minutes, then resuspend the pellets in 33.3 microliters of sterile PBS containing 5%glycerol per culture dish. For bone marrow derived dendritic cell generation, place the tibias and femurs, harvested from BALB/c mice, into a 100 by 20 millimeter culture dish containing fresh culture medium.Use dissecting scissors and forceps to remove any tissues from the bones. When all of the bones have been cleaned, use the scissors to cut both ends of each bone to expose the bone marrow cavities. Use a 10 milliliter syringe equipped with a 30 gauge needle to flush each bone with 10 milliliters of fresh culture medium, collecting the bone marrow in a 15 milliliter tube.When all of the bone marrow has been collected, sediment the bone marrow by centrifugation and resuspend the pellet in two milliliters of red blood cell lysis buffer. After four to five minutes at room temperature with occasional shaking, stop the reaction with 10 milliliters of cell culture medium and collect the cells by centrifugation. Resuspend the pellet in 10 milliliters of CM-10-R culture medium for counting and adjust the cells for one times 10 to the six cells per milliliter of CM-10-R culture medium concentration.Next, add 100 units per milliliter of recombinant murine GM-CSF and 10 units per milliliter of IL-4 to the cells. Plate four milliliters of cells into individual wells of a six well culture plate for their incubation at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%carbon dioxide for 48 hours. At the end of the incubation, gently aspirate the non-adherent cells.Add fresh medium supplemented with GM-CSF and IL-4 to the cultures before returning the cells to the cell culture incubator for an addition 48 hours. At the end of the second incubation, harvest the non-adherent bone marrow derived dendritic cells into 50 milliliter conical tube for their centrifugation. To generate BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells, resuspend the cultures at a one times ten to the sixth dendritic cells per 500 microliters of CM-10-R medium per well concentration, and plate 500 microliters of cells into each well of a new six well culture plate.Add 50 microliters of LENTI-CYP-ALDH virus and 8 micrograms per milliliter of protamine to each well, then place the plate in the incubator for 24 hours. The next day, replace the supernatants with fresh culture medium and return the plates to the cell culture incubator for another 24 hours. At the end of the second incubation, the cells can be activated with 100 nanograms per milliliter of lipopolysaccharide per well for 24 hours before harvest for functional analyses.Compared to parental bone marrow derived dendritic cells, BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells display an enhanced expression of 1-alpha-hydroxylase. The concentrations of the active form of vitamin D in the culture supernatants of BMDC-CYP and BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells are approximately 20 times higher than those observed in parental bone marrow derived dendritic cell and the BMDC-ALDH cell cultures. The mean fluorescent intensities of BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells treated with the substrate are approximately six times higher than those of parental bone marrow derived dendritic cells treated with the substrate.This suggests that the BMDC-CYP-ALDH cells express significantly enhanced retinal dehydehydrogenase-2 enzymatic activity. DC2.4 cells treated with 25-hydroxy vitamin D and retinal do not induce a significant change in the abundance of foxp3 positive CCR9 positive CD4 positive T cells. In contrast, DC2.4 CYP-ALDH cells treated with 25-hydroxy vitamin D and retinal induce significantly higher numbers of gut-homing regulatory T cells in a concentration dependent manner.Further, compared to intraperitoneally injected control cells, DC CYP-ALDH cells also induce a significant increase in the number of foxp3 positive CCR9 positive CD4 positive T cells after intraperitoneal injection into BALB/c recipient animals. The success of the procedure depends on the preparation of healthy T cells and a correctly prepared DNA mixture.

in-vivo-augmentation-of-gut-homing-regulatory-t-cell-induction

Research

JoVE Journal

Immunology and Infection

Retroviral Transduction of T-cell Receptors in Mouse T-cells

T-cell receptors (TCRs) play a central role in the immune system. TCRs on T-cell surfaces can specifically recognize peptide antigens presented by antigen presenting cells (APCs)1. This recognition leads to the activation of T-cells and a series of functional outcomes (e.g. cytokine production, killing of the target cells). Understanding the functional role of TCRs is critical to harness the power of the immune system to treat a variety of immunology related diseases (e.g. cancer or autoimmunity).
It is convenient to study TCRs in mouse models, which can be accomplished in several ways. Making TCR transgenic mouse models is costly and time-consuming and currently there are only a limited number of them available2-4. Alternatively, mice with antigen-specific T-cells can be generated by bone marrow chimera. This method also takes several weeks and requires expertise5. Retroviral transduction of TCRs into in vitro activated mouse T-cells is a quick and relatively easy method to obtain T-cells of desired peptide-MHC specificity. Antigen-specific T-cells can be generated in one week and used in any downstream applications. Studying transduced T-cells also has direct application to human immunotherapy, as adoptive transfer of human T-cells transduced with antigen-specific TCRs is an emerging strategy for cancer treatment6.
Here we present a protocol to retrovirally transduce TCRs into in vitro activated mouse T-cells. Both human and mouse TCR genes can be used. Retroviruses carrying specific TCR genes are generated and used to infect mouse T-cells activated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies. After in vitro expansion, transduced T-cells are analyzed by flow cytometry.

We present a protocol to produce antigen-specific mouse T-cells using retroviral transduction

T-cell receptors (TCRs) play a central role in the immune system. TCRs on T-cell surfaces can specifically recognize peptide antigens presented by antigen ...

Induction of Graft-versus-host Disease and In Vivo T Cell Monitoring Using an MHC-matched Murine Model

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the limiting barrier to the broad use of bone marrow transplant as a curative therapy for a variety of hematological deficiencies. GVHD is caused by mature alloreactive T cells present in the bone marrow graft that are infused into the recipient and cause damage to host organs. However, in mice, T cells must be added to the bone marrow inoculum to cause GVHD. Although extensive work has been done to characterize T cell responses post transplant, bioluminescent imaging technology is a non-invasive method to monitor T cell trafficking patterns in vivo. 
Following lethal irradiation, recipient mice are transplanted with bone marrow cells and splenocytes from donor mice. T cell subsets from L2G85.B6 (transgenic mice that constitutively express luciferase) are included in the transplant. By only transplanting certain T cell subsets, one is able to track specific T cell subsets in vivo, and based on their location, develop hypotheses regarding the role of specific T cell subsets in promoting GVHD at various time points. At predetermined intervals post transplant, recipient mice are imaged using a Xenogen IVIS CCD camera. Light intensity can be quantified using Living Image software to generate a pseudo-color image based on photon intensity (red = high intensity, violet = low intensity). 
Between 4-7 days post transplant, recipient mice begin to show clinical signs of GVHD. Cooke et al.1 developed a scoring system to quantitate disease progression based on the recipient mice fur texture, skin integrity, activity, weight loss, and posture. Mice are scored daily, and euthanized when they become moribund. Recipient mice generally become moribund 20-30 days post transplant. 
Murine models are valuable tools for studying the immunology of GVHD. Selectively transplanting particular T cell subsets allows for careful identification of the roles each subset plays. Non-invasively tracking T cell responses in vivo adds another layer of value to murine GVHD models.

Induction of Graft-versus-host Disease and In Vivo T Cell Monitoring Using an MHC-matched Murine Model

Murine bone marrow transplantation is a widely used technique to study immunological mechanisms governing graft-versus-host disease in humans. The ability to monitor T cell trafficking patterns in vivo allows for detailed analysis of the development and perpetuation of T cell responses during graft-versus-host disease.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the limiting barrier to the broad use of bone marrow transplant as a curative therapy for a variety of hematological ...

Generation of Induced Regulatory T Cells from Primary Human Na&iuml;ve and Memory T Cells

The development and maintenance of immunosuppressive CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) contribute to the peripheral tolerance needed to remain in immunologic homeostasis with the vast amount of self and commensal antigens in and on the human body. Perturbations in the balance between Tregs and inflammatory conventional T cells can result in immunopathology or cancer. Although therapeutic injection of Tregs has been shown to be efficacious in murine models of colitis1 , type I diabetes2 , rheumatoid arthritis and graft versus host disease,4 several fundamental differences in human versus mouse Treg biology5 has thus far precluded clinical use. The lack of sufficient number, purity, stability and homing specificity of therapeutic Tregs necessitated a dynamic platform of human Treg development on which to optimize conditions for their ex vivo expansion6.
Here we describe a method for the differentiation of induced Tregs (iTregs) from a single human peripheral blood donor which can be broken down into four stages: isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, magnetic selection of CD4+ T cells, in vitro cell culture and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) of T cell subsets. Since the Treg signature transcription factor forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) is an activation-induced transcription factor in humans7 and no other unique marker exists, a combinatorial panel of markers must be used to identify T cells with suppressor activity. After six days in culture, cells in our system can be demarcated into na&iuml;ve T cells, memory T cells or iTregs based on their relative expression of CD25 and CD45RA. As memory and na&iuml;ve T cells have different reported polarization requirements and plasticities8 , pre-sorting of the initial T cell population into CD45RA+ and CD45RO+ subsets can be used to examine these discrepancies. Consistent with others, our CD25HiCD45RA- iTregs express high levels of FoxP39 , GITR and CTLA-411 and low levels of CD12712 . Following FACS of each population, resultant cells can be used in a suppressor assay which evaluates the relative ability to retard the proliferation of carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE)-labeled autologous T cells.

Generation of Induced Regulatory T Cells from Primary Human Na&#239;ve and Memory T Cells

We describe a method for generating regulatory, memory and na&#239;ve T cells from a single human blood donor. Polarized Tregs can be then compared to other subsets in a variety of genetic and functional applications with genetic homogeneity, including a suppression assay also detailed here.

The development and maintenance of immunosuppressive CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) contribute to the peripheral tolerance needed to remain in ...

piggyBac Transposon System Modification of Primary Human T Cells

The piggyBac transposon system is naturally active, originally derived from the cabbage looper moth1,2. This non-viral system is plasmid based, most commonly utilizing two plasmids with one expressing the piggyBac transposase enzyme and a transposon plasmid harboring the gene(s) of interest between inverted repeat elements which are required for gene transfer activity. PiggyBac mediates gene transfer through a "cut and paste" mechanism whereby the transposase integrates the transposon segment into the genome of the target cell(s) of interest. PiggyBac has demonstrated efficient gene delivery activity in a wide variety of insect1,2, mammalian3-5, and human cells6 including primary human T cells7,8. Recently, a hyperactive piggyBac transposase was generated improving gene transfer efficiency9,10.
Human T lymphocytes are of clinical interest for adoptive immunotherapy of cancer11. Of note, the first clinical trial involving transposon modification of human T cells using the Sleeping beauty transposon system has been approved12. We have previously evaluated the utility of piggyBac as a non-viral methodology for genetic modification of human T cells. We found piggyBac to be efficient in genetic modification of human T cells with a reporter gene and a non-immunogenic inducible suicide gene7. Analysis of genomic integration sites revealed a lack of preference for integration into or near known proto-oncogenes13. We used piggyBac to gene-modify cytotoxic T lymphocytes to carry a chimeric antigen receptor directed against the tumor antigen HER2, and found that gene-modified T cells mediated targeted killing of HER2-positive tumor cells in vitro and in vivo in an orthotopic mouse model14. We have also used piggyBac to generate human T cells resistant to rapamycin, which should be useful in cancer therapies where rapamycin is utilized15.
Herein, we describe a method for using piggyBac to genetically modify primary human T cells. This includes isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from human blood followed by culture, gene modification, and activation of T cells. For the purpose of this report, T cells were modified with a reporter gene (eGFP) for analysis and quantification of gene expression by flow cytometry.
PiggyBac can be used to modify human T cells with a variety of genes of interest. Although we have used piggyBac to direct T cells to tumor antigens14, we have also used piggyBac to add an inducible safety switch in order to eliminate gene modified cells if needed7. The large cargo capacity of piggyBac has also enabled gene transfer of a large rapamycin resistant mTOR molecule (15 kb)15. Therefore, we present a non-viral methodology for stable gene-modification of primary human T cells for a wide variety of purposes.

piggyBac Transposon System Modification of Primary Human T Cells

We describe a method to genetically modify primary human T cells with a transgene using the non-viral piggyBac transposon system. T cells modified to using the piggyBac transposon system exhibit stable transgene expression.

The piggyBac transposon system is naturally active, originally derived from the cabbage looper moth1,2. This non-viral system is plasmid based, most ...

New Tools to Expand Regulatory T Cells from HIV-1-infected Individuals

CD4+ Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent immune modulators and serve an important function in human immune homeostasis. Depletion of Tregs has led to measurable increases in antigen-specific T cell responses in vaccine settings for cancer and infectious pathogens. However, their role in HIV-1 immuno-pathogenesis remains controversial, as they could either serve to suppress deleterious HIV-1-associated immune activation and thus slow HIV-1 disease progression or alternatively suppress HIV-1-specific immunity and thereby promote virus spread. Understanding and modulating Treg function in the context of HIV-1 could lead to potential new strategies for immunotherapy or HIV vaccines. However, important open questions remain on their role in the context of HIV-1 infection, which needs to be carefully studied.
Representing roughly 5% of human CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood, studying the Treg population has proven to be difficult, especially in HIV-1 infected individuals where HIV-1-associated CD4 T cell and with that Treg depletion occurs. The characterization of regulatory T cells in individuals with advanced HIV-1 disease or tissue samples, for which only very small biological samples can be obtained, is therefore extremely challenging. We propose a technical solution to overcome these limitations using isolation and expansion of Tregs from HIV-1-positive individuals.
Here we describe an easy and robust method to successfully expand Tregs isolated from HIV-1-infected individuals in vitro. Flow-sorted CD3+CD4+CD25+CD127low Tregs were stimulated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 coated beads and cultured in the presence of IL-2. The expanded Tregs expressed high levels of FOXP3, CTLA4 and HELIOS compared to conventional T cells and were shown to be highly suppressive. Easier access to large numbers of Tregs will allow researchers to address important questions concerning their role in HIV-1 immunopathogenesis. We believe answering these questions may provide useful insight for the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine.

CD4+ Regulatory T cells are potent immune-modulators and serve important functions in immune homeostasis. The paucity of these cells in peripheral blood makes functional studies challenging, specifically in the context of HIV-1-infection. We here describe a method to isolate and expand functional CD4+ Tregs from peripheral blood from HIV-1-infected individuals.

CD4+ Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent immune modulators and serve an important function in human immune homeostasis. Depletion of Tregs has led to ...

The Use of Fluorescent Target Arrays for Assessment of T Cell Responses In vivo

The ability to monitor T cell responses in vivo is important for the development of our understanding of the immune response and the design of immunotherapies. Here we describe the use of fluorescent target array (FTA) technology, which utilizes vital dyes such as carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE), violet laser excitable dyes (CellTrace Violet: CTV) and red laser excitable dyes (Cell Proliferation Dye eFluor 670: CPD) to combinatorially label mouse lymphocytes into &#62;250 discernable fluorescent cell clusters. Cell clusters within these FTAs can be pulsed with major histocompatibility (MHC) class-I and MHC class-II binding peptides and thereby act as target cells for CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, respectively. These FTA cells remain viable and fully functional, and can therefore be administered into mice to allow assessment of CD8+ T cell-mediated killing of FTA target cells and CD4+ T cell-meditated help of FTA B cell target cells in real time in vivo by flow cytometry. Since &#62;250 target cells can be assessed at once, the technique allows the monitoring of T cell responses against several antigen epitopes at several concentrations and in multiple replicates. As such, the technique can measure T cell responses at both a quantitative (e.g.&#160;the cumulative magnitude of the response) and a qualitative (e.g.&#160;functional avidity and epitope-cross reactivity of the response) level. Herein, we describe how these FTAs are constructed and give an example of how they can be applied to assess T cell responses induced by a recombinant pox virus vaccine.

The Use of Fluorescent Target Arrays for Assessment of T Cell Responses In vivo

The ability to monitor T cell responses in detail in vivo is important for the development of our understanding of the immune response. Here we describe the use of fluorescent target arrays (FTAs) in an in vivo T cell assay that assesses &#62;250 parameters simultaneously by flow cytometry.

The ability to monitor T cell responses in vivo is important for the development of our understanding of the immune response and the design of ...

An Ex vivo Model of an Oligodendrocyte-directed T-Cell Attack in Acute Brain Slices

Death of oligodendrocytes accompanied by destruction of neurons and axons are typical histopathological findings in cortical and subcortical grey matter lesions in inflammatory demyelinating disorders like multiple sclerosis (MS). In these disorders, mainly CD8+ T-cells of putative specificity for myelin- and oligodendrocyte-related antigens are found, so that neuronal apoptosis in grey matter lesions may be a collateral effect of these cells. Different types of animal models are established to study the underlying mechanisms of the mentioned pathophysiological processes. However, although they mimic some aspects of MS, it is impossible to dissect the exact mechanism and time course of &#8216;&#8216;collateral&#8217;&#8217; neuronal cell death. To address this course, here we show a protocol to study the mechanisms and time response of neuronal damage following an oligodendrocyte-directed CD8+ T cell attack. To target only the myelin sheath and the oligodendrocytes, in vitro activated oligodendrocyte-specific CD8+ T-cells are transferred into acutely isolated brain slices. After a defined incubation period, myelin and neuronal damage can be analysed in different regions of interest. Potential applications and limitations of this model will be discussed.

An Ex vivo Model of an Oligodendrocyte-directed T-Cell Attack in Acute Brain Slices

To address mechanisms of demyelination and neuronal apoptosis in cortical lesions of inflammatory demyelinating disorders, different animal models are used. We here describe an ex vivo approach by using oligodendrocyte-specific CD8+ T-cells on brain slices, resulting in oligodendroglial and neuronal death. Potential applications and limitations of the model are discussed.

Death of oligodendrocytes accompanied by destruction of neurons and axons are typical histopathological findings in cortical and subcortical grey matter ...

Induction of Murine Intestinal Inflammation by Adoptive Transfer of Effector CD4+CD45RBhigh T Cells into Immunodeficient Mice

There are many different animal models available for studying the pathogenesis of human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), each with its own advantages and disadvantages. We describe here an experimental colitis model that is initiated by adoptive transfer of syngeneic splenic CD4+CD45RBhigh T cells into T and B cell deficient recipient mice. The CD4+CD45RBhigh T cell population that largely consists of na&#239;ve effector cells is capable of inducing chronic intestinal inflammation, closely resembling key aspects of human IBD. This method can be manipulated to study aspects of disease onset and progression. Additionally it can be used to study the function of innate, adaptive, and regulatory immune cell populations, and the role of environmental exposures, i.e., the microbiota, in intestinal inflammation. In this article we illustrate the methodology for inducing colitis with a step-by-step protocol. This includes a video demonstration of key technical aspects required to successfully develop this murine model of experimental colitis for research purposes.

Induction of Murine Intestinal Inflammation by Adoptive Transfer of Effector CD4+CD45RBhigh T Cells into Immunodeficient Mice

Here, we present a protocol to induce colonic inflammation in mice by adoptive transfer of syngeneic CD4+CD45RBhigh T cells into T and B cell deficient recipients. Clinical and histopathological features mimic human inflammatory bowel diseases. This method allows the study of the initiation of colonic inflammation and progression of disease.

There are many different animal models available for studying the pathogenesis of human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), each with its own advantages ...

Development of Stem Cell-derived Antigen-specific Regulatory T Cells Against Autoimmunity

Autoimmune diseases arise due to the loss of immunological self-tolerance. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are important mediators of immunologic self-tolerance. Tregs represent about 5 - 10% of the mature CD4+ T cell subpopulation in mice and humans, with about 1 - 2% of those Tregs circulating in the peripheral blood. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be differentiated into functional Tregs, which have a potential to be used for cell-based therapies of autoimmune diseases. Here, we present a method to develop antigen (Ag)-specific Tregs from iPSCs (i.e., iPSC-Tregs). The method is based on incorporating the transcription factor FoxP3 and an Ag-specific T cell receptor (TCR) into iPSCs and then differentiating on OP9 stromal cells expressing Notch ligands delta-like (DL) 1 and DL4. Following in vitro differentiation, the iPSC-Tregs express CD4, CD8, CD3, CD25, FoxP3, and Ag-specific TCR and are able to respond to Ag stimulation. This method has been successfully applied to cell-based therapy of autoimmune arthritis in a murine model. Adoptive transfer of these Ag-specific iPSC-Tregs into Ag-induced arthritis (AIA)-bearing mice has the ability to reduce joint inflammation and swelling and to prevent bone loss.

We present here a method to develop functional antigen (Ag)-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs) from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for immunotherapy of autoimmune arthritis in a murine model.

Autoimmune diseases arise due to the loss of immunological self-tolerance. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are important mediators of immunologic ...

In Vitro Differentiation of Human CD4+FOXP3+ Induced Regulatory T Cells (iTregs) from Na&#239;ve CD4+ T Cells Using a TGF-&#946;-containing Protocol

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are an integral part of peripheral tolerance, suppressing immune reactions against self-structures and thus preventing autoimmune diseases. Clinical approaches to adoptively transfer Tregs, or to deplete Tregs in cancer, are underway with promising first outcomes. 
Because the number of naturally occurring Tregs (nTregs) is very limited, studying certain Treg features using in vitro induced Tregs (iTregs) can be advantageous. To date, the best although not absolutely specific protein marker to delineate Tregs is the transcription factor FOXP3. Despite the importance of Tregs including non-redundant roles of peripherally induced Tregs, the protocols to generate iTregs are currently controversial, particularly for human cells. This protocol therefore describes the in vitro differentiation of human CD4+FOXP3+ iTregs from human na&#239;ve T cells using a range of Treg-inducing factors (TGF-&#946; plus IL-2 only, or their combination with retinoic acid, rapamycin or butyrate) in parallel. It also describes the phenotyping of these cells by flow cytometry and qRT-PCR. 
These protocols result in reproducible expression of FOXP3 and other Treg signature genes and enable the study of general FOXP3-regulatory mechanisms as well as protocol-specific effects to delineate the impact of certain factors. iTregs can be utilized to study various phenotypic aspects as well as molecular mechanisms of Treg induction. Detailed molecular studies are facilitated by relatively large cell numbers that can be obtained. 
A limitation for the application of iTregs is the relative instability of FOXP3 expression in these cells compared to nTregs. iTregs generated by these protocols can also be used for functional assays such as studying their suppressive function, in which iTregs induced by TGF-&#946; plus retinoic acid and rapamycin display superior suppressive activity. However, the suppressive capacity of iTregs can differ from nTregs and the use of appropriate controls is crucial.

This protocol describes the reproducible generation and phenotyping of human induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) from na&#239;ve CD4+ T cells in vitro. Different protocols for FOXP3 induction allow for the study of specific iTreg phenotypes obtained with respective protocols.