Name: development of an antigen-driven colitis model to study presentation of antigens by antigen presenting cells to t cells
Uploaded: 2016-09-18T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Development of an Antigen-driven Colitis Model to Study Presentation of Antigens by Antigen Presenting Cells to T Cells at JoVE.com

JHN is supported by the Swiss National Foundation (SNSF 310030_146290).

Mice were bred and kept under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions in the animal facility of Ulm University (Ulm, Germany). All animal experiments were performed according to the guidelines of the local animal use and care committee and the National Animal Welfare Law.
1. Construction of the pCFP-OVA Plasmid
<ol>
	<li>Amplify the full size OVA gene using the primers Ova_SpeI_fw (3&#39;-GACCAACTAGTATGGAATTTTGTTTTGATGTATT-5&#39;) and Ova_ClaI_rev (3&#39;- GACCAGATCGATTAAGGGGAAACACA...

As with every other model, the antigen-driven colitis model described above may present few issues that the investigator performing the technique must be aware of. When injecting the OT-II/Red+ CD4+ T CD62L+cells in the hosts, the investigator must be very gentle and careful to insert the needle into the peritoneal cavity. Failure to do so may result in the tearing of the intestine of the mouse which could lead to death, or a subcutaneous administration of cells which will not induce any ...

The intestine is the largest surface of the body that is exposed to the external environment. Vast arrays of resident microbes colonize the human intestine to form the intestinal microbiota (or microflora). This is estimated to consist of up to 100 trillion microbial cells and constitutes one of the most densely populated bacterial habitats known in biology1-3. In the GIT bacteria colonize an intestinal niche where they survive and multiply4. In return, the microbiota endows the host with additional functional features not encoded on its genome1. For example the microbiota stimulates the proliferation of epithelial cells, produces vitamins that hosts cannot produce by themselves, regulates metabolism and protects against pathogens4-6. Given this beneficial relationship, some authors have suggested that humans are &#34;super-organisms&#34; or &#34;holobionts&#34; that are a mix of bacterial and human genes7,8. Given the beneficial impact of the microbiota on the (human) host, the intestinal immune system needs to tolerate commensal microbes to enable their existence in the lumen but also kill the pathogens that invade from luminal side9-11. The intestinal immune system has developed mechanisms to distinguish between harmless and potentially harmful luminal microbes; however these mechanisms are not yet well understood12. Maintaining intestinal integrity requires a tightly regulated immune homeostasis to keep the balance between tolerance and immunity13. An imbalance in immune homeostasis contributes to the induction of intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)3,14.
There are two major types of IBD: Crohn&#39;s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Patients with these diseases usually suffer from rectal bleeding, severe diarrhea and abdominal pain15,16. The single cause of IBD is still unknown, but a combination of genetic factors, environmental influences and dysregulated immune responses might be the key event for disease development15.
Animal models for IBD have been used for over 50 years. In the last few decades new IBD model systems have been developed to test the various hypotheses concerning the pathogenesis of IBD17,18. The best-characterized model of chronic colitis is the T-cell transfer model that induces disruption of T-cell homeostasis19,20. This model involves transferring naive T cells from immunocompetent mice into hosts that lack T and B-cells (such as RAG-/- and SCID mice)16,21. The development of disease in this model is monitored for 3-10 weeks by evaluating the presence of diarrhea, reduced physical activity, and loss of body weight. This is so called the wasting syndrome16. Compared to the healthy mice the colonic tissue of transplanted hosts is thicker, shorter and heavier16. Using the T cell transfer model, it is possible to understand how different T cell populations can contribute to the pathogenesis of IBD22. The T cell transfer model does not analyze the interactions between APCs and T cells in the disease process in an antigen-specific manner. It has been shown that an interaction between myeloid cells and lymphoid cells could be responsible for the development of intestinal inflammation23. Although many aspects of IBD have been clarified, the initial events that lead to the disease development still need to be clearly understood.
It has been shown that in the absence of microbiota transfer colitis cannot be established24. Recently, several theories suggest that IBD could be a result of an immune response against commensal bacteria25. Authors have also proposed that commensal bacteria are essential to induce inflammation in the distal intestine26. In germ free (GF) animals the intestinal immune system is generally impaired27,28, but a colonization of these mice with a mixture of specific-pathogen-free bacteria results in the development of the fully-competent intestinal immune system29. Hence, the microbiota seems to be a key element in the pathogenesis of IBD, either as a mechanism that predisposes to or protects against the development of intestinal inflammation30,31. Current theories suggest that IBD is a result of microbial imbalance, called dysbiosis, in genetically predisposed patients32, but it is not clear yet if the dysbiosis is the cause or the consequence of the disease12. Considering the role of microorganisms in the development of IBD, in vitro experiments showed that CD4+ T cells can be activated by APCs pulsed with intestinal bacteria33,34.
Moreover, it has been shown that antigens from different commensal bacterial species, such as E. coli, Bacteroides, Eubacterium and Proteus, are able to activate CD4+ T cells35. This indicates that presentation of bacterial antigens to T cells is of importance for the development of IBD. To reduce the complexity of multiple antigens derived by the microflora in the disease process, an E.coli strain has been created that produces the OVA antigen. Transfer colitis was induced by injecting OVA-specific T cells into RAG-/- animals colonized with OVA-expressing E. coli.
This model is based on recent evidence suggesting that CX3CR1+ MPs, a major cell subset in the colonic lamina propria (cLP)36, are interacting with CD4+ T cells during transfer colitis37. MPs sample the intestinal lumen for particulate antigen, such as bacteria, using their dendrites36, 38,39. Previous studies demonstrated that MPs can also take up soluble antigens, such as OVA, introduced into the intestinal lumen40,41. Given the abundance of CX3CR1+ MPs in the cLP, it is possible that these cells can sample luminal bacteria and interact with CD4 T cells. Confocal imaging of mice transplanted with OVA-specific CD4+ T cells colonized with E. coli CFP-OVA, show that CX3CR1+ MPs are in contact with OT-II CD4+ T cell during the development of antigen-driven colitis. This model enables the study of the antigen presentation process between intestinal APCs and T cells specific only for particular antigen-expressing bacteria in the gut lumen.

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development of an antigen-driven colitis model to study presentation of antigens by antigen presenting cells to t cells

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammation which affects the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). One of the best ways to study the immunological mechanisms involved during the disease is the T cell transfer model of colitis. In this model, immunodeficient mice (RAG-/- recipients) are reconstituted with naive CD4+ T cells from healthy wild type hosts.
This model allows examination of the earliest immunological events leading to disease and chronic inflammation, when the gut inflammation perpetuates but does not depend on a defined antigen. To study the potential role of antigen presenting cells (APCs) in the disease process, it is helpful to have an antigen-driven disease model, in which a defined commensal-derived antigen leads to colitis. An antigen driven-colitis model has hence been developed. In this model OT-II CD4+ T cells, that can recognize only specific epitopes in the OVA protein, are transferred into RAG-/- hosts challenged with CFP-OVA-expressing E. coli. This model allows the examination of interactions between APCs and T cells in the lamina propria.

To establish an antigen-driven colitis model an E. coli strain has been constructed that contains a plasmid in which the gene for the CFP is fused to the coding sequence for the chicken ovalbumin protein and the fusion construct is expressed under control of the strong constitutive promoter Phyper (Figure 1A). Fluorescent microscopy shows that the recombinant E. coli pCFP-OVA, but not the parental E. coli DH10B, expr...

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Development of an Antigen-driven Colitis Model to Study Presentation of Antigens by Antigen Presenting Cells to T Cells

In this antigen-driven colitis model, OT-II CD4+ T cells expressing a red fluorescent protein were adoptively transferred into RAG-/- mice that express a green fluorescent protein in mononuclear phagocytes (MPs). The hosts were challenged with Escherichia coli (E.coli) expressing the ovalbumin protein (OVA) fused to a cyan fluorescent protein (CFP).

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammation which affects the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). One of the best ways to study the immunological ...

The overall goal of this antigen-driven colitis model is to determine whether CX3, CR1 positive mononuclear phagocytes interact with and activate CD4 positive T cells during antigen-specific colitis and whether this mononuclear phagocyte-dependent effector T cell expansion occurs within the intestinal lamina propria. This method can help answer key questions in the inflammatory bowel disease field, such as what types of interaction occur within antigen presenting cells and the effector T cells in the colonic lamina propria. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows the study of immune cells'interaction and the elements that lead to the pathogencity of inflammatory bowel disease.This method uses the T cell transfer colitis model, in which the red fluorescent antigen-specific naive CD4 T cells are transferred to the immunodeficient host, expressing the green fluorescent protein in mononuclear cells. Cell transfer is followed with the oral gavage of the blue fluorescent antigen-expressing bacteria. The immune events taking place in the intestinal lamina propria of the hosts can be monitored at various stages of disease development.Use dissection scissors to open the colon longitudinally and wash the tissue in a petri dish containing 25 milliliters of PBS to remove any debris and mucus. Cut the colon into five to eight millimeter pieces and place the resulting fragments in 20 milliliters of fresh DPBS without calcium and magnesium, supplemented with ten millimolar HEPES and five millimolar EDTA. Vortex the tube with the sample for 30 seconds on maximum speed.Then, incubate at 37 degrees Celsius for ten minutes with gentle shaking to remove the epithelium. At the end of the incubation, Vortex again for 30 seconds. Then, discard the supernatant containing the epithelial cells.Transfer the tissue pieces into a new tube containing 20 milliliters of fresh PBS, HEPES, and EDTA buffer, and repeat the incubation with the vortexing steps before and after. After the third repetition, all the epithelial cells are removed and the supernatant is clear. Wash the tissue fragments gently in PBS to remove any residual epithelial cells.Cut the tissue fragments into two by two millimeter pieces and transfer the pieces for digestion in ten millimeters of RPI medium, supplemented with 0.5 milligrams per milliliter of collagenase type eight and ten units per milliliter of DNAse one. Vortex the samples for 30 seconds. Then, incubate the tissue pieces at 37 degrees Celsius with shaking for 30 to 35 minutes and vortex the tube every five minutes during the incubation.When the tissue is digested, strain the resulting slurry through a 70 micron cell strainer into a 50 milliliter conical tube. Wash the cell strainer once and spin down the single cell suspension by centrifugation. Finally, wash the cells once in PBS and centrifuge.Then, determine the number of viable cells by trypan blue exclusion. Cyan fluorescent protein ovalbumin protein producing e. coli activate interferon gamma production in OT-II cells in vitro in contrast to e.coli that express CFP only. Ex vivo 3D confocal imaging of the colonic tissue of transgenic green fluorescent protein expressing mice, fed with e. coli PCFP ova demonstrates the presence of the fluorescent protein-expressing bacteria within the colonic crypts near the intestinal epithelial cells and co-localized with the host intestinal phagocytes.In OT-II red animals, the CD4 positive T cells are characterized by their co-expression of red fluorescent protein and V beta five point one. When challenged with e. coli PCFP ova, BNT lymphocyte-deficient green fluorescent protein-expressing transgenic mice that have been adoptively transplanted with OT-II red CD4 positive CD62 ligand positive T cells rapidly lose body weight and develop clinical signs of colitis.Seven days after cell transfer, only a few host phagocytes have sampled e. coli PCFP ova and OT-II red positive cells are not detected. 14 days after cell transfer, host phagocytes that have sampled the e.coli PCFP ova are located in close proximity to the adoptively transferred OT-II red positive cells. By 21 days after cell transfer, a high number of host cells have sampled the e. coli PCFP ova and donor OT-II red positive cells, which are found dispersed throughout the colonic lamina propria, are in close contact with the host intestinal phagocytes.When mastered, this technique can be completed in four hours if it is performed properly. Following this procedure, other methods like staining of the intestinal lymphocytes and serum cytokine analysis can be performed to answer additional questions about the activation state of CD4 T cells and to confirm the severity of the colitis. After each development, this technique paves the way for research in the field of and immunology to explore the little events that lead to inflammatory bowel disease in the mouse model.After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to isolate colonic lamina propria immune cells for the downstream ex vivo analysis.

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Research

JoVE Journal

Immunology and Infection

HLA-Ig Based Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells for Efficient ex vivo Expansion of Human CTL

CTL with optimal effector function play critical roles in mediating protection against various intracellular infections and cancer. However, individuals may exhibit suppressive immune microenvironment and, in contrast to activating CTL, their autologous antigen presenting cells may tend to tolerize or anergize antigen specific CTL. As a result, although still in the experimental phase, CTL-based adoptive immunotherapy has evolved to become a promising treatment for various diseases such as cancer and virus infections. In initial experiments ex vivo expanded CMV (cytomegalovirus) specific CTL have been used for treatment of CMV infection in immunocompromised allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients. While it is common to have life-threatening CMV viremia in these patients, none of the patients receiving expanded CTL develop CMV related illness, implying the anti-CMV immunity is established by the adoptively transferred CTL1. Promising results have also been observed for melanoma and may be extended to other types of cancer2. 
While there are many ways to ex vivo stimulate and expand human CTL, current approaches are restricted by the cost and technical limitations. For example, the current gold standard is based on the use of autologous DC. This requires each patient to donate a significant number of leukocytes and is also very expensive and laborious. Moreover, detailed in vitro characterization of DC expanded CTL has revealed that these have only suboptimal effector function 3. 
Here we present a highly efficient aAPC based system for ex vivo expansion of human CMV specific CTL for adoptive immunotherapy (Figure 1). The aAPC were made by coupling cell sized magnetic beads with human HLA-A2-Ig dimer and anti-CD28mAb4. Once aAPC are made, they can be loaded with various peptides of interest, and remain functional for months. In this report, aAPC were loaded with a dominant peptide from CMV, pp65 (NLVPMVATV). After culturing purified human CD8+ CTL from a healthy donor with aAPC for one week, CMV specific CTL can be increased dramatically in specificity up to 98% (Figure 2) and amplified more than 10,000 fold. If more CMV-specific CTL are required, further expansion can be easily achieved by repetitive stimulation with aAPC. Phenotypic and functional characterization shows these expanded cells have an effector-memory phenotype and make significant amounts of both TNF&alpha; and IFN&gamma; (Figure 3).

HLA-Ig Based Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells for Efficient ex vivo Expansion of Human CTL

A new DC independent method for induction and expansion of antigen-specific T cells is described. HLA A2-Ig based artificial Antigen Presenting Cells (aAPC) are loaded with HLA-A2 restricted peptides to efficiently expand CTL of diverse antigen specificity. This technology holds great potential for CTL-based adoptive immunotherapy.

CTL with optimal effector function play critical roles in mediating protection against various intracellular infections and cancer. However, individuals ...

Artificial Antigen Presenting Cell (aAPC) Mediated Activation and Expansion of Natural Killer T Cells

Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a unique subset of T cells that display markers characteristic of both natural killer (NK) cells and T cells1. Unlike classical T cells, NKT cells recognize lipid antigen in the context of CD1 molecules2. NKT cells express an invariant TCR&alpha; chain rearrangement: V&alpha;14J&alpha;18 in mice and V&alpha;24J&alpha;18 in humans, which is associated with V&beta; chains of limited diversity3-6, and are referred to as canonical or invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. Similar to conventional T cells, NKT cells develop from CD4-CD8- thymic precursor T cells following the appropriate signaling by CD1d 7. The potential to utilize NKT cells for therapeutic purposes has significantly increased with the ability to stimulate and expand human NKT cells with &alpha;-Galactosylceramide (&alpha;-GalCer) and a variety of cytokines8. Importantly, these cells retained their original phenotype, secreted cytokines, and displayed cytotoxic function against tumor cell lines. Thus, ex vivo expanded NKT cells remain functional and can be used for adoptive immunotherapy. However, NKT cell based-immunotherapy has been limited by the use of autologous antigen presenting cells and the quantity and quality of these stimulator cells can vary substantially. Monocyte-derived DC from cancer patients have been reported to express reduced levels of costimulatory molecules and produce less inflammatory cytokines9,10. In fact, murine DC rather than autologous APC have been used to test the function of NKT cells from CML patients11. However, this system can only be used for in vitro testing since NKT cells cannot be expanded by murine DC and then used for adoptive immunotherapy. Thus, a standardized system that relies on artificial Antigen Presenting Cells (aAPC) could produce the stimulating effects of DC without the pitfalls of allo- or xenogeneic cells12, 13. Herein, we describe a method for generating CD1d-based aAPC. Since the engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR) by CD1d-antigen complexes is a fundamental requirement of NKT cell activation, antigen: CD1d-Ig complexes provide a reliable method to isolate, activate, and expand effector NKT cell populations.

Artificial Antigen Presenting Cell aAPC Mediated Activation and Expansion of Natural Killer T Cells

Here we describe a method for activating and expanding human NKT cells from bulk T cell populations using artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPC). The use of CD1d-based aAPC provides a standardized method for generating high numbers of functional NKT cells.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a unique subset of T cells that display markers characteristic of both natural killer (NK) cells and T cells1. Unlike ...

Clinical Application of Sleeping Beauty and Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells to Genetically Modify T Cells from Peripheral and Umbilical Cord Blood

The potency of clinical-grade T cells can be improved by combining gene therapy with immunotherapy to engineer a biologic product with the potential for superior (i) recognition of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), (ii) persistence after infusion, (iii) potential for migration to tumor sites, and (iv) ability to recycle effector functions within the tumor microenvironment. Most approaches to genetic manipulation of T cells engineered for human application have used retrovirus and lentivirus for the stable expression of CAR1-3. This approach, although compliant with current good manufacturing practice (GMP), can be expensive as it relies on the manufacture and release of clinical-grade recombinant virus from a limited number of production facilities. The electro-transfer of nonviral plasmids is an appealing alternative to transduction since DNA species can be produced to clinical grade at approximately 1/10th the cost of recombinant GMP-grade virus. To improve the efficiency of integration we adapted Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon and transposase for human application4-8. Our SB system uses two DNA plasmids that consist of a transposon coding for a gene of interest (e.g. 2nd generation CD19-specific CAR transgene, designated CD19RCD28) and a transposase (e.g. SB11) which inserts the transgene into TA dinucleotide repeats9-11. To generate clinically-sufficient numbers of genetically modified T cells we use K562-derived artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPC) (clone #4) modified to express a TAA (e.g. CD19) as well as the T cell costimulatory molecules CD86, CD137L, a membrane-bound version of interleukin (IL)-15 (peptide fused to modified IgG4 Fc region) and CD64 (Fc-&gamma; receptor 1) for the loading of monoclonal antibodies (mAb)12. In this report, we demonstrate the procedures that can be undertaken in compliance with cGMP to generate CD19-specific CAR+ T cells suitable for human application. This was achieved by the synchronous electro-transfer of two DNA plasmids, a SB transposon (CD19RCD28) and a SB transposase (SB11) followed by retrieval of stable integrants by the every-7-day additions (stimulation cycle) of &gamma;-irradiated aAPC (clone #4) in the presence of soluble recombinant human IL-2 and IL-2113. Typically 4 cycles (28 days of continuous culture) are undertaken to generate clinically-appealing numbers of T cells that stably express the CAR. This methodology to manufacturing clinical-grade CD19-specific T cells can be applied to T cells derived from peripheral blood (PB) or umbilical cord blood (UCB). Furthermore, this approach can be harnessed to generate T cells to diverse tumor types by pairing the specificity of the introduced CAR with expression of the TAA, recognized by the CAR, on the aAPC.

Clinical Application of Sleeping Beauty and Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells to Genetically Modify T Cells from Peripheral and Umbilical Cord Blood

T cells expressing a CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) are infused as investigational treatment of B-cell malignancies in our first-in-human gene therapy trials. We describe genetic modification of T cells using the Sleeping Beauty (SB) system to introduce CD19-specific CAR and selective propagation on designer CD19+ artificial antigen presenting cells.

The potency of clinical-grade T cells can be improved by combining gene therapy with immunotherapy to engineer  a biologic product with the potential for ...

Adenoviral Transduction of Naive CD4 T Cells to Study Treg Differentiation

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential to provide immune tolerance to self as well as to certain foreign antigens. Tregs can be generated from naive CD4 T cells in vitro with TCR- and co-stimulation in the presence of TGF&beta; and IL-2. This bears enormous potential for future therapies, however, the molecules and signaling pathways that control differentiation are largely unknown.
Primary T cells can be manipulated through ectopic gene expression, but common methods fail to target the most important naive state of the T cell prior to primary antigen recognition. Here, we provide a protocol to express ectopic genes in naive CD4 T cells in vitro before inducing Treg differentiation. It applies transduction with the replication-deficient adenovirus and explains its generation and production. The adenovirus can take up large inserts (up to 7 kb) and can be equipped with promoters to achieve high and transient overexpression in T cells. It effectively transduces naive mouse T cells if they express a transgenic Coxsackie adenovirus receptor (CAR). Importantly, after infection the T cells remain naive (CD44low, CD62Lhigh) and resting (CD25-, CD69-) and can be activated and differentiated into Tregs similar to non-infected cells. Thus, this method enables manipulation of CD4 T cell differentiation from its very beginning. It ensures that ectopic gene expression is already in place when early signaling events of the initial TCR stimulation induces cellular changes that eventually lead into Treg differentiation.

Adenoviral gene transfer into naive CD4 T cells with transgenic expression of the Coxsackie adenovirus receptor enables the molecular analysis of regulatory T cell differentiation in vitro.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential to provide immune tolerance to self as well as to certain foreign antigens. Tregs can be generated from naive CD4 ...

An In vitro Model to Study Immune Responses of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) infections present a broad spectrum of disease severity, ranging from mild infections to life-threatening bronchiolitis. An important part of the pathogenesis of severe disease is an enhanced immune response leading to immunopathology.	Here, we describe a protocol used to investigate the immune response of human immune cells to an HRSV infection. First, we describe methods used for culturing, purification and quantification of HRSV. Subsequently, we describe a human in vitro model in which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are stimulated with live HRSV. This model system can be used to study multiple parameters that may contribute to disease severity, including the innate and adaptive immune response. These responses can be measured at the transcriptional and translational level. Moreover, viral infection of cells can easily be measured using flow cytometry. Taken together, stimulation of PBMC with live HRSV provides a fast and reproducible model system to examine mechanisms involved in HRSV-induced disease.

An In vitro Model to Study Immune Responses of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) can cause severe bronchiolitis in young infants. Part of the pathogenesis of severe HRSV disease is caused by the host immune response. Stimulation of primary human immune cells with HRSV provides a fast and reproducible model system to study activation of inflammatory pathways and infection.

Human respiratory syncytial  virus (HRSV) infections present a broad spectrum of disease severity, ranging  from mild infections to life-threatening ...

Killer Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells (KaAPC) for Efficient In Vitro Depletion of Human Antigen-specific T Cells

Current treatment of T cell mediated autoimmune diseases relies mostly on strategies of global immunosuppression, which, in the long term, is accompanied by adverse side effects such as a reduced ability to control infections or malignancies. Therefore, new approaches need to be developed that target only the disease mediating cells and leave the remaining immune system intact. Over the past decade a variety of cell based immunotherapy strategies to modulate T cell mediated immune responses have been developed. Most of these approaches rely on tolerance-inducing antigen presenting cells (APC). However, in addition to being technically difficult and cumbersome, such cell-based approaches are highly sensitive to cytotoxic T cell responses, which limits their therapeutic capacity. Here we present a protocol for the generation of non-cellular killer artificial antigen presenting cells (KaAPC), which allows for the depletion of pathologic T cells while leaving the remaining immune system untouched and functional. KaAPC is an alternative solution to cellular immunotherapy which has potential for treating autoimmune diseases and allograft rejections by regulating undesirable T cell responses in an antigen specific fashion.

Killer Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells KaAPC for Efficient In Vitro Depletion of Human Antigen-specific T Cells

Guidelines are presented for the generation of killer artificial antigen presenting cells, KaAPC, an efficient tool for in vitro depletion of human antigen-specific T cells and an alternative solution to cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases in an antigen-specific fashion without compromising the remaining immune system.

Current treatment of T cell mediated autoimmune diseases relies mostly on strategies of global immunosuppression, which, in the long term, is accompanied ...

T Cells Capture Bacteria by Transinfection from Dendritic Cells

Recently, we have shown, contrary to what is described, that CD4+ T cells, the paradigm of adaptive immune cells, capture bacteria from infected dendritic cells (DCs) by a process called transinfection. Here, we describe the analysis of the transinfection process, which occurs during the course of antigen presentation. This process was unveiled by using CD4+ T cells from transgenic OTII mice, which bear a T cell receptor (TCR) specific for a peptide of ovoalbumin (OVAp), which therefore can form stable immune complexes with infected dendritic cells loaded with this specific OVAp. The dynamics of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing bacteria during DC-T cell transmission can be monitored by live-cell imaging and the quantification of bacterial transinfection can be performed by flow cytometry. In addition, transinfection can be quantified by a more sensitive method based in the use of gentamicin, a non-permeable aminoglycoside antibiotic killing extracellular bacteria but not intracellular ones. This classical method has been used previously in microbiology to study the efficiency of bacterial infections. We hereby explain the protocol of the complete process, from the isolation of the primary cells to the quantification of transinfection.

Here a protocol is presented to measure bacterial capture by CD4+ T cells which occurs during antigen presentation via transinfection from pre-infected dendritic cells (DC). We show how to perform the necessary steps: isolation of primary cells, infection of DC, DC/T cell conjugate formation, and measurement of bacterial T cell transfection.

Recently, we have shown, contrary to what is described, that CD4+ T cells, the paradigm of adaptive immune cells, capture bacteria from infected dendritic ...

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 ...

Development and Validation of an Ultrasensitive Single Molecule Array Digital Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Human Interferon-&#945;

The main aim of this protocol is to describe the development and validation of an interferon (IFN)-&#945; single molecule array digital Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) assay. This system enables the quantification of human IFN-&#945; protein with unprecedented sensitivity, and with no cross-reactivity for other species of IFN.
The first key step of the protocol is the choice of the antibody pair, followed by the conjugation of the capture antibody to paramagnetic beads, and biotinylation of the detection antibody. Following this step, different parameters such as assay configuration, detector antibody concentration, and buffer composition can be modified until optimum sensitivity is achieved. Finally, specificity and reproducibility of the method are assessed to ensure confidence in the results. Here, we developed an IFN-&#945; single molecule array assay with a limit of detection of 0.69 fg/mL using high-affinity autoantibodies isolated from patients with biallelic mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) protein causing autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type 1/autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APS1/APECED). Importantly, these antibodies enabled detection of all 13 IFN-&#945; subtypes.
This new methodology allows the detection and quantification of IFN-&#945; protein in human biological samples at attomolar concentrations for the first time. Such a tool will be highly useful in monitoring the levels of this cytokine in human health and disease states, most particularly infection, autoimmunity, and autoinflammation.

Development and Validation of an Ultrasensitive Single Molecule Array Digital Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Human Interferon-&amp;#945;

Here we present a protocol to describe the development and validation of a single molecule array digital ELISA assay, which enables the ultra-sensitive detection of all IFN-&#945; subtypes in human samples.

The main aim of this protocol is to describe the development and validation of an interferon (IFN)-&#945; single molecule array digital Enzyme-Linked ...

An In Vivo Mouse Model to Measure Na&#239;ve CD4 T Cell Activation, Proliferation and Th1 Differentiation Induced by Bone Marrow-derived Dendritic Cells

Quantification of na&#239;ve CD4 T cell activation, proliferation, and differentiation to T helper 1 (Th1) cells is a useful way to assess the role played by T cells in an immune response. This protocol describes the in vitro differentiation of bone marrow (BM) progenitors to obtain granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) derived-dendritic cells (DCs). The protocol also describes the adoptive transfer of ovalbumin peptide (OVAp)-loaded GM-CSF-derived DCs and na&#239;ve CD4 T cells from OTII transgenic mice in order to analyze the in vivo activation, proliferation, and Th1 differentiation of the transferred CD4 T cells. This protocol circumvents the limitation of purely in vivo methods imposed by the inability to specifically manipulate or select the studied cell population. Moreover, this protocol allows studies in an in vivo environment, thus avoiding alterations to functional factors that may occur in vitro and including the influence of cell types and other factors only found in intact organs. The protocol is a useful tool for generating changes in DCs and T cells that modify adaptive immune responses, potentially providing important results to understand the origin or development of numerous immune associated diseases.

An &lt;em&gt;In Vivo&lt;/em&gt; Mouse Model to Measure Na&amp;#239;ve CD4 T Cell Activation, Proliferation and Th1 Differentiation Induced by Bone Marrow-derived Dendritic Cells

Here, we present a protocol for the in vivo determination of na&#239;ve CD4 T cell (T cell) activation, proliferation, and Th1 differentiation induced by GM-CSF bone marrow (BM)-derived dendritic cells (DCs). In addition, this protocol describes BM and T-cell isolation, DC generation, and DC and T-cell adoptive transfer.

Quantification of na&#239;ve CD4 T cell activation, proliferation, and differentiation to T helper 1 (Th1) cells is a useful way to assess the role played ...