T helper 17 (T_h17) cells represent a new subset of CD4+ effector T cells which have been described in both mice and humans. However, some differences seem to exist between murine and human T_h17 cells with regard to their features, origin and role in immunopathology. Murine T_h17 cells share their developmental origin with Foxp3+ Treg cells, indeed naive T-cell precursors can be differentiated to regulatory T (Treg) cells by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) alone, whereas the contemporaneous presence of TGF-β and IL-6 gives origin to T_h17 cells. Human T_h17 cells which consistently express the CC chemokine receptor 6 and the equivalent of the murine NK1.1, CD161, appear to exclusively originate in response to IL-1β and IL-23 from a small subset of CD161+CD4+ T-cell precursors detectable in the thymus and in umbilical cord blood. These cells constitutively express the T_h17-driving transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR)t and the IL-23R and can also give origin to T_h1 cells or T_h2 cells under the appropriate polarizing conditions. By contrast, human CD161-naive T cells only give rise to T_h1 and T_h2 cells, but not T_h17 cells. TGF-β may not exert a direct critical role in human T_h17 cell differentiation, but indirectly favours their development by inhibiting the development of T_h1 cells, which are much more susceptible than T_h17 cells to its suppressive activity on cell proliferation. Moreover, while murine T_h17 are pathogenic in some murine models of autoimmunity where T_h1 cells seem to play a protective role, both T_h17 and T_h1 certainly contribute to the pathogenesis of human autoimmune and other chronic inflammatory disorders.

In the treatment of autoimmune diseases, intravenous Igs (IVIg) are assumed to modulate immune cells through the binding of surface receptors. IVIg act upon definite human B cell populations to modulate Ig repertoire, and such modulation might proceed through intracellular signaling. However, the heterogeneity of human B cell populations complicates investigations of the intracellular pathways involved in IVIg-induced B cell modulation. The aim of this study was to establish a model allowing the screening of IVIg signal transduction in human B cell lines and to attempt transposing observations made in cell lines to normal human B lymphocytes. Nine human B cell lines were treated with IVIg with the goal of selecting the most suitable model for human B lymphocytes. The IgG⁺ DB cell line, whose response was similar to that of human B lymphocytes, showed reduced IVIg modulation following addition of PD98059, an inhibitor of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). The IVIg-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation was indeed proportional to the dosage of monomeric IVIg used when tested on DB cells as well as Pfeiffer cells, another IgG⁺ cell line. In addition, two other intermediates, Grb2-associated binder 1 (Gab1) and Akt, showed increased phosphorylation in IVIg-treated DB cells. IVIg induction of ERK1/2 phosphorylation was finally observed in peripheral human B lymphocytes, specifically within the IgG⁺ B cell population. In conclusion, IVIg immunomodulation of human B cells can thus be linked to intracellular transduction pathways involving the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, which in combination with Gab1 and Akt, may be related to B cell antigen receptor signaling.

B lymphocytes switch from secreting IgM to secreting IgG, IgA or IgE through a DNA recombination, class switch recombination (CSR), whose mechanism is incompletely understood. CSR is thought to be triggered by activation-induced deaminase (AID), which is believed to deaminate cytosines to uracil in single-strand regions of switch region DNA. Subsequent excision of uracils by uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG) (product of the UNG gene) generates abasic sites, which are targeted for DNA cleavage, producing DNA breaks that are critical intermediates in CSR. Consistent with this model, CSR-related double-strand breaks (DSBs)––detected by ligation-mediated PCR (LMPCR)––have been reported to be dramatically reduced in B cells from either AID^–/– or UNG^–/– mice. Here we examine single-strand breaks (SSBs) using LMPCR and report, surprisingly, that CSR-related anti-sense strand breaks in S regions are dependent only on UNG, and not AID, suggesting participation of a cytosine deaminase other than AID. This conclusion is supported by the sequences at these DNA breaks, which show a bias for a consensus sequence different from that reported for AID. The SSBs appear to be part of the normal CSR pathway since in B cells in which CSR is blocked by deletion of Sµ, the content of S SSBs is elevated as though the breaks resolve inefficiently owing to the lack of a recombination partner for completing µ-to- CSR. These results suggest a narrower role for AID in CSR than previously recognized and prompt a search for a putative alternative cytosine deaminase participating in CSR.

During the first trimester of pregnancy NK cells represent >50% of the lymphoid cells present in the human decidua where they reside in close contact with trophoblast cells. Because in decidual tissues NK cell activation and function may be induced by this interaction, we analyzed the cellular ligands recognized by activating NK receptors expressed on trophoblast cells. We show that these cells primarily express the NKp44 and DNAM-1 ligands and that interaction between these ligands and their corresponding receptors results in NK cell triggering. While activated peripheral blood NK (pNK) cells lysed the trophoblast cell lines JAR and JEG3, decidual NK (dNK) cells did not. On the other hand, they released VEGF, SDF-1, IP10 and large amounts of IL-8. Interaction with K562 target cells was exploited to induce optimal NK cell triggering, allowing a parallel, quantitative assessment of both cytolytic activity and cytokine production elicited by dNK cells. While dNK cells were unable to kill K562 even at high effector:target (E:T) ratios, they released large amounts of IL-8 also at low E:T ratios, a scenario compatible with dNK trophoblast cells interaction occurring within decidual tissues.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an essential role in defense responses. Immune cells express multiple TLRs which are simultaneously activated by microbial pathogens. PRotein Associated with Tlr4 A (PRAT4A) is a chaperone-like endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein required for the proper subcellular distribution of multiple TLRs. PRAT4A^–/– mice show impaired expression of TLR2/4 on the cell surface and the lack of ligand-induced TLR9 relocation from the ER to endolysosome. Consequently, TLR responses to whole bacteria as well as to TLR2, 4 and 9 ligands are impaired. We here compare the interaction of these TLRs with PRAT4A. Association of endogenous PRAT4A was easily detected only with TLR4. The TLR4 region responsible for strong interaction with PRAT4A is very close to the site necessary for interaction with MD-2. By using transient expression, we were able to detect PRAT4A interaction with TLR2 and TLR9. The PRAT4A single-nucleotide mutant replacing methionine 145 with lysine (M145K) associates with TLR9 but does not rescue ligand-dependent TLR9 trafficking. By contrast, the M145K mutant weakly, if at all, associates with TLR2 and TLR4. The M145K mutant appreciably rescues cell-surface TLR2 expression and its responses in PRAT4A^–/– bone marrow-derived dendritic cells, whereas little if any rescue of cell-surface TLR4/MD-2 expression and its responses occurs. These results demonstrate that PRAT4A differentially interacts with each TLR and suggest that a single-nucleotide change in the PRAT4A gene influences not only the strength of TLR responses but can also alter the relative activity of each TLR.

Pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) signals promote pre-B cell differentiation, in which the adaptor protein B-cell linker (BLNK) plays a crucial role. However, the molecular pathways downstream of BLNK are currently unclear. Utilizing pre-B leukemia cell lines (BKO84 and others) derived from BLNK-deficient mice as in vitro models of the pre-B cell differentiation, we have demonstrated that reconstitution of BLNK as well as an active form of protein kinase C (PKC) induces the differentiation events, such as pre-BCR down-regulation and gene rearrangement. Here we show that the same events are induced by cross-linking of pre-BCR with anti-µ antibody in these pre-B cell lines, as well as in ex vivo pre-B cells from BLNK-deficient mice, suggesting a function of BLNK as an internal cross-linker of pre-BCR. Anti-µ treatment of BKO84 cells up-regulated membrane recruitment of PKC and the expression of IRF-4, a transcription factor known to promote light chain gene rearrangements. Anti-µ induction of surface chain on BKO84 cells was blocked by reagents that inhibit phospholipase C or PKC. Enforced expression of the active PKC in BKO84 cells resulted in up-regulation of IRF-4 expression. Conversely, siRNA-mediated silencing of PKC expression strikingly attenuated the anti-µ-induced IRF-4 expression and gene rearrangement, which were restored by PKC reconstitution. Finally, enforced expression of IRF-4, but not of BLNK, in the PKC-silenced BKO84 cells resulted in gene rearrangement. These results indicate that PKC directs the induction of IRF-4 expression downstream of BLNK in the pre-BCR signaling pathway promoting gene rearrangement.

During T cell activation, TCRs cluster at the center of the T cell–antigen-presenting cell interface forming the central supramolecular activation cluster. Although it has been suggested that sphingolipid- and cholesterol-rich microdomains, termed lipid rafts, form platforms for the regulation and transduction of TCR signals, an actual role for membrane sphingomyelin (SM), a key component of lipid rafts, has not been reported. After cloning a gene responsible for SM synthesis, sphingomyelin synthase (SMS) 1, we established a SM-knockdown cell line (Jurkat-SMS1/kd) by transfection of SMS1-short-interfering RNA into Jurkat T cells, which is deficient in membrane expression of SM. Upon CD3 stimulation, expression of CD69 (the earliest leukocyte activation antigen), activation-induced cell adhesion and proliferation as well as TCR clustering was severely impaired in Jurkat-SMS1/kd cells. CD3-induced tyrosine phosphorylation and association of linker for activation of T cell with ZAP-70 and Grb2 and phosphorylation of protein kinase C (PKC) were also severely impaired in Jurkat-SMS1/kd cells. Finally, translocation of TCR, ZAP-70 and PKC into lipid rafts was markedly decreased in Jurkat-SMS1/kd cells. These findings indicate that membrane SM is crucial for TCR signal transduction, leading to full T cell activation through lipid raft function.

Oligodendrocyte-specific protein (OSP)/claudin-11 has been recently implicated in multiple sclerosis pathophysiology. Yet, the pathogenic autoimmunity against OSP has been poorly investigated. We previously showed that OSP-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and optic neuritis in SJL/J mice are primarily associated with CD4+ T cells reactive against OSP55-80. Dissecting the fine epitope specificity to the level of epitopic residues recognized by OSP-specific encephalitogenic T cells revealed their focused recognition of OSP58M. Accordingly, OSP58M predicted by computer modeling to be a major TCR contact residue shared by the three nonameric core epitopes within OSP55-80, albeit at different MHC-II pockets, was experimentally determined as the primary TCR contact residue crucial for activation and control of encephalitogenic T cells reactive against OSP55-80 or against recombinant OSP. Ala substitution of OSP58M impaired the functional TCR recognition/activation of pathogenic OSP-reactive T cells. Accordingly, the non-stimulatory/non-encephalitogenic pOSP55-58A-66 analogue not only treated EAE induced by pOSP55-80 but also effectively reversed EAE induced by whole OSP. Thus, the selection/activation and control of OSP-pathogenic T cells in H-2^s mice appeared to be dominated by their predetermined focused recognition of OSP58M. Such a focused recognition by OSP-pathogenic T cells, despite their extensive TCR heterogeneity (Kaushansky, N., Zhong, M. C., Kerlero de Rosbo, N., Hoeftberger, R., Lassmann, H. and Ben-Nun, A. 2006. Epitope specificity of autoreactive T and B cells associated with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and optic neuritis induced by oligodendrocyte-specific protein in SJL/J mice. J. Immunol. 177:7364), may impact profoundly on peripheral self-tolerance to OSP and on altered peptide ligand-mediated immune-specific modulation of the recently described OSP-related autoimmune pathogenesis.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) directed against Plasmodium falciparum-derived antigens were shown to play an important role for the protection against malaria. Although several CTL epitopes have been identified from P. falciparum sporozoite-derived antigens, none has been described for the merozoite form. Since the merozoite surface protein (MSP)-1 is a known target of the immune response, we focused on this protein to identify HLA-A*0201-associated epitopes. Using our mass spectrometry-based method [the ‘predict–calibrate–detect’ (PCD) approach], we were able to identify an MSP-1-derived epitope in the peptide mixture naturally associated with HLA-A*0201 molecules purified from an MSP-1-expressing cell line. CTLs against this epitope were generated from HLA-A*0201 monochain transgenic mice (HHD). They specifically killed MSP-1-expressing HLA-A2-positive target cells. Thus, we describe here the first MHC class I epitope from the merozoite form of P. falciparum. This epitope can be used as a tool for the immunomonitoring of natural or vaccine-induced CTL immune responses against malaria and could eventually be proposed as a component of an anti-malaria peptide-based vaccine.