bims-imseme Biomed News
on Immunosenescence and T cell metabolism
Issue of 2021‒01‒17
fifteen papers selected by
Pierpaolo Ginefra
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
  1. Senescence under appraisal: hopes and challenges revisited.
  2. The emerging role of one-carbon metabolism in T cells.
  3. Inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase activity impairs human T cell activation and function.
  4. IL-2 regulates tumor-reactive CD8+ T cell exhaustion by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.
  5. Genes and pathways involved in senescence bypass identified by functional genetic screens.
  6. Inhibitory signaling sustains a distinct early memory CD8+ T cell precursor that is resistant to DNA damage.
  7. Molecular Aspects of Senescence and Organismal Ageing-DNA Damage Response, Telomeres, Inflammation and Chromatin.
  8. Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cell antitumor efficacy and exhaustion: molecular insights.
  9. Chaperone-mediated autophagy sustains haematopoietic stem-cell function.
  10. Cytokine Regulation and Function in T Cells.
  11. Nanomaterials for T-cell cancer immunotherapy.
  12. Alginate Enhances Memory Properties of Antitumor CD8+ T Cells by Promoting Cellular Antioxidation.
  13. Moderate Exercise Inhibits Age-Related Inflammation, Liver Steatosis, Senescence, and Tumorigenesis.
  14. Adoptive Cell Therapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Biological Rationale and First Results in Early Phase Clinical Trials.
  15. Stem cell-like memory T cells: A perspective from the dark side.
  1. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2021 Jan 13.
    Senescence under appraisal: hopes and challenges revisited.
    Camilla S A Davan-Wetton, Emanuela Pessolano, Mauro Perretti, Trinidad Montero-Melendez.
      In recent years, cellular senescence has become the focus of attention in multiple areas of biomedical research. Typically defined as an irreversible cell cycle arrest accompanied by increased cellular growth, metabolic activity and by a characteristic messaging secretome, cellular senescence can impact on multiple physiological and pathological processes such as wound healing, fibrosis, cancer and ageing. These unjustly called 'zombie cells' are indeed a rich source of opportunities for innovative therapeutic development. In this review, we collate the current understanding of the process of cellular senescence and its two-faced nature, i.e. beneficial/detrimental, and reason this duality is linked to contextual aspects. We propose the senescence programme as an endogenous pro-resolving mechanism that may lead to sustained inflammation and damage when dysregulated or when senescent cells are not cleared efficiently. This pro-resolving model reconciles the paradoxical two faces of senescence by emphasising that it is the unsuccessful completion of the programme, and not senescence itself, what leads to pathology. Thus, pro-senescence therapies under the right context, may favour inflammation resolution. We also review the evidence for the multiple therapeutic approaches under development based on senescence, including its induction, prevention, clearance and the use of senolytic and senomorphic drugs. In particular, we highlight the importance of the immune system in the favourable outcome of senescence and the implications of an inefficient immune surveillance in completion of the senescent cycle. Finally, we identify and discuss a number of challenges and existing gaps to encourage and stimulate further research in this exciting and unravelled field, with the hope of promoting and accelerating the clinical success of senescence-based therapies.
    Keywords:  Ageing; Cancer; Resolution of inflammation; Senescence; Senolytics; Tissue repair
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-020-03746-x
  2. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2021 Jan 07. pii: S0958-1669(20)30184-1. [Epub ahead of print]68 193-201
    The emerging role of one-carbon metabolism in T cells.
    Henry Kurniawan, Takumi Kobayashi, Dirk Brenner.
      One-carbon metabolism (1CM) supports multiple biological functions, providing 1C units for nucleotide synthesis, epigenetic maintenance, and redox regulation. Although much has been deciphered about the relationship between disruption of 1CM and various diseases, our understanding of 1CM's involvement in the regulation of the immune system is only now evolving. In this review, we summarize key checkpoints of 1CM pathways that govern cellular activities. We also report on recent findings regarding the role of 1CM in T cells and discuss several promising avenues requiring future investigation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2020.12.001
  3. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 14. 11(1): 1458
    Inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase activity impairs human T cell activation and function.
    Claudia Nastasi, Andreas Willerlev-Olsen, Kristoffer Dalhoff, Shayne L Ford, Anne-Sofie Østergaard Gadsbøll, Terkild Brink Buus, Maria Gluud, Morten Danielsen, Thomas Litman, Charlotte Mennè Bonefeld, Carsten Geisler, Niels Ødum, Anders Woetmann.
      T cell activation is intimately linked to metabolism, as distinct metabolic requirements support the functional and phenotypical differences between quiescent and activated T cells. Metabolic transition from mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis is crucial for a proper T cell activation. However, the role of tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and in particular succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in activated T cells needs further elucidation. Here we show that inhibition of SDH during activation of T cells results in strong impairment of proliferation, expression of activation markers, and production of key inflammatory cytokines, despite a concomitant increase in glycolytic metabolic activity. Similar effect of SDH inhibition were demonstrated in pre-activated T cell. Interestingly, itaconic acid, an endogenous SDH inhibitor released from activated macrophages and dendritic cells, had no immunomodulator effect. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that SDH enzyme fitness is critical for mounting and maintaining appropriate activation and function of human T cells.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80933-7
  4. Nat Immunol. 2021 Jan 11.
    IL-2 regulates tumor-reactive CD8+ T cell exhaustion by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.
    Yuying Liu, Nannan Zhou, Li Zhou, Jing Wang, Yabo Zhou, Tianzhen Zhang, Yi Fang, Jinwei Deng, Yunfeng Gao, Xiaoyu Liang, Jiadi Lv, Zhenfeng Wang, Jing Xie, Yuanbo Xue, Huafeng Zhang, Jingwei Ma, Ke Tang, Yiliang Fang, Feiran Cheng, Chengjuan Zhang, Bing Dong, Yuzhou Zhao, Peng Yuan, Quanli Gao, Haizeng Zhang, F Xiao-Feng Qin, Bo Huang.
      CD8+ T cell exhaustion dampens antitumor immunity. Although several transcription factors have been identified that regulate T cell exhaustion, the molecular mechanisms by which CD8+ T cells are triggered to enter an exhausted state remain unclear. Here, we show that interleukin-2 (IL-2) acts as an environmental cue to induce CD8+ T cell exhaustion within tumor microenvironments. We find that a continuously high level of IL-2 leads to the persistent activation of STAT5 in CD8+ T cells, which in turn induces strong expression of tryptophan hydroxylase 1, thus catalyzing the conversion to tryptophan to 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). 5-HTP subsequently activates AhR nuclear translocation, causing a coordinated upregulation of inhibitory receptors and downregulation of cytokine and effector-molecule production, thereby rendering T cells dysfunctional in the tumor microenvironment. This molecular pathway is not only present in mouse tumor models but is also observed in people with cancer, identifying IL-2 as a novel inducer of T cell exhaustion.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-020-00850-9
  5. Mech Ageing Dev. 2021 Jan 07. pii: S0047-6374(21)00004-X. [Epub ahead of print] 111432
    Genes and pathways involved in senescence bypass identified by functional genetic screens.
    Eugenia Roupakia, Georgios S Markopoulos, Evangelos Kolettas.
      Cellular senescence is a state of stable and irreversible cell cycle arrest with active metabolism, that normal cells undergo after a finite number of divisions (Hayflick limit). Senescence can be triggered by intrinsic and/or extrinsic stimuli including telomere shortening at the end of a cell's lifespan (telomere-initiated senescence) and in response to oxidative, genotoxic or oncogenic stresses (stress-induced premature senescence). Several effector mechanisms have been proposed to explain senescence programmes in diploid cells, including the induction of DNA damage responses, a senescence-associated secretory phenotype and epigenetic changes. Senescent cells display senescence-associated-β-galactosidase activity and undergo chromatin remodeling resulting in heterochromatinisation. Senescence is established by the pRb and p53 tumour suppressor networks. Senescence has been detected in in vitro cellular settings and in premalignant, but not malignant lesions in mice and humans expressing mutant oncogenes. Despite oncogene-induced senescence, which is believed to be a cancer initiating barrier and other tumour suppressive mechanisms, benign cancers may still develop into malignancies by bypassing senescence. Here, we summarise the functional genetic screens that have identified genes, uncovered pathways and characterised mechanisms involved in senescence evasion. These include cell cycle regulators and tumour suppressor pathways, DNA damage response pathways, epigenetic regulators, SASP components and noncoding RNAs.
    Keywords:  Cell cycle regulators and Tumour suppressors; Chromatin modifiers; Noncoding RNAs; Oncogenic signalling; Transcription factors and SASP
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2021.111432
  6. Sci Immunol. 2021 Jan 15. pii: eabe3702. [Epub ahead of print]6(55):
    Inhibitory signaling sustains a distinct early memory CD8+ T cell precursor that is resistant to DNA damage.
    Jonathan B Johnnidis, Yuki Muroyama, Shin Foong Ngiow, Zeyu Chen, Sasikanth Manne, Zhangying Cai, Shufei Song, Jesse M Platt, Jason M Schenkel, Mohamed Abdel-Hakeem, Jean-Christophe Beltra, Allison R Greenplate, Mohammed-Alkhatim A Ali, Kito Nzingha, Josephine R Giles, Christelle Harly, John Attanasio, Kristen E Pauken, Bertram Bengsch, Michael A Paley, Vesselin T Tomov, Makoto Kurachi, Dario A A Vignali, Arlene H Sharpe, Steven L Reiner, Avinash Bhandoola, F Bradley Johnson, E John Wherry.
      The developmental origins of memory T cells remain incompletely understood. During the expansion phase of acute viral infection, we identified a distinct subset of virus-specific CD8+ T cells that possessed distinct characteristics including expression of CD62L, T cell factor 1 (TCF-1), and Eomesodermin; relative quiescence; expression of activation markers; and features of limited effector differentiation. These cells were a quantitatively minor subpopulation of the TCF-1+ pool and exhibited self-renewal, heightened DNA damage surveillance activity, and preferential long-term recall capacity. Despite features of memory and somewhat restrained proliferation during the expansion phase, this subset displayed evidence of stronger TCR signaling than other responding CD8+ T cells, coupled with elevated expression of multiple inhibitory receptors including programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), lymphocyte activating gene 3 (LAG-3), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), CD5, and CD160. Genetic ablation of PD-1 and LAG-3 compromised the formation of this CD62Lhi TCF-1+ subset and subsequent CD8+ T cell memory. Although central memory phenotype CD8+ T cells were formed in the absence of these cells, subsequent memory CD8+ T cell recall responses were compromised. Together, these results identify an important link between genome integrity maintenance and CD8+ T cell memory. Moreover, the data indicate a role for inhibitory receptors in preserving key memory CD8+ T cell precursors during initial activation and differentiation. Identification of this rare subpopulation within the memory CD8+ T cell precursor pool may help reconcile models of the developmental origin of long-term CD8+ T cell memory.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.abe3702
  7. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jan 08. pii: E590. [Epub ahead of print]22(2):
    Molecular Aspects of Senescence and Organismal Ageing-DNA Damage Response, Telomeres, Inflammation and Chromatin.
    Natalia Sławińska, Renata Krupa.
      Cells can become senescent in response to stress. Senescence is a process characterised by a stable proliferative arrest. Sometimes it can be beneficial-for example, it can suppress tumour development or take part in tissue repair. On the other hand, studies show that it is also involved in the ageing process. DNA damage response (DDR) is triggered by DNA damage or telomere shortening during cell division. When left unresolved, it may lead to the activation of senescence. Senescent cells secrete certain proteins in larger quantities. This phenomenon is referred to as senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). SASP can induce senescence in other cells; evidence suggests that overabundance of senescent cells contributes to ageing. SASP proteins include proinflammatory cytokines and metalloproteinases, which degrade the extracellular matrix. Shortening of telomeres is another feature associated with organismal ageing. Older organisms have shorter telomeres. Restoring telomerase activity in mice not only slowed but also partially reversed the symptoms of ageing. Changes in chromatin structure during senescence include heterochromatin formation or decondensation and loss of H1 histones. During organismal ageing, cells can experience heterochromatin loss, DNA demethylation and global histone loss. Cellular and organismal ageing are both complex processes with many aspects that are often related. The purpose of this review is to bring some of these aspects forward and provide details regarding them.
    Keywords:  DNA damage response; SASP; ageing; chromatin; inflammation; senescence; telomeres
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22020590
  8. Drug Discov Today. 2021 Jan 12. pii: S1359-6446(21)00004-0. [Epub ahead of print]
    Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cell antitumor efficacy and exhaustion: molecular insights.
    Sandeep Kumar, Sunil Kumar Singh, Basabi Rana, Ajay Rana.
      Host immunity has an essential role in the clinical management of cancers. Therefore, it is advantageous to choose therapies that can promote tumor cell death and concurrently boost host immunity. The dynamic tumor microenvironment (TME) determines whether an antineoplastic drug will elicit favorable or disparaging immune responses from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). CD8+ T cells are one of the primary tumor-infiltrating immune cells that deliver antitumor responses. Here, we review the influence of various factors in the TME on CD8+ T cell exhaustion and survival, and possible strategies for restoring CD8+ T cell effector function through immunotherapy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2021.01.002
  9. Nature. 2021 Jan 13.
    Chaperone-mediated autophagy sustains haematopoietic stem-cell function.
    Shuxian Dong, Qian Wang, Yun-Ruei Kao, Antonio Diaz, Inmaculada Tasset, Susmita Kaushik, Victor Thiruthuvanathan, Aliona Zintiridou, Edward Nieves, Monika Dzieciatkowska, Julie A Reisz, Evripidis Gavathiotis, Angelo D'Alessandro, Britta Will, Ana Maria Cuervo.
      The activation of mostly quiescent haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is a prerequisite for life-long production of blood cells1. This process requires major molecular adaptations to allow HSCs to meet the regulatory and metabolic requirements for cell division2-4. The mechanisms that govern cellular reprograming upon stem-cell activation, and the subsequent return of stem cells to quiescence, have not been fully characterized. Here we show that chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA)5, a selective form of lysosomal protein degradation, is involved in sustaining HSC function in adult mice. CMA is required for protein quality control in stem cells and for the upregulation of fatty acid metabolism upon HSC activation. We find that CMA activity in HSCs decreases with age and show that genetic or pharmacological activation of CMA can restore the functionality of old mouse and human HSCs. Together, our findings provide mechanistic insights into a role for CMA in sustaining quality control, appropriate energetics and overall long-term HSC function. Our work suggests that CMA may be a promising therapeutic target for enhancing HSC function in conditions such as ageing or stem-cell transplantation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03129-z
  10. Annu Rev Immunol. 2021 Jan 11.
    Cytokine Regulation and Function in T Cells.
    Chen Dong.
      T lymphocytes, the major effector cells in cellular immunity, produce cytokines in immune responses to mediate inflammation and regulate other types of immune cells. Work in the last three decades has revealed significant heterogeneity in CD4+ T cells, in terms of their cytokine expression, leading to the discoveries of T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, Th17, and T follicular helper (Tfh) cell subsets. These cells possess unique developmental and regulatory pathways and play distinct roles in immunity and immune-mediated pathologies. Other types of T cells, including regulatory T cells and γδ T cells, as well as innate lymphocytes, display similar features of subpopulations, which may play differential roles in immunity. Mechanisms exist to prevent cytokine production by T cells to maintain immune tolerance to self-antigens, some of which may also underscore immune exhaustion in the context of tumors. Understanding cytokine regulation and function has offered innovative treatment of many human diseases. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Immunology, Volume 39 is April 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-immunol-061020-053702
  11. Nat Nanotechnol. 2021 Jan;16(1): 25-36
    Nanomaterials for T-cell cancer immunotherapy.
    Ningqiang Gong, Neil C Sheppard, Margaret M Billingsley, Carl H June, Michael J Mitchell.
      T-cell-based immunotherapies hold promise for the treatment of many types of cancer, with three approved products for B-cell malignancies and a large pipeline of treatments in clinical trials. However, there are several challenges to their broad implementation. These include insufficient expansion of adoptively transferred T cells, inefficient trafficking of T cells into solid tumours, decreased T-cell activity due to a hostile tumour microenvironment and the loss of target antigen expression. Together, these factors restrict the number of therapeutically active T cells engaging with tumours. Nanomaterials are uniquely suited to overcome these challenges, as they can be rationally designed to enhance T-cell expansion, navigate complex physical barriers and modulate tumour microenvironments. Here, we present an overview of nanomaterials that have been used to overcome clinical barriers to T-cell-based immunotherapies and provide our outlook of this emerging field at the interface of cancer immunotherapy and nanomaterial design.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-00822-y
  12. ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2019 Sep 09. 5(9): 4717-4725
    Alginate Enhances Memory Properties of Antitumor CD8+ T Cells by Promoting Cellular Antioxidation.
    Yongli Fan, Yongkui Li, Jian Zhang, Xiuli Ding, Jinyuan Cui, Guobin Wang, Zheng Wang, Lin Wang.
      Alginate, an FDA-approved natural biomaterial usually used as a therapeutic adjuvant, drug carrier, and biological scaffold, reportedly assists the immune system to activate cytotoxic T cells in antitumor assays. In this study, we investigated the direct effect of alginate on cytotoxic T cell function. By incubating sorted cytotoxic CD8+ T cells with alginate, we found that this material facilitated the antitumor cytotoxic activities of T cells. Alginate incubation significantly promoted memory properties of CD8+ T cells and elevated the proportion of CD62L+CD44+ central memory T cell (TCM), a less differentiated T cell subset with high immune activity. Mechanistically, alginate reduced reactive oxide species in CD8+ T cells by increasing intracellular glutathione generation, which was critical for conferring T cells with memory properties. Further, we found that guluronic acid, a constituent component (G unit) of alginate, is responsible for inducing glutathione and promoting TCM. Collectively, we reported new biological activities of alginate on scavenging reactive oxide species and regulating the function of cytotoxic T cells, which suggests that alginate and guluronic acid may be used for improving cytotoxic T cell functions in immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  alginate; central memory T cell; cytotoxic T cell; immunotherapy; reactive oxide species
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00373
  13. J Immunol. 2021 Jan 13. pii: ji2001022. [Epub ahead of print]
    Moderate Exercise Inhibits Age-Related Inflammation, Liver Steatosis, Senescence, and Tumorigenesis.
    Arianna Bianchi, Letizia Marchetti, Zoe Hall, Henrique Lemos, Michele Vacca, Hannah Paish, Kile Green, Bronte Elliott, Dina Tiniakos, João F Passos, Diana Jurk, Derek A Mann, Caroline L Wilson.
      Age-related chronic inflammation promotes cellular senescence, chronic disease, cancer, and reduced lifespan. In this study, we wanted to explore the effects of a moderate exercise regimen on inflammatory liver disease and tumorigenesis. We used an established model of spontaneous inflammaging, steatosis, and cancer (nfkb1-/- mouse) to demonstrate whether 3 mo of moderate aerobic exercise was sufficient to suppress liver disease and cancer development. Interventional exercise when applied at a relatively late disease stage was effective at reducing tissue inflammation (liver, lung, and stomach), oxidative damage, and cellular senescence, and it reversed hepatic steatosis and prevented tumor development. Underlying these benefits were transcriptional changes in enzymes driving the conversion of tryptophan to NAD+, this leading to increased hepatic NAD+ and elevated activity of the NAD+-dependent deacetylase sirtuin. Increased SIRT activity was correlated with enhanced deacetylation of key transcriptional regulators of inflammation and metabolism, NF-κB (p65), and PGC-1α. We propose that moderate exercise can effectively reprogram pre-established inflammatory and metabolic pathologies in aging with the benefit of prevention of disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.2001022
  14. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jan 13. pii: E271. [Epub ahead of print]13(2):
    Adoptive Cell Therapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Biological Rationale and First Results in Early Phase Clinical Trials.
    Philippe Rochigneux, Brice Chanez, Bernadette De Rauglaudre, Emmanuel Mitry, Christian Chabannon, Marine Gilabert.
      The mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is quickly increasing worldwide. In unresectable HCC, the cornerstone of systemic treatments is switching from tyrosine kinase inhibitors to immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICI). Next to ICI, adoptive cell transfer represents another promising field of immunotherapy. Targeting tumor associated antigens such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), glypican-3 (GPC3), or New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-1 (NY-ESO-1), T cell receptor (TCR) engineered T cells and chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) engineered T cells are emerging as potentially effective therapies, with objective responses reported in early phase trials. In this review, we address the biological rationale of TCR/CAR engineered T cells in advanced HCC, their mechanisms of action, and results from recent clinical trials.
    Keywords:  CAR-T cells; adoptive cell transfer; engineered TCR; hepatocellular carcinoma; immunotherapy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13020271
  15. Cell Immunol. 2021 Jan 05. pii: S0008-8749(20)30433-0. [Epub ahead of print]361 104273
    Stem cell-like memory T cells: A perspective from the dark side.
    Shujun Gao, Xiuting Liang, Hui Wang, Boyang Bao, Keyu Zhang, Yanling Zhu, Qixiang Shao.
      Much attention has been paid to a newly discovered subset of memory T (TM) cells-stem cell-like memory T (TSCM) cells for their high self-renewal ability, multi-differentiation potential and long-term effector function in adoptive therapy against tumors. Despite their application in cancer therapy, an excess of TSCM cells also contributes to the persistence of autoimmune diseases for their immune memory and HIV infection as a long-lived HIV reservoir. Signaling pathways Wnt, AMPK/mTOR and NF-κB are key determinants for TM cell generation, maintenance and proinflammatory effect. In this review, we focus on the phenotypic and functional characteristics of TSCM cells and discuss their role in autoimmune diseases and HIV-1 chronic infection. Also, we explore the potential mechanism and signaling pathways involved in immune memory and look into the future therapy strategies of targeting long-lived TM cells to suppress pathogenic immune memory.
    Keywords:  Autoimmune diseases; Cell-targeted therapy; HIV; Immune memory; Regulatory pathways; Stem cell-like memory T cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellimm.2020.104273
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