bims-imseme Biomed News
on Immunosenescence and T cell metabolism
Issue of 2021‒08‒22
ten papers selected by
Pierpaolo Ginefra
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
  1. ZFP91 disturbs metabolic fitness and antitumor activity of tumor-infiltrating T cells.
  2. Stem cell-like memory T cells: The generation and application.
  3. BET bromodomain protein inhibition reverses chimeric antigen receptor extinction and reinvigorates exhausted T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
  4. Hobit identifies tissue-resident memory T cell precursors that are regulated by Eomes.
  5. The Importance of Metabolism for Immune Homeostasis in Allergic Diseases.
  6. Interplay between γδT-Cell Metabolism and Tumour Microenvironment Offers Opportunities for Therapeutic Intervention.
  7. Activation or exhaustion of CD8+ T cells in patients with COVID-19.
  8. IL-33 activates mTORC1 and modulates glycolytic metabolism in CD8+ T cells.
  9. Metabolic pre-conditioning in CD4 T cells restores inducible immune tolerance in lupus prone mice.
  10. Cellular Senescence in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
  1. J Clin Invest. 2021 Aug 17. pii: 144318. [Epub ahead of print]
    ZFP91 disturbs metabolic fitness and antitumor activity of tumor-infiltrating T cells.
    Feixiang Wang, Yuerong Zhang, Xiaoyan Yu, Xiao-Lu Teng, Rui Ding, Zhilin Hu, Aiting Wang, Zhengting Wang, Youqiong Ye, Qiang Zou.
      Proper metabolic activities facilitate T cell expansion and antitumor function; however, the mechanisms underlying disruption of the T cell metabolic programme and function in the tumor microenvironment (TME) remain elusive. Here, we show a Zinc finger protein 91 (ZFP91)-governed mechanism disrupting the metabolic pathway and antitumor activity of tumor-infiltrating T cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that impairments in T cell proliferation and activation correlated with ZFP91 in tissue samples from colorectal cancer patients. T cell-specific deletion of Zfp91 led to enhanced T cell proliferation and potentiated T cell antitumor function. Loss of ZFP91 increased mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activity to drive T cell glycolysis. Mechanistically, T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-dependent ZFP91 cytosolic translocation promoted protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex assembly, thereby restricting mTORC1-mediated metabolic reprogramming. Our results demonstrate that ZFP91 perturbs T cell metabolic and functional states in the TME and suggest that targeting ZFP91 may improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  Immunology; Immunotherapy; Metabolism; T cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI144318
  2. J Leukoc Biol. 2021 Aug 17.
    Stem cell-like memory T cells: The generation and application.
    Yutong Wang, Feng Qiu, Yifan Xu, Xiaorui Hou, Zhili Zhang, Lei Huang, Huijun Wang, Hui Xing, Sha Wu.
      Stem cell-like memory T cells (Tscm), are a newly defined memory T cell subset with characteristics of long life span, consistent self-renewing, rapid differentiation into effector T cells, and apoptosis resistance. These features indicate that Tscm have great therapeutic or preventive purposes, including being applied in chimeric Ag receptor-engineered T cells, TCR gene-modified T cells, and vaccines. However, the little knowledge about Tscm development restrains their applications. Strength and duration of TCR signaling, cytokines and metabolism in the T cells during activation all influence the Tscm development via regulating transcriptional factors and cell signaling pathways. Here, we summarize the molecular and cellular pathways involving Tscm differentiation, and its clinical application for cancer immunotherapy and prevention.
    Keywords:  IFNγ; JAK/STAT pathway; cell ferroptosis; system xc-
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/JLB.5MR0321-145R
  3. J Clin Invest. 2021 Aug 16. pii: 145459. [Epub ahead of print]131(16):
    BET bromodomain protein inhibition reverses chimeric antigen receptor extinction and reinvigorates exhausted T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
    Weimin Kong, Alexander Dimitri, Wenliang Wang, In-Young Jung, Christopher J Ott, Maria Fasolino, Yan Wang, Irina Kulikovskaya, Minnal Gupta, Todd Yoder, Jamie E DeNizio, John K Everett, Erik F Williams, Jun Xu, John Scholler, Tyler J Reich, Vijay G Bhoj, Kathleen M Haines, Marcela V Maus, J Joseph Melenhorst, Regina M Young, Julie K Jadlowsky, Katherine T Marcucci, James E Bradner, Bruce L Levine, David L Porter, Frederic D Bushman, Rahul M Kohli, Carl H June, Megan M Davis, Simon F Lacey, Golnaz Vahedi, Joseph A Fraietta.
      Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have induced remarkable antitumor responses in B cell malignancies. Some patients do not respond because of T cell deficiencies that hamper the expansion, persistence, and effector function of these cells. We used longitudinal immune profiling to identify phenotypic and pharmacodynamic changes in CD19-directed CAR T cells in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CAR expression maintenance was also investigated because this can affect response durability. CAR T cell failure was accompanied by preexisting T cell-intrinsic defects or dysfunction acquired after infusion. In a small subset of patients, CAR silencing was observed coincident with leukemia relapse. Using a small molecule inhibitor, we demonstrated that the bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) family of chromatin adapters plays a role in downregulating CAR expression. BET protein blockade also ameliorated CAR T cell exhaustion as manifested by inhibitory receptor reduction, enhanced metabolic fitness, increased proliferative capacity, and enriched transcriptomic signatures of T cell reinvigoration. BET inhibition decreased levels of the TET2 methylcytosine dioxygenase, and forced expression of the TET2 catalytic domain eliminated the potency-enhancing effects of BET protein targeting in CAR T cells, providing a mechanism linking BET proteins and T cell dysfunction. Thus, modulating BET epigenetic readers may improve the efficacy of cell-based immunotherapies.
    Keywords:  Cancer gene therapy; Immunology; Leukemias; Oncology; T cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI145459
  4. Sci Immunol. 2021 Aug 20. pii: eabg3533. [Epub ahead of print]6(62):
    Hobit identifies tissue-resident memory T cell precursors that are regulated by Eomes.
    Loreto Parga-Vidal, Felix M Behr, Natasja A M Kragten, Benjamin Nota, Thomas H Wesselink, Inga Kavazović, Laura E Covill, Margo B P Schuller, Yenan T Bryceson, Felix M Wensveen, Rene A W van Lier, Teunis J P van Dam, Regina Stark, Klaas P J M van Gisbergen.
      Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells (TRM) constitute a noncirculating memory T cell subset that provides early protection against reinfection. However, how TRM arise from antigen-triggered T cells has remained unclear. Exploiting the TRM-restricted expression of Hobit, we used TRM reporter/deleter mice to study TRM differentiation. We found that Hobit was up-regulated in a subset of LCMV-specific CD8+ T cells located within peripheral tissues during the effector phase of the immune response. These Hobit+ effector T cells were identified as TRM precursors, given that their depletion substantially decreased TRM development but not the formation of circulating memory T cells. Adoptive transfer experiments of Hobit+ effector T cells corroborated their biased contribution to the TRM lineage. Transcriptional profiling of Hobit+ effector T cells underlined the early establishment of TRM properties including down-regulation of tissue exit receptors and up-regulation of TRM-associated molecules. We identified Eomes as a key factor instructing the early bifurcation of circulating and resident lineages. These findings establish that commitment of TRM occurs early in antigen-driven T cell differentiation and reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying this differentiation pathway.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.abg3533
  5. Front Immunol. 2021 ;12 692004
    The Importance of Metabolism for Immune Homeostasis in Allergic Diseases.
    Juan Rodriguez-Coira, Alma Villaseñor, Elena Izquierdo, Mengting Huang, Tomás Clive Barker-Tejeda, Urszula Radzikowska, Milena Sokolowska, Domingo Barber.
      There is increasing evidence that the metabolic status of T cells and macrophages is associated with severe phenotypes of chronic inflammation, including allergic inflammation. Metabolic changes in immune cells have a crucial role in their inflammatory or regulatory responses. This notion is reinforced by metabolic diseases influencing global energy metabolism, such as diabetes or obesity, which are known risk factors of severity in inflammatory conditions, due to the metabolic-associated inflammation present in these patients. Since several metabolic pathways are closely tied to T cell and macrophage differentiation, a better understanding of metabolic alterations in immune disorders could help to restore and modulate immune cell functions. This link between energy metabolism and inflammation can be studied employing animal, human or cellular models. Analytical approaches rank from classic immunological studies to integrated analysis of metabolomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. This review summarizes the main metabolic pathways of the cells involved in the allergic reaction with a focus on T cells and macrophages and describes different models and platforms of analysis used to study the immune system and its relationship with metabolism.
    Keywords:  -omics; allergy; immune cells; immunometabolism; metabolic regulation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.692004
  6. Immunometabolism. 2021 Jul 30. 3(3): 210026
    Interplay between γδT-Cell Metabolism and Tumour Microenvironment Offers Opportunities for Therapeutic Intervention.
    Marta Barisa, Daniel Fowler, Jonathan Fisher.
      Solid tumour targeting using adoptive cell therapy has failed to reproduce the spectacular clinical successes seen with chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies and B cell malignancies. Low in glucose, oxygen, pH and populated with suppressive cells, the solid tumour microenvironment (TME) remains a formidable obstacle to successful immune targeting. The use of atypical, tissue-tropic lymphocytes, such as γδT cells, may offer enhanced tumour trafficking over canonical αβT cells. Nonetheless, γδT cells too interact with the TME. The consequences of this interaction are poorly understood and of high translational relevance. Lopes and colleagues show that, in a murine context, low glucose environments preferentially retained pro-tumorigenic IL-17-producing γδT cells. Anti-tumorigenic IFN-γ-producing γδT cells, meanwhile, required high ambient glucose to survive and exert effector function. Unexpectedly, this metabolic imprinting was evident in the murine thymus, suggesting that the ontological separation of these functional subsets occurs early in their development. Elucidation of this relationship between TME glucose levels and γδT cell functionality in a human context is likely to carry significant implications for the development of γδT cell-based oncoimmunotherapeutics.
    Keywords:  gamma delta T cells; immunometabolism; immunotherapy; oncoimmunology; solid tumours; γδT cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.20900/immunometab20210026
  7. Cell Mol Immunol. 2021 Aug 19.
    Activation or exhaustion of CD8+ T cells in patients with COVID-19.
    Min-Seok Rha, Eui-Cheol Shin.
      In addition to CD4+ T cells and neutralizing antibodies, CD8+ T cells contribute to protective immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing pandemic disease. In patients with COVID-19, CD8+ T cells exhibiting activated phenotypes are commonly observed, although the absolute number of CD8+ T cells is decreased. In addition, several studies have reported an upregulation of inhibitory immune checkpoint receptors, such as PD-1, and the expression of exhaustion-associated gene signatures in CD8+ T cells from patients with COVID-19. However, whether CD8+ T cells are truly exhausted during COVID-19 has been a controversial issue. In the present review, we summarize the current understanding of CD8+ T-cell exhaustion and describe the available knowledge on the phenotypes and functions of CD8+ T cells in the context of activation and exhaustion. We also summarize recent reports regarding phenotypical and functional analyses of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells and discuss long-term SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T-cell memory.
    Keywords:  Activation; CD8+ T cell; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T-cell exhaustion
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-021-00750-4
  8. Immunology. 2021 Aug 19.
    IL-33 activates mTORC1 and modulates glycolytic metabolism in CD8+ T cells.
    Yuejin Liang, Xiaofang Wang, Hui Wang, Wenjing Yang, Panpan Yi, Lynn Soong, Yingzi Cong, Jiyang Cai, Xuegong Fan, Jiaren Sun.
      Interleukin (IL)-33, a member in the IL-1 family, plays a central role in innate and adaptive immunity; however, how IL-33 mediates cytotoxic T cell regulation and the downstream signals remain elusive. In this study, we found increased mouse IL-33 expression in CD8+ T cells following cell activation via anti-CD3/CD28 stimulation in vitro or Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection in vivo. Our cell adoptive transfer experiment demonstrated that extracellular, but not nuclear, IL-33 contributed to the activation and proliferation of CD8+ , but not CD4+ T effector cells in LCMV infection. Importantly, IL-33 induced mTORC1 activation in CD8+ T cells as evidenced by increased phosphorylated S6 Ribosomal Protein (p-S6) levels both in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, this IL-33-induced CD8+ T cell activation was suppressed by mTORC1 inhibitors. Furthermore, IL-33 elevated glucose uptake and lactate production in CD8+ T cells in both dose- and time-dependent manners. The results of glycolytic rate assay demonstrated the increased glycolytic capacity of IL-33-treated CD8+ T cells compared with that of control cells. Our mechanistic study further revealed the capacity of IL-33 in promoting the expression of glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) and glycolytic enzymes via mTORC1, leading to accelerated aerobic glucose metabolism Warburg effect and increased effector T cell activation. Together, our data provide new insights into IL-33-mediated regulation of CD8+ T cells, which might be beneficial for therapeutic strategies of inflammatory and infectious diseases in the future.
    Keywords:  CD8; Glut1; Glycolytic metabolism; IL-33; T cells; mTORC1
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/imm.13404
  9. JCI Insight. 2021 Aug 17. pii: 143245. [Epub ahead of print]
    Metabolic pre-conditioning in CD4 T cells restores inducible immune tolerance in lupus prone mice.
    Christopher S Wilson, Blair T Stocks, Emilee M Hoopes, Jillian P Rhoads, Kelsey L McNew, Amy S Major, Daniel J Moore.
      Autoimmune disease has presented an insurmountable barrier to restoration of durable immune tolerance. Previous studies indicate that chronic therapy with metabolic inhibitors can reduce autoimmune inflammation, but it remains unknown whether acute metabolic modulation enables permanent immune tolerance to be established. In an animal model of lupus, we determined that targeting glucose metabolism with 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) and mitochondrial metabolism with metformin enables endogenous immune tolerance mechanisms to respond to tolerance induction. A 2-week course of 2DG and metformin, when combined with tolerance-inducing therapy anti-CD45RB, prevented renal deposition of autoantibodies for 6 months after initial treatment and also restored tolerance induction to allografts in lupus-prone mice. The restoration of durable immune tolerance was linked to changes in T cell surface glycosylation patterns, illustrating a role for glycoregulation in immune tolerance. These findings indicate that metabolic therapy may be applied as a powerful preconditioning to reinvigorate tolerance mechanisms in autoimmune and transplant settings that resist current immune therapies.
    Keywords:  Autoimmune diseases; Autoimmunity; Lupus; Tolerance; Transplantation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.143245
  10. Curr Mol Biol Rep. 2021 Aug 12. 1-10
    Cellular Senescence in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
    D L Kellogg, D L Kellogg, N Musi, A M Nambiar.
      Cellular senescence (CS) is increasingly implicated in the etiology of age-related diseases. While CS can facilitate physiological processes such as tissue repair and wound healing, senescent cells also contribute to pathophysiological processes involving macromolecular damage and metabolic dysregulation that characterize multiple morbid and prevalent diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, osteoarthritis, atherosclerotic vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Preclinical studies targeting senescent cells and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) with "senotherapeutics" have demonstrated improvement in age-related morbidity associated with these disease states. Despite promising results from these preclinical trials, few human clinical trials have been conducted. A first-in-human, open-label, pilot study of the senolytic combination of dasatinib and quercetin (DQ) in patients with IPF showed improved physical function and mobility. In this review, we will discuss our current understanding of cellular senescence, its role in age-associated diseases, with a specific focus on IPF, and potential for senotherapeutics in the treatment of fibrotic lung diseases.
    Keywords:  Cellular senescence; Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; Senolytics; Senomorphics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s40610-021-00145-4
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