技术资料

PURPOSE We conducted an open-label,single-arm Phase I/II clinical trial in metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) patients eligible for docetaxel combined with treatment with autologous mature dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with killed LNCaP prostate cancer cells (DCVAC/PCa). The primary and secondary endpoints were safety and immune responses,respectively. Overall survival (OS),followed as a part of the safety evaluation,was compared to the predicted OS according to the Halabi and MSKCC nomograms. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Twenty-five patients with progressive mCRPC were enrolled. Treatment comprised of initial 7 days administration of metronomic cyclophosphamide 50 mg p.o. DCVAC/PCa treatment consisted of a median twelve doses of 1 × 107 dendritic cells per dose injected s.c. (Aldara creme was applied at the site of injection) during a one-year period. The initial 2 doses of DCVAC/PCa were administered at a 2-week interval,followed by the administration of docetaxel (75 mg/m2) and prednisone (5 mg twice daily) given every 3 weeks until toxicity or intolerance was observed. The DCVAC/PCa was then injected every 6 weeks up to the maximum number of doses manufactured from one leukapheresis. RESULTS No serious DCVAC/PCa-related adverse events have been reported. The median OS was 19 months,whereas the predicted median OS was 11.8 months with the Halabi nomogram and 13 months with the MSKCC nomogram. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that patients had a lower risk of death compared with both MSKCC (Hazard Ratio 0.26,95% CI: 0.13-0.51) and Halabi (Hazard Ratio 0.33,95% CI: 0.17-0.63) predictions. We observed a significant decrease in Tregs in the peripheral blood. The long-term administration of DCVAC/PCa led to the induction and maintenance of PSA specific T cells. We did not identify any immunological parameter that significantly correlated with better OS. CONCLUSIONS In patients with mCRPC,the combined chemoimmunotherapy with DCVAC/PCa and docetaxel was safe and resulted in longer than expected survival. Concomitant chemotherapy did not preclude the induction of specific anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells. View Publication

The molecular and cellular requirements for the development of different populations of human dendritic cells (DC) were studied. Conditions were defined that support DC production from lymphoid progenitors but that fail to induce DC formation from peripheral monocytes. The production of these lymphoid-related DC was severely blocked when hematopoietic progenitors overexpressed Ik7,a mutant dominant-negative Ikaros protein. In contrast,Ik7 did not block the formation of DC in conditions supporting the development of monocyte-derived DC. Furthermore,Ik7 did not block the formation of monocyte/macrophages and enhanced granulopoiesis. One of the molecular mechanisms mediated by Ik7 appears to be down-regulation of the flt3-receptor mRNA. Thus,distinct signals control the formation of DC demonstrating that some aspects of DC diversity are determined in part by distinct molecular cues at the hematopoietic level. (Blood. 2000;95:128-137) View Publication

Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen presenting cells of the immune system that play a crucial role in lymphocyte responses,host defense mechanisms,and pathogenesis of inflammation. Isolation and study of DCs have been important in biological research because of their distinctive features. Although they are essential key mediators of the immune system,DCs are very rare in blood,accounting for approximately 0.1 - 1% of total blood mononuclear cells. Therefore,alternatives for isolation methods rely on the differentiation of DCs from monocytes isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The utilization of proper isolation techniques that combine simplicity,affordability,high purity,and high yield of cells is imperative to consider. In the current study,two distinct methods for the generation of DCs will be compared. Monocytes were selected by adherence or negatively enriched using magnetic separation procedure followed by differentiation into DCs with IL-4 and GM-CSF. Monocyte and MDDC viability,proliferation,and phenotype were assessed using viability dyes,MTT assay,and CD11c/ CD14 surface marker analysis by imaging flow cytometry. Although the magnetic separation method yielded a significant higher percentage of monocytes with higher proliferative capacity when compared to the adhesion method,the findings have demonstrated the ability of both techniques to simultaneously generate monocytes that are capable of proliferating and differentiating into viable CD11c+ MDDCs after seven days in culture. Both methods yielded textgreater 70% CD11c+ MDDCs. Therefore,our results provide insights that contribute to the development of reliable methods for isolation and characterization of human DCs. View Publication

Targeting of myeloid-dendritic cell receptor DC-SIGN by numerous chronic infectious agents,including Porphyromonas gingivalis,is shown to drive-differentiation of monocytes into dysfunctional mDCs. These mDCs exhibit alterations of their fine-tuned homeostatic function and contribute to dysregulated immune-responses. Here,we utilize P. gingivalis mutant strains to show that pathogen-differentiated mDCs from primary human-monocytes display anti-apoptotic profile,exhibited by elevated phosphorylated-Foxo1,phosphorylated-Akt1,and decreased Bim-expression. This results in an overall inhibition of DC-apoptosis. Direct stimulation of complex component CD40 on DCs leads to activation of Akt1,suggesting CD40 involvement in anti-apoptotic effects observed. Further,these DCs drove dampened CD8(+) T-cell and Th1/Th17 effector-responses while inducing CD25(+)Foxp3(+)CD127(-) Tregs. In vitro Treg induction was mediated by DC expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase,and was confirmed in IDO-KO mouse model. Pathogen-infected &CMFDA-labeled MoDCs long-lasting survival was confirmed in a huMoDC reconstituted humanized mice. In conclusion,our data implicate PDDCs as an important target for resolution of chronic infection. View Publication

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play a vital role in activation of anti-HIV-1 immunity,and suppression of pDCs might mitigate immune responses against HIV-1. HIV-1 gp120 high-mannose has been attributed immunosuppressive roles in human myeloid DCs,but no receptors for high-mannose have so far been reported on human pDCs. Here we show that upon activation with HIV-1 or by a synthetic compound triggering the same receptor in human pDCs as single-stranded RNA,human pDCs upregulate the mannose receptor (MR,CD206). To examine the functional outcome of this upregulation,inactivated intact or viable HIV-1 particles with various degrees of mannosylation were cultured with pDCs. Activation of pDCs was determined by assaying secretion of IFN-alpha,viability,and upregulation of several pDC-activation markers: CD40,CD86,HLA-DR,CCR7,and PD-L1. The level of activation negatively correlated with degree of mannosylation,however,subsequent reduction in the original mannosylation level had no effect on the pDC phenotype. Furthermore,two of the infectious HIV-1 strains induced profound necrosis in pDCs,also in a mannose-independent manner. We therefore conclude that natural mannosylation of HIV-1 is not involved in HIV-1-mediated immune suppression of pDCs. View Publication

The ontogeny of human Langerhans cells (LCs) remains poorly characterized,in particular the nature of LC precursors and the factors that may drive LC differentiation. Here we report that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP),a keratinocyte-derived cytokine involved in epithelial inflammation,cooperates with transforming growth factor (TGF)-β for the generation of LCs. We show that primary human blood BDCA-1(+),but not BDCA-3(+),dendritic cells (DCs) stimulated with TSLP and TGF-β harbor a typical CD1a(+)Langerin(+) LC phenotype. Electron microscopy established the presence of Birbeck granules,an intracellular organelle specific to LCs. LC differentiation was not observed from tonsil BDCA-1(+) and BDCA-3(+) subsets. TSLP + TGF-β LCs had a mature phenotype with high surface levels of CD80,CD86,and CD40. They induced a potent CD4(+) T-helper (Th) cell expansion and differentiation into Th2 cells with increased production of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 compared with CD34-derived LCs. Our findings establish a novel LC differentiation pathway from BDCA-1(+) blood DCs with potential implications in epithelial inflammation. Therapeutic targeting of TSLP may interfere with tissue LC repopulation from circulating precursors. View Publication

In early life,a high susceptibility to infectious diseases as well as a poor capacity to respond to vaccines are generally observed as compared with observations in adults. The mechanisms underlying immune immaturity have not been fully elucidated and could be due to the immaturity of the T/B cell responses and/or to a defect in the nature and quality of Ag presentation by the APC. This prompted us to phenotypically and functionally characterize early life murine dendritic cells (DC) purified from spleens of 7-day-old mice. We showed that neonatal CD11c(+) DC express levels of costimulatory molecules and MHC molecules similar to those of adult DC and are able to fully maturate after LPS activation. Furthermore,we demonstrated that neonatal DC can efficiently take up,process,and present Ag to T cells in vitro and induce specific CTL responses in vivo. Although a reduced number of these cells was observed in the spleen of neonatal mice as compared with adults,this study clearly shows that neonatal DC have full functional capacity and may well prime Ag-specific naive T cells in vivo. View Publication