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Biomedical subjects

C Gouttefangeas

Publications and source records attributed to C Gouttefangeas.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

High frequency of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific CD8+ T cells detected in a healthy CMV-seropositive donor.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) persists after infection but is controlled by cellular immune responses, particularly by CD8+ T cells. If infected individuals are immunosuppressed, HCMV can be reactivated. Upon testing the blood of healthy donors with human lymphocyte antigen tetramers, we found one individual with about 50% of his CD8+ T cells being specific for the immunodominant pp65 epitope NLVPMVATV Over a period of 2 years the high level of HCMV-specific T cells was maintained, and no HCMV DNA could be detected. At one timepoint, however, HCMV-specific DNA was detected, while 65% of CD8+ T cells were specific for HCMV. When virus was detectable, a lower percentage of HCMV-specific CD8+ T cells showed interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production after peptide stimulation in vitro. These data suggest that HCMV reactivation may also occur in immunocompetent persons, accompanied by the presence of HCMV-specific CD8+ T cells which are not producing IFNy, and therefore potentially anergic or in vivo exhausted.

Blood Donors↗

Functional T lymphocytes infiltrate implanted polyvinyl alcohol foams during surgical wound closure therapy.

Vacuum-assisted closure involving the implantation of polyvinyl alcohol foam is a technique recently developed for the treatment of patients suffering from either wound infection or chronic wounds. This method has been shown to improve and accelerate wound healing. However, little is known about the cell populations that infiltrate the foam, and their potential role in resolving the infection and promoting granulation tissue formation. Our study demonstrates that wound-implanted foams are mainly infiltrated with granulocytes, but that mononuclear cells, including macrophages and minor populations of T, B and natural killer lymphocytes, are also present. We show that foam-infiltrating T cells, especially CD4(+) T cells, constitute a phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous population influenced by wound-infecting bacteria. Thus, T lymphocytes could play a role in wound cleansing. In addition, our data indicate that implanted polyvinyl alcohol foams might be suitable microenvironments for manipulating T cell-mediated immune responses in patients.

Adult↗

Thrombocyte HLA molecules retain nonrenewable endogenous peptides of megakaryocyte lineage and do not stimulate direct allocytotoxicity in vitro.

The origin and the function of HLA class I molecules present on the surface of human platelets are still unclear. In particular, it is controversial which fraction of these class I molecules represents integral membrane components derived from the megakaryocyte-platelet lineage versus soluble plasma HLA molecules acquired by adsorption. Results of the present study show that HLA-A2 ligands isolated from platelets possess the same peptide motif as described for HLA-A2-associated peptides obtained from nucleated cells. Sequencing of these platelet-derived peptides reveals that they originate mainly from ubiquitously expressed proteins also present in the megakaryocyte-platelet lineage. Moreover, one of these peptides derives from the GPIX protein, which is specifically expressed by platelets and their precursors. Platelet HLA molecules are unstable in vitro at 37 degrees C, but can be partially stabilized by addition of exogenous beta(2)-microglobulin and HLA class I binding peptide, suggesting that platelets cannot load HLA molecules with endogenous peptides. In in vitro experiments platelets were used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells. No allospecific cytotoxicity was observed after primary stimulation, or secondary restimulation, with allogenic resting or activated platelets, even in the presence of additional third-party helper activity. These data indicate that HLA class I molecules from platelets cannot directly induce allogenic CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell response in vitro.

Blood Platelets↗

Identification of tumor-associated MHC class I ligands by a novel T cell-independent approach.

Specific immunotherapy of cancer utilizes tumor-directed cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) that lyse tumor cells presenting MHC class I-associated peptides derived from tumor-associated proteins. Many tumor-associated gene products are known, but corresponding T cell epitopes are only known for relatively few of these. The most commonly used approaches to identify such antigens require pre-existing CTL lines or clones. By using a CTL-independent high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC MS)-based approach we identified HLA-A2-presented peptides from carcinoembryonic antigen and wild-type p53 with a copy number as low as eight molecules per cell. Potential epitopes were predicted from the sequences of known tumor antigens and the corresponding synthetic peptides were analyzed by nanocapillary HPLC MS. In parallel, peptides were extracted from fresh, solid tumor tissue or tumor cell lines and analyzed in the same way. Upon co-elution of a natural peptide with a predicted peptide of the same mass, the peptide sequence was confirmed by on-line tandem MS. This approach allows rapid screening of large numbers of tumor-associated gene products for naturally processed peptides presented by different MHC class I molecules as a prerequisite for efficient epitope identification and rapid transfer to therapeutic vaccine trials.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Differential binding to frequent HLA-A alleles of p21 RAS derived peptides bearing oncogenic substitutions at position 12 or 13.

RAS oncogenic proteins are frequently found mutated in human cancers, where they are known to be implicated in the tumoral process. Mutations occur preferentially at positions 12, 13 or 61. Identification of potential T cell epitopes is the first step to determine it RAS mutated proteins can generate tumor specific antigens which could be further used as targets for cancer immunotherapy protocols. We have investigated the capacity of synthetic wild-type and mutant RAS derived peptides encompassing positions 12 and 13 to bind to three frequent HLA-A alleles: HLA-A*0201, HLA-A*0301 and HLA-A*1101. Binding was evaluated by two methods using TAP-defective cell lines: a cytometric assay based on HLA molecules stabilization at the cell surface, and an assembly assay detecting interactions between solubilized HLA molecules and peptides. Positive HLA binding was observed for two sets of synthetic peptides, one specific for HLA-A*0201 allele (RAS 5-14), and the other one specific for HLA-A*0301 and HLA-A*1101 alleles (RAS 8-16). Interestingly, the different substitutions at positions 12 and 13 were not equivalent for HLA binding. These observations will be useful for the in vitro generation of restricted CD8+ T lymphocytes specific for mutated RAS proteins and recognizing tumoral cells expressing such RAS mutations.

Alleles↗

Differential proliferative responses in subsets of human CD28+ cells delineated by BB27 mAb.

We report the identification of a novel 140 kDa disulfide-linked dimer expressed by a subset of peripheral blood T lymphocytes. This molecule, which is recognized by mAb BB27, is also detected on cells of the myelomonocytic lineage. In the T cell lineage, its expression is positively modulated after lymphocyte activation. A series of double-labeling experiments revealed that BB27 mAb identifies new CD4 and CD8 cell subsets different from those defined by CD45RA, CD45RO, CD26, CD29, CD31, and CD38. Finally, BB27 mAb also subdivides the CD28 subset. Of the utmost interest is the finding that a proliferative response to CD28 mAb and phorbol myristate acetate stimulation is exclusively obtained in the CD28+BB27+ cell subset, whereas the CD28+BB27- subset fails to proliferate.

Animals↗

The CD39 molecule defines distinct cytotoxic subsets within alloactivated human CD8-positive cells.

Lymphocyte activation induces or increases the expression of several surface structures, none of which is characteristic of an activated cell subset. In particular, structures such as CD45RO, CD25, CD26, CD49b, CD54, CD71 are expressed by the vast majority of lymphocytes at various times following in vitro activation. CD39 molecules were originally identified on activated B lymphocytes and have recently been described on activated T cell clones. In the present report, we have characterized phenotypically and functionally defined cell subsets generated during an in vitro allostimulation. Results indicated that the percentage of CD39+ cells reached a maximum at day 6 and remained stable thereafter. We demonstrate that CD39 expression allows the identification within the allosensitized CD8+ cytotoxic cells of distinct subsets of cells mediating allo cytotoxic T lymphocyte or natural killer (NK)-like reactivity. More precisely, CD8+CD39+ alloactivated cells mainly mediate specific killer activity, whereas CD8+CD39- alloactivated cells predominantly exhibit NK-like reactivity. Further, we show a high functional correlation associated with the lack of CD39 expression on NK-like alloactivated CD8+ cells, while there is no association with CD56 or CD57 NK-associated structures.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

In vitro differentiation from a pluripotent human CD4+CD8+ thymic cloned cell into four phenotypically distinct subsets.

Human thymic cell differentiation is almost totally unknown. In the present study we developed an in vitro system using human thymic cloned cells to analyze precursor-progeny relationship. We obtained several CD4+CD8+ double positive thymic clones that could give rise after several weeks in culture only to either CD4 or CD8 single positive clones. By contrast we isolated a unique pluripotent thymic double positive clone, termed B12, which differentiated into four phenotypically distinct T cell clones, namely double-positive CD4+CD8+, double-negative CD4-CD8- or either single-positive phenotype. We derived stable subclones representative of each phenotype and we showed by molecular analysis that they expressed the same TCR. Utilization of either CD3 or anticlonotypic mAb revealed that this TCR expressed by the four subclones was functional.

Antigens, CD↗

Study of the CD3-associated T-cell receptors reveals further differences between T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma and leukemia.

We show further differences between two clinically related entities, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL), by using several monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) reacting with either constant or variable regions of T-cell receptors (TcR) alpha beta and gamma delta or with various CD molecules. We analyzed a panel of 15 T-ALL and 15 T-LL selected for their cell surface expression of the CD3 molecules. The results indicated that TcR gamma delta is more frequently used than TcR alpha beta in T-ALL (10 of the 15 patients tested). This is in contrast to the results obtained with T-LL where the vast majority expressed TcR alpha beta (13 of the 15 patients). These findings suggest that the leukemic cells could have a different origin in these two diseases. In addition, analysis of TcR variable regions expressed by the leukemic blasts showed that, in most cases, they had rearranged functional V delta 1 gene segments (8 of 11 patients), whereas in a unique case V delta 2 gene segment was used. Together, these results and those indicating that T-ALL cells coexpress the CD1a, b, and c molecules strengthen the possibility that although these leukemic cells express the CD3-TcR complex at their cell surface, their normal counterparts are not found in peripheral blood.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Utilization of two different T cell receptors by T cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma and leukemia.

We show further differences between two clinically related entities, T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL), by using several monoclonal antibodies (mAb) reacting either with constant or variable regions of T cell receptors (TcR) alpha beta and gamma delta or with various CD molecules. We analysed a panel of 15 T-ALL and 15 T-LL selected for their cell surface expression of the CD3 molecules. The results indicate that TcR gamma delta is more frequently used than TcR alpha beta in T-ALL (10 out of the 15 patients tested). This is in contrast to the results obtained with T-LL where the vast majority expressed TcR alpha beta (13 out of the 15 patients). These findings suggest that the leukemic cells could have a different origin in these two diseases. In addition analysis of TcR variable regions expressed by the leukemic blasts showed that in most cases they had rearranged functional V delta 1 gene segments (8 out of 11 patients) whereas in a unique case V delta 2 gene segment was used. Taken together these results and those indicating that T-ALL cell coexpress the CD1a,b and c molecules strengthen the possibility that even though these leukemic cells express the CD3-TcR complex at their cell surface their normal counterparts are not found in peripheral blood.

Adult↗