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Jacques Banchereau

Publications and source records attributed to Jacques Banchereau.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Dendritic cells: controllers of the immune system and a new promise for immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs) can be utilized either as vectors or as targets for therapy. Patients with metastatic melanoma received CD34-DC vaccine that contains Langerhans' cells and interstitial DCs. DCs were pulsed with MART1, tyrosinase, MAGE3, gp100 and Flu-MP peptides, and KLH. DCs induced an immune response to control antigens in 16/18 patients. An enhanced immune response to 1 or more melanoma antigens (MelAgs) was seen in these 16 patients. The two patients failing to respond experienced rapid tumour progression. Six out of seven patients with immunity to two or fewer MelAgs had progressive disease 10 weeks after study entry, in contrast to tumour progression in only 1/10 patients with immunity to > two MelAgs. Since tumour immunotherapy targets autologous antigens we can learn from systemic autoimmunity such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). As opposed to normal monocytes, SLE monocytes induce proliferation of allogeneic CD4+ T cells. SLE sera induce monocyte differentiation towards DCs in an IFNalpha-dependent mechanism. Spiking autologous serum with IFNalpha reproduces DC differentiation. 50% of SLE patients have high serum levels of IFNalpha, which could explain T/B lymphopenia. Yet, plasmacytoid DCs, a major IFNalpha source, are 80% decreased. pDCs and IFNalpha may play a role in SLE pathogenesis and therapy.

Animals↗

Blood dendritic cells and DC-poietins in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Dendritic cells (DCs) control immunity and tolerance. Hence, we surmised that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease with autoreactive T and B cells, might be due to alterations in DC homeostasis. Taken together, our results demonstrate profound alterations of DCs and DC-poietins homeostasis in SLE. Elevated levels of interferon-alpha (IFN) in serum of SLE patients coexist with decreased numbers of cells producing IFN-alpha, i.e., plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs). Decreased numbers of circulating DCs correlate with increased levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors, thus suggesting the potential role of TNF pathway in the observed DC alterations. Finally, increased FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3-ligand (FLT3-L) and its correlation with soluble TNF receptors suggest a physiologic response to compensate low DC numbers. Although IFN-alpha remains at the center of immunologic aberrations in SLE, it remains to be determined whether increased shedding of soluble TNF receptors could also be ascribed to IFN-alpha.

Adolescent↗

How dendritic cells and microbes interact to elicit or subvert protective immune responses.

B and T lymphocytes recognize antigens with high specificity, but neither initiate immune responses, nor decide their types. These functions rest upon dendritic cells (DCs), which can determine and maintain Th1/Th2 polarization. Immune responses are thus dependent on the DC subset, the receptors that recognize each pathogen and the microenvironment. Microbes employ an array of mechanisms to evade and disrupt DC functions; some even hijack DCs for transport around the body. Our progress in the understanding of DC physiology will hopefully help us create the necessary vaccines to counteract the infectious agents that still plague mankind.

Animals↗

The interplay of dendritic cell subsets in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Dendritic cells (DC) control immunity and tolerance. Hence, we surmised that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease with autoreactive T and B cells, might be due to DC alterations. Based on our findings, we are proposing a model of SLE where autoimmune responses are driven by unabated activation of myeloid DC through IFN-alpha produced by plasmacytoid DC. Thus, interplay between DC subsets might represent a key component of SLE pathogenesis.

Autoantibodies↗

Single injection of CD34+ progenitor-derived dendritic cell vaccine can lead to induction of T-cell immunity in patients with stage IV melanoma.

There is evidence that dendritic cell (DC) vaccines induce tumor-specific immune responses that correlate with clinical responses. Little is known, however, about the kinetics of T-cell responses to antigens presented on DC vaccines. The authors vaccinated 18 HLA A*0201+ patients with stage IV melanoma with CD34 HPC-derived DCs pulsed with six antigens: influenza matrix peptide (Flu-MP), KLH, and peptides derived from the four melanoma antigens: MART-1/Melan A, gp100, tyrosinase, and MAGE-3. A single DC vaccination was sufficient for induction of KLH-specific CD4 T-cell responses in five patients and Flu-MP-specific CD8 T-cell responses in eight patients. A single DC vaccine was sufficient for induction of tumor-specific effectors to at least one melanoma antigen in five patients. Thus, a single injection of CD34 HPC-derived DCs can lead to rapid immune response to CD4 epitopes or to melanoma antigens.

Adolescent↗

Measuring melanoma-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes elicited by dendritic cell vaccines with a tumor inhibition assay in vitro.

Improving cancer vaccines depends on assays measuring elicited tumor-specific T-cell immunity. Cytotoxic effector cells are essential for tumor clearance and are commonly evaluated using 51Cr release from labeled target cells after a short (4 hours) incubation with T cells. The authors used a tumor inhibition assay (TIA) that assesses the capacity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to control the survival/growth of EGFP-labeled tumor cell lines. TIA was validated using CD8+ T cells primed in vitro against melanoma and breast cancer cells. TIA was then used to assess the CTL function of cultured CD8+ T cells isolated from patients with metastatic melanoma who underwent vaccination with peptide-pulsed CD34+ HPCs-derived DCs. After the DC vaccination, T cells from six of eight patients yielded CTLs that could inhibit the survival/growth of melanoma cells. The results of TIA correlated with killing of tumor cells in a standard 4-hour 51Cr release assay, yet TIA allowed detection of CTL activities that appeared marginal in the 51Cr release assay. Thus, TIA might prove valuable for measuring spontaneous and induced antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells.

Antigens, CD34↗

Boosting vaccinations with peptide-pulsed CD34+ progenitor-derived dendritic cells can expand long-lived melanoma peptide-specific CD8+ T cells in patients with metastatic melanoma.

The immunogenicity of dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines has been shown in patients with advanced cancer, but it has not yet been established whether the elicited cancer-specific immunity is durable and whether it can be maintained by boosting vaccinations. The authors showed earlier, in 18 HLA-A*0201 metastatic melanoma patients, that four vaccinations over 6 weeks with peptide-loaded CD34-DCs (the induction phase) expand in the blood melanoma-specific CD8+ T cells, as documented by melanoma peptide-specific IFN-gamma ELISPOT and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity against melanoma cell lines. The authors show here that the melanoma peptide-specific CD8+ T-cell immunity is short-lived, but it could be reactivated in 7 of 11 patients who received four boosting vaccinations with peptide-loaded CD34-DCs. Expansion of recall memory CD8+ T cells was confirmed by tetramer binding and CTL activity against melanoma peptide-pulsed T2 cells. In two patients boosted over 15 months, induced melanoma peptide-specific recall memory CD8+ T cells lasted at least 6 months. Thus, boosting vaccination with peptide-loaded CD34-DCs can expand long-lived tumor peptide-specific immunity.

Antigens, CD34↗

Immune and clinical outcomes in patients with stage IV melanoma vaccinated with peptide-pulsed dendritic cells derived from CD34+ progenitors and activated with type I interferon.

Twenty-two HLA A*0201 patients with stage IV melanoma were enrolled in a phase 1 safety and feasibility trial using a composite dendritic cell (DC) vaccine generated by culturing CD34 hematopoietic progenitors and activated with IFN-alpha. The DC vaccine was loaded with peptides derived from four melanoma tissue differentiation antigens (MART-1, tyrosinase, MAGE-3, and gp100) and influenza matrix peptide (Flu-MP). Twenty patients were evaluable, 14 of whom received vaccination with peptide-pulsed DCs without keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and 6 of whom received vaccination with KLH-loaded DCs. Patients were vaccinated until disease progression or until they had received eight vaccinations. None of the analyzed patients showed the expansion of melanoma-peptide-specific circulating effector memory T cells that secrete IFN-gamma in direct ELISPOT. Melanoma-peptide-specific recall memory CD8 T cells able to secrete IFN-gamma and to proliferate could be detected in six of the seven analyzed patients. There were no objective clinical responses. The estimated median overall survival was 12 months (range 2-38), and the median event-free survival was 4 months (range 1-12). There was no statistically significant survival advantage in patients who received KLH-loaded vaccines. As of March 2005, four patients remained alive, 26+, 28+, 28+, and 36+ months. Three of them had received KLH-loaded vaccines and all of them had had additional therapy. Overall, these results suggest that IFN-alpha-activated CD34-DCs are safe but elicit only limited immune responses, underscoring the need to test different DC maturation factors.

Adult↗

Dendritic cells loaded with killed allogeneic melanoma cells can induce objective clinical responses and MART-1 specific CD8+ T-cell immunity.

Dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with killed allogeneic tumors can cross-prime tumor-specific naive CD8 T cells in vitro, thereby providing an option to overcome human leukocyte antigen restriction inherent to loading DC vaccines with peptides. We have vaccinated 20 patients with stage IV melanoma with autologous monocyte-derived DCs loaded with killed allogeneic Colo829 melanoma cell line. DCs were generated by culturing monocytes with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor) and interleukin (IL-4) and activated by additional culture with tumor necrosis factor and CD40 ligand. A total of 8 vaccines were administered at monthly intervals. The first patient was accrued December 2002 and the last November 2003. Fourteen patients were alive at 12 months, 9 patients were alive at 24 months, and 8 patients are alive as of January 2006. The estimated median overall survival is 22.5 months with a range of 2 to 35.5 months. Vaccinations were safe and tolerable. They induced, in 2 patients who failed previous therapy, durable objective clinical responses, 1 complete regression (CR) and 1 partial regression (PR) lasting 18 and 23 months, respectively. Three out of 13 analyzed patients showed T-cell immunity to melanoma antigen recognized by autologous T cells (MART-1) tissue differentiation antigen. Two of 3 patients showed improved immune function after vaccinations demonstrated by improved secretion of interferon (IFN)-gamma or T-cell proliferation in response to MART-1 derived peptides. In one of these patients, vaccination led to elicitation of CD8 T-cell immunity specific to a novel peptide-derived from MART-1 antigen, suggesting that cross-priming/presentation of melanoma antigens by DC vaccine had occurred. Thus, the present results justify the design of larger follow-up studies to assess the clinical response to DC vaccines loaded with killed allogeneic tumor cells in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Adult↗