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Biomedical subjects

Rémi J Creusot

Publications and source records attributed to Rémi J Creusot.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Gene therapy for type 1 diabetes: a novel approach for targeted treatment of autoimmunity.

It has been difficult to develop therapies that target those T cells initiating and mediating the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease. Indeed, most current treatments indiscriminately affect both the autoreactive T cells and the "good" T cells, putting the patient at risk of compromised immune function. A new approach raises the possibility of targeted therapy for autoimmunity. Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells modified to express a protective form of MHC class II corrects a defect in central tolerance. This method contrasts with other targeted therapies that attempt to modify peripheral tolerance, which is also defective in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Animals↗

Local cooperation dominates over competition between CD4+ T cells of different antigen/MHC specificity.

Interactions between CD4(+) T cells in vivo are controlled by a balance between cooperation and competition. In this study the interaction between two populations of CD4(+) T cells of different MHC/peptide specificity was probed at different precursor frequencies, delivering one or both Ags to APC using particle-mediated DNA delivery. Expansion of clonal populations of Ag (OVA and pigeon cytochrome c-specific) CD4(+) T cells was limited at higher precursor frequencies, presumably reflecting intraclonal competition. In contrast, a strong enhancement of the number of cells expressing IFN-gamma, IL-4, and IL-2 was observed in populations of cells at low precursor frequency in the presence of a high frequency of activated cells of a different Ag specificity. The helper effect was most potent when both Ags were delivered to the same dendritic cell (i.e., linked). This reflects the requirement of epicrine or paracrine help for optimal activation of T cell clones at low frequency. A measure of help was also delivered in an endocrine manner (unlinked), especially for Th1 responses, suggesting that there is also limited diffusion of cytokines between dendritic cell clusters. The dominant effects of cooperation over competition between CD4(+) T cells responding to different Ags may have important implications in terms of the efficacy of multivalent vaccines.

Adoptive Transfer↗

Instruction of naive CD4+ T cells by polarized CD4+ T cells within dendritic cell clusters.

Cooperation between CD4(+) T cells can enhance the response and modulate the cytokine profile, and defining these parameters has become a major issue for multivalent-vaccine strategies. We explored cooperation using adoptive transfer of two populations of TCR transgenic T cells of different specificity. One was transferred without prior activation, whereas the second was activated for five days by antigen stimulation under polarizing culture conditions. Both populations were transferred into a single adoptive host and then primed by particle-mediated DNA delivery. Polarized Th1 cells (inducers) raised the frequency of IFN-gamma(+) cells within a naive (target) population, whereas Th2 inducers raised the frequency of IL-4(+) and reduced that of IL-2(+) cells. These effects were obtained when the genes for both antigens were on the same particle, favoring presentation by the same dendritic cell, but not when on different particles delivered to different dendritic cells. Autonomy of DC clusters allows linked sets of antigens (e.g. from a single pathogen) to maintain cytokine bias, but allows other independent responses, each with their own set of autonomous clusters.

Adoptive Transfer↗