B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) can hijack the normal bone marrow microenvironment to create a leukemic niche which facilitates blast cell survival and promotes drug ...resistance. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) mimic this protective environment in ex vivo co-cultures with leukemic cells obtained from children with newly diagnosed BCP-ALL. We examined the potential mechanisms of this protection by RNA sequencing of flowsorted MSCs after co-culture with BCP-ALL cells. Leukemic cells induced an interferon (IFN)-related gene signature in MSCs, which was partially dependent on direct cell-cell signaling. The signature was selectively induced by BCP-ALL cells, most profoundly by ETV6-RUNX1 positive ALL cells, as coculture of MSCs with healthy immune cells did not provoke a similar IFN signature. Leukemic cells and MSCs both secreted IFNα and IFNβ, but no IFNγ. In line, the IFN-gene signature was sensitive to blockade of IFNα/β signaling, but less to that of IFNγ. The viability of leukemic cells and level of resistance to three chemotherapeutic agents was not affected by interference with IFN signaling using selective IFNα/β inhibitors or silencing of IFN-related genes. Taken together, our data suggest that the leukemia-induced expression of IFNα/β-related genes by MSCs does not support survival of BCPALL cells but may serve a different role in the pathobiology of BCP-ALL.
Human neonates are highly susceptible to infection, which may be due in part to impaired innate immune function. Neonatal Toll-like receptor (TLR) responses are biased against the generation of ...pro-inflammatory/Th1-polarizing cytokines, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely defined. Here, we demonstrate that neonatal plasma polarizes TLR4-mediated cytokine production. When exposed to cord blood plasma, mononuclear cells (MCs) produced significantly lower TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 and higher IL-10 compared to MC exposed to adult plasma. Suppression by neonatal plasma of TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production, but not induction of TLR4-mediated IL-10 production, was maintained up to the age of 1 month. Cord blood plasma conferred a similar pattern of MC cytokine responses to TLR3 and TLR8 agonists, demonstrating activity towards both MyD88-dependent and MyD88-independent agonists. The factor causing increased TLR4-mediated IL-10 production by cord blood plasma was heat-labile, lost after protein depletion and independent of lipoprotein binding protein (LBP) or soluble CD14 (sCD14). The factor causing inhibition of TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production by cord blood plasma was resistant to heat inactivation or protein depletion and was independent of IL-10, vitamin D and prostaglandin E2. In conclusion, human neonatal plasma contains at least two distinct factors that suppress TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production or induce IL-10 or production. Further identification of these factors will provide insight into the ontogeny of innate immune development and might identify novel targets for the prevention and treatment of neonatal infection.
ROS production is an important effector mechanism mediating intracellular killing of microbes by phagocytes. Inappropriate or untimely ROS production can lead to tissue damage, thus tight regulation ...is essential. We recently characterized signal inhibitory receptor on leukocytes‐1 (SIRL‐1) as an inhibitory receptor expressed by human phagocytes. Here, we demonstrate that ligation of SIRL‐1 dampens Fc receptor‐induced ROS production in primary human phagocytes. In accordance, SIRL‐1 engagement on these cells impairs the microbicidal activity of neutrophils, without affecting phagocytosis. The inhibition of ROS production may result from reduced ERK activation, since co‐ligation of Fc receptors and SIRL‐1 on phagocytes inhibited phosphorylation of ERK. Importantly, we demonstrate that microbial and inflammatory stimuli cause rapid downregulation of SIRL‐1 expression on the surface of primary neutrophils and monocytes. In accordance, SIRL‐1 expression levels on neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with neutrophilic airway inflammation are greatly reduced. We propose that SIRL‐1 on phagocytes sets an activation threshold to prevent inappropriate production of oxygen radicals. Upon infection, SIRL‐1 expression is downregulated, allowing microbial killing and clearance of the pathogen.
The Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor Ibrutinib (PCI-32765) is effective in patients with multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia. We previously showed that ...primary cells of children with TCF3-PBX1 positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) express BTK and are sensitive to ibrutinib in vitro. However, preclinical studies in mice are lacking that justify clinical implementation.
Immunocompromised NSG mice were engrafted with a luciferase-positive TCF3-PBX1 leukemic cell line or primary leukemic cells and treated with ibrutinib or placebo. Additionally, primary cells were exposed in vitro to 4 main induction drugs as monotherapy and in combination with ibrutinib.
Treatment with ibrutinib of mice engrafted with a TCF3-PBX1 cell line, TCF3-PBX1 positive or TCF3-PBX1 negative primary leukemic cells did not result in prolonged life span compared to placebo treated mice. In vitro sensitivity to ibrutinib was unaltered in leukemic cells obtained from engrafted mice compared to the original material. However, ibrutinib treatment did not affect leukemic cell viability and tumor outgrowth, nor could lymphocytosis be detected. Ibrutinib was biologically active, since hCD19+ cells harvested from ibrutinib treated mice had no detectable levels of phospho-BTK at tyrosine 223 (pBTK Y223), whereas pBTK Y223 was still detectable in placebo treated cases. In combination tests, we noticed an antagonistic effect of ibrutinib on vincristine sensitivity, which was not observed for prednisolone, L-asparaginase and daunorubicin.
We conclude that ibrutinib is not the precision medicine of choice for TCF3-PBX1 positive BCP-ALL.
Introduction: B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) cells that are present in the bone marrow microenvironment are able to hijack the normal hematopoietic stem cell niches to create ...a leukemic niche. The importance of this microenvironment for leukemic cells is demonstrated by the protection that the niche provides against chemotherapeutic agents. Patient-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) mimic this protective effect in vitro. Unraveling the mechanism of protection is important to provide potential novel options for therapeutic intervention. Therefore, our research is focused on the interaction between BCP-ALL cells and MSCs. We aimed to determine gene expression changes in BCP-ALL cells and MSCs after co-culture compared to mono-culture, and to investigate which cyto- and chemokines are differentially secreted upon contact between BCP-ALL cells and MSCs.
Methods: We performed co-cultures of primary MSCs and BCP-ALL cells, and mono-cultures of MSCs or BCP-ALL cells for 40 hours to determine gene expression changes. Viable cells were sorted by FACS and RNA was isolated. Total-RNA sequencing data (Illumina) were analyzed using R. Supernatant was saved to determine cyto/chemokine profiles by Luminex technology, and to investigate the effect of these cyto/chemokines on the survival and migration of the leukemic cells. Moreover, migration experiments using transwells (3.0µm pore size) were performed to determine the level of BCP-ALL migration towards cyto/chemokines of interest.
Results: RNA sequencing data from 15 independent co-culture experiments revealed that interferon (IFN)-related genes, such as IFI6, MX1, IFI27, and OAS1, were 2.5 to 3.1-fold upregulated in the MSCs after co-culture with BCP-ALL compared to MSC mono-culture. The type of upregulated pro-inflammatory genes and amount of upregulation varied between BCP-ALL patients. However, the observed changes were always similar when an ALL case was co-cultured with different MSC samples. This suggests that the observed changes are induced by the leukemic cells and that leukemic cells manipulate MSCs. Survival benefit (0.3 - 37.9%) was observed in BCP-ALL cells after co-culture with MSCs compared to BCP-ALL mono-culture. Moreover, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and several migration-related chemokines such as CCL2, CXCL8, and CXCL10/IP-10 were upregulated in 5 out of 15 co-cultures compared to the sum of the separate mono-cultures of BCP-ALL and MSCs. A gradient of CXCL10/IP-10 in transwell experiments showed that this chemokine did not enhance the migration of primary BCP-ALL cells, suggesting that the ALL-induced secretion of this chemokine serves a different role in BCP-ALL. The role of CXCL10/IP-10 and other cyto/chemokines in immune regulation at the time of overt leukemia is part of ongoing studies.
Conclusion: Our data show that IFN-related genes, pro-inflammatory cytokines and migration-related chemokines become upregulated in bone marrow stromal cells upon exposure to BCP-ALL. These induced changes may be important for BCP-ALL cell survival, affecting the mobility of other immune cells, and/or ensure that leukemic cells remain in close contact with MSCs. We postulate that interference with these affected genes and cyto/chemokines may disrupt the direct contact between leukemic cells and their niche, and may provide an alternative way to eliminate leukemic cells more efficaciously. Functional studies addressing this concept are currently being executed and the results will be presented during the meeting.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Approximately 25% of the pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) cases are genetically unclassified. More thorough elucidation of the pathobiology of these genetically ...unclassified ('B-other') cases may identify novel treatment options. We analyzed gene expression profiles of 572 pediatric BCP-ALL cases, representing all major ALL subtypes. High expression of STAP1, an adaptor protein downstream of the B-cell receptor (BCR), was identified in BCR-ABL1-like and non-BCR-ABL1-like B-other cases. Limma analysis revealed an association between high expression of STAP1 and BCR signaling genes. However, STAP1 expression and pre-BCR signaling were not causally related: cytoplasmic Igμ levels were not abnormal in cases with high levels of STAP1 and stimulation of pre-BCR signaling did not induce STAP1 expression. To elucidate the role of STAP1 in BCP-ALL survival, expression was silenced in two human BCP-ALL cell lines. Knockdown of STAP1 did not reduce the proliferation rate or viability of these cells, suggesting that STAP1 is not a likely candidate for precision medicines. Moreover, high expression of STAP1 was not predictive for an unfavorable prognosis of BCR-ABL1-like and non-BCR-ABL1-like B-other cases. Remarkably, DUX4-rearrangements and intragenic ERG deletions, were enriched in cases harboring high expression of STAP1.
•The consistency approach is an avenue for vaccine batch release without animal testing.•In vitro testing of adjuvant biological activity contributes to animal-free potency testing of vaccines.•The ...aluminium-based vaccines and adjuvants tested showed in vitro NLRP3 inflammasome activation.•Benchmark dose modelling showed the activation to be due to the adjuvant only.•In vitro inflammasome activation may be used to measure adjuvant biological activity.
Safety and potency assessment for batch release testing of established vaccines still relies partly on animal tests. An important avenue to move to batch release without animal testing is the consistency approach. This approach is based on thorough characterization of the vaccine to identify critical quality attributes that inform the use of a comprehensive set of non-animal tests to release the vaccine, together with the principle that the quality of subsequent batches follows from their consistent production. Many vaccine antigens are by themselves not able to induce a protective immune response. The antigens are therefore administered together with adjuvant, most often by adsorption to aluminium salts. Adjuvant function is an important component of vaccine potency, and an important quality attribute of the final product. Aluminium adjuvants are capable of inducing NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an in vitro assay for NLRP3 inflammasome activation by aluminium-adjuvanted vaccines. We evaluated the effects of Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular Pertussis combination vaccines from two manufacturers and their respective adjuvants, aluminium phosphate (AP) and aluminium hydroxide (AH), in an in vitro assay for NLRP3 inflammasome activation. All vaccines and adjuvants tested showed a dose-dependent increase in IL-1β production and a concomitant decrease in cell viability, suggesting NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The results were analysed by benchmark dose modelling, showing a similar 50% effective dose (ED50) for the two vaccine batches and corresponding adjuvant of manufacturer A (AP), and a similar ED50 for the two vaccine batches and corresponding adjuvant of manufacturer B (AH). This suggests that NLRP3 inflammasome activation is determined by the adjuvant only. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles reduced the adjuvant biological activity of AH, but not AP. Inflammasome activation may be used to measure adjuvant biological activity as an important quality attribute for control or characterization of the adjuvant.
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