Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in humans is a major trigger of malignant and nonmalignant B cell proliferations. CD27 is a co-stimulatory molecule of T cells, and inherited CD27 deficiency is ...characterized by high susceptibility to EBV infection, though the underlying pathological mechanisms have not yet been identified. In this study, we report a patient suffering from recurrent EBV-induced B cell proliferations including Hodgkin's lymphoma because of a deficiency in CD70, the ligand of CD27. We show that EBV-specific T lymphocytes did not expand properly when stimulated with CD70-deficient EBV-infected B cells, whereas expression of CD70 in B cells restored expansion, indicating that CD70 on B cells but not on T cells is required for efficient proliferation of T cells. CD70 was found to be up-regulated on B cells when activated and during EBV infection. The proliferation of T cells triggered by CD70-expressing B cells was dependent on CD27 and CD3 on T cells. Importantly, CD27-deficient T cells failed to proliferate when stimulated with CD70-expressing B cells. Thus, the CD70-CD27 pathway appears to be a crucial component of EBV-specific T cell immunity and more generally for the immune surveillance of B cells and may be a target for immunotherapy of B cell malignancies.
In previous clinical trials involving children with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1), a Moloney murine leukemia virus-based γ-retrovirus vector expressing interleukin-2 receptor ...γ-chain (γc) complementary DNA successfully restored immunity in most patients but resulted in vector-induced leukemia through enhancer-mediated mutagenesis in 25% of patients. We assessed the efficacy and safety of a self-inactivating retrovirus for the treatment of SCID-X1.
We enrolled nine boys with SCID-X1 in parallel trials in Europe and the United States to evaluate treatment with a self-inactivating (SIN) γ-retrovirus vector containing deletions in viral enhancer sequences expressing γc (SIN-γc).
All patients received bone marrow-derived CD34+ cells transduced with the SIN-γc vector, without preparative conditioning. After 12.1 to 38.7 months of follow-up, eight of the nine children were still alive. One patient died from an overwhelming adenoviral infection before reconstitution with genetically modified T cells. Of the remaining eight patients, seven had recovery of peripheral-blood T cells that were functional and led to resolution of infections. The patients remained healthy thereafter. The kinetics of CD3+ T-cell recovery was not significantly different from that observed in previous trials. Assessment of insertion sites in peripheral blood from patients in the current trial as compared with those in previous trials revealed significantly less clustering of insertion sites within LMO2, MECOM, and other lymphoid proto-oncogenes in our patients.
This modified γ-retrovirus vector was found to retain efficacy in the treatment of SCID-X1. The long-term effect of this therapy on leukemogenesis remains unknown. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01410019, NCT01175239, and NCT01129544.).
Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have potent immunological functions in experimental conditions in mice, but their contributions to immunity in natural conditions in humans have remained unclear. We ...investigated the presence of ILCs in a cohort of patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). All ILC subsets were absent in patients with SCID who had mutation of the gene encoding the common γ-chain cytokine receptor subunit IL-2Rγ or the gene encoding the tyrosine kinase JAK3. T cell reconstitution was observed in patients with SCID after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), but the patients still had considerably fewer ILCs in the absence of myeloablation than did healthy control subjects, with the exception of rare cases of reconstitution of the ILC1 subset of ILCs. Notably, the ILC deficiencies observed were not associated with any particular susceptibility to disease, with follow-up extending from 7 years to 39 years after HSCT. We thus report here selective ILC deficiency in humans and show that ILCs might be dispensable in natural conditions, if T cells are present and B cell function is preserved.
Summary Background In chronic granulomatous disease allogeneic haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in adolescents and young adults and patients with high-risk disease is complicated by ...graft-failure, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and transplant-related mortality. We examined the effect of a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen designed to enhance myeloid engraftment and reduce organ toxicity in these patients. Methods This prospective study was done at 16 centres in ten countries worldwide. Patients aged 0–40 years with chronic granulomatous disease were assessed and enrolled at the discretion of individual centres. Reduced-intensity conditioning consisted of high-dose fludarabine (30 mg/m2 infants <9 kg 1·2 mg/kg; one dose per day on days −8 to −3), serotherapy (anti-thymocyte globulin 10 mg/kg, one dose per day on days −4 to −1; or thymoglobuline 2·5 mg/kg, one dose per day on days −5 to −3; or low-dose alemtuzumab <1 mg/kg on days −8 to −6), and low-dose (50–72% of myeloablative dose) or targeted busulfan administration (recommended cumulative area under the curve: 45–65 mg/L × h). Busulfan was administered mainly intravenously and exceptionally orally from days −5 to −3. Intravenous busulfan was dosed according to weight-based recommendations and was administered in most centres (ten) twice daily over 4 h. Unmanipulated bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells from HLA-matched related-donors or HLA-9/10 or HLA-10/10 matched unrelated-donors were infused. The primary endpoints were overall survival and event-free survival (EFS), probabilities of overall survival and EFS at 2 years, incidence of acute and chronic GVHD, achievement of at least 90% myeloid donor chimerism, and incidence of graft failure after at least 6 months of follow-up. Results 56 patients (median age 12·7 years; IQR 6·8–17·3) with chronic granulomatous disease were enrolled from June 15, 2003, to Dec 15, 2012. 42 patients (75%) had high-risk features (ie, intractable infections and autoinflammation), 25 (45%) were adolescents and young adults (age 14–39 years). 21 HLA-matched related-donor and 35 HLA-matched unrelated-donor transplants were done. Median time to engraftment was 19 days (IQR 16–22) for neutrophils and 21 days (IQR 16–25) for platelets. At median follow-up of 21 months (IQR 13–35) overall survival was 93% (52 of 56) and EFS was 89% (50 of 56). The 2-year probability of overall survival was 96% (95% CI 86·46–99·09) and of EFS was 91% (79·78–96·17). Graft-failure occurred in 5% (three of 56) of patients. The cumulative incidence of acute GVHD of grade III–IV was 4% (two of 56) and of chronic graft-versus-host disease was 7% (four of 56). Stable (≥90%) myeloid donor chimerism was documented in 52 (93%) surviving patients. Interpretation This reduced-intensity conditioning regimen is safe and efficacious in high-risk patients with chronic granulomatous disease. Funding None.
Background Thymus transplantation is a promising strategy for the treatment of athymic complete DiGeorge syndrome (cDGS). Methods Twelve patients with cDGS underwent transplantation with allogeneic ...cultured thymus. Objective We sought to confirm and extend the results previously obtained in a single center. Results Two patients died of pre-existing viral infections without having thymopoiesis, and 1 late death occurred from autoimmune thrombocytopenia. One infant had septic shock shortly after transplantation, resulting in graft loss and the need for a second transplant. Evidence of thymopoiesis developed from 5 to 6 months after transplantation in 10 patients. Median circulating naive CD4 counts were 44 × 106 /L (range, 11-440 × 106 /L) and 200 × 106 /L (range, 5-310 × 106 /L) at 12 and 24 months after transplantation and T-cell receptor excision circles were 2,238/106 T cells (range, 320-8,807/106 T cells) and 4,184/106 T cells (range, 1,582-24,596/106 T cells). Counts did not usually reach normal levels for age, but patients were able to clear pre-existing infections and those acquired later. At a median of 49 months (range, 22-80 months), 8 have ceased prophylactic antimicrobials, and 5 have ceased immunoglobulin replacement. Histologic confirmation of thymopoiesis was seen in 7 of 11 patients undergoing biopsy of transplanted tissue, including 5 showing full maturation through to the terminal stage of Hassall body formation. Autoimmune regulator expression was also demonstrated. Autoimmune complications were seen in 7 of 12 patients. In 2 patients early transient autoimmune hemolysis settled after treatment and did not recur. The other 5 experienced ongoing autoimmune problems, including thyroiditis (3), hemolysis (1), thrombocytopenia (4), and neutropenia (1). Conclusions This study confirms the previous reports that thymus transplantation can reconstitute T cells in patients with cDGS but with frequent autoimmune complications in survivors.
The patients, aged between 5 and 12 years, exhibited the phenotypic variability associated with TMEM173-activating mutations,2-4 with lung disease and systemic inflammation being the major features ...in patient 1 (P1) and patient 3 (P3), while in patient 2 (P2) skin involvement was most prominent (Fig 1; see Supplemental Text and Table E1 in this article's Online Repository at www.jacionline.org). Modest and incomplete downregulation of ISG was recently described in splenic B cells of mice treated with tofacitinib, a JAK1/3 inhibitor, with differential signaling effects suggesting currently poorly understood facets of IFN regulation.9 In this regard, our kinetic ex vivo experiments provide insights into the rapid dynamic changes in IFN signaling secondary to JAK1 blockade.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) preferentially infects epithelial cells and B lymphocytes and sometimes T and NK lymphocytes. Persistence of EBV-infected cells results in severe lymphoproliferative ...disorders (LPDs). Diagnosis of EBV-driven T or NK cell LPD and chronic active EBV diseases (CAEBV) is difficult, often requiring biopsies. Herein, we report a flow-FISH cytometry assay that detects cells expressing EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBERs), allowing rapid identification of EBV-infected cells among PBMCs. EBV-infected B, T, and/or NK cells were detectable in various LPD conditions. Diagnosis of CAEBV in 22 patients of Caucasian and African origins was established. All exhibited circulating EBV-infected T and/or NK cells, highlighting that CAEBV is not restricted to native American and Asian populations. Proportions of EBV-infected cells correlated with blood EBV loads. We showed that EBV-infected T cells had an effector memory activated phenotype, whereas EBV-infected B cells expressed plasma cell differentiation markers. Thus, this method achieves accurate and unambiguous diagnoses of different forms of EBV-driven LPD and represents a powerful tool to study their pathophysiological mechanisms.
Purpose
Deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2) is an inherited inborn error of immunity, characterized by autoinflammation (recurrent fever), vasculopathy (livedo racemosa, polyarteritis nodosa, ...lacunar ischemic strokes, and intracranial hemorrhages), immunodeficiency, lymphoproliferation, immune cytopenias, and bone marrow failure (BMF). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) blockade is the treatment of choice for the vasculopathy, but often fails to reverse refractory cytopenia. We aimed to study the outcome of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with DADA2.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective study on the outcome of HCT in patients with DADA2. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS).
Results
Thirty DADA2 patients from 12 countries received a total of 38 HCTs. The indications for HCT were BMF, immune cytopenia, malignancy, or immunodeficiency. Median age at HCT was 9 years (range: 2–28 years). The conditioning regimens for the final transplants were myeloablative (
n
= 20), reduced intensity (
n
= 8), or non-myeloablative (
n
= 2). Donors were HLA-matched related (
n
= 4), HLA-matched unrelated (
n
= 16), HLA-haploidentical (
n
= 2), or HLA-mismatched unrelated (
n
= 8). After a median follow-up of 2 years (range: 0.5–16 years), 2-year OS was 97%, and 2-year GvHD-free relapse-free survival was 73%. The hematological and immunological phenotypes resolved, and there were no new vascular events. Plasma ADA2 enzyme activity normalized in 16/17 patients tested. Six patients required more than one HCT.
Conclusion
HCT was an effective treatment for DADA2, successfully reversing the refractory cytopenia, as well as the vasculopathy and immunodeficiency.
Clinical Implications
HCT is a definitive cure for DADA2 with > 95% survival.
X-linked recessive ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency caused by hypomorphic mutations of the IKBKG gene encoding the nuclear factor κB essential modulator ...(NEMO) protein. This condition displays enormous allelic, immunological, and clinical heterogeneity, and therapeutic decisions are difficult because NEMO operates in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is potentially life-saving, but the small number of case reports available suggests it has been reserved for only the most severe cases. Here, we report the health status before HSCT, transplantation outcome, and clinical follow-up for a series of 29 patients from unrelated kindreds from 11 countries. Between them, these patients carry 23 different hypomorphic IKBKG mutations. HSCT was performed from HLA-identical related donors (n = 7), HLA-matched unrelated donors (n = 12), HLA-mismatched unrelated donors (n = 8), and HLA-haploidentical related donors (n = 2). Engraftment was documented in 24 patients, and graft-versus-host disease in 13 patients. Up to 7 patients died 0.2 to 12 months after HSCT. The global survival rate after HSCT among NEMO-deficient children was 74% at a median follow-up after HSCT of 57 months (range, 4-108 months). Preexisting mycobacterial infection and colitis were associated with poor HSCT outcome. The underlying mutation does not appear to have any influence, as patients with the same mutation had different outcomes. Transplantation did not appear to cure colitis, possibly as a result of cell-intrinsic disorders of the epithelial barrier. Overall, HSCT can cure most clinical features of patients with a variety of IKBKG mutations.
•Global survival rate was 74% at a median follow-up after HSCT of 57 months.•Preexisting mycobacterial infection and colitis were associated with poor HSCT outcome.
Severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCIDs) constitute a heterogeneous group of life-threatening genetic disorders that typically present in the first year of life. They are defined by the absence of ...autologous T cells and the presence of an intrinsic or extrinsic defect in the B-cell compartment. In three newborns presenting with frequent infections and profound leukopenia, we identified a private, heterozygous mutation in the RAC2 gene (p.G12R). This mutation was de novo in the index case, who had been cured by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation but had transmitted the mutation to her sick daughter. Biochemical assays showed that the mutation was associated with a gain of function. The results of in vitro differentiation assays showed that RAC2 is essential for the survival and differentiation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Therefore, screening for RAC2 gain-of-function mutations should be considered in patients with a SCID phenotype and who lack a molecular diagnosis.
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