Bali Pulendran

Although several subsets of intestinal APCs have been described, there has been no systematic evaluation of their phenotypes, functions, and regional localization to date. In this article, we used 10-color flow cytometry to define the major APC subsets in the small and large intestine lamina propria. Lamina propria APCs could be subdivided into CD11c⁺CD11b⁻, CD11c⁺CD11b⁺, and CD11c^dullCD11b⁺ subsets. CD11c⁺CD11b⁻ cells were largely CD103⁺F4/80⁻ dendritic cells (DCs), whereas the CD11c⁺CD11b⁺ subset comprised CD11c⁺CD11b⁺CD103⁺F4/80⁻ DCs and CD11c⁺CD11b⁺CD103⁻F4/80⁺ macrophage-like cells. The majority of CD11c^dullCD11b⁺ cells were CD103⁻F4/80⁺ macrophages. Although macrophages were more efficient at inducing Foxp3⁺ regulatory T (T_reg) cells than DCs, at higher T cell/APC ratios, all of the DC subsets efficiently induced Foxp3⁺ T_reg cells. In contrast, only CD11c⁺CD11b⁺CD103⁺ DCs efficiently induced Th17 cells. Consistent with this, the regional distribution of CD11c⁺CD11b⁺CD103⁺ DCs correlated with that of Th17 cells, with duodenum > jejunum > ileum > colon. Conversely, CD11c⁺CD11b⁻CD103⁺ DCs, macrophages, and Foxp3⁺ T_reg cells were most abundant in the colon and scarce in the duodenum. Importantly, however, the ability of DC and macrophage subsets to induce Foxp3⁺ T_reg cells versus Th17 cells was strikingly dependent on the source of the mouse strain. Thus, DCs from C57BL/6 mice from Charles River Laboratories (that have segmented filamentous bacteria, which induce robust levels of Th17 cells in situ) were more efficient at inducing Th17 cells and less efficient at inducing Foxp3⁺ T_reg cells than DCs from B6 mice from The Jackson Laboratory. Thus, the functional specializations of APC subsets in the intestine are dependent on the T cell/APC ratio, regional localization, and source of the mouse strain.

A major challenge for vaccinologists is to understand vaccine immunogenicity. Pulendran and colleagues use systems biology to determine gene 'signatures' that predict CD8+ T cell and antibody responses to the yellow fever vaccine. A major challenge in vaccinology is to prospectively determine vaccine efficacy. Here we have used a systems biology approach to identify early gene 'signatures' that predicted immune responses in humans vaccinated with yellow fever vaccine YF-17D. Vaccination induced genes that regulate virus innate sensing and type I interferon production. Computational analyses identified a gene signature, including complement protein C1qB and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 4—an orchestrator of the integrated stress response—that correlated with and predicted YF-17D CD8+ T cell responses with up to 90% accuracy in an independent, blinded trial. A distinct signature, including B cell growth factor TNFRS17, predicted the neutralizing antibody response with up to 100% accuracy. These data highlight the utility of systems biology approaches in predicting vaccine efficacy.

The mammalian target of rapamycin pathway regulates many essential cellular responses. Pulendran and colleagues show that this pathway is required for Toll-like receptor–mediated production of type I interferon by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Robust production of type I interferon (IFN-α/β) in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) is crucial for antiviral immunity. Here we show involvement of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in regulating interferon production by pDCs. Inhibition of mTOR or its 'downstream' mediators, the p70 ribosomal S6 protein kinases p70S6K1 and p70S6K2, during pDC activation by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) blocked the interaction of TLR9 with the adaptor MyD88 and subsequent activation of the interferon-regulatory factor IRF7, which resulted in impaired IFN-α/β production. Microarray analysis confirmed that inhibition of mTOR by the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin suppressed antiviral and anti-inflammatory gene expression. Consistent with this, targeting rapamycin-encapsulated microparticles to antigen-presenting cells in vivo resulted in less IFN-α/β production in response to CpG DNA or the yellow fever vaccine virus strain 17D. Thus, mTOR signaling is crucial in TLR-mediated IFN-α/β responses by pDCs.

Background. The live attenuated yellow fever vaccine 17D (YF-17D) is one of the most effective vaccines. Despite its excellent safety record, some ca

DNA vaccines offer promising strategies for immunization against infections. However, their clinical use requires improvements in immunogenicity. We explored the efficacy of Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands (TLR-Ls) on augmenting the immunogenicity of a DNA prime–modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) boost vaccine against SIV. Rhesus macaques were injected with Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3)–ligand (FL) to expand dendritic cells (DCs) and were primed with a DNA vaccine encoding immunodeficiency virus antigens mixed with ligands for TLR9 or TLR7/8. Subsequently, the animals were boosted with DNA and twice with recombinant MVA expressing the same antigens. TLR9-L (CpG DNA) mediated activation of DCs in vivo and enhanced the magnitude of antigen-specific CD8⁺ interferon (IFN) γ⁺ T cells and polyfunctional CD8⁺ T cells producing IFN-γ, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin 2. Although this trial was designed primarily as an immunogenicity study, we challenged the animals with pathogenic SIVmac₂₅₁ and observed a reduction in peak viremia and cumulative viral loads in the TLR9-L plus FL-adjuvanted group relative to the unvaccinated group; however, the study design precluded comparisons between the adjuvanted groups and the group vaccinated with DNA/MVA alone. Viral loads were inversely correlated with the magnitude and quality of the immune response. Thus, the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines can be augmented with TLR9-L plus FL.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors that recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns and trigger innate immunity leading to initiation of adaptive immunity. TLR-mediated activation of dendritic cells (DCs) is known to be a critical event in the initiation of cellular and humoral immune responses. Recent work however suggests that B cells also express TLRs, and that they can be activated via TLR ligands. However, whether such B cell activation occurs only on memory B cells, or whether it can also occur on truly naïve B cells remains controversial. Furthermore, the expression and functional relevance of TLRs on distinct subsets of B cells, which are known to play differential roles in humoral responses is not known. In this study, we investigated the expression pattern of different TLRs in distinct subsets of murine B cells (naïve, memory, follicular, marginal zone, B-1 and peyer's patch). In contrast to the reported restricted expression pattern of TLRs in human peripheral blood naïve B cells, murine splenic naïve B cells express a variety of TLRs with the exception of TLR5 and 8. Consistent with this relatively broad expression pattern, murine naive B cells proliferate and secrete antibody to a variety of TLR agonists in vitro, in the absence of B-cell receptor cross-linking. In addition, we observed subtle differences in the antibody secretion pattern of follicular, marginal zone, B-1 and peyer's patch B-cell subsets. Thus various B cell subsets, including truly naïve B cells, express multiple TLRs, and signaling via such TLRs results in their robust proliferation and antibody secretion, even in the absence of dendritic cell activation, or T-cell help.