The PD-1 receptor and ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2, members of the CD28 and B7 families, play critical roles in T cell coinhibition and exhaustion. Overexpression of PD-L1 and PD-1 on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, respectively, correlates with poor disease outcome in some human cancers. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) blockading the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway have been developed for cancer immunotherapy via enhancing T cell functions. Clinical trials with mAbs to PD-1 and PD-L1 have shown impressive response rates in patients, particularly for melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and bladder cancer. Further studies are needed to dissect mechanisms of variable response rate, to identify biomarkers for clinical response, to develop small molecule inhibitors, and to combine with other therapies.

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Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a member of the CD28/B7 superfamily that delivers negative signals upon interaction with its two ligands, PD-L1 or PD-L2. The high-resolution crystal structure of the complex formed by the complete ectodomains of murine PD-1 and PD-L2 revealed a 1:1 receptor:ligand stoichiometry and displayed a binding interface and overall molecular organization distinct from that observed in the CTLA-4/B7 inhibitory complexes. Furthermore, our structure also provides insights into the association between PD-1 and PD-L1 and highlights differences in the interfaces formed by the two PD-1 ligands (PD-Ls) Mutagenesis studies confirmed the details of the proposed PD-1/PD-L binding interfaces and allowed for the design of a mutant PD-1 receptor with enhanced affinity. These studies define spatial and organizational constraints that control the localization and signaling of PD-1/PD-L complexes within the immunological synapse and provide a basis for manipulating the PD-1 pathways for immunotherapy.costimulation ͉ coinhibition ͉ inhibitory receptor ͉ T cell activation

SummaryMany hematopoietic cell types express CD1d and are capable of presenting glycolipid antigens to invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells). However, the question of which cells are the principal presenters of glycolipid antigens in vivo remains controversial, and it has been suggested that this might vary depending on the structure of a particular glycolipid antigen. Here we have shown that a single type of cell, the CD8α+ DEC-205+ dendritic cell, was mainly responsible for capturing and presenting a variety of different glycolipid antigens, including multiple forms of α-galactosylceramide that stimulate widely divergent cytokine responses. After glycolipid presentation, these dendritic cells rapidly altered their expression of various costimulatory and coinhibitory molecules in a manner that was dependent on the structure of the antigen. These findings show flexibility in the outcome of two-way communication between CD8α+ dendritic cells and iNKT cells, providing a mechanism for biasing toward either proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses.

The PD-1 costimulatory receptor inhibits T cell receptor signaling upon interacting with its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. The PD-1/PD-L pathway is critical in maintaining self-tolerance. In this study, we examined the role of PD-1 in a mouse model of acute infection with Histoplasma capsulatum, a major human pathogenic fungus. In a lethal model of histoplasmosis, all PD-1-deficient mice survived infection, whereas the wild-type mice died with disseminated disease. PD-L expression on macrophages and splenocytes was up-regulated during infection, and macrophages from infected mice inhibited in vitro T cell activation. Of interest, antibody blocking of PD-1 significantly increased survival of lethally infected wild-type mice. Thus, our studies extend the role of the PD-1/PD-L pathway in regulating antimicrobial immunity to fungal pathogens. The results show that the PD-1/PD-L pathway has a key role in the regulation of antifungal immunity, and suggest that manipulation of this pathway represents a strategy of immunotherapy for histoplasmosis.costimulation ͉ fungal infection ͉ programmed death-1

Summary T-cell activity is controlled by a combination of antigen-dependent signaling through the T-cell receptor and a set of auxiliary signals delivered through antigen-independent interactions, including the recognition of the B7 family of ligands. B7-H3 is a recently identified B7 family member that is strongly overexpressed in a range of cancers and correlates with poor prognosis. We report the crystal structure of murine B7-H3 at a 3-Å resolution, which provides a model for the organization of the IgV and IgC domains within the ectodomain. We demonstrate that B7-H3 inhibits T-cell proliferation and show that the FG loop of the IgV domain plays a critical role in this function. B7-H3 crystallized as an unusual dimer arising from the exchange of the G strands in the IgV domains of partner molecules. This arrangement, in combination with previous reports, highlights the dynamic nature and plasticity of the immunoglobulin fold.

SummaryCostimulatory receptors and ligands trigger the signaling pathways that are responsible for modulating the strength, course and duration of an immune response. High-resolution structures have provided invaluable mechanistic insights by defining the chemical and physical features underlying costimulatory receptor/ligand specificity, affinity, oligomeric state, and valency. Furthermore, these structures revealed general architectural features that are important for the integration of these interactions and their associated signaling pathways into overall cellular physiology. Recent technological advances in structural biology promise unprecedented opportunities for furthering our understanding of the structural features and mechanisms that govern costimulation. In this review we highlight unique insights that have been revealed by structures of costimulatory molecules from the immunoglobulin and tumor necrosis factor superfamilies, and describe a vision for future structural and mechanistic analysis of costimulation. This vision includes simple strategies for the selection of candidate molecules for structure determination and highlights the critical role of structure in the design of mutant costimulatory molecules for the generation of in vivo structure-function correlations in a mammalian model system. This integrated 'atoms-to-animals' paradigm provides a comprehensive approach for defining atomic and molecular mechanisms.

SUMMARY B7-H1 (PD-L1) on immune cells plays an important role in T cell coinhibition by binding its receptor PD-1. Here we show that both human and mouse intestinal epithelium expressed B7-H1 and that B7-H1-deficient mice were highly susceptible to dextran sodium sulfate- or trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced gut injury. B7-H1 deficiency during intestinal inflammation led to high mortality and morbidity, which were associated with severe pathological manifestations in the colon, including loss of epithelial integrity and overgrowth of commensal bacteria. Results from bone marrow chimeric and knock-out mice showed B7-H1 expressed on intestinal parenchyma, but not on hematopoietic cells, controlled intestinal inflammation in an adaptive immunity-independent fashion. Finally, we demonstrated that B7-H1 dampened intestinal inflammation by inhibiting TNF-α production and by stimulating IL-22 from CD11c+CD11b+ lamina propria cells. Thus, our data uncover a new mechanism by which intestinal tissue-expressed B7-H1 functions as an essential ligand for innate immune cells to prevent gut inflammation.