Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) of ex vivo activated autologous tumor-reactive T cells is currently one of the most promising approaches for cancer immunotherapy. Recent studies provided some evidence that Th17/Tc17 cells may exhibit potent anti-tumor activity, but the specific mechanisms have not been completely defined. In the present study, we used a murine melanoma lung-metastasis model and tested the therapeutic effects of gp100-specific polarized Tc1 or Tc17 cells combined with autologous BMT after total TBI. BMT combined with ACT of anti-tumor (gp100-specific) Tc17 cells significantly suppressed the growth of established melanoma, whereas Tc1 cells induced long-term tumor regression. After ACT, Tc1 cells maintained their phenotype to produce IFNγ but not IL-17. However, although Tc17 cells largely preserved their ability to produce IL-17, a subset secreted IFNγ or both IFNγ and IL-17, indicating the plasticity of Tc17 cells in vivo. Furthermore, after ACT the Tc17 cells had a long-lived effector T cell phenotype (CD127hi/KLRG-1low) as compared to Tc1 cells. Mechanistically, Tc1 cells mediated anti-tumor immunity primarily through the direct effect of IFNγ on tumor cells. In contrast, despite the fact that some Tc17 cells also secreted IFNγ, Tc17-mediated anti-tumor immunity was independent of the direct effects of IFNγ on the tumor. Nevertheless, IFNγ played a critical role by creating a microenvironment that promoted Tc17-mediated anti-tumor activity. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that both Tc1 and Tc17 cells can mediate effective anti-tumor immunity through distinct effector mechanisms, but Tc1 cells are superior to Tc17 cells in mediating tumor regression.
Tumor antigen-specific T-cell tolerance is a critical element of tumor escape. It is known that MDSC can induce antigen-specific CD8+ T cell tolerance in an experimental system with adoptive transfer of transgenic T cells. In this study we addressed the critical question whether a similar phenomenon can be observed in a "natural" non-transgenic experimental model. Balb/C mice were subcutaneously inoculated with two different tumor cell lines, a derivative A2L2 cell line, which expresses high levels of HER2/neu and the parental cell line 66.3. HER2/neu specific CD8+T cells were generated by immunization of mice with peptide. MDSC were able to tolerize antigen-specific T cells in vivo if they were collected from A2L2 but not from 66.3 tumor-bearing mice indicating the tumor-specific nature of T cell tolerance induced by MDSC. Next we investigated the type of signaling caused by MDSC in CD8+T cells that could lead to tolerance. MDSC dramatically reduced the ability of CD8+ T cells to respond to the specific peptide. However, study of various signaling molecules using different experimental systems and tests found that MDSC did not induce negative signaling in T cells. This conclusion was confirmed in adoptive transfer experiments with CD8+T cells expressing dual TCR: LCMV glycoprotein peptide gp33-41 and OVA-derived H-2Kb-restricted peptide ova257-264. We found that MDSC loaded with peptide specific for one TCR induced tolerance only against that specific epitope but CD8+ T cells retained the ability to respond to the peptide specific for the other TCR expressed on the same cell.
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