No abstract

e Hexose phosphate is an important carbon source within the cytoplasm of host cells. Bacterial pathogens that invade, survive, and multiply within various host epithelial cells exploit hexose phosphates from the host cytoplasm through the hexose phosphate transport (HPT) system to gain energy and synthesize cellular components. In Escherichia coli, the HPT system consists of a two-component regulatory system (UhpAB) and a phosphate sensor protein (UhpC) that tightly regulate expression of a hexose phosphate transporter (UhpT). Although growing evidence suggests that Staphylococcus aureus also can invade, survive, and multiply within various host epithelial cells, the genetic elements involved in the HPT system in S. aureus have not been characterized yet. In this study, we identified and characterized the HPT system in S. aureus that includes the hptRS (a novel two-component regulatory system), the hptA (a putative phosphate sensor), and the uhpT (a hexose phosphate transporter) genes. The hptA, hptRS, and uhpT markerless deletion mutants were generated by an allelic replacement method using a modified pMAD-CM-GFPuv vector system. We demonstrated that both hptA and hptRS are required to positively regulate transcription of uhpT in response to extracellular phosphates, such as glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and fosfomycin. Mutational studies revealed that disruption of the hptA, hptRS, or uhpT gene impaired the growth of bacteria when the available carbon source was limited to G6P, impaired survival/multiplication within various types of host cells, and increased resistance to fosfomycin. The results of this study suggest that the HPT system plays an important role in adaptation of S. aureus within the host cells and could be an important target for developing novel antistaphylococcal therapies.

IL-27 regulates immune responses in inflammation. The underlying mechanism of IL-27 functions has long been attributed to its ability to induce IL-10 production in activated CD4 T cells. In this study, we report that Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are the main target cells of IL-27, mediating its immunoregulatory functions in vivo. Systemically delivered IL-27 efficiently prevents the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an autoimmune inflammation in the CNS. However, it failed to do so upon Treg depletion. IL-27 signaling in Tregs was necessary, as transferring Tregs deficient in IL-27Rα or Lag3, a downstream molecule induced by IL-27, was unable to protect mice from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. IL-27 efficiently induced IL-10 expression in CD4 T cells in vitro; however, we found no evidence supporting IL-27–induced IL-10 induction in CD4 T cells in vivo. Taken together, our results uncover an irreplaceable contribution of Tregs during IL-27–mediated control of inflammation.

No abstract

Superantigens (SAgs) produced by S. aureus induce proliferation of T cells bearing specific TCR Vβ sequences and massive cytokinemia that cause toxic shock syndrome at high concentrations. However, the biological relevance of SAgs produced at very low concentrations during asymptomatic colonization or chronic infections is not understood. In this study, we demonstrate that suboptimal stimulation of human PBMCs with a low concentration (1 ng/ml) of staphylococcal enterotoxin C1 (SEC1), at which half-maximal T cell proliferation was observed, induced CD8+CD25+ T cells expressing markers related to regulatory T cells (Tregs) such as IFN-γ, IL-10, TGF-β, FOXP3+, CD28+, CTLA4+, TNFR2+, CD45RO+, and HLA-DR+. Importantly, these CD8+CD25+ T cells suppressed responder cell proliferation mediated by contact-dependent and soluble factor-dependent manners, involving galectin-1 and granzymes, respectively. By contrast, optimal stimulation of human PBMCs with a high concentration (1 μg/ml) of SEC1, at which maximal T cell proliferation was observed, also induced similar expression of markers related to Tregs including FOXP3 in CD8+CD25+ cells, but these T cells were not functionally immunosuppressive. We further demonstrated that SAg induced TCR Vβ- and MHC II-restricted expansion of immunosuppressive CD8+CD25 T cells is independent of CD4+ T cells. Our results suggest that the concentration of SAg remarkably affects the functional characteristics of activated T cells, and low concentrations of SAg produced during asymptomatic colonization or chronic S. aureus infection induce immunosuppressive CD8+ regulatory T cells, potentially promoting colonization, propagation, and invasion of S. aureus in the host.

In multiple types of cancer, an increased frequency in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) is associated with worse outcomes and poor therapeutic response. In the glioblastoma (GBM) microenvironment, monocytic (m) MDSCs represent the predominant subset. However, the molecular basis of mMDSC enrichment in the tumor microenvironment compared to granulocytic (g) MDSCs has yet to be determined. Here we performed the first broad epigenetic profiling of MDSC subsets to define underlying cell-intrinsic differences in behavior and found that enhanced gene accessibility of cell adhesion programs in mMDSCs is linked to their tumor-accelerating ability in GBM models upon adoptive transfer. Mouse and human mMDSCs expressed higher levels of integrin β1 and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) compared to gMDSCs as part of an enhanced cell adhesion signature. Integrin β1 blockade abrogated the tumor-promoting phenotype of mMDSCs and altered the immune profile in the tumor microenvironment, while treatment with a DPP-4 inhibitor extended survival in preclinical GBM models. Targeting DPP-4 in mMDSCs reduced pERK signaling and their migration towards tumor cells. These findings uncover a fundamental difference in the molecular basis of MDSC subsets and suggest that integrin β1 and DPP-4 represent putative immunotherapy targets to attenuate myeloid cell-driven immune suppression in GBM.

Sex differences in glioblastoma (GBM) incidence and outcome are well recognized, and emerging evidence suggests that these extend to genetic/epigenetic and cellular differences, including immune responses. However, the mechanisms driving immunological sex differences are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate T cells play a critical role in driving GBM sex differences. Male mice exhibited accelerated tumor growth, with decreased frequency and increased exhaustion of CD8+ T cells in tumor. Furthermore, a higher frequency of progenitor exhausted T cells was found in males, with improved responsiveness to anti-PD1 treatment. Moreover, increased T cell exhaustion was observed in male GBM patients. Bone marrow chimera and adoptive transfer models indicated that T cell-mediated tumor control was predominantly regulated in a cell-intrinsic manner, partially mediated by X chromosome inactivation escape gene Kdm6a. These findings demonstrate sex-biased pre-determined behavior of T cells is critical for inducing sex differences in GBM progression and immunotherapy response.

Given its aggressive natural history and immunosuppressive nature, glioblastoma (GBM) remains difficult to treat. Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are a promising treatment for GBM patients, yet the entirety of their antitumor action has not been fully elucidated. In a recent issue of the JCI , Chen et al. explored the effect of TTFields in reinvigorating immune responses. By elegant step-by-step approaches, the authors demonstrated that TTFields promote the production of immune-stimulating proinflammatory and interferon type 1 cytokines in tumor cells in a cGAS/STING- and AIM2 inflammasome–dependent mechanism, thereby activating the immune system. The findings show that TTFields not only directly inhibit tumor cell growth, as previously reported, but enhance antitumor immunity, suggesting TTFields can be used as an immune-modulating approach in GBM.