Although reactivation and accumulation of autoreactive CD4 T cells within the CNS are considered to play a key role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the mechanisms of how these cells recognize their target organ and induce sustained inflammation are incompletely understood. Here, we report that mice with conditional deletion of the essential autophagy protein ATG5 in classical dendritic cells (DCs), which are present at low frequencies in the nondiseased CNS, are completely resistant to EAE development following adoptive transfer of myelin-specific T cells and show substantially reduced in situ CD4 T cell accumulation during the effector phase of the disease. Endogenous myelin peptide presentation to CD4 T cells following phagocytosis of injured, phosphatidylserine-exposing oligodendroglial cells is abrogated in the absence of ATG5. Pharmacological inhibition of ATG-dependent phagocytosis by the cardiac glycoside neriifolin, an inhibitor of the Na, K-ATPase, delays the onset and reduces the clinical severity of EAE induced by myelin-specific CD4 T cells. These findings link phagocytosis of injured oligodendrocytes, a pathological hallmark of MS lesions and during EAE, with myelin antigen processing and T cell pathogenicity, and identify ATG-dependent phagocytosis in DCs as a key regulator in driving autoimmune CD4 T cell-mediated CNS damage.

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Natural killer (NK) cells constitute the first line of defense against viruses and cancers cells. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was the first human virus to be directly implicated in carcinogenesis, and EBV infection is associated with a broad spectrum of B cell lymphomas. How NK cells restrict EBV-associated oncogenesis is not understood. Here, we investigated the efficacies and mechanisms of distinct NK cell subsets from tonsils, the portal of entry of EBV, in limiting EBV infection in naïve, germinal center-associated and memory B cells. We found that CD56bright and NKG2A expression sufficiently characterizes the potent anti-EBV capacity of tonsillar NK cells. We observed restriction of EBV infection in B cells as early as 18 hours after infection. The restriction was most efficient in naïve B cells and germinal center-associated B cells, the B cell subsets that exhibited highest susceptibility to EBV infection in vitro. IFN-γ release by and partially NKp44 engagement of CD56bright and NKG2A positive NK cells mediated the restriction that eventually inhibited B-cell transformation. Thus, harnessing CD56brightNKG2A+ NK cell function might be promising to improve treatment strategies that target EBV-associated B cell lymphomas.

Around 30–50% of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) cases in immunocompetent individuals from industrialized countries are associated with the B-lymphotropic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Although natural killer (NK) cells exhibit anti-viral and anti-tumoral functions, virtually nothing is known about quantitative and qualitative differences in NK cells in patients with EBV+ cHL vs. EBV- cHL. Here, we prospectively investigated 36 cHL patients without known immune suppression or overt immunodeficiency at diagnosis. All 10 EBV+ cHL patients and 25 out 26 EBV- cHL were seropositive for EBV antibodies, and EBV+ cHL patients presented with higher plasma EBV DNA levels compared to EBV- cHL patients. We show that the CD56dim CD16+ NK cell subset was decreased in frequency in EBV+ cHL patients compared to EBV- cHL patients. This quantitative deficiency translates into an impaired CD56dim NK cell mediated degranulation toward rituximab-coated HLA class 1 negative lymphoblastoid cells in EBV+ compared to EBV- cHL patients. We finally observed a trend to a decrease in the rituximab-associated degranulation and ADCC of in vitro expanded NK cells of EBV+ cHL compared to healthy controls. Our findings may impact on the design of adjunctive treatment targeting antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in EBV+ cHL.

Microglia, resident myeloid immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), actively shape the circuitry of the brain, maintain CNS homeostasis during the steady state and orchestrate immune responses upon CNS injury. Both canonical and non-canonical functions of the macroautophagy/autophagyrelated protein ATG5 regulate myeloid cell survival and immune responses. Here, we report that loss of ATG5 in postnatal microglia does not perturb CNS tissue integrity, microglial cell survival, or immune activation. Learning task performances were unchanged in mutant mice. Furthermore, lack of ATG5 expression in microglia had no impact on the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. These data indicate that, basal autophagy, identified to be essential for the survival and function of neuronal cells, is not required to maintain CNS homeostasis if absent in adult microglia and ATG5 expression is dispensable for the development of autoimmune neuroinflammation.

Following organ transplantation, it is essential that immune tolerance is induced in the graft recipient to reduce the risk of rejection and avoid complications associated with the long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs. Immature dendritic cells (DCs) are considered to promote transplant tolerance and may minimize the risk of graft rejection. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of immunosuppressive agents: rapamycin (Rapa) and cyclosporine A (CsA) on generation of human tolerogenic DCs (tolDCs) and also to evaluate the ability of these cells to induce mechanisms of immune tolerance. tolDCs were generated in the environment of Rapa or CsA. Next, we evaluated the effects of these agents on surface phenotypes (CD11c, MHC II, CD40, CD80, CD83, CD86, CCR7, TLR2, TLR4), cytokine production (IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70, TGF-β), phagocytic capacity and resistant to lipopolysaccharide activation of these DCs. Moreover, we assessed ability of such tolDCs to induce T cell activation and apoptosis, Treg differentiation and production of Th1- and Th2-characteristic cytokine profile. Data obtained in this study demonstrate that rapamycin is effective at generating maturation-resistant tolDCs, however, does not change the ability of these cells to induce mechanisms of immune tolerance. In contrast, CsA affects the ability of these cells to induce mechanisms of immune tolerance, but is not efficient at generating maturation-resistant tolDCs.