Recent studies highlight the implication of innate and adaptive immunity in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease, and foster immunotherapy as a promising strategy for its treatment. Vaccines targeting amyloid-β peptide provided encouraging results in mouse models, but severe side effects attributed to T cell responses in the first clinical trial AN1792 underlined the need for better understanding adaptive immunity in Alzheimer's disease. We previously showed that regulatory T cells critically control amyloid-β-specific CD4(+) T cell responses in both physiological and pathological settings. Here, we analysed the impact of regulatory T cells on spontaneous disease progression in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease. Early transient depletion of regulatory T cells accelerated the onset of cognitive deficits in APPPS1 mice, without altering amyloid-β deposition. Earlier cognitive impairment correlated with reduced recruitment of microglia towards amyloid deposits and altered disease-related gene expression profile. Conversely, amplification of regulatory T cells through peripheral low-dose IL-2 treatment increased numbers of plaque-associated microglia, and restored cognitive functions in APPPS1 mice. These data suggest that regulatory T cells play a beneficial role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease, by slowing disease progression and modulating microglial response to amyloid-β deposition. Our study highlights the therapeutic potential of repurposed IL-2 for innovative immunotherapy based on modulation of regulatory T cells in Alzheimer's disease.

In addition to their physiologic effects in inflammation and angiogenesis, chemokines are involved in cancer pathology. The aim of this study was to determine whether the chemokine stromal cell -derived factor 1 (SDF-1) induces the growth, migration, and invasion of human hepatoma cells. We show that SDF-1 G protein -coupled receptor, chemokine

We recently demonstrated that stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1/CXCL12) forms complexes with CXCR4, but also with syndecan-4 expressed by human primary lymphocytes and macrophages, and HeLa cells. We also suggested that syndecan-4 behaves as a SDF-1-signaling molecule. Here, we demonstrate that SDF-1 strongly accelerates the shedding of syndecan-4 ectodomains and to a lesser extent that of syndecan-1 from HeLa cells. The fact that this acceleration was not inhibited by the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100, anti-CXCR4 mAb 12G5, and CXCR4 gene silencing suggests its CXCR4-independence. Pre-treating the cells with heparitinases I, III, or with the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, bisindolylmaleimide, significantly inhibited this accelerated shedding, which suggests the involvement of both cell-surface heparan sulfate and PKC transduction pathway. In contrast, Map Kinase or NF-kappaB pathway inhibitors had no effect. Moreover, SDF-1 increases the matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) mRNA level as well as MMP-9 activity in HeLa cells, and MMP-9 silencing by RNA interference strongly decreases the syndecan-1 and -4 ectodomain shedding accelerated by SDF-1. Finally, SDF-1 also accelerates in a CXCR4-independent manner, the shedding of syndecan-1 and -4 from human primary macrophages, which is significantly inhibited by anti-MMP-9 antibodies. This strongly indicates the role of MMP-9 in these events occurring in both a tumoral cell line and in human primary macrophages. Because MMP-9 plays a crucial role in extracellular matrix degradation during cancer cell metastasis and invasion, and shed ectodomains of syndecans may likely be involved in tumor cell proliferation, these data further indicate the multiplicity of the roles played by SDF-1 on tumor cell biology.

Our results indicate that the inflammatory properties of circulating neutrophils shift as the percentage of aged neutrophils expands in patients with AD-changes that may play an instrumental role in establishing systemic chronic inflammation. Most important, our data strongly suggest that the neutrophil phenotype may be associated with the rate of cognitive decline and may thus constitute an innovative and prognostic blood biomarker in patients with AD. Ann Neurol 2018;83:387-405.

ObjectiveTo better understand the functional state of circulating neutrophils in patients with ischemic stroke (IS) for planning future clinical trials.MethodsWe analyzed by flow cytometry activation state of circulating neutrophils and the distribution of neutrophil peripheral subsets in 41 patients with acute IS less than 6 hours before admission and compared them with 22 age-matched healthy controls.ResultsOur results demonstrated continuous basal hyperactivation of circulating neutrophils during acute IS, characterized by lower l-selectin expression and higher CD11b expression at the cell surface, increased ROS production by neutrophils, and greater circulating levels of neutrophil elastase. Neutrophil hyperactivation was associated with deregulation of the equilibrium between apoptotic and necrotic. Patients also had higher percentages than controls of the overactive senescent (CXCR4bright/CD62Ldim) neutrophil subset and increased percentage of neutrophils with a reverse transendothelial migration (CD54highCXCR1low) phenotype. Importantly, neutrophil alterations were associated with the clinical severity of the stroke, evaluated by its NIH Stroke Scale score.ConclusionAltogether, our results indicate that during acute IS, the inflammatory properties of circulating neutrophils rise, associated with the expansion of harmful neutrophil subsets. These changes in neutrophil homeostasis, associated with disease severity, may play an instrumental role by contributing to systemic inflammation and to the blood-brain barrier breakdown. Our findings highlight new potential therapeutic approaches of stroke by rebalancing the ratio of senescent to immunosuppressive neutrophils or decreasing reverse neutrophil transmigration or both.

Stromal cell‐derived factor‐1 (SDF‐1)/CXCL12, the ligand for CXCR4, induces signal transduction. We previously showed that CXCL12 binds to high‐ and low‐affinity sites expressed by primary cells and cell lines, and forms complexes with CXCR4 as expected and also with a proteoglycan, syndecan‐4, but does not form complexes with syndecan‐1, syndecan‐2, CD44 or beta‐glycan. We also demonstrated the occurrence of a CXCL12‐independent heteromeric complex between CXCR4 and syndecan‐4. However, our data ruled out the glycosaminoglycan‐dependent binding of CXCL12 to HeLa cells facilitating the binding of this chemokine to CXCR4. Here, we demonstrate that CXCL12 directly binds to syndecan‐4 in a glycosaminoglycan‐dependent manner. We show that upon stimulation of HeLa cells by CXCL12, CXCR4 becomes tyrosine phosphorylated as expected, while syndecan‐4 (but not syndecan‐1, syndecan‐2 or beta‐glycan) also undergoes such tyrosine phosphorylation. Moreover, tyrosine‐phosphorylated syndecan‐4 from CXCL12‐stimulated HeLa cells physically coassociates with tyrosine phosphorylated CXCR4. Pretreatment of the cells with heparitinases I and III prevented the tyrosine phosphorylation of syndecan‐4, which suggests that the heparan sulfate‐dependent binding of SDF‐1 to this proteoglycan is involved. Finally, by reducing syndecan‐4 expression using RNA interference or by pretreating the cells with heparitinase I and III mixture, we suggest the involvement of syndecan‐4 and heparan sulfate in p44/p42 mitogen‐activated protein kinase and Jun N‐terminal/stress‐activated protein kinase activation by action of CXCL12 on HeLa cells. However, these treatments did not modify the calcium mobilization induced by CXCL12 in these cells. Therefore, syndecan‐4 behaves as a CXCL12 receptor, selectively involved in some transduction pathways induced by SDF‐1, and heparan sulfate plays a role in these events.

We recently demonstrated that RANTES forms complexes with CCR5, syndecan-1 (SD-1), SD-4, and CD44 expressed by human primary macrophages and that SD-1 and SD-4 but neither CD44 nor SD-2 coimmunoprecipitate with CCR5. Here we show that RANTES directly binds in a glycosaminoglycan-dependent manner to SD-1, SD-4, and CD44. Moreover, RANTES accelerates the shedding of SD-1 and SD-4 ectodomains from HeLa cells expressing CCR5 and, by contrast, has no effect on the constitutive shedding of CD44 from these cells. These accelerated sheddings are prevented by the MEK1/2 inhibitor, U0126, and by the protein kinase C inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I. This indicates that both MAP kinase--and protein kinase C-dependent signaling pathways are involved in these RANTES-induced accelerated sheddings. RANTES also induces a decreased expression of SD-1 and SD-4 by HeLa cells expressing CCR5 and on the contrary an increased expression of CD44 by these cells. By contrast, RANTES neither accelerates the shedding of SD-1 and SD-4 ectodomains from HeLa cells lacking CCR5, nor changes the SD-1-, SD-4-, and CD44-plasma membrane expressions of these cells. CCR5 is therefore involved in the RANTES-induced accelerated shedding of SD-1 and SD-4 ectodomains. Nevertheless, the fact that RANTES stimulates in Hela cells (expressing or lacking CCR5) the mRNA synthesis of SD-1 and SD-4 indicates that the molecular events that follow the synthesis of these proteoglycans differ, according to the presence or not of CCR5. Finally, RANTES forms GAG-dependent complexes with the shed ectodomains of SD-1 and SD-4 as well as with those of CD44. The role of these events in the pathophysiology of RANTES deserves further study.

Background A dysregulated immune response is emerging as a key feature of critical illness in COVID-19. Neutrophils are key components of early innate immunity that, if not tightly regulated, contribute to uncontrolled systemic inflammation. We sought to decipher the role of neutrophil phenotypes, functions, and homeostasis in COVID-19 disease severity and outcome. Methods By using flow cytometry, this longitudinal study compares peripheral whole-blood neutrophils from 90 COVID-19 ICU patients with those of 22 SARS-CoV-2-negative patients hospitalized for severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and 38 healthy controls. We also assessed correlations between these phenotypic and functional indicators and markers of endothelial damage as well as disease severity. Results At ICU admission, the circulating neutrophils of the COVID-19 patients showed continuous basal hyperactivation not seen in CAP patients, associated with higher circulating levels of soluble E- and P-selectin, which reflect platelet and endothelial activation. Furthermore, COVID-19 patients had expanded aged-angiogenic and reverse transmigrated neutrophil subsets—both involved in endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. Simultaneously, COVID-19 patients had significantly lower levels of neutrophil oxidative burst in response to bacterial formyl peptide. Moreover patients dying of COVID-19 had significantly higher expansion of aged-angiogenic neutrophil subset and greater impairment of oxidative burst response than survivors. Conclusions These data suggest that neutrophil exhaustion may be involved in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 and identify angiogenic neutrophils as a potentially harmful subset involved in fatal outcome. Graphic Abstract