Cancer immunotherapy aims to promote the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) within a tumour, assist the priming of tumour-specific CTLs in lymphoid organs and establish efficient and durable antitumour immunity. During priming, help signals are relayed from CD4 T cells to CD8 T cells by specific dendritic cells to optimize the magnitude and quality of the CTL response. In this Review, we highlight the cellular dynamics and membrane receptors that mediate CD4 T cell help and the molecular mechanisms of the enhanced antitumour activity of CTLs. We outline how deficient CD4 T cell help reduces the response of CTLs and how maximizing CD4 T cell help can improve outcomes in cancer immunotherapy strategies.

CD4 T cells optimize the cytotoxic T cell (CTL) response in magnitude and quality, by unknown molecular mechanisms. We here present the transcriptomic changes in CTLs resulting from CD4 T cell help after anti-cancer vaccination or virus infection. The gene expression signatures revealed that CD4 T cell help during priming optimized CTLs in expression of cytotoxic effector molecules and many other functions that ensured efficacy of CTLs throughout their life cycle. Key features included downregulation of PD-1 and other coinhibitory receptors that impede CTL activity, and increased motility and migration capacities. "Helped" CTLs acquired chemokine receptors that helped them reach their tumor target tissue and metalloprotease activity that enabled them to invade into tumor tissue. A very large part of the "help" program was instilled in CD8 T cells via CD27 costimulation. The help program thus enhances specific CTL effector functions in response to vaccination or a virus infection.

Highlights d Enteric pathogens trigger reversible neuronal loss and longterm GI symptoms d Enteric infection-triggered neuronal loss is Nlrp6and caspase 11-dependent d Intestinal muscularis macrophages (MMs) rapidly respond to enteric pathogens d Neuronal death is limited by a MM-b 2 -adrenergic-arginase 1polyamine axis

While showing promise, vaccination strategies to treat cancer require further optimization. Likely barriers to efficacy involve cancer-associated immunosuppression and peripheral tolerance, which limit the generation of effective vaccine-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL

CD4+ T cell help is required for the generation of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) memory. Here, we use genome-wide analyses to show how CD4+ T cell help delivered during priming promotes memory differentiation of CTLs. Help signals enhance IL-15-dependent maintenance of central memory T (TCM) cells. More importantly, help signals regulate the size and function of the effector memory T (TEM) cell pool. Helped TEM cells produce Granzyme B and IFNγ upon antigen-independent, innate-like recall by IL-12 and IL-18. In addition, helped memory CTLs express the effector program characteristic of helped primary CTLs upon recall with MHC class I-restricted antigens, likely due to epigenetic imprinting and sustained mRNA expression of effector genes. Our data thus indicate that during priming, CD4+ T cell help optimizes CTL memory by creating TEM cells with innate and help-independent antigen-specific recall capacities.

SummaryCancer immunotherapy focuses mainly on anti-tumour activity of CD8 + cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). CTLs can directly kill all tumour cell types, provided they carry recognizable antigens. However, CD4 + T cells also play important roles in anti-tumour immunity. CD4 + T cells can either suppress or promote the anti-tumour CTL response, either in secondary lymphoid organs or in the tumour. In this review, we highlight opposing mechanisms of conventional and regulatory T cells at both sites. We outline how current cancer immunotherapy strategies affect both subsets and how selective modulation of each subset is important to maximize the clinical response of cancer patients.

BackgroundBreast cancers are phenotypically and genotypically heterogeneous tumors containing multiple cancer cell populations with various metastatic potential. Aggressive tumor cell subpopulations might more easily be captured in lymph nodes metastases (LNM) than in primary tumors (PT). We evaluated mRNA and protein levels of master EMT regulators: TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG, protein levels of EMT-related markers: E-cadherin, vimentin, and expression of classical breast cancer receptors: HER2, ER and PgR in PT and corresponding LNM. The results were correlated with clinicopathological data and patients outcomes.MethodsFormalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from PT and matched LNM from 42 stage II-III breast cancer patients were examined. Expression of TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG was measured by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. Protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. Kaplan-Meier curves for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using F-Cox test. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were computed using Cox regression analysis.ResultsOn average, mRNA expression of TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG was significantly higher in LNM compared to PT (P < 0.00001 for all). Gene and protein levels of TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG were highly discordant between PT and matched LNM. Increased mRNA expression of TWIST1 and SNAIL in LNM was associated with shorter OS (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02, respectively) and DFS (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01, respectively), whereas their expression in PT had no prognostic impact. Negative-to-positive switch of SNAIL protein correlated with decreased OS and DFS (HR = 4.6; 1.1-18.7; P = 0.03 and HR = 3.8; 1.0-48.7; P = 0.05, respectively).ConclusionsLNM are enriched in cells with more aggressive phenotype, marked by elevated levels of EMT regulators. High expression of TWIST1 and SNAIL in LNM, as well as negative-to-positive conversion of SNAIL confer worse prognosis, confirming the correlation of EMT with aggressive disease behavior. Thus, molecular profiling of LNM may be used as surrogate marker for aggressiveness and metastatic potential of PT.

Cytotoxic T cell differentiation is guided by epigenome adaptations, but how epigenetic mechanisms control lymphocyte development has not been well defined. Here we show that the histone methyltransferase DOT1L, which marks the nucleosome core on active genes, safeguards normal differentiation of CD8+ T cells. T cell-specific ablation of Dot1L resulted in loss of naïve CD8+ T cells and premature differentiation toward a memory-like state, independent of antigen exposure and in a cell-intrinsic manner. Mechanistically, DOT1L controlled CD8+ T cell differentiation by ensuring normal T cell receptor density and signaling. DOT1L also maintained epigenetic identity, in part by indirectly supporting the repression of developmentally regulated genes. Finally, deletion of Dot1L in T cells resulted in an impaired immune response. Through our study, DOT1L is emerging as a central player in physiology of CD8+ T cells, acting as a barrier to prevent premature differentiation and controlling epigenetic integrity.