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Antiviral CD8+T cell immunity depends on the integration of various contextual cues, but how antigen-presenting cells (APCs) consolidate these signals for decoding by T cells remains unclear. Here, we describe gradual interferon-α/interferon-β (IFNα/β)-induced transcriptional adaptations that endow APCs with the capacity to rapidly activate the transcriptional regulators p65, IRF1 and FOS after CD4+T cell-mediated CD40 stimulation. While these responses operate through broadly used signaling components, they induce a unique set of co-stimulatory molecules and soluble mediators that cannot be elicited by IFNα/β or CD40 alone. These responses are critical for the acquisition of antiviral CD8+T cell effector function, and their activity in APCs from individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 correlates with milder disease. These observations uncover a sequential integration process whereby APCs rely on CD4+T cells to select the innate circuits that guide antiviral CD8+T cell responses.

ABSTRACTIntroductionThe use of dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer vaccines over three decades has shown them to be a safe therapeutic approach against a range of hematological and solid malignancies. However, underwhelming and inconsistent results from clinical trials have seen them move in and out of favor. The limitations of ex vivogenerated monocyte-derived DC (MoDC) in these therapies provide a pointed explanation for the varying and somewhat disappointing clinical outcomes. The identification of a specialized role for the rare conventional type 1 dendritic cell (cDC1) subset in orchestrating tumor immunity via the initiation of CD8+ T cell responses has led to a new concept of targeting cDC1 as a therapeutic option to address the unmet need of enhancing the immune response in cancer patients.Areas CoveredThis article reviews several current challenges and key opportunities associated with the development and use of next generation cDC1 cancer vaccines.Expert OpinionManipulation of cDC1 quantity and quality holds enormous potential to improve tumor immunogenicity, as already demonstrated in preclinical models. New technologies are rapidly advancing the understanding of cDC1 in human cancer patients and facilitating the generation of these extremely rare cells in vitro, providing feasible new approaches toward clinical translation.

Dendritic cells are a specialized subset of hematopoietic cells essential for mounting immunity against tumors and infectious disease as well as inducing tolerance for maintenance of homeostasis. DCs are equipped with number of immunoregulatory or stimulatory molecules that interact with other leukocytes to modulate their functions. Recent advances in DC biology identified a specific role for the conventional dendritic cell type 1 (cDC1) in eliciting cytotoxic CD8+ T cells essential for clearance of tumors and infected cells. The critical role of this subset in eliciting immune responses or inducing tolerance has largely been defined in mice whereas the biology of human cDC1 is poorly characterized owing to their extremely low frequency in tissues. A detailed characterization of the functions of many immunoregulatory and stimulatory molecules expressed by human cDC1 is critical for understanding their biology to exploit this subset for designing novel therapeutic modalities against cancer, infectious disease and autoimmune disorders.

Many adenocarcinomas, including colorectal cancer (CRC), overexpress the MUC13 cell surface mucin, but the functional significance and mechanisms are unknown. Here, we report the roles of MUC13 in colonic tumorigenesis and tumor progression. High-MUC13 expression is associated with poor survival in two independent patient cohorts. In a comprehensive series of in vivo experiments, we identified a critical role for MUC13 in the development of this malignancy, by promoting survival and proliferation of tumor-initiating cells and driving an immunosuppressive environment that protects tumors from checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. In Muc13-deficient mice, fewer tumors are generated after exposure to carcinogens and inflammation, they have markedly reduced β-catenin signaling, have more tumor-infiltrating CD103+dendritic cells and CD8+T lymphocytes, fewer myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and are rendered sensitive to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy (anti-PD-L1). Mechanistically, we show that MUC13 protects β-catenin from degradation, by interacting with GSK-3β, which increases β-catenin nuclear translocation and promotes its signaling, thereby driving cancer initiation, progression, invasion, and immune suppression. Therefore, MUC13 is a potential marker of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer, and inhibiting MUC13 may be useful in the treatment of colitis-associated cancer and sensitizing tumors to immunotherapy.

Antigen-presenting cells survey their environment and present captured antigens bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Formation of MHC-antigen complexes occurs in specialized compartments where multiple protein trafficking routes, still incompletely understood, converge. Autophagy is a route that enables the presentation of cytosolic antigen by MHC class II molecules. Some reports also implicate autophagy in the presentation of extracellular, endocytosed antigen by MHC class I molecules, a pathway termed “cross-presentation.” The role of autophagy in cross-presentation is controversial. This may be due to studies using different types of antigen presenting cells for which the use of autophagy is not well defined. Here we report that active use of autophagy is evident only in DC subtypes specialized in cross-presentation. However, the contribution of autophagy to cross-presentation varied depending on the form of antigen: it was negligible in the case of cell-associated antigen or antigen delivered via receptor-mediated endocytosis, but more prominent when the antigen was a soluble protein. These findings highlight the differential use of autophagy and its machinery by primary cells equipped with specific immune function, and prompt careful reassessment of the participation of this endocytic pathway in antigen cross-presentation.

Preclinical studies have suggested that purified populations of CD1c (BDCA-1+) blood-derived dendritic cells (BDC) loaded with tumor-specific peptides may be a feasible option for prostate cancer immunotherapy. We performed an open-label dose-finding Phase I study to evaluate the safe use of CD1c+BDC in patients with advanced metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. HLA-A*0201-positive patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer were recruited and consented. The vaccine was manufactured by pulsing autologous CD1c+BDC, prepared by magnetic bead immunoselection from apheresed peripheral blood mononuclear cells, with a cocktail of HLA-A*0201-restricted peptides (prostate-specific antigen, prostate acid phosphatase, prostate specific membrane antigen, and control influenza peptide) and keyhole limpet hemocyanin. The vaccine was administered intradermally or intravenously and peripheral blood was taken at predetermined intervals for clinical and immunologic monitoring. The vaccine was manufactured with a median purity of 82% CD1c+BDC and administered successfully to 12 patients. Each patient received between 1 and 5×106fresh CD1c+BDC on day 0, followed by cryopreserved product in the same dose on days 28 and 56. The vaccine was well tolerated in all patients, with the most frequent adverse events being grade 1–2 fever, pain, or injection-site reactions. Vaccination with CD1c+BDC is therefore feasible, safe, and well tolerated in patients with advanced-stage metastatic prostate cancer.

Dendritic cells (DC) play a pivotal role in the induction and regulation of immune responses, including the induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) responses. These are essential for the eradication of cancers and pathogens including HIV and malaria, for which there are currently no effective vaccines. New developments in our understanding of DC biology have identified the key DC subset responsible for CTL induction, which is now an attractive candidate to target for vaccination. These DC are characterized by expression of novel markers Clec9A and XCR1, and a specialized capacity to cross-present antigen (Ag) from tumors and pathogens that do not directly infect DC. New generation DC vaccines that specifically target the cross-presenting DC in vivo have already demonstrated potential in preclinical animal models but the challenge remains to translate these findings into clinically efficacous vaccines in man. This has been greatly facilitated by the recent identification of the equivalent Clec9A+XCR1+cross-presenting DC in human lymphoid tissues and peripheral tissues that are key sites for vaccination administration. These findings combined with further studies on DC subset biology have important implications for the design of new CTL-mediated vaccines.

Lymphoproliferative disorders, including follicular lymphoma (FL), multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL), are slowly progressive malignancies which remain incurable despite advances in therapy. Harnessing the immune system to recognise and destroy tumours is a promising new approach to treating these diseases. Dendritic cells (DC) are unique antigen-presenting cells that play a central role in the initiation and direction of immune responses. DC loaded ex vivowith tumour-associated antigens and administered as a vaccine have already shown promise in early clinical trials for a number of lymphoproliferative disorders, but the need for improvement is widely agreed. Recent advances in the understanding of basic DC biology and lessons from early clinical trials have provided exciting new insights into the generation of anti-tumour immune responses and the design of vaccine strategies. In this review we provide an overview of our current understanding of DC biology and their function in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders. We discuss the current status of clinical trials and new approaches to exploit the antigen presenting capacity of DC to design vaccines of the future.

CD63 belongs to the Transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF) of membrane proteins whose functions are largely unknown. Previous results have suggested that CD63 may play an important role in the regulation of melanoma progression. To explore the role of CD63 in melanoma we have examined its association with other molecules by immunoprecipitation of CD63 from detergent induced lysates of melanoma cells. These results are the first to demonstrate an association between CD63 and two other TM4SF members, CD9 and CD81 in 2 human melanoma cell lines. We were also able to identify an association between CD9 and CD63 with β1 integrins in melanoma. The results suggest that CD63 is capable of forming multicomponent complexes with TM4SF members and β1 integrins on the surface of melanoma. These findings provide further insights into the function of CD63.

Winkler: GlycoMimetics Inc: Research Funding. Barbier:GlycoMimetics Inc: Research Funding. Davies:GlycoMimetics Inc: Research Funding. Smith:GlycoMimetics, Inc.: Employment. Fogler:GlycoMimetics, Inc.: Employment. Magnani:GlycoMimetics Inc: Employment, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

T-cells are critical mediators of immune defense against pathogens and cancer. Adoptive T cell immunotherapy and T-cell engineering have promising clinical applications but T cell survival and exhaustion are current limitations. Central memory cells (TCMCD62L+CCR7+) and their precursors, stem central memory T-cells (TSCM) possess the stem-like properties needed to reconstitute and prolong an effective immune response long-term. These cells have been shown to significantly improve therapeutic efficacy of adoptive T-cell therapy. The challenge remains to harvest good quality TCM-cells for these immunotherapy approaches.

We investigated the capacity of IL-15 to differentiate human dendritic cells (DC) from monocytes in the presence of GM-CSF (IL-15 MoDC) and compared them with MoDC differentiated in IL-4 and GM-CSF (IL-4 MoDC) as used in many immunotherapy protocols. IL-15 MoDC expressed higher levels of CD40 and HLA-DR and importantly, induced MART-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses with superior lytic capacity, when compared to IL-4 MoDC. In response to activation, IL-15 MoDC secreted high levels of IFN-γbut low or no IL-12, whereas IL-4 MoDC secreted high IL-12 but low or no IFN-γ. Using an IFN-γ blocking antibody, we demonstrated that IFN-γ production by the IL-15 MoDC did not account for the superior CTL responses induced. Despite immunoselecting monocytes to greater than 97% purity prior to DC differentiation, we noticed a small population (1–2%) of CD56+ and CD3+ lymphocytes in the IL-15 MoDC preparations that were less prominent in IL-4 MoDC differentiated from the same monocytes. Removal of the residual lymphocytes from monocytes prior to differentiation into IL-15 MoDC diminished their capacity to induce CTL but did not affect the expression of HLA-DR or CD40. These data suggest that IL-15-dependent cross-talk between the small lymphoid populations present and DC, during DC differentiation from monocytes results in superior CTL priming that is independent of IL-12 and IFN-γ. Based on these results, appropriately manufactured IL-15 MoDC preparations containing defined numbers of lymphoid cells should be considered for immunotherapy.

We investigated the capacity of IL-15 to differentiate human dendritic cells (DC) from monocytes in the presence of GM-CSF (IL-15 MoDC) and compared them with MoDC differentiated in IL-4 and GM-CSF (IL-4 MoDC) as used in many immunotherapy protocols. IL-15 MoDC expressed higher levels of CD40 and HLA-DR and importantly, induced MART-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses with superior lytic capacity, when compared to IL-4 MoDC. In response to activation, IL-15 MoDC secreted high levels of IFN-γbut low or no IL-12, whereas IL-4 MoDC secreted high IL-12 but low or no IFN-γ. Using an IFN-γ blocking antibody, we demonstrated that IFN-γ production by the IL-15 MoDC did not account for the superior CTL responses induced. Despite immunoselecting monocytes to greater than 97% purity prior to DC differentiation, we noticed a small population (1–2%) of CD56+and CD3+lymphocytes in the IL-15 MoDC preparations that were less prominent in IL-4 MoDC differentiated from the same monocytes. Removal of the residual lymphocytes from monocytes prior to differentiation into IL-15 MoDC diminished their capacity to induce CTL but did not affect the expression of HLA-DR or CD40. These data suggest that IL-15-dependent cross-talk between the small lymphoid populations present and DC, during DC differentiation from monocytes results in superior CTL priming that is independent of IL-12 and IFN-γ. Based on these results, appropriately manufactured IL-15 MoDC preparations containing defined numbers of lymphoid cells should be considered for immunotherapy.