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Immune checkpoint inhibitors can stimulate antitumor immunity but can also induce toxicities termed immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Colitis is a common and severe irAE that can lead to treatment discontinuation. Mechanistic understanding of gut irAEs has been hampered because robust colitis is not observed in laboratory mice treated with checkpoint inhibitors. We report here that this limitation can be overcome by using mice harboring the microbiota of wild-caught mice, which develop overt colitis following treatment with anti-CTLA-4 antibodies. Intestinal inflammation is driven by unrestrained activation of IFNγ-producing CD4 + T cells and depletion of peripherally induced regulatory T cells through Fcγ receptor signaling. Accordingly, anti-CTLA-4 nanobodies that lack an Fc domain can promote antitumor responses without triggering colitis. This work suggests a strategy for mitigating gut irAEs while preserving antitumor stimulating effects of CTLA-4 blockade.

The use of sp(3) C-H bonds--which are ubiquitous in organic molecules--as latent nucleophile equivalents for transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions has the potential to substantially streamline synthetic efforts in organic chemistry while bypassing substrate activation steps. Through the combination of photoredox-mediated hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and nickel catalysis, we have developed a highly selective and general C-H arylation protocol that activates a wide array of C-H bonds as native functional handles for cross-coupling. This mild approach takes advantage of a tunable HAT catalyst that exhibits predictable reactivity patterns based on enthalpic and bond polarity considerations to selectively functionalize α-amino and α-oxy sp(3) C-H bonds in both cyclic and acyclic systems., (Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)