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Mammalian pregnancy requires protection against immunological rejection of the developing fetus bearing discordant paternal antigens. Immune evasion in this developmental context entails silenced expression of chemoattractant proteins (chemokines), thereby preventing harmful immune cells from penetrating the maternal-fetal interface. Here, we demonstrate that fetal wastage triggered by prenatal Listeria monocytogenes infection is driven by placental recruitment of CXCL9-producing inflammatory neutrophils and macrophages that promote infiltration of fetal-specific T cells into the decidua. Maternal [CD8.sup.+] T cells with fetal specificity upregulated expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 and, together with neutrophils and macrophages, were essential for L. monocytogenes-induced fetal resorption. Conversely, decidual accumulation of maternal T cells with fetal specificity and fetal wastage were extinguished by CXCR3 blockade or in CXCR3 deficient mice. Remarkably, protection against fetal wastage and in utero L. monocytogenes invasion was maintained even when CXCR3 neutralization was initiated after infection, and this protective effect extended to fetal resorption triggered by partial ablation of immune-suppressive maternal Tregs, which expand during pregnancy to sustain fetal tolerance. Together, our results indicate that functionally overriding chemokine silencing at the maternal-fetal interface promotes the pathogenesis of prenatal infection and suggest that therapeutically reinforcing this pathway represents a universal approach for mitigating immune-mediated pregnancy complications., Introduction Stillbirth, defined as fetal loss in the second half of pregnancy, remains a pressing global health problem, with devastating medical and psychosocial consequences. The World Health Organization estimates that [...]

Newborn infants are highly susceptible to infection. This defect in host defence has generally been ascribed to the immaturity of neonatal immune cells; however, the degree of hyporesponsiveness is highly variable and depends on the stimulation conditions (1-7). These discordant responses illustrate the need for a more unified explanation for why immunity is compromised in neonates. Here we show that physiologically enriched [CD71.sup.+] erythroid cells in neonatal mice and human cord blood have distinctive immunosuppressive properties. The production of innate immune protective cytokines by adult cells is diminished after transfer to neonatal mice or after co-culture with neonatal splenocytes. Neonatal [CD71.sup.+] cells express the enzyme arginase-2, and arginase activity is essential for the immunosuppressive properties of these cells because molecular inhibition of this enzyme or supplementation with L-arginine overrides immunosuppression. In addition, the ablation of [CD71.sup.+] cells in neonatal mice, or the decline in number of these cells as postnatal development progresses parallels the loss of suppression, and restored resistance to the perinatal pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli (8,9). However, [CD71.sup.+] cell-mediated susceptibility to infection is counterbalanced by [CD71.sup.+] cell-mediated protection against aberrant immune cell activation in the intestine, where colonization with commensal microorganisms occurs swiftly after parturition (10,11). Conversely, circumventing such colonization by using antimicrobials or gnotobiotic germ-free mice overrides these protective benefits. Thus, [CD71.sup.+] cells quench the excessive inflammation induced by abrupt colonization with commensal microorganisms after parturition. This finding challenges the idea that the susceptibility of neonates to infection reflects immune-cell-intrinsic defects and instead highlights AA processes that are developmentally more essential and inadvertently mitigate innate immune protection. We anticipate that these results will spark renewed investigation into the need for immunosuppression in neonates, as well as improved strategies for augmenting host defence in this vulnerable population., Neonates are highly susceptible to disseminated infections, which are often fatal. Numerous distinctions have been described between neonatal and adult responses to infection, including blunted inflammatory cytokine production, skewed T-helper-cell [...]

Aging confers increased susceptibility to common pathogens including influenza A virus. Despite shared vulnerability to infection with advancing age in humans and rodents, the relatively long time required for immune senescence to take hold practically restricts the use of naturally aged mice to investigate aging-induced immunological shifts. Here, we show accelerated aging LmnaDhe mice with spontaneous mutation in the nuclear scaffolding protein, lamin A, replicate infection susceptibility, and substantial immune cell shifts that occur with advancing age. Naturally aged (=20 month) and 2- to 3-monthold LmnaDhe mice share near identically increased influenza A susceptibility compared with age-matched LmnaWT control mice. Increased mortality and higher viral burden after influenza infection in LmnaDhe mice parallel reduced accumulation of lung alveolar macrophage cells, systemic expansion of immune suppressive Foxp3+ regulatory T cells, and skewed immune dominance among viral-specific CD8+ T cells similar to the immunological phenotype of naturally aged mice. Thus, aginginduced infection susceptibility and immune senescence are replicated in accelerated aging LmnaDhe mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The costimulatory B7-1 (CD80)/B7-2 (CD86) molecules, along with T-cell receptor stimulation, together facilitate T-cell activation. This explains why in vivo B7 costimulation neutralization efficiently silences a variety of human autoimmune disorders. Paradoxically, however, B7 blockade also potently moderates accumulation of im-mune-suppressive regulatory T ceils (Tregs) essential for protection against multiorgan systemic autoimmunity. Here we show that B7 deprivation in mice overrides the necessity for Tregs in averting systemic autoimmunity and inflammation in extraintestinal tissues, whereas peripherally induced Tregs retained in the absence of B7 selectively mitigate intestinal inflammation caused by Th17 effector CD4+ T cells. The need for additional immune suppression in the intestine reflects commensal microbe-driven T-cell activation through the accessory costimulation molecules ICOSL and OX40L. Eradication of commensal enteric bacteria mitigates intestinal inflammation and IL-17 production triggered by Treg depletion in B7-deficient mice, whereas re-establishing intestinal colonization with Candida albicans primes expansion of Th17 cells with commensal specificity. Thus, neutralizing B7 costimulation uncovers an essential role for Tregs in selectively averting intestinal inflammation by Th17 CD4+ T cells with commensal microbe specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newborn infants are highly susceptible to infection. This defect in host defence has generally been ascribed to the immaturity of neonatal immune cells; however, the degree of hyporesponsiveness is highly variable and depends on the stimulation conditions. These discordant responses illustrate the need for a more unified explanation for why immunity is compromised in neonates. Here we show that physiologically enriched CD71+ erythroid cells in neonatal mice and human cord blood have distinctive immunosuppressive properties. The production of innate immune protective cytokines by adult cells is diminished after transfer to neonatal mice or after co-culture with neonatal splenocytes. Neonatal CD71+ cells express the enzyme arginase-2, and arginase activity is essential for the immunosuppressive properties of these cells because molecular inhibition of this enzyme or supplementation with l-arginine overrides immunosuppression. In addition, the ablation of CD71+ cells in neonatal mice, or the decline in number of these cells as postnatal development progresses parallels the loss of suppression, and restored resistance to the perinatal pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli. However, CD71+ cell-mediated susceptibility to infection is counterbalanced by CD71+ cell-mediated protection against aberrant immune cell activation in the intestine, where colonization with commensal microorganisms occurs swiftly after parturition. Conversely, circumventing such colonization by using antimicrobials or gnotobiotic germ-free mice overrides these protective benefits. Thus, CD71+ cells quench the excessive inflammation induced by abrupt colonization with commensal microorganisms after parturition. This finding challenges the idea that the susceptibility of neonates to infection reflects immune-cell-intrinsic defects and instead highlights processes that are developmentally more essential and inadvertently mitigate innate immune protection. We anticipate that these results will spark renewed investigation into the need for immunosuppression in neonates, as well as improved strategies for augmenting host defence in this vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The identification of the events that accompany cancer progression is essential for developing new therapies. We have used mycosis fungoides, the most common type of cutaneous lymphoma, as a model for our study. We have shown that cancer progression is accompanied by the expansion of exhausted immune cells around malignant cells. Those exhausted cells prevent immune activation, blocking cancer clearance by the immune system. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that novel anti-CD47 immunotherapy with mycosis fungoides leads to the reduction of exhausted T cells accompanied by the expansion of NK and CD8+ T cells. These therapeutic benefits of CD47 blockade were further facilitated by interferon-α, which stimulates cytotoxic cells. Thus, we showed that CD47 might serve as an effective therapeutic target in treating mycosis fungoides. Cancer progression in mycosis fungoides, the most common form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, occurs in a predictable, sequential pattern that starts from patches and that evolves to plaques and later to tumors. Therefore, unlocking the relationship between the microarchitecture of mycosis fungoides and the clinical counterparts of that microstructure represents important steps for the design of targeted therapies. Using multispectral fluorescent imaging, we show that the progression of mycosis fungoides from plaque to tumor parallels the cutaneous expansion of the malignant CD4+ T cells that express TOX. The density of exhausted BTLA+ CD4+ T cells around malignant CD4+TOX+ cells was higher in tumors than it was in plaques, suggesting that undesired safeguards are in place within the tumor microenvironment that prevent immune activation and subsequent cancer eradication. Overriding the CD47 checkpoint with an intralesional SIRPαFc fusion decoy receptor induced the resolution of mycosis fungoides in patients that paralleled an amplified expansion of NK and CD8+ T cells in addition to a reduction of the exhausted BTLA+ CD4+ T cells that were engaged in promiscuous intercellular interactions. These therapeutic benefits of the CD47 blockade were further unleashed by adjuvant interferon-α, which stimulates cytotoxic cells, underscoring the importance of an inflamed microenvironment in facilitating the response to immunotherapy. Collectively, these findings support CD47 as a therapeutic target in treating mycosis fungoides and demonstrate a synergistic role of interferon-α in exploiting these clinical benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy stimulates induced Foxp3 expression among maternal CD4+ T cells with fetal specificity. Although sustained maternal regulatory CD4+ T cell (Treg) expansion is essential for maintaining fetal tolerance during pregnancy, the necessity for Foxp3+ cells with fetal specificity remains undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that mitigating Treg differentiation among maternal CD4+ T cells with a single surrogate fetal specificity elicits Ag-specific fetal loss. Using recombinant Listeria monocytogenes to prime stably differentiated Th1 CD4+ T cells with fetal I-Ab:2W1S55-68 specificity refractory to pregnancy-induced Foxp3 expression, we show that Ag delivery by cytoplasmic L. monocytogenes causes selective loss of 2W1S+ offspring through CD4 cell- and IFN-γ-dependent pathways. In contrast, CD4+ T cells primed by L. monocytogenes restricted from the cell cytoplasm are markedly more plastic for induced Foxp3 expression, with normal pregnancy outcomes. Thus, committed Th1 polarization blocks pregnancy induced Treg differentiation among maternal CD4+ T cells with fetal specificity and triggers Ag-specific fetal loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging confers increased susceptibility to common pathogens including influenza A virus. Despite shared vulnerability to infection with advancing age in humans and rodents, the relatively long time required for immune senescence to take hold practically restricts the use of naturally aged mice to investigate aging-induced immunological shifts. Here, we show accelerated aging Lmna(Dhe) mice with spontaneous mutation in the nuclear scaffolding protein, lamin A, replicate infection susceptibility, and substantial immune cell shifts that occur with advancing age. Naturally aged (≥ 20 month) and 2- to 3-month-old Lmna(Dhe) mice share near identically increased influenza A susceptibility compared with age-matched Lmna(WT) control mice. Increased mortality and higher viral burden after influenza infection in Lmna(Dhe) mice parallel reduced accumulation of lung alveolar macrophage cells, systemic expansion of immune suppressive Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells, and skewed immune dominance among viral-specific CD8⁺T cells similar to the immunological phenotype of naturally aged mice. Thus, aging-induced infection susceptibility and immune senescence are replicated in accelerated aging Lmna(Dhe) mice., (© 2015 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The costimulatory B7-1 (CD80)/B7-2 (CD86) molecules, along with T-cell receptor stimulation, together facilitate T-cell activation. This explains why in vivo B7 costimulation neutralization efficiently silences a variety of human autoimmune disorders. Paradoxically, however, B7 blockade also potently moderates accumulation of immune-suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs) essential for protection against multiorgan systemic autoimmunity. Here we show that B7 deprivation in mice overrides the necessity for Tregs in averting systemic autoimmunity and inflammation in extraintestinal tissues, whereas peripherally induced Tregs retained in the absence of B7 selectively mitigate intestinal inflammation caused by Th17 effector CD4(+) T cells. The need for additional immune suppression in the intestine reflects commensal microbe-driven T-cell activation through the accessory costimulation molecules ICOSL and OX40L. Eradication of commensal enteric bacteria mitigates intestinal inflammation and IL-17 production triggered by Treg depletion in B7-deficient mice, whereas re-establishing intestinal colonization with Candida albicans primes expansion of Th17 cells with commensal specificity. Thus, neutralizing B7 costimulation uncovers an essential role for Tregs in selectively averting intestinal inflammation by Th17 CD4(+) T cells with commensal microbe specificity.