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Abstract Background S100A9 has been shown to be important for the function of so called Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC). Cells with a similar phenotype are also involved in pro-inflammatory processes, and we therefore wanted to investigate the gene expression and function of these cells in animals that were either subjected to chronic inflammation, or inoculated with tumors. Methods CD11b+Ly6C++ and Ly6G+ cells were isolated from spleen, tumor tissue or inflammatory granulomas. S100A9, Arginase 1 and iNOS gene expression in the various CD11b+ cell populations was analyzed using Q-PCR. The suppressive activity of the CD11b+ cell populations from different donors was studied in co-culture experiments. Results S100A9 was shown to be expressed mainly in splenic CD11b+Ly6C+G+ cells both at the RNA and protein level. Arginase I and iNOS expression could be detected in both CD11b+Ly6C+Ly6G+ and CD11b+Ly6C+G-/C++G- derived from tumors or a site of chronic inflammation, but was very low in the same cell populations isolated from the spleen. CD11b+ cells isolated from mice with peritoneal chronic inflammation were able to stimulate T lymphocytes, while CD11b+ cells from mice with peritoneal tumors suppressed T cell growth. Conclusion An identical CD11b+Ly6C++G- cell population appears to have the ability to adopt immune stimulatory or immune suppressive functions dependent on the presence of a local inflammatory or tumor microenvironment. Thus, there is a functional plasticity in the CD11b+Ly6C++G- cell population that cannot be distinguished with the current molecular markers.

Abstract: Quinoline-3-carboxamides are currently in clinical development for treatment of both autoimmune disease and cancer. Carboxamides such as ABR-215757 (5757) have shown efficacy in several in vivo mouse models of human inflammatory autoimmune disease. Some microbial infections in mice cause GM-CSF dependent accumulation of dendritic cells expressing TNFα and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS; Tip-DCs) in lymphoid organs. Functionally similar DCs develop in GM-CSF stimulated bone marrow (BM) cell cultures and offered an in vitro model that allowed us to study the impact of 5757 on cellular development of relevance for in vivo inflammatory conditions. We show in here that addition of 5757 to such cultures, in a dose-dependent way increased the frequency of DCs, while it reduced the frequency of Gr-1+ cells by inhibiting their proliferation. This effect was specific as the compound neither influenced DC development from myeloid progenitors, nor the development of granulocytes in G-CSF stimulated BM cell cultures. Importantly, we also show that 5757 treatment reduced the accumulation of Gr-1+ cells during inflammation in vivo. We therefore propose that this compound may ameliorate autoimmune disease by blocking proliferation of Gr-1+ cells during inflammation-induced mobilization of myeloid cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Natural killer (NK) T lymphocytes are thought to act as regulatory cells directing early events during immune responses. Murine NKT cells express inhibitory receptors of the Ly49 family. These receptors have a well-established and crucial role in modulating NK cell activities, but their physiological role in regulating NKT cells is not well understood, nor is the influence of major histocompatibility (MHC) ligands on endogenous Ly49 expression. We have further investigated how the expression of inhibitory NK receptors is regulated on NKT cells, and demonstrate a non-random expression of ligated Ly49 molecules on CD1d-restricted NKT cells. The nature of the T-cell receptor on the NKT cell crucially determines the profile of expressed Ly49 isoforms. Further, we show that MHC class I ligands efficiently modulate the expression levels of the inhibitory receptors, and the frequencies of cells positive for the Ly49 members. In addition, we find a several-fold increase in Ly49C/I-expressing NKT cells in adult thymus, apparently independent of MHC class I molecules. Abundant expression of Ly49 receptors on NKT cells, and the striking differences found in Ly49 isoform patterns on NKT-cell subsets differing in T-cell receptor expression, suggest that the pattern of Ly49 expression is tuned to fit the T-cell receptor and to emphasize further a role for these receptors in NKT immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]