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CD8 + T cells control tumors but inevitably become dysfunctional in the tumor microenvironment. Here, we show that sodium chloride (NaCl) counteracts T cell dysfunction to promote cancer regression. NaCl supplementation during CD8 + T cell culture induced effector differentiation, IFN-γ production and cytotoxicity while maintaining the gene networks responsible for stem-like plasticity. Accordingly, adoptive transfer of tumor-specific T cells resulted in superior anti-tumor immunity in a humanized mouse model. In mice, a high-salt diet reduced the growth of experimental tumors in a CD8 + T cell-dependent manner by inhibiting terminal differentiation and enhancing the effector potency of CD8 + T cells. Mechanistically, NaCl enhanced glutamine consumption, which was critical for transcriptional, epigenetic and functional reprogramming. In humans, CD8 + T cells undergoing antigen recognition in tumors and predicting favorable responses to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy resembled those induced by NaCl. Thus, NaCl metabolism is a regulator of CD8 + T cell effector function, with potential implications for cancer immunotherapy., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Espinosa-Carrasco et al. show that the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies depends upon the formation of intratumoral immune triads between antigen-presenting cells and antigen-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells. This interaction reprograms tumor-specific CD8 + T cells to exert potent effector functions and eradicate established solid tumors., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests E.L. received research grants from Bristol Myers Squibb on a topic unrelated to this paper, royalties from the NIH for a patent on methods to develop T memory stem cells, and consulting fees from BD Biosciences, Biolegend, Swarm Therapeutics, Menarini, Amgen, and Pfizer., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Immunotherapy advances have been hindered by difficulties in tracking the behaviors of lymphocytes after antigen signaling. Here, we assessed the behavior of T cells active within tumors through the development of the antigen receptor signaling reporter (AgRSR) mouse, fate-mapping lymphocytes responding to antigens at specific times and locations. Contrary to reports describing the ready egress of T cells out of the tumor, we find that intratumoral antigen signaling traps CD8 + T cells in the tumor. These clonal populations expand and become increasingly exhausted over time. By contrast, antigen-signaled regulatory T cell (T reg ) clonal populations readily recirculate out of the tumor. Consequently, intratumoral antigen signaling acts as a gatekeeper to compartmentalize CD8 + T cell responses, even within the same clonotype, thus enabling exhausted T cells to remain confined to a specific tumor tissue site.

Tumour dendritic cells (DCs) internalise antigen and upregulate CCR7, which directs their migration to tumour-draining lymph nodes (dLN). CCR7 expression is coupled to an activation programme enriched in regulatory molecule expression, including PD-L1. However, the spatio-temporal dynamics of CCR7 + DCs in anti-tumour immune responses remain unclear. Here, we use photoconvertible mice to precisely track DC migration. We report that CCR7 + DCs are the dominant DC population that migrate to the dLN, but a subset remains tumour-resident despite CCR7 expression. These tumour-retained CCR7 + DCs are phenotypically and transcriptionally distinct from their dLN counterparts and heterogeneous. Moreover, they progressively downregulate the expression of antigen presentation and pro-inflammatory transcripts with more prolonged tumour dwell-time. Tumour-residing CCR7 + DCs co-localise with PD-1 + CD8 + T cells in human and murine solid tumours, and following anti-PD-L1 treatment, upregulate stimulatory molecules including OX40L, thereby augmenting anti-tumour cytolytic activity. Altogether, these data uncover previously unappreciated heterogeneity in CCR7 + DCs that may underpin a variable capacity to support intratumoural cytotoxic T cells., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Adoptive cell transfer therapy using CD8 + T lymphocytes showed promising results eradicating metastatic malignancies. However, several regulatory mechanisms limit its efficacy. We studied the role of the expression of the transcription factor FOXP3 on CD8 + T cell function and anti-tumor immunity. Here we show that suboptimal T cell receptor stimulation of CD8 + T cells upregulates FOXP3 in vitro. Similarly, CD8 T cells transferred into tumor-bearing mice upregulate FOXP3 in vivo. Cell-intrinsic loss of FOXP3 by CD8 + T cells resulted in improved functionality after TCR stimulation and better antitumor responses in vivo. Inhibition of the FOXP3/NFAT interaction likewise improved CD8 + T cell functionality. Transcriptomic analysis of cells after TCR stimulation revealed an enrichment of genes implicated in the response to IFN-γ, IFN-α, inflammatory response, IL-6/JAK/STAT, G2M checkpoint and IL-2/STAT signaling in FOXP3-deficient CD8 + T cells with respect to FOXP3-wt CD8 + T cells. Our results suggest that transient expression of FOXP3 by CD8 + T cells in the tumor microenvironment restrains their anti-tumor activity, with clear implications for improving T cell responses during immunotherapy., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cells of the adaptive immune system, including CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, as well as B cells, possess the ability to undergo dynamic changes in population size, differentiation state, and function to counteract diverse and temporally stochastic threats from the external environment. To achieve this, lymphocytes must be able to rapidly control their gene-expression programs in a cell-type-specific manner and in response to extrinsic signals. Such capacity is provided by transcription factors (TFs), which bind to the available repertoire of regulatory DNA elements in distinct lymphocyte subsets to program cell-type-specific gene expression. Here we provide a set of protocols that utilize massively parallel sequencing-based approaches to map genome-wide TF-binding sites and accessible chromatin, with consideration of the unique aspects and technical issues facing their application to lymphocytes. We show how to computationally validate and analyze aligned data to map differentially enriched/accessible sites, identify enriched DNA sequence motifs, and detect the position of nucleosomes adjacent to accessible DNA elements. These techniques, when applied to immune cells, can enhance our understanding of how gene-expression programs are controlled within lymphocytes to coordinate immune function in homeostasis and disease. © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

A paradox of tumor immunology is that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are dysfunctional in situ, yet are capable of stem cell-like behavior including self-renewal, expansion, and multipotency, resulting in the eradication of large metastatic tumors. We find that the overabundance of potassium in the tumor microenvironment underlies this dichotomy, triggering suppression of T cell effector function while preserving stemness. High levels of extracellular potassium constrain T cell effector programs by limiting nutrient uptake, thereby inducing autophagy and reduction of histone acetylation at effector and exhaustion loci, which in turn produces CD8 + T cells with improved in vivo persistence, multipotency, and tumor clearance. This mechanistic knowledge advances our understanding of T cell dysfunction and may lead to novel approaches that enable the development of enhanced T cell strategies for cancer immunotherapy., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

Interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) regulates the clonal expansion and metabolic activity of activated T cells, but the precise context and mechanisms of its function in these processes are unclear. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Miyakoda et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2018. 48: 1319-1328] show that IRF4 is required for activation and expansion of naïve and memory CD8 + T cells driven by T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling, but dispensable for memory CD8 + T-cell maintenance and homeostatic proliferation driven by homeostatic cytokines. The authors show that the function of IRF4 in CD8 + T-cell expansion is partially dependent upon activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway through direct or indirect attenuation of PTEN expression. These data shed light upon the differential intracellular pathways required for naïve and memory T cells to respond to self-antigens and/or homeostatic cytokines, and highlight the potential translational relevance of these findings in the context of immune reconstitution such as following allogeneic stem cell transplantation., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Upon stimulation, small numbers of naive CD8 + T cells proliferate and differentiate into a variety of memory and effector cell types. CD8 + T cells can persist for years and kill tumour cells and virally infected cells. The functional and phenotypic changes that occur during CD8 + T cell differentiation are well characterized, but the epigenetic states that underlie these changes are incompletely understood. Here, we review the epigenetic processes that direct CD8 + T cell differentiation and function. We focus on epigenetic modification of DNA and associated histones at genes and their regulatory elements. We also describe structural changes in chromatin organization that affect gene expression. Finally, we examine the translational potential of epigenetic interventions to improve CD8 + T cell function in individuals with chronic infections and cancer.

Cancer cells must evade immune responses at distant sites to establish metastases. The lung is a frequent site for metastasis. We hypothesized that lung-specific immunoregulatory mechanisms create an immunologically permissive environment for tumor colonization. We found that T-cell-intrinsic expression of the oxygen-sensing prolyl-hydroxylase (PHD) proteins is required to maintain local tolerance against innocuous antigens in the lung but powerfully licenses colonization by circulating tumor cells. PHD proteins limit pulmonary type helper (Th)-1 responses, promote CD4(+)-regulatory T (Treg) cell induction, and restrain CD8(+) T cell effector function. Tumor colonization is accompanied by PHD-protein-dependent induction of pulmonary Treg cells and suppression of IFN-γ-dependent tumor clearance. T-cell-intrinsic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of PHD proteins limits tumor colonization of the lung and improves the efficacy of adoptive cell transfer immunotherapy. Collectively, PHD proteins function in T cells to coordinate distinct immunoregulatory programs within the lung that are permissive to cancer metastasis. PAPERCLIP., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signaling drives distinct responses depending on the differentiation state and context of CD8(+) T cells. We hypothesized that access of signal-dependent transcription factors (TFs) to enhancers is dynamically regulated to shape transcriptional responses to TCR signaling. We found that the TF BACH2 restrains terminal differentiation to enable generation of long-lived memory cells and protective immunity after viral infection. BACH2 was recruited to enhancers, where it limited expression of TCR-driven genes by attenuating the availability of activator protein-1 (AP-1) sites to Jun family signal-dependent TFs. In naive cells, this prevented TCR-driven induction of genes associated with terminal differentiation. Upon effector differentiation, reduced expression of BACH2 and its phosphorylation enabled unrestrained induction of TCR-driven effector programs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

To better elucidate epigenetic mechanisms that correlate with the dynamic gene expression program observed upon T-cell differentiation, we investigated the genomic landscape of histone modifications in naive and memory CD8(+) T cells. Using a ChIP-Seq approach coupled with global gene expression profiling, we generated genome-wide histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) trimethylation maps in naive, T memory stem cells, central memory cells, and effector memory cells in order to gain insight into how histone architecture is remodeled during T cell differentiation. We show that H3K4me3 histone modifications are associated with activation of genes, while H3K27me3 is negatively correlated with gene expression at canonical loci and enhancers associated with T-cell metabolism, effector function, and memory. Our results also reveal histone modifications and gene expression signatures that distinguish the recently identified T memory stem cells from other CD8(+) T-cell subsets. Taken together, our results suggest that CD8(+) lymphocytes undergo chromatin remodeling in a progressive fashion. These findings have major implications for our understanding of peripheral T-cell ontogeny and the formation of immunological memory.

The immune system has a powerful ability to recognize and kill cancer cells, but its function is often suppressed within tumors, preventing clearance of disease. Functionally diverse innate and adaptive cellular lineages either drive or constrain immune reactions within tumors. The transcription factor (TF) BACH2 regulates the differentiation of multiple innate and adaptive cellular lineages, but its role in controlling tumor immunity has not been elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that BACH2 is required to establish immunosuppression within tumors. Tumor growth was markedly impaired in Bach2-deficient mice and coincided with intratumoral activation of both innate and adaptive immunity. However, augmented tumor clearance in the absence of Bach2 was dependent upon the adaptive immune system. Analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from Bach2-deficient mice revealed high frequencies of rapidly proliferating effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that expressed the inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ. Effector T cell activation coincided with a reduction in the frequency of intratumoral Foxp3+ Tregs. Mechanistically, BACH2 promoted tumor immunosuppression through Treg-mediated inhibition of intratumoral CD8+ T cells and IFN-γ. These findings demonstrate that BACH2 is a key component of the molecular program of tumor immunosuppression and identify therapeutic targets for the reversal of immunosuppression in cancer.

ZEB2 is a multi-zinc-finger transcription factor known to play a significant role in early neurogenesis and in epithelial-mesenchymal transition-dependent tumor metastasis. Although the function of ZEB2 in T lymphocytes is unknown, activity of the closely related family member ZEB1 has been implicated in lymphocyte development. Here, we find that ZEB2 expression is up-regulated by activated T cells, specifically in the KLRG1(hi) effector CD8(+) T cell subset. Loss of ZEB2 expression results in a significant loss of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells after primary and secondary infection with a severe impairment in the generation of the KLRG1(hi) effector memory cell population. We show that ZEB2, which can bind DNA at tandem, consensus E-box sites, regulates gene expression of several E-protein targets and may directly repress Il7r and Il2 in CD8(+) T cells responding to infection. Furthermore, we find that T-bet binds to highly conserved T-box sites in the Zeb2 gene and that T-bet and ZEB2 regulate similar gene expression programs in effector T cells, suggesting that T-bet acts upstream and through regulation of ZEB2. Collectively, we place ZEB2 in a larger transcriptional network that is responsible for the balance between terminal differentiation and formation of memory CD8(+) T cells., (© 2015 Omilusik et al.)

Improving the functional avidity of effector T cells is critical in overcoming inhibitory factors within the tumor microenvironment and eliciting tumor regression. We have found that Cish, a member of the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family, is induced by TCR stimulation in CD8(+) T cells and inhibits their functional avidity against tumors. Genetic deletion of Cish in CD8(+) T cells enhances their expansion, functional avidity, and cytokine polyfunctionality, resulting in pronounced and durable regression of established tumors. Although Cish is commonly thought to block STAT5 activation, we found that the primary molecular basis of Cish suppression is through inhibition of TCR signaling. Cish physically interacts with the TCR intermediate PLC-γ1, targeting it for proteasomal degradation after TCR stimulation. These findings establish a novel targetable interaction that regulates the functional avidity of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells and can be manipulated to improve adoptive cancer immunotherapy.

It is thought that cancer cells engage in Warburg metabolism to meet intrinsic biosynthetic requirements of cell growth and proliferation. Papers by Chang et al. and Ho et al. show that Warburg metabolism enables tumor cells to restrict glucose availability to T cells, suppressing anti-tumor immunity., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The generation of CD8(+) T-cell memory is a major aim of vaccination. While distinct subsets of CD8(+) T-cells are generated following immunization that differ in their ability to confer long-term immunity against infection, the transcriptional profiles of these subsets within endogenous vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cell responses have not been resolved. Here, we measure global transcriptional profiles of endogenous effector (TEFF), effector memory (TEM) and central memory (TCM) CD8(+) T-cells arising from immunization with three distinct prime-boost vaccine regimens. While a proportion of transcripts were uniquely regulated within distinct CD8(+) T cell populations, we observed progressive up- or down-regulation in the expression of a majority of differentially expressed transcripts when subsets were compared in the order TN>TCM>TEM>TEFF. Strikingly, when we compared global differences in gene expression between TN, TCM, TEM and TEFF cells with known transcriptional changes that result when CD8(+) T cells repetitively encounter antigen, our analysis overwhelmingly favored a model whereby cumulative antigen stimulation drives differentiation specifically from TN>TCM>TEM>TEFF and this was common to all vaccines tested. These findings provide insight into the molecular basis of immunological memory and identify potential biomarkers for characterization of vaccine-induced responses and prediction of vaccine efficacy., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lymphodepleting regimens are used before adoptive immunotherapy to augment the antitumor efficacy of transferred T cells by removing endogenous homeostatic "cytokine sinks." These conditioning modalities, however, are often associated with severe toxicities. We found that microRNA-155 (miR-155) enabled tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells to mediate profound antitumor responses in lymphoreplete hosts that were not potentiated by immune-ablation. miR-155 enhanced T-cell responsiveness to limited amounts of homeostatic γc cytokines, resulting in delayed cellular contraction and sustained cytokine production. miR-155 restrained the expression of the inositol 5-phosphatase Ship1, an inhibitor of the serine-threonine protein kinase Akt, and multiple negative regulators of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (Stat5), including suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (Socs1) and the protein tyrosine phosphatase Ptpn2. Expression of constitutively active Stat5a recapitulated the survival advantages conferred by miR-155, whereas constitutive Akt activation promoted sustained effector functions. Our results indicate that overexpression of miR-155 in tumor-specific T cells can be used to increase the effectiveness of adoptive immunotherapies in a cell-intrinsic manner without the need for life-threatening, lymphodepleting maneuvers.

Both targeted inhibition of oncogenic driver mutations and immune-based therapies show efficacy in treatment of patients with metastatic cancer, but responses can be either short lived or incompletely effective. Oncogene inhibition can augment the efficacy of immune-based therapy, but mechanisms by which these two interventions might cooperate are incompletely resolved. Using a novel transplantable BRAF(V600E)-mutant murine melanoma model (SB-3123), we explored potential mechanisms of synergy between the selective BRAF(V600E) inhibitor vemurafenib and adoptive cell transfer (ACT)-based immunotherapy. We found that vemurafenib cooperated with ACT to delay melanoma progression without significantly affecting tumor infiltration or effector function of endogenous or adoptively transferred CD8(+) T cells, as previously observed. Instead, we found that the T-cell cytokines IFNγ and TNFα synergized with vemurafenib to induce cell-cycle arrest of tumor cells in vitro. This combinatorial effect was recapitulated in human melanoma-derived cell lines and was restricted to cancers bearing a BRAF(V600E) mutation. Molecular profiling of treated SB-3123 indicated that the provision of vemurafenib promoted the sensitization of SB-3123 to the antiproliferative effects of T-cell effector cytokines. The unexpected finding that immune cytokines synergize with oncogene inhibitors to induce growth arrest has major implications for understanding cancer biology at the intersection of oncogenic and immune signaling and provides a basis for design of combinatorial therapeutic approaches for patients with metastatic cancer., (©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Naive CD8+ T cells rely upon oxidation of fatty acids as a primary source of energy. After antigen encounter, T cells shift to a glycolytic metabolism to sustain effector function. It is unclear, however, whether changes in glucose metabolism ultimately influence the ability of activated T cells to become long-lived memory cells. We used a fluorescent glucose analog, 2-NBDG, to quantify glucose uptake in activated CD8+ T cells. We found that cells exhibiting limited glucose incorporation had a molecular profile characteristic of memory precursor cells and an increased capacity to enter the memory pool compared with cells taking up high amounts of glucose. Accordingly, enforcing glycolytic metabolism by overexpressing the glycolytic enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase-1 severely impaired the ability of CD8+ T cells to form long-term memory. Conversely, activation of CD8+ T cells in the presence of an inhibitor of glycolysis, 2-deoxyglucose, enhanced the generation of memory cells and antitumor functionality. Our data indicate that augmenting glycolytic flux drives CD8+ T cells toward a terminally differentiated state, while its inhibition preserves the formation of long-lived memory CD8+ T cells. These results have important implications for improving the efficacy of T cell-based therapies against chronic infectious diseases and cancer.

CD8 T cells play a key role in mediating protective immunity against selected pathogens after vaccination. Understanding the mechanism of this protection is dependent upon definition of the heterogeneity and complexity of cellular immune responses generated by different vaccines. Here, we identify previously unrecognized subsets of CD8 T cells based upon analysis of gene-expression patterns within single cells and show that they are differentially induced by different vaccines. Three prime-boost vector combinations encoding HIV Env stimulated antigen-specific CD8 T-cell populations of similar magnitude, phenotype, and functionality. Remarkably, however, analysis of single-cell gene-expression profiles enabled discrimination of a majority of central memory (CM) and effector memory (EM) CD8 T cells elicited by the three vaccines. Subsets of T cells could be defined based on their expression of Eomes, Cxcr3, and Ccr7, or Klrk1, Klrg1, and Ccr5 in CM and EM cells, respectively. Of CM cells elicited by DNA prime-recombinant adenoviral (rAd) boost vectors, 67% were Eomes(-) Ccr7(+) Cxcr3(-), in contrast to only 7% and 2% stimulated by rAd5-rAd5 or rAd-LCMV, respectively. Of EM cells elicited by DNA-rAd, 74% were Klrk1(-) Klrg1(-)Ccr5(-) compared with only 26% and 20% for rAd5-rAd5 or rAd5-LCMV. Definition by single-cell gene profiling of specific CM and EM CD8 T-cell subsets that are differentially induced by different gene-based vaccines will facilitate the design and evaluation of vaccines, as well as enable our understanding of mechanisms of protective immunity.