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IL-32 expression is important for pathogen clearance but detrimental in chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer. T cells are major IL-32 producers in these diseases and key mediators of pathogen and tumor elimination but also autoimmune destruction. However, their contribution to IL-32 biology during immune responses is hardly understood due to several isoforms with divergent inflammatory properties. Here, we identified IL-32β as the predominant isoform in various T cell subsets of healthy individuals and breast cancer patients with the highest levels detected in intratumoral regulatory T cells. We show that IL-32β is induced by IL-2 but IL-32β release requires T Cell Receptor rather than IL2R stimulation. Using inhibitors of protein secretion pathways and serial (ultra)centrifugation of T cell supernatants, we demonstrate that T cells actively secrete IL-32β unconventionally, as a free protein and, to a minor degree, through exosomes. Thus, our data identify activated T cells as major IL-32β secretors in health and cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common tumor entities worldwide, with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection contributing to cancer development. Conventional therapies achieve only limited efficiency, especially in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC. As the immune landscape decisively impacts the survival of patients and treatment efficacy, this study comprehensively investigated the immunological tumor microenvironment (TME) and its association with patient outcome, with special focus on several dendritic cell (DC) and T lymphocyte subpopulations. Therefore, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples of 56 HNSCC patients, who have undergone resection and adjuvant radiotherapy, were analyzed by multiplex immunohistochemistry focusing on the detailed phenotypic characterization and spatial distribution of DCs, CD8+ T cells, and T-helper cell subsets in different tumor compartments. Immune cell densities and proportions were correlated with clinical characteristics of the whole HNSCC cohort and different HPV- or hypoxia-associated subcohorts. Tumor stroma was highly infiltrated by plasmacytoid DCs and T lymphocytes. Among the T-helper cells and CD8+ T cells, stromal regulatory T cells and intraepithelial exhausted CD8+ T cells expressing programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1+) and/or lymphocyteactivation gene-3 (LAG-3+) were the predominant phenotypes, indicating an immunosuppressive TME. HPV-associated tumors showed significantly higher infiltration of type I and type II conventional DCs (cDC1, cDC2) as well as several CD8+ T cell phenotypes including exhausted, activated, and proliferating T cells. On the contrary, tumors with hypoxia-associated gene signatures exhibited reduced infiltration for these immune cells. By multivariate Cox regression, immune-related prognostic factors were identified. Patient clusters defined by high infiltration of DCs and T lymphocytes combined with HPV positivity or low hypoxia showed significantly prolonged survival. Thereby, cDC1 and CD8+ T cells emerged as independent prognostic factors for local and distant recurrence. These results might contribute to the implementation of an immune cell infiltration score predicting HNSCC patients' survival and such patient stratification might improve the design of future individualized radiochemo- (immuno)therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the establishment and activities of the Czech Young Immunologists (CYI), a group of young Czech scientists dedicated to the field of immunology. The CYI was formed in 2021 with the support of the Czech Immunology Society (CIS) and aims to create a platform for young scientists to connect and collaborate with other European societies. The CYI organizes various events, including administrative meetings, scientific meetings, and informal gatherings, both online and in-person. They also prioritize sustainability and social impact by avoiding disposable products and supporting social enterprises. The CYI plans to expand their events beyond Prague and establish collaborations with other young immunologist societies in neighboring countries. [Extracted from the article]

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common tumor entities worldwide, with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection contributing to cancer development. Conventional therapies achieve only limited efficiency, especially in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC. As the immune landscape decisively impacts the survival of patients and treatment efficacy, this study comprehensively investigated the immunological tumor microenvironment (TME) and its association with patient outcome, with special focus on several dendritic cell (DC) and T lymphocyte subpopulations. Therefore, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples of 56 HNSCC patients, who have undergone resection and adjuvant radiotherapy, were analyzed by multiplex immunohistochemistry focusing on the detailed phenotypic characterization and spatial distribution of DCs, CD8 + T cells, and T-helper cell subsets in different tumor compartments. Immune cell densities and proportions were correlated with clinical characteristics of the whole HNSCC cohort and different HPV- or hypoxia-associated subcohorts. Tumor stroma was highly infiltrated by plasmacytoid DCs and T lymphocytes. Among the T-helper cells and CD8 + T cells, stromal regulatory T cells and intraepithelial exhausted CD8 + T cells expressing programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1 + ) and/or lymphocyte-activation gene-3 (LAG-3 + ) were the predominant phenotypes, indicating an immunosuppressive TME. HPV-associated tumors showed significantly higher infiltration of type I and type II conventional DCs (cDC1, cDC2) as well as several CD8 + T cell phenotypes including exhausted, activated, and proliferating T cells. On the contrary, tumors with hypoxia-associated gene signatures exhibited reduced infiltration for these immune cells. By multivariate Cox regression, immune-related prognostic factors were identified. Patient clusters defined by high infiltration of DCs and T lymphocytes combined with HPV positivity or low hypoxia showed significantly prolonged survival. Thereby, cDC1 and CD8 + T cells emerged as independent prognostic factors for local and distant recurrence. These results might contribute to the implementation of an immune cell infiltration score predicting HNSCC patients' survival and such patient stratification might improve the design of future individualized radiochemo-(immuno)therapies., Competing Interests: In the past 5 years, MK received funding for her research projects by Merck KGaA 2014-2018 for preclinical study; 2018-2020 for clinical study and Medipan GmbH 2014-2018. MK and AL are involved in an ongoing publicly funded German Federal Ministry of Education and Research project with the companies Medipan 2019-2022, Attomol GmbH 2019-2022, GA Generic Assays GmbH 2019-2022, Gesellschaft für medizinische und wissenschaftliche genetische Analysen 2019-2022, Lipotype GmbH 2019-2022 and PolyAn GmbH 2019-2022. MK and AL confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, none of the above-mentioned funding sources were involved in the preparation of this paper. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Kirchner, Plesca, Rothe, Resag, Löck, Benešová, Rupp, Linge, Wehner, Krause and Schmitz.)