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Biology subjects

Rossetti, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Rossetti, M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

A2AR-mediated inhibition of B cell maturation: a novel mechanism of immune suppression in cancer

High levels of extracellular adenosine, highly abundant in the tumor microenvironment, promote immune suppression mainly through the A2AR expressed by tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Here we show that plasma cells are the most negatively affected by adenosine among the immune cells present in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, both tonsillar and tumor-associated B cells, including germinal center (GC)-like B cells, plasma cells and plasma blasts (PCs and PBs, respectively, and collectively referred to as antibody-secreting cells (ASCs), express high levels of A2AR. Given the importance of tumor-infiltrating B and PCs in antitumor responses, we investigated how adenosine impairs their numbers and function. Triggering of A2AR inhibited B cell maturation into ASCs and immunoglobulin production in vitro, and impaired upregulation of PC genes upon stimulation. These effects were restored by inupadenant (EOS100850), a potent and highly selective small molecule A2AR antagonist. Spatial transcriptomics analysis of tumor biopsies from patients treated with inupadenant revealed that ASCs specifically increased in tertiary lymphoid structures. Altogether, these data demonstrate that A2AR plays a key role in adenosine-mediated inhibition of B cell maturation toward ASCs through a B cell-intrinsic mechanism, and that this effect is fully reverted by inupadenant.

immunology↗

Plasma Proteome Perturbation for CMV DNAemia in Kidney Transplantation

BackgroundCytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, either de novo or as reactivation after allotransplantation and chronic immunosuppression, is recognized to cause detrimental alloimmune effects, inclusive of higher susceptibility to graft rejection and substantive impact on chronic graft injury and reduced transplant survival. To obtain further insights into the evolution and pathogenesis of CMV infection in an immunocompromised host we evaluated changes in the circulating host proteome serially, before and after transplantation, and during and after CMV DNA replication (DNAemia), as measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR). MethodsLC-MS-based proteomics was conducted on 168 serially banked plasma samples, from 62 propensity score-matched kidney transplant recipients. Patients were stratified by CMV replication status into 31 with CMV DNAemia and 31 without CMV DNAemia. Patients had blood samples drawn at protocol times of 3- and 12-months post-transplant. Additionally, blood samples were also drawn before and 1 week and 1 month after detection of CMV DNAemia. Plasma proteins were analyzed using an LCMS 8060 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Further, public transcriptomic data on time matched PBMCs samples from the same patients was utilized to evaluate integrative pathways. Data analysis was conducted using R and Limma. ResultsSamples were segregated based on their proteomic profiles with respect to their CMV Dnaemia status. A subset of 17 plasma proteins was observed to predict the onset of CMV at 3 months post-transplant enriching platelet degranulation (FDR, 4.83E-06), acute inflammatory response (FDR, 0.0018), blood coagulation (FDR, 0.0018) pathways. An increase in many immune complex proteins were observed at CMV infection. Prior to DNAemia the plasma proteome showed changes in the anti-inflammatory adipokine vaspin (SERPINA12), copper binding protein ceruloplasmin (CP), complement activation (FDR=0.03), and proteins enriched in the humoral (FDR=0.01) and innate immune responses (FDR=0.01). ConclusionPlasma proteomic and transcriptional perturbations impacting humoral and innate immune pathways are observed during CMV infection and provide biomarkers for CMV disease prediction and resolution. Further studies to understand the clinical impact of these pathways can help in the formulation of different types and duration of anti-viral therapies for management of CMV infection in the immunocompromised host.

immunology↗

Circulating immune cell phenotype dynamics reflect the strength of tumor-immune cell interactions in patients during immunotherapy

The extent that immune cell phenotypes in the peripheral blood reflect within-tumor immune activity prior to and early in cancer therapy is unclear. To address this question, we studied the population dynamics of tumor and immune cells, and immune phenotypic changes, using clinical tumor and immune cell measurements and single cell genomic analyses. These samples were serially obtained from a cohort of advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients enrolled on a trial with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Using an ecological population model, fitted to clinical tumor burden and immune cell abundance data from each patient, we find evidence of a strong tumor-circulating immune cell interaction in responder patients, but not those patients that progress on treatment. Upon initiation of therapy, immune cell abundance increased rapidly in responsive patients, and once the peak level is reached, tumor burden decreases, similar to models of predator-prey interactions; these dynamic patterns were absent in non-responder patients. To interrogate phenotype dynamics of circulating immune cells, we performed single cell RNA sequencing at serial time points during treatment. These data show that peripheral immune cell phenotypes were linked to the increased strength of patients tumor-immune cell interaction, including increased cytotoxic differentiation and strong activation of interferon signaling in peripheral T-cells in responder patients. Joint modeling of clinical and genomic data highlights the interactions between tumor and immune cell populations and reveals how variation in patient responsiveness can be explained by differences in peripheral immune cell signaling and differentiation soon after the initiation of immunotherapy. One sentence summaryPeripheral immune cell differentiation and signaling, upon initiation of immunotherapy, reflects tumor attacking ability and patient response. Significance statementThe evolution of peripheral immune cell abundance and signaling over time, as well as how these immune cells interact with the tumor, may impact a cancer patients response to therapy. By developing an ecological population model, we provide evidence of a dynamic predator-prey like relationship between circulating immune cell abundance and tumor size in patients that respond to immunotherapy. This relationship is not found either in patients that are non-responsive to immunotherapy or during chemotherapy. Single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq) of serial peripheral blood samples from patients show that the strength of tumor-immune cell interactions is reflected in T-cells interferon activation and differentiation early in treatment. Thus, circulating immune cell dynamics reflect a tumors response to immunotherapy.

cancer biology↗

Profiling adaptive immune repertoires across multiple human tissues by RNA Sequencing

Assay-based approaches provide a detailed view of the adaptive immune system by profiling T and B cell receptor repertoires. However, these methods come at a high cost and lack the scale of standard RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Here we report the development of ImReP, a novel computational method for rapid and accurate profiling of the adaptive immune repertoire from regular RNA-Seq data. We applied it to 8,555 samples across 544 individuals from 53 tissues from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx v6) project. ImReP is able to efficiently extract TCR- and BCR- derived reads from the RNA-Seq data and accurately assemble the complementarity determining regions 3 (CDR3s), the most variable regions of B- and T-cell receptors determining their antigen specificity. Using ImReP, we have created the systematic atlas of immunological sequences for B- and T-cell repertoires across a broad range of tissue types, most of which have not been studied for B and T cell receptor repertoires. We have also examined the compositional similarities of clonal populations between the GTEx tissues to track the flow of T- and B- clonotypes across immune-related tissues, including secondary lymphoid organs and organs encompassing mucosal, exocrine, and endocrine sites. The atlas of T- and B-cell receptor receptors, freely available at https://sergheimangul.wordpress.com/atlas-immune-repertoires/, is the largest collection of CDR3 sequences and tissue types. We anticipate this recourse will enhance future studies in areas such as immunology and advance development of therapies for human diseases. ImReP is freely available at https://sergheimangul.wordpress.com/imrep/.

immunology↗