Clusterin protects mature dendritic cells from reactive oxygen species mediated cell death.

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in the induction of the adaptive immune response. They capture antigens in peripheral tissues and prime naïve T lymphocytes, triggering the adaptive immune response. In the course of inflammatory processes DCs face stressful conditions including hypoxia, low pH and high concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS), among others. How DCs survive under these adverse conditions remain poorly understood. Clusterin is a protein highly expressed by tumors and usually associated with bad prognosis. It promotes cancer cell survival by different mechanisms such as apoptosis inhibition and promotion of autophagy. Here, we show that, upon maturation, human monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) up-regulate clusterin expression. Clusterin protects MoDCs from ROS-mediated toxicity, enhancing DC survival and promoting their ability to induce T cell activation. In line with these results, we found that clusterin is expressed by a population of mature LAMP3+ DCs, called mregDCs, but not by immature DCs in human cancer. The expression of clusterin by intratumoral DCs was shown to be associated with a transcriptomic profile indicative of cellular response to stress. These results uncover an important role for clusterin in DC physiology.

Platelets modulate CD4+ T-cell function in COVID-19 through a PD-L1 dependent mechanism.

Severe COVID-19 is associated with a systemic inflammatory response and progressive CD4+ T-cell lymphopenia and dysfunction. We evaluated whether platelets might contribute to CD4+ T-cell dysfunction in COVID-19. We observed a high frequency of CD4+ T cell-platelet aggregates in COVID-19 inpatients that inversely correlated with lymphocyte counts. Platelets from COVID-19 inpatients but not from healthy donors (HD) inhibited the upregulation of CD25 expression and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α production by CD4+ T cells. In addition, interferon (IFN)-γ production was increased by platelets from HD but not from COVID-19 inpatients. A high expression of PD-L1 was found in platelets from COVID-19 patients to be inversely correlated with IFN-γ production by activated CD4+ T cells cocultured with platelets. We also found that a PD-L1-blocking antibody significantly restored platelets' ability to stimulate IFN-γ production by CD4+ T cells. Our study suggests that platelets might contribute to disease progression in COVID-19 not only by promoting thrombotic and inflammatory events, but also by affecting CD4+ T cells functionality.

Prostaglandin E2 Antagonizes TGF-ß Actions During the Differentiation of Monocytes Into Dendritic Cells.

Inflammatory dendritic cells (DCs) are a distinct subset of DCs that derive from circulating monocytes infiltrating injured tissues. Monocytes can differentiate into DCs with different functional signatures, depending on the presence of environment stimuli. Among these stimuli, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) have been shown to modulate the differentiation of monocytes into DCs with different phenotypes and functional profiles. In fact, both mediators lead to contrasting outcomes regarding the production of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Previously, we have shown that human semen, which contains high concentrations of PGE2, promoted the differentiation of DCs into a tolerogenic profile through a mechanism dependent on signaling by E-prostanoid receptors 2 and 4. Notably, this effect was induced despite the huge concentration of TGF-ß present in semen, suggesting that PGE2 overrides the influence exerted by TGF-ß. No previous studies have analyzed the joint actions induced by PGE2 and TGF-ß on the function of monocytes or DCs. Here, we analyzed the phenotype and functional profile of monocyte-derived DCs differentiated in the presence of TGF-ß and PGE2. DC differentiation guided by TGF-ß alone enhanced the expression of CD1a and abrogated LPS-induced expression of IL-10, while differentiation in the presence of PGE2 impaired CD1a expression, preserved CD14 expression, abrogated IL-12 and IL-23 production, stimulated IL-10 production, and promoted the expansion of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in a mixed lymphocyte reaction. Interestingly, DCs differentiated in the presence of TGF-ß and PGE2 showed a phenotype and functional profile closely resembling those induced by PGE2 alone. Finally, we found that PGE2 inhibited TGF-ß signaling through an action exerted by EP2 and EP4 receptors coupled to cyclic AMP increase and protein kinase A activity. These results indicate that PGE2 suppresses the influence exerted by TGF-ß during DC differentiation, imprinting a tolerogenic signature. High concentrations of TGF-ß and PGE2 are usually found in infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. Our observations suggest that in these scenarios PGE2 might play a mandatory role in the acquisition of a regulatory profile by DCs.