Leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B1 and B4 (LILRB1 and LILRB4): Highly sensitive and specific markers of acute myeloid leukemia with monocytic differentiation.

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with monocytic differentiation (M-AML) remains a diagnostic challenge largely due to lack of sensitive and specific markers for immature monocytes. The immunoglobulin-like inhibitory receptors, LILRB1 and LILRB4, are expressed on monocytes but have not yet been systematically evaluated in the clinical setting. METHODS: We evaluated the diagnostic performance of LILRB1 and LILRB4 as monocytic markers for both immature and mature monocytes in comparison to other myelomonocytic markers including CD14, CD15, CD33, CD36, and CD64 in eight cases of control bone marrow (BM, 5) and peripheral blood (PB, 3), 64 cases of (M-AML), and 57 cases of AML without monocytic differentiation (NM-AML) by flow cytometric immunophenotyping. RESULTS: In control BM, LILRB1 and LILRB4 were consistently expressed on monocytes at all stages of maturation, from CD34+ /CD14- monocytic precursors to CD14-/dim+ maturing and CD14+ mature monocytes. In M-AML, LILRB1 and LILRB4 were consistently expressed on monocytes, regardless of the degree of maturity, from CD14-/dim+ monoblasts/promonocytes to CD14+ mature monocytes but were not expressed on myeloblasts. The diagnostic performances as a monocytic marker assessed by sensitivity/specificity were 100%/100% for LILRB1/LILRB4, 100%/82% for CD11b, 80%/100% for CD14, 100%/81% for CD64, 100%/58% for CD15/CD33, and 89%/97% for CD36/CD64. CONCLUSION: The co-expression of LILRB1/LILRB4 outperformed other myelomonocytic markers as a highly sensitive and specific marker for monocytes at all stages of maturation and could reliably distinguish M-AML from NM-AML. LILRB4 additionally represents a novel therapeutic target for treating M-AML.

Programmed death 1 expression in variant immunoarchitectural patterns of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma: comparison with CD57 and lymphomas in the differential diagnosis.

Recent studies have exploited an antibody directed against programmed death 1 expressed by follicular helper T-cells in the diagnosis of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. We had previously described clinically relevant, variant immunoarchitectural patterns of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and, in this study, sought to address the diagnostic utility of programmed death 1 in comparison with CD57 in variant nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. Immunohistologic staining for programmed death 1 was carried out on biopsies of 67 patients with variant nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. Thirty-four additional cases of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma with associated diffuse areas, de novo T-cell and histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma, and lymphocyte-rich classic Hodgkin lymphoma were also studied. Our results show that programmed death 1 positivity was found in the majority of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma cases with a classic nodular architecture (87%) as compared with 50% for CD57 and was particularly helpful in identifying extranodular large atypical cells. Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma with diffuse areas showed a gradual decrease in programmed death 1 reactivity from nodular to diffuse areas, although a significant proportion (40%-50%) of cases retained programmed death 1 positivity also in diffuse areas. In addition, T-cell and histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma and lymphocyte-rich classic Hodgkin lymphoma displayed programmed death 1 positivity in a significant subset of cases (33%-40%). In conclusion, our study supports the utility of programmed death 1 in the diagnosis of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and shows greater sensitivity of staining of programmed death 1 as compared with CD57 across all variants of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. Loss of programmed death 1 reactivity did not correlate with diffuse areas, progression, or the ability to differentiate nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma from T-cell and histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma. These findings suggest the need for continued vigilance in the diagnosis of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and its immunoarchitectural variants as well as related lymphomas in their differential diagnosis.

Neutralization of staphylococcal enterotoxin B by soluble, high-affinity receptor antagonists.

Exotoxins of Staphylococcus aureus belong to a family of bacterial proteins that act as superantigens by activating a large subset of the T-cell population, causing massive release of inflammatory cytokines. This cascade can ultimately result in toxic shock syndrome and death. Therapeutics targeting the early stage of the pathogenic process, when the superantigen binds to its receptor, could limit the severity of disease. We engineered picomolar binding affinity agents to neutralize the potent toxin staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). A single immunoglobulin-like domain of the T-cell receptor (variable region, Vbeta) was subjected to multiple rounds of directed evolution using yeast display. Soluble forms of the engineered Vbeta proteins produced in Escherichia coli were effective inhibitors of SEB-mediated T-cell activation and completely neutralized the lethal activity of SEB in animal models. These Vbeta proteins represent an easily produced potential treatment for diseases mediated by bacterial superantigens.