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Hemostasis |
1 Unité 872, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France
2 Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Unité Mixte de Recherche-Santé 872, Paris, France
3 Unité Mixte de Recherche-Santé 872, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France
4 Laboratoire dHématologie, Université de Caen, France
5 Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
6 Hemophilia Center, APHP Bicêtre University Hospital, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France and
7 Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, University of Leuven, Belgium
Correspondence: Sebastien Lacroix-Desmazes, INSERM UMRS 872, Equipe 16, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, 15 rue de lEcole de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France. E-mail: sebastien.lacroix-des-mazes{at}crc.jussieu.fr
| ABSTRACT |
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Design and Methods: Immature DC were generated from circulating monocytes from healthy donors. Surface expression of CD91 was assessed by flow cytometry. Uptake of fluoroscein isothiocyanate-conjugated ligands by immature DC was studied in the presence of various blocking agents.
Results: CD91 was expressed on approximately 20% of DC and mediated the internalization of its model ligand,
2-macroglobulin. DC internalized FVIII and activated a human FVIII-specific T-cell clone in a dose-dependent manner. FVIII uptake by DC and subsequent T-cell activation were not inhibited by receptor-associated protein.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that CD91 and other members of the LDL receptor family are not strongly implicated in FVIII internalization by monocyte-derived DC, and suggest the involvement of alternative divalent ion-dependent endocytic receptors.
Key words: hemophilia, factor VIII, inhibitors, dendritic cells, T-cell clone, CD91/LRP.
| Introduction |
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The low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein (LRP), also known as the
2-macroglobulin receptor or CD91, is a member of the LDL receptor family of endocytic receptors that mediates the binding of multiple ligands and their transport from the cell surface to the endosomal compartment.4 CD91/LRP expressed on transfected fibroblasts mediates at least 50% of FVIII uptake and degradation.5,6 FVIII catabolism by LRP is facilitated by heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG).7 Inactivation of the CD91 gene in conditional LRP-deficient mice confirmed the relevance of LRP for clearance of circulating FVIII.8 The involvement of CD91 in FVIII uptake has been considered with respect to the half-life of therapeutically administered FVIII. CD91-targeted modulation of FVIII clearance has thus been proposed as an approach to prolong the efficiency of replacement treatments. However, its role in the internalization and processing of FVIII for presentation by APC is unknown.
Alloimmunization against exogenous FVIII represents the major hurdle of hemophilia treatment. We hypothesized that, in patients infused with FVIII, the CD91/LRP-dependent endocytic pathway plays an important role in FVIII uptake by professional APC, and is thus critical for the primary events leading to the anti-FVIII immune response. We, therefore, investigated the presence of functional CD91 at the surface of monocyte-derived human DC, and examined its capacity to mediate FVIII endocytosis and FVIII-specific T-cell activation.
| Design and Methods |
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-2-macroglobulin-fluoroscein isothiocyanate (
2M-FITC), CD91 and anti-CD91-FITC antibodies were purchased from Biomac (Leipzig, Germany). Receptor-associated protein (RAP) was obtained from Molecular Innovations, Inc. (Kordia Life Sciences, Leiden, The Netherlands).
Fluorescein conjugation of FVIII
Recombinant human FVIII (1000 IU, Kogenate SF, Bayer) was dialyzed against bicarbonate buffer (pH 9.2) containing 5 mM CaCl2 at 4°C for 2 h, followed by coupling with FITC for 7–8 h at 4°C. Unconjugated FITC was removed by dialyzing against RPMI-1640 media. The specific activity of FVIII-FITC was >4000 IU/mg, as assessed using a chromogenic assay (Dade-Behring), confirming the preservation of the structural and functional integrity of FVIII following FITC conjugation.
Radioactive conjugation of FVIII
Recombinant human FVIII (1000 IU, Kogenate SF, Bayer) was dialyzed against phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 4°C for 2 h. It was then labeled with 125I to a specific activity of 915 cpm/fmole, using the iodogen method. Free iodine was removed by desalting on a PD-10 column equilibrated with X-VIVO15-2% bovine serum albumin (BSA).
Generation of dendritic cells
Monocytes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated by adherence from heparinized buffy coats of healthy donors or from blood samples from two patients with severe hemophilia A (aged 8 years and 14 years, both inhibitor-positive) in RPMI 1640-10% human AB serum, glutamine and antibiotics. Samples were obtained in accordance with the local ethical regulation. Adherent monocytes were cultured in X-VIVO15-1% human AB serum, in the presence of 500 IU/106 cells, interleukin-4 (R&D Systems, Lille, France) and 1000 IU/106 cells granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor (ImmunoTools, Friesoythe, Germany). After 5 days of culture, the non-adherent DC-enriched fraction was harvested. The immature phenotype and CD91 expression of 5-day old DC were assessed by FACS using appropriate FITC and phycoerythin (PE)-labeled antibodies (Supplementary Figure 1). DC were >90% pure.
Labeling of dendritic cells by conjugated ligands
DC (4x105 cells/well) were incubated in 100 µL of X-VIVO15 with fluorescent conjugated ligands (FVIII-FITC,
2M-FITC), or with 125I-FVIII, for 15 to 120 min at 4°C and 37°C. To confirm the involvement of endocytic receptors in ligand uptake, cells were incubated for 30 min at 37°C with a 100 molar excess of RAP, anti-LRP antibodies or 5 mM EDTA, prior to the addition of conjugated ligands. Cells were washed and the labeling of the cells by the conjugated ligands was analyzed by FACS or using a
-counter. In the case of 125I-FVIII, the incubation medium was X-VIVO15-2% BSA. At 20 nM FVIII, the amounts of 125I-FVIII fixed on DC at 37°C and 4°C were 37.0±0.8 fmoles and 6.2±0.5 fmoles per 1x106 cells, respectively.
Labeling of mouse embryonic fibroblasts by FVIII-FITC
Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) were seeded at 2.2x104 cells/well onto flat-bottomed, 96-well plates and grown in DMEM containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) to 90% confluency. MEF, pre-incubated for 30 min in medium alone or with a 100 molar excess RAP, were incubated in 100 µL medium containing 1% BSA with FVIII-FITC for 5 h at 37°C. The wells were gently washed with PBS and 50 µL of water were added to each well and incubated for 30 min to lyse the cells. Fluorescence was then measured using a spectrofluorometer (TECAN, excitation at 492 nm and emission at 535 nm). Autofluorescence was subtracted.
Activation of a FVIII-specific T-cell clone
DC were generated from monocytes from a healthy donor (MHC haplotype: DRB1*1501/DRB5*01) in RPMI-1640 supplemented with 10% FCS. Five-day old DC were resuspended in DMEM:F12 (1:1) media containing 10% FCS and were distributed (10,000 cells/well) in 96-well round-bottomed, cell culture plates. DC were cultured with 5000 T cells (a human FVIII-specific CD4+ T-cell clone, D9E9) in DMEM:F12 (1:1) medium containing 10% FCS and 20 U/mL recombinant human interleukin-2 (Sigma), with FVIII (36 nM or 10 µg/mL, 20 nM, 10 nM or 5 nM) or FVIII-FITC (2, 10 or 40 µg/mL) for 20 h at 37°C. Production of interferon-
was measured in the supernatants using the human interferon-
Duo Set (DY285, R&D Systems). When indicated, DC were pre-incubated with a 100 molar excess of RAP for 30 min at 37°C. Controls included: T cells incubated alone, or T cells incubated with DC alone or in the presence of human recombinant factor IX (36 nM, Benefix, Baxter).
| Results |
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2M as a model ligand for CD91. Labeling of DC with
2M-FITC was dose-dependent, with an optimal concentration of 100 µg/mL of
2M following 2 h of incubation (Figure 1B). Labeling by
2M-FITC was dependent upon time and temperature (Figure 1C). Large
MFI values between 37°C and 4°C (160.1 and <20 MFI for 10 µg/mL
2M-FITC, respectively) demonstrate active endocytosis of
2M by DC. RAP is an inhibitor of receptors belonging to the family of LDL receptors, and is commonly used to substantiate CD91 as an endocytic receptor.5,6,9 A 100 molar excess of RAP abrogated
2M endocytosis by DC (Figure 1D), thus confirming the involvement of CD91 in
2M internalization.
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in the culture supernatant (Figure 3C). Interferon-
was not detected when DC were incubated alone or when DC and D9E9 were incubated in the presence of an irrelevant antigen (Figure 3D). Importantly, DC loaded with FVIII and with FVIII-FITC activated D9E9 to a similar extent (Figure 3D), further supporting the fact that FITC-conjugation does not alter endocytosis and endosomal processing of FVIII.
The endocytosis of FVIII by DC is not mediated by CD91
We then investigated whether CD91 is implicated in FVIII endocytosis. Internalization of FVIII-FITC by MEF, which naturally express surface CD91, was inhibited by pre-incubation of the cells in the presence of a 100 molar excess of RAP (p<0.05), as previously reported (Figure 4A).6 However, a 100 molar excess of RAP did not prevent the endocytosis of FVIII-FITC by DC, while it completely abrogated that of
2M (Figure 4B). Under similar conditions, RAP did not inhibit the endocytosis of FVIII-FITC by DC from two patients with severe hemophilia A (data not shown). A combination of RAP and heparinase III had no effect of FVIII-FITC uptake (data not shown). Because the lack of inhibitory effect of RAP on the uptake of FVIII-FITC could be related to the elevated FVIII concentrations used in our assays, we repeated the experiments with 20 nM iodine-conjugated FVIII, as described previously.5 Labeling of DC from healthy donors with 125I-FVIII was dose-dependent (data not shown). Pre-incubation of DC with a 50 or 100 molar excess of RAP or with 100 molar excess of anti-LRP antibodies did not prevent the uptake of 20 nM 125I-FVIII (Figure 4C). Furthermore, activation of D9E9 by DC loaded with native unconjugated FVIII was not reduced when an excess of RAP was added to the co-culture for 20 h (Figure 4D), confirming that the anti-endocytic role of RAP on FVIII, while significant to FVIII catabolism by non-immune cells, is negligible in the context of FVIII endocytosis by professional APC leading to activation of immune effectors.
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2M uptake, while it inhibited FVIII uptake by 70% (Figures 4B and 5). It is known that EDTA mediates the dissociation of FVIII subunits.12 The inhibitory effect of EDTA was, however, not due to EDTA-induced FVIII dissociation, since dissociation of FVIII subunits requires a higher concentration of EDTA than that used in our assays (i.e., 5 mM), and a longer period of incubation.12
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| Discussion |
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Here, we describe the kinetics of FVIII internalization by professional APC. APC internalize soluble antigens by different mechanisms, including receptor-mediated endocytosis, which requires only a few hours and, in most cases, is dependent on divalent ions. Incubation of FVIII with immature DC for 2h enabled a large majority of the cells to endocytose FVIII. In contrast, parallel control experiments performed with lucifer yellow, an established ligand for macropinocytosis, resulted in lig-and endocytosis by only a marginal proportion of cells (data not shown). Furthermore, pre-incubation of the cells with 5 mM EDTA reduced FVIII uptake significantly, implying the involvement of a divalent ion-dependent endocytic pathway. Together with the dose-, time- and temperature-dependency of the endocytic process, our data are in favor of an active receptor-mediated internalization of FVIII. Importantly, we validated the functional presentation of FVIII-derived peptides on MHC II molecules to T lymphocytes.
CD91/LRP and other members of the LDL receptor family, such as VLDL,16 have demonstrated affinity for FVIII in a RAP-sensitive manner. Expression of CD91 has been reported on various cell types including monocytes, macrophages and B lymphocytes.17,18 In our experiments, the surface expression of CD91/LRP on human DC was found to be 20% of the CD11c+ DC population at a given time point, while 2h of incubation were sufficient for
2M to be internalized by more than 70% of the cells, resembling results of previous studies19 and illustrating the elevated turn-over of CD91.4 CD91/LRP, like various other endocytic receptors, is essentially located intracellularly and is in constant flux between intracellular storage and surface exposure. Interestingly, the expression of CD91 at the surface of immature DC was enhanced up to 2-fold following incubation of the cells in protein-free medium alone for 30 min prior to analysis by flow cytometry (data not shown), thus highlighting the probable contribution of serum proteins to LRP/CD91 internalization. Taken together, our data demonstrate the expression of CD91 on human immature DC and validate the CD91-dependent endocytic pathway in antigen uptake, as shown with
2M. Importantly, antigens endocytosed through CD91 are known to be presented to T lymphocytes in both an MHC I- and MHC II-restricted manner.20,21
The importance of CD91/LRP to FVIII entry into professional APC and to the associated FVIII immunogenicity remains elusive. Our data demonstrate that endocytosis of FVIII by DC is not inhibited by RAP or by polyclonal anti-LRP IgG, irrespective of the detection method employed (i.e., FITC- or 125I-conjugated FVIII) or the concentration of FVIII used. Cell surface HSPG have been shown to assist CD91/LRP in FVIII catabolism.7 A combination of RAP and heparinase III, a specific inhibitor of HSPG, also failed to block FVIII endocytosis by DC at all time points tested (data not shown). Furthermore, RAP did not prevent DC from internalizing, processing and presenting FVIII to T lymphocytes. The absence of RAP-sensitivity on FVIII uptake by DC was unchanged in the absence or presence of molar excess of von Willebrand factor (data not shown).
The failure of CD91 and related receptors of the LDL-receptor family to play a dominant role in FVIII endocytosis by DC may be explained by several non-exclusive factors: CD91 is targeted by multiple ligands that compete with each other for binding to the receptor;4 in the case of a large multivalent antigen such as FVIII, internalization may involve a series of alternative endocytic receptors specific for various glycoprotein moieties of the molecule (Figure 5). Indeed, our recent results confirm the involvement of divalent ion-dependent man-nose-sensitive receptors in the internalization of FVIII by monocyte-derived DC and subsequent presentation to CD4+ T lymphocytes.22 Taken together, our results indicate that CD91 and other members of the LDL receptor family cannot be major therapeutic targets for reducing the immunogenicity of exogenous FVIII.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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All authors at UMR S 872 participated in the design of the study, generation and analysis of the data, discussion and writing of the manuscript. ES, JMS-R and MJ contributed essential material. The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest.
The online version of this article contains a supplemental appendix.
Funding: this work was supported by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, by the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, by the Indo-French Center for Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA) and by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-05-MRAR-030) and (ANR-07-JCJC-0100-01). SD is the recipient of a fellowship from the Fondation de la Recherche Médicale. BW is the recipient of a fellowship from LFB (Les Ulis, France). FVIII (Kogenate® SF) and FIX (Benefix) were kind gifts from BayerPharma (Puteaux, France) and Baxter (Maurepas, France), respectively. We thank Dr. C. Guerois, CHU, Tours, France for providing blood samples from patients with severe hemophiliaA.
Received for publication March 21, 2007. Accepted for publication August 7, 2007.
| References |
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2-macroglobulin, an independent ligand for the heat shock protein receptor CD91. J Immunol 2001;166:4968-72.This article has been cited by other articles:
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S. Lacroix-Desmazes, A.-M. Navarrete, S. Andre, J. Bayry, S. V. Kaveri, and S. Dasgupta Dynamics of factor VIII interactions determine its immunologic fate in hemophilia A Blood, July 15, 2008; 112(2): 240 - 249. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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