Human Immunology News Volume 6.44 | Nov 6 2018

TOP STORY

Defining T Cell States Associated with Response to Checkpoint Immunotherapy in Melanoma

To identify factors associated with success or failure of checkpoint therapy, researchers profiled transcriptomes of 16,291 individual immune cells from 48 tumor samples of melanoma patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors. [Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

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Human Retinoic Acid-Regulated CD161⁺ Regulatory T Cells Support Wound Repair in Intestinal Mucosa

The authors describe CD161⁺ regulatory T (Treg) cells as a distinct, highly suppressive population of Treg cells that mediate wound healing. [Nat Immunol] Abstract

Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells Populate the Human Brain

Scientists showed that human white matter-derived brain CD8⁺ T cells could be subsetted into CD103⁻CD69⁺ and CD103⁺CD69⁺ T cells both with a phenotypic and transcription factor profile consistent with tissue-resident memory T cells. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release

Human Monocytes and Macrophages Regulate Immune Tolerance via Integrin αvβ8-Mediated TGFβ Activation

Investigators showed that human blood monocytes activate high levels of the cytokine TGFβ, a pathway that is not evident in mouse monocytes. [J Exp Med] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Tumor-Infiltrating Neutrophils Counteract Anti-VEGF Therapy in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Scientists investigated the correlation between neutrophil infiltration in metastasis of colorectal cancer patients and survival after treatment with bevacizumab. They identified CD177⁺ tumor neutrophil infiltration as an adverse prognostic factor for bevacizumab treatment. [Br J Cancer] Abstract

Circulating EZH2-Positive T Cells Are Decreased in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Enhancer of zeste 2 polycomb repressive complex 2 subunit (EZH2) expression levels were decreased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from untreated patients compared to that from controls, and treatment significantly upregulated EZH2 expression. [J Neuroinflammation] Full Article

Tissue-Resident MAIT Cell Populations in Human Oral Mucosa Exhibit an Activated Profile and Produce IL-17

The authors found mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells present in the buccal mucosa, with a tendency to cluster near the basement membrane, and located in both epithelium and the underlying connective tissue. [Eur J Immunol] Abstract | Full Article

Increased DNA Methylation of SLFN12 in CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T Cells from Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Researchers identified genomic regions that were differentially methylated in T cells of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis compared to healthy controls. [PLoS One] Full Article

Redox Imbalance and IL-17 Responses in Memory CD4⁺ T Cells from Patients with Psoriasis

Scientists evaluated redox status in memory CD4⁺ T cells and plasma of patients with psoriasis and its correlation with IL-17 response. [Scand J Immunol] Abstract

Signatures of CD8⁺ T Cell Dysfunction in AML Patients and Their Reversibility with Response to Chemotherapy

Investigators utilized high-dimensional immunophenotyping, gene expression, and functional studies to characterize peripheral blood and bone marrow CD8⁺ T cells in 72 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients at diagnosis and after induction chemotherapy. [JCI Insight] Full Article

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T Lymphocyte Subsets in Cancer Immunity: Friends or Foes

The authors depict the pro- and antitumor roles of major T cell subsets in distinct cancer tissues. The central role of the mainly antitumor subsets, cytotoxic T cells and Th1 cells, are delineated. [J Leukoc Biol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the human immunology research field.

City of Hope Opens First-of-Its-Kind CAR T Clinical Trial for Patients with HER2-positive Breast Cancer that Has Spread to the Brain

Women with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to the brain need more treatment options, and City of Hope and Mustang Bio Inc. are meeting that challenge. A new City of Hope chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell trial – the first to focus on HER2-postive breast cancer patients with brain metastases – is now enrolling potential participants. [City of Hope] Press Release

Sorrento Therapeutics Announces the Initiation of Dosing in Its Anti-CD38 CAR-T Phase I Clinical Study for Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the first patients were dosed in a Phase I study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CD38 CAR-T therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients at two clinical sites – University of Pennsylvania and Roger Williams Medical Center. [Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

New Penn Medicine Center Brings Immunotherapy Research to Brain Tumor Treatment

Penn Medicine announced the newest Translational Center of Excellence in the Abramson Cancer Center, focused on Glioblastoma Multiforme, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer. The team will investigate new immune therapies for glioblastoma and, in particular, design and test new CAR T cell therapies. [Penn Medicine] Press Release

Wellcome and Gates Join Bold European Open-Access Plan

Two of the world’s largest biomedical research funders have backed a plan to make all papers resulting from work they fund open access on publication by 2020. On 5 November, the London-based Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, announced they were both endorsing ‘Plan S’, adding their weight to an initiative already backed by 13 research funders across Europe since its launch in September. [Nature News] Editorial

NSF Suspends Program Allowing Graduate Fellows to Study Abroad

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has halted a program that each year allows hundreds of the nation’s best graduate students to work with experts in another country. And the agency isn’t saying why—or whether the program will resume. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Record Number of Monkeys Being Used in U.S. Research

The number of monkeys used in U.S. biomedical research reached an all-time high last year, according to data released in late September by the United States Department of Agriculture. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Drug Companies Try to Catch the Rising Wave of RNAi Medicines

Less than two months after the FDA approved the first-ever drug that uses a Nobel-winning technique to mute disease-causing genes, the pharmaceutical industry is already looking for a piece of the next one. [STAT News] Editorial

NEW Keystone Symposia: Cellular Plasticity: Reprogramming, Regeneration and Metaplasia
January 27-31, 2019
Keystone, Colorado, United States

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NEW Postdoctoral Position – Bioinformatics (Oslo University Hospital)

NEW Associate Professor/Professor – Immunobioengineering, Regenerative Medicine or Computational Bioengineering (University of Toronto)

Research Technologist – Immunology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Host Cell-Mediated Immunity (Temple University School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology (Johns Hopkins University)

Tenure/Tenure Track Faculty Position – Immunology (Wayne State University)

PhD Position – Antigen Presentation and Immune Regulation (Erasmus MC)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Immunology (University of Nantes)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Foxp3+ T-Regulatory in Autoimmunity and Transplantation (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

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