Dying cells expose a nuclear antigen cross-reacting with anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies

Metzger, Philipp; Kirchleitner, Sabrina V.; König, Lars M.; Hörth, Christine; Kobold, Sebastian; Endres, Stefan; Schnurr, Max and Duewell, Peter (2018): Dying cells expose a nuclear antigen cross-reacting with anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, 8810

Abstract

Checkpoint molecules such as programmed death 1 (PD-1) dampen excessive T cell activation to preserve immune homeostasis. PD-1-specific monoclonal antibodies have revolutionized cancer therapy, as they reverse tumour-induced T cell exhaustion and restore CTL activity. Based on this success, deciphering underlying mechanisms of PD-1-mediated immune functions has become an important field of immunological research. Initially described for T cells, there is emerging evidence of unconventional PD-1 expression by myeloid as well as tumor cells, yet, with cell-intrinsic functions in various animal tumor models. Here, we describe positive PD-1 antibody staining of various murine immune and tumour cells that is, unlike for T cells, not the PD-1 receptor and restricted to cells with low forward scatter characteristics. Based on flow cytometry and various approaches, including two established murine anti-PD-1 antibody clones, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and confocal imaging, we describe a staining pattern assigned to a nuclear antigen cross-reacting with anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies. Lack of PD-1 expression was further underlined by the analysis of PD-1 expression from B16-F10-derived 3D cultures and ex vivo tumours. Thus, our data provide multiple lines of evidence that PD-1 expression by non-T cells is unlikely to be the case and, taking recent data of PD-1 tumour cell-intrinsic functions into account, suggest that other antibody-mediated pathways might apply.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Medicine
• Research Centers: Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM)
• Subjects: 500 Science > 540 Chemistry; 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Language: English