Phenotypic alteration of CD8+ T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia is associated with epigenetic reprogramming.
Immunosuppression is a prevalent clinical feature in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients, with many patients demonstrating increased susceptibility to infections as well as increased failure of an antitumor immune response. However, much is currently not understood regarding the precise mechanisms that attribute to this immunosuppressive phenotype in CLL. To provide further clarity to this particular phenomenon, we analyzed the T-cell profile of CLL patient samples within a large cohort and observed that patients with an inverted CD4/CD8 ratio had a shorter time to first treatment as well as overall survival. These observations coincided with higher expression of the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 in CLL patient CD8+ T cells when compared to age-matched healthy donors. Interestingly, we discovered that increased PD-1 expression in CD8+ T cells corresponds with decreased DNA methylation levels in a distal upstream locus of the PD-1 gene PDCD1. Further analysis using luciferase reporter assays suggests that the identified PDCD1 distal upstream region acts as an enhancer for PDCD1 transcription and this region becomes demethylated during activation of naïve CD8+ T cells by anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies and IL2. Finally, we conducted a genome-wide DNA methylation analysis comparing CD8+ T cells from CLL patients against healthy donors and identified additional differentially methylated genes with known immune regulatory functions including CCR6 and KLRG1. Taken together, our findings reveal the occurrence of epigenetic reprogramming taking place within CLL patient CD8+ T cells and highlight the potential mechanism of how immunosuppression is accomplished in CLL.
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Jiazhu
J
Wu
Georgia Prevention Institute, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Xiaojing
X
Xu
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Eun-Joon
EJ
Lee
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.|Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Austin Y
AY
Shull
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Lirong
L
Pei
Division of Hematology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
Farrukh
F
Awan
Georgia Prevention Institute, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Xiaoling
X
Wang
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Jeong-Hyeon
JH
Choi
Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China.
Libin
L
Deng
Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China.
Hong-Bo
HB
Xin
Department of Statistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Wenxun
W
Zhong
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Jinhua
J
Liang
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Yi
Y
Miao
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Yujie
Y
Wu
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Lei
L
Fan
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Jianyong
J
Li
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Wei
W
Xu
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.|Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Huidong
H
Shi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
C508594:IL2 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2
CD8+ T-cells; DNA methylation; PD-1; chronic lymphocytic leukemia