Counter-regulation of rejection activity against human liver grafts by donor PD-L1 and recipient PD-1 interaction
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
Authors: Shi, Xiao-Lei; Mancham, Shanta; Hansen, Bettina E.; de Knegt, Robert J.; de Jonge, Jeroen; van der Laan, Luc J. W.; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Metselaar, Herold J.; Kwekkeboom, Jaap
Abstract
Background & Aims: Co-inhibitory receptor-ligand interactions fine-tune immune responses by negatively regulating T cell functions. Our aim is to examine the involvement of co-inhibitory receptor-ligand pair PD-1/PD-L1 in regulating rejection after liver transplantation (LT) in humans. Methods: PD-L1/PD-1 expression in liver allograft was determined by immunohistochemistry or flow cytometry, and the effect of blockade was studied using graft-infiltrating T cells ex vivo. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms within PD-1 and PD-L1 genes were genotyped in 528 LT recipients and 410 donors, and associations with both early (66 months) and late (> 6 months) acute rejection were analyzed using Cox proportional-hazards regression model. The effect of PD-L1 rs4143815 on PD-L1 expression was analyzed using donor hepatic leukocytes. Results: PD-L1 was expressed by hepatocytes, cholangiocytes and along the sinusoids in post-transplant liver allografts, and PD-1 was abundantly expressed on allograft-infiltrating T cells. PD-L1 blockade enhanced allogeneic proliferative responses of graft-infiltrating T cells. In the genetic association analysis, donor PD-L1 rs4143815 (CC/CG vs. GG; HR = 0.230; p = 0.002) and recipient PD-1 rs11568821 (AA/AG vs. GG; HR = 3.739; p = 0.004) were associated with acute rejection late after LT in multivariate analysis. Recipients carrying the PD-1 rs11568821 A allele who were transplanted with liver grafts of PD-L1 rs4143815 GG homozygous donors showed the highest risk for late acute rejection. PD-L1 rs4143815 is associated with differential PD-L1 expression on donor hepatic dendritic cells upon IFN-gamma stimulation. Conclusion: Our data suggest that interplay between donor PD-L1 and recipient PD-1 counter-regulates rejection activity against liver grafts in humans. (C) 2016 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Bias in association studies of systemic lupus erythematosus susceptibility due to geographical variation in the frequency of a programmed cell death 1 polymorphism across Europe
GENES AND IMMUNITY
Authors: Ferreiros-Vidal, I.; D'Alfonso, S.; Papasteriades, C.; Skopouli, F. N.; Marchini, M.; Scorza, R.; Migliaresi, S.; Sebastiani, G. D.; Endreffy, E.; Mavromati, M.; Kappou-Rigatou, I.; Ruzickova, S.; Dostal, C.; Schmidt, R. E.; Witte, T.; Gomez-Reino, J. J.; Gonzalez, A.
Abstract
We obtained eight collections of DNA samples from ethnically matched systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and controls from five European countries totaling 783 patients and 1210 controls. A highly significant cline in the frequency of the PD1.3 A allele was found among controls but not among SLE patients. The frequency of the PD1.3 A allele increased from the Northeast to the Southwest of Europe. The cline was clearly apparent (P = 1.2 x 10(-6)) when data from controls of other five SLE susceptibility studies were included in the analysis. This variation has severely biased SLE association studies owing to the lack of parallel changes in SLE patients. As a consequence, the PD1.3 A allele was more common in SLE patients than in controls in the Northeast and Center of Europe, similar to controls in Southeast Europe, and less frequent than in the controls in the Southwest of the Continent. This dissociation in allele frequencies between SLE patients and controls in different subpopulations indicated that programmed cell death 1 variation and disease susceptibility are not independent but the type of relationship is currently unclear. As allele frequency clines are common in other polymorphisms their impact in genetic epidemiology studies should be carefully considered.