Mechanisms of Thymic Repair of In Vitro-Induced Precursor T Cells as a Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Regimen

Abstract

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) is currently an effective treatment for malignant hematologic disease, but the immune deficiency and severe infection triggered by slow immune reconstitution are the main causes of high mortality and transplant failure. One of these outstanding problems is thymus damage, which is associated with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and preconditioning including irradiation and chemotherapy. Therefore, rapid repair of damaged thymus and rapid proliferation of thymus-derived donor T cells post-transplantation are key to solving the problem. This study was designed to accelerate the recovery of thymus-derived T cells post-transplantation. Wild-type mice with normal immunity were used as recipients in a haplo-HSCT mouse model to mimic clinical haplo-HSCT. A modified cell culture system using Notch ligand Delta4 and IL-7 was established that is capable of inducing and amplifying the differentiation and proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells into precursor T (preT) cells in vitro. The haplo-HSCT protocol included preT and G-CSF-mobilized donor splenic mononuclear cell (MNC) coinfusion in one group and MNC infusion alone in a second group. Thymic GVHD, thymic repair, and thymus-derived T cell development were compared in the 2 groups by polychromatic immunofluorescence tracking, flow cytometry, and detection of T cell receptor Vβ. The thymus homing and T cell regeneration of allogenic preT cells were observed. The functions of preT cells in accelerating immune reconstitution, restoring thymic architecture, weakening graft-versus-host (GVH) effects, and enhancing immunotolerance post-transplantation were demonstrated. Further studies revealed that allogeneic preT cells induced by a culture system containing IL-7 and Delta4 highly express ccr9 and RANKL. Interestingly, RANK expression was promoted after preT cell thymus homing. These results suggest that the RANK/RANKL pathway may play an important role in thymus homing. Our results provide a potential therapeutic option to optimize haplo-HSCT, and also open up a new field of T cell therapy for artificial induction of allogeneic preT cells in vitro to repair the damaged thymus from irradiation and chemotherapy and to compensate for the recovery of immune function in patients with immune deficiency of various etiologies.

Keywords: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Immune reconstitution; Precursor T cell; RANK/RANKL; Thymic repair.