CD4+/CD25+ Regulatory Cells Inhibit Activation of Tumor-Primed CD4+ T Cells with IFN-γ-Dependent Antiangiogenic Activity, as well as Long-Lasting Tumor Immunity Elicited by Peptide Vaccination

Abstract

CD25+ regulatory T (T reg) cells suppress the activation/proliferation of other CD4+ or CD8+ T cells in vitro. Also, down-regulation of CD25+ T reg cells enhance antitumor immune responses. In this study, we show that depletion of CD25+ T reg cells allows the host to induce both CD4+ and CD8+ antitumoral responses following tumor challenge. Simultaneous depletion of CD25+ and CD8+ cells, as well as adoptive transfer experiments, revealed that tumor-specific CD4+ T cells, which emerged in the absence of CD25+ T reg cells, were able to reject CT26 colon cancer cells, a MHC class II-negative tumor. The antitumoral effect mediated by CD4+ T cells was dependent on IFN-γ production, which exerted a potent antiangiogenic activity. The capacity of the host to mount this antitumor response is lost once the number of CD25+ T reg cells is restored over time. However, CD25+ T reg cell depletion before immunization with AH1 (a cytotoxic T cell determinant from CT26 tumor cells) permits the induction of a long-lasting antitumoral immune response, not observed if immunization is conducted in the presence of regulatory cells. A study of the effect of different levels of depletion of CD25+ T reg cells before immunization with the peptide AH1 alone, or in combination with a Th determinant, unraveled that Th cells play an important role in overcoming the suppressive effect of CD25+ T reg on the induction of long-lasting cellular immune responses.