Dendritic cells (DC) play a critical role in modulating antigen-specific immune responses elicited by T cells via engagement of the prototypic T cell costimulatory receptor CD28 by the cognate ligands CD80/CD86, expressed on DC. Although CD28 signaling in T cell activation has been well characterized, it has only recently been shown that CD80/CD86, which have no demonstrated binding domains for signaling proteins in their cytoplasmic tails, nonetheless also transduce signals to the DC. Functionally, CD80/CD86 engagement results in DC production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6, which is necessary for full T cell activation. However, ligation of CD80/CD86 by CTLA4 also induces DC production of the immunosuppressive enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which depletes local pools of the essential amino acid tryptophan, resulting in blockade of T cell activation. Despite the significant role of CD80/CD86 in immunological processes and the seemingly opposing roles they play by producing IL-6 and IDO upon their activation, how CD80/CD86 signal remains poorly understood. We have now found that cross-linking CD80/CD86 in human DC activates the PI3K/AKT pathway. This results in phosphorylation/inactivation of its downstream target, FOXO3A, and alleviates FOXO3A-mediated suppression of IL-6 expression. A second event downstream of AKT phosphorylation is activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway, which induces IL-6 expression. In addition to these downstream pathways, we unexpectedly found that CD80/CD86-induced PI3K signaling is regulated by previously unrecognized cross-talk with NOTCH1 signaling. This cross-talk is facilitated by NOTCH-mediated up-regulation of the expression of prolyl isomerase PIN1, which in turn increases enzyme activity of casein kinase II. Subsequently, phosphatase and tensin homolog (which suppresses PI3K activity) is inactivated via phosphorylation by casein kinase II. This results in full activation of PI3K signaling upon cross-linking CD80/CD86. Similar to IL-6, we have found that CD80/CD86-induced IDO production by DC at late time points is also dependent upon the PI3K → AKT → NF-κB pathway and requires cross-talk with NOTCH signaling. These data further suggest that the same signaling pathways downstream of DC CD80/CD86 cross-linking induce early IL-6 production to enhance T cell activation, followed by later IDO production to self-limit this activation. In addition to characterizing the pathways downstream of CD80/CD86 in IL-6 and IDO production, identification of a novel cross-talk between NOTCH1 and PI3K signaling may provide new insights in other biological processes where PI3K signaling plays a major role.
Keywords: Dendritic Cells; Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase; Interleukin; NOTCH Pathway; PI 3-Kinase (PI3K); Signal Transduction.