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Peripheral memory T cells specific for Arginase-1

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 16, pages 718–719 (2019)Cite this article

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Increased arginase-1 (Arg-1) activity is one of the common mechanisms of immune inhibition in patients with cancer. Arg-1 is an enzyme catalyzing the first step in L-arginine metabolism and is expressed by various immunosuppressive myeloid cells as well as by cancer cells. Arg-1-associated deprivation of l-arginine downregulates the expression of the T cell receptor ζ chain and decreases cytokine production and proliferation of activated T cells.1,2

The strong, natural proinflammatory immune response towards Arg-1 highlights the potential of Arg-1 epitopes in cancer immunotherapy. Many Arg-1-expressing immunosuppressive myeloid cells are not terminally differentiated and may be reverted under the proinflammatory stimulus of activated Arg-1-specific CD4+T cells or depleted by Arg-1-specific CD8+T cells, contrary to other current clinical strategies targeting tumor-associated macrophages.6 The 38 amino acid ArgLong2 peptide used in this study is efficient at stimulating Arg-1-specific CD4+ and CD8+T cell responses, which may both be vital for rebalancing the microenvironment. Furthermore, the ArgLong2 peptide could increase the effect of T cell-enhancing drugs such as checkpoint blockers in comparison to single approach therapies or current cancer vaccines that only aim to induce cancer-specific CD8+cytotoxic T cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cancer Immune Therapy (CCIT), Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark

    Evelina Martinenaite, Shamaila Munir Ahmad, Inge Marie Svane & Mads Hald Andersen

  2. Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Mads Hald Andersen

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  1. Evelina Martinenaite
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  2. Shamaila Munir Ahmad
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  3. Inge Marie Svane
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  4. Mads Hald Andersen
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Correspondence to Evelina Martinenaite or Mads Hald Andersen.

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Martinenaite, E., Ahmad, S.M., Svane, I.M. et al. Peripheral memory T cells specific for Arginase-1. Cell Mol Immunol 16, 718–719 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-019-0231-3

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