Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Induction of natural killer T cell–dependent alloreactivity by administration of granulocyte colony–stimulating factor after bone marrow transplantation

Nature Medicine volume 15, pages 436–441 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Granulocyte colony–stimulating factor (G-CSF) is often used to hasten neutrophil recovery after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), but the clinical and immunological consequences evoked remain unclear1. We examined the effect of G-CSF administration after transplantation in mouse models and found that exposure to either standard G-CSF or pegylated-G-CSF soon after BMT substantially increased graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This effect was dependent on total body irradiation (TBI) rendering host dendritic cells (DCs) responsive to G-CSF by upregulating their expression of the G-CSF receptor. Stimulation of host DCs by G-CSF subsequently unleashed a cascade of events characterized by donor natural killer T cell (NKT cell) activation, interferon-γ secretion and CD40-dependent amplification of donor cytotoxic T lymphocyte function during the effector phase of GVHD. Crucially, the detrimental effects of G-CSF were only present when it was administered after TBI conditioning and at a time when residual host antigen presenting cells were still present, perhaps explaining the conflicting and somewhat controversial clinical studies from the large European and North American BMT registries2,3. These data have major implications for the use of G-CSF in disease states where NKT cell activation may have effects on outcome.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Administration of G-CSF or peg–G-CSF following bone marrow transplantation increases GVHD.
Figure 2: Administration of G-CSF after BMT activates donor NKT cells and enhances GVHD in an NKT cell− and CD8+ T cell–dependent manner.
Figure 3: G-CSF treatment after BMT increases NKT cell–dependent GVHD via effects on residual host tissue.
Figure 4: Conditioning with TBI, but not chemotherapy, enhances G-CSFR expression on host DCs and exacerbates GVHD after G-CSF administration.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Morris, E.S., MacDonald, K.P. & Hill, G.R. Stem cell mobilization with G-CSF analogs: a rational approach to separate GVHD and GVL? Blood 107, 3430–3435 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ringden, O. et al. Treatment with granulocyte colony–stimulating factor after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for acute leukemia increases the risk of graft-versus-host disease and death: a study from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. J. Clin. Oncol. 22, 416–423 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Khoury, H.J. et al. Impact of posttransplantation G-CSF on outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Blood 107, 1712–1716 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Klumpp, T.R., Mangan, K.F., Goldberg, S.L., Pearlman, E.S. & Macdonald, J.S. Granulocyte colony–stimulating factor accelerates neutrophil engraftment following peripheral-blood stem-cell transplantation: a prospective, randomized trial. J. Clin. Oncol. 13, 1323–1327 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. McQuaker, I.G. et al. Low-dose filgrastim significantly enhances neutrophil recovery following autologous peripheral-blood stem-cell transplantation in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders: evidence for clinical and economic benefit. J. Clin. Oncol. 15, 451–457 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pagliuca, A., Carrington, P.A., Pettengell, R., Tule, S. & Keidan, J. Guidelines on the use of colony-stimulating factors in haematological malignancies. Br. J. Haematol. 123, 22–33 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Morris, E.S. et al. NKT cell–dependent leukemia eradication following stem cell mobilization with potent G-CSF analogs. J. Clin. Invest. 115, 3093–3103 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Patterson, S. et al. Human invariant NKT cells display alloreactivity instructed by invariant TCR-CD1d interaction and killer Ig receptors. J. Immunol. 181, 3268–3276 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Liu, F., Wu, H.Y., Wesselschmidt, R., Kornaga, T. & Link, D.C. Impaired production and increased apoptosis of neutrophils in granulocyte colony–stimulating factor receptor–deficient mice. Immunity 5, 491–501 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Shlomchik, W.D. et al. Prevention of graft versus host disease by inactivation of host antigen-presenting cells. Science 285, 412–415 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ochando, J.C. et al. Alloantigen-presenting plasmacytoid dendritic cells mediate tolerance to vascularized grafts. Nat. Immunol. 7, 652–662 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Merad, M. et al. Depletion of host Langerhans cells before transplantation of donor alloreactive T cells prevents skin graft-versus-host disease. Nat. Med. 10, 510–517 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hill, G.R. & Ferrara, J.L.M. The primacy of the gastrointestinal tract as a target organ of graft-versus-host disease: Rationale for the use of cytokine shields in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Blood 95, 2754–2759 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Morecki, S. et al. Effect of KRN7000 on induced graft-vs-host disease. Exp. Hematol. 32, 630–637 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hashimoto, D. et al. Stimulation of host NKT cells by synthetic glycolipid regulates acute graft-versus-host disease by inducing TH2 polarization of donor T cells. J. Immunol. 174, 551–556 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zeng, D. et al. Bone marrow NK1.1− and NK1.1+ T cells reciprocally regulate acute graft versus host disease. J. Exp. Med. 189, 1073–1081 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Pillai, A.B., George, T.I., Dutt, S., Teo, P. & Strober, S. Host NKT cells can prevent graft-versus-host disease and permit graft antitumor activity after bone marrow transplantation. J. Immunol. 178, 6242–6251 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Matte, C.C. et al. Donor APCs are required for maximal GVHD but not for GVL. Nat. Med. 10, 987–992 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. MacDonald, K.P. et al. Donor pretreatment with progenipoietin-1 is superior to G-CSF in preventing graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Blood 101, 2033–2042 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Morris, E.S. et al. Donor treatment with pegylated G-CSF augments the generation of IL-10 producing regulatory T cells and promotes transplant tolerance. Blood 103, 3573–3581 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Burman, A.C. et al. IFNγ differentially controls the development of idiopathic pneumonia syndrome and GVHD of the gastrointestinal tract. Blood 110, 1064–1072 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Rowe, V. et al. Host B cells produce IL-10 following TBI and attenuate acute GVHD after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Blood 108, 2485–2492 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Westerhof, G.R. et al. Comparison of different busulfan analogues for depletion of hematopoietic stem cells and promotion of donor-type chimerism in murine bone marrow transplant recipients. Cancer Res. 60, 5470–5478 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Jung, S. et al. In vivo depletion of CD11c+ dendritic cells abrogates priming of CD8+ T cells by exogenous cell-associated antigens. Immunity 17, 211–220 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Hill, G.R. et al. Total body irradiation and acute graft versus host disease. The role of gastrointestinal damage and inflammatory cytokines. Blood 90, 3204–3213 (1997).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Cooke, K.R. et al. Tumor necrosis factor-α neutralization reduces lung injury after experimental allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Transplantation 70, 272–279 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Banovic, T. et al. TGF-β in allogeneic stem cell transplantation: friend or foe? Blood 106, 2206–2214 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Vremec, D., Pooley, J., Hochrein, H., Wu, L. & Shortman, K. CD4 and CD8 expression by dendritic cell subtypes in mouse thymus and spleen. J. Immunol. 164, 2978 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Matsuda, J.L. et al. Tracking the response of natural killer T cells to a glycolipid antigen using CD1d tetramers. J. Exp. Med. 192, 741–754 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Hammond, K.J. et al. CD1d-restricted NKT cells: an interstrain comparison. J. Immunol. 167, 1164–1173 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D.C. Link (Washington University) and A.W. Roberts (The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne) for the Csf3r−/− mice and D. Pellicci (University of Melbourne) for the generation of CD1d tetramers used in this study. The TEa mice were supplied by J. Bromberg (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York). K.P.A.M. and C.R.E. are National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) R.D. Wright Fellows. D.I.G. and M.J.S. are NHMRC Research Fellows. G.R.H. is a NHMRC Practitioner Fellow.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia

    Edward S Morris, Kelli P A MacDonald, Rachel D Kuns, Helen M Morris, Tatjana Banovic, Alistair L J Don, Vanessa Rowe, Yana A Wilson, Neil C Raffelt, Christian R Engwerda, Angela C Burman, Kate A Markey & Geoffrey R Hill

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Dale I Godfrey

  3. Cancer Immunology Program, Trescowthick Laboratories, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, St. Andrews Place, Australia

    Mark J Smyth

Authors
  1. Edward S Morris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kelli P A MacDonald
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rachel D Kuns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Helen M Morris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tatjana Banovic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Alistair L J Don
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Vanessa Rowe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yana A Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Neil C Raffelt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Christian R Engwerda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Angela C Burman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Kate A Markey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Dale I Godfrey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Mark J Smyth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Geoffrey R Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

E.S.M. designed and performed experiments and contributed to the manuscript. K.P.A.M., R.D.K., H.M.M., T.B., A.L.J.D., V.R., Y.A.W., N.C.R., A.C.B. and K.A.M. performed experiments. C.R.E. contributed reagents and data interpretation. D.I.G. and M.J.S. contributed vital reagents and experimental design and contributed to the manuscript. G.R.H. designed the study and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffrey R Hill.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The bone marrow transplantation laboratory has previously received funding from Amgen USA.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2 (PDF 223 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morris, E., MacDonald, K., Kuns, R. et al. Induction of natural killer T cell–dependent alloreactivity by administration of granulocyte colony–stimulating factor after bone marrow transplantation. Nat Med 15, 436–441 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.1948

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.1948

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing