SUMMARY An increased understanding of antitumor immunity is necessary to improve cell-based immunotherapies against human cancers. Here, we investigated the roles of two immune system-expressed microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-155 and miR-146a, in the regulation of antitumor immune responses. Our results indicate that miR-155 promotes and miR-146a inhibits IFNγ responses by T cells and reduced solid tumor growth in vivo. Using a novel double knockout (DKO) mouse strain deficient in both miR-155 and miR-146a, we have also identified an epistatic relationship between these two miRNAs. DKO mice had defective T cell responses and tumor growth phenotypes similar to miR-155−/− mice. Further analysis of the T cell compartment revealed that miR-155 modulates IFNγ expression through a mechanism involving repression of Ship1. Our work reveals critical roles for miRNAs in the reciprocal regulation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-mediated antitumor immunity, and demonstrates the dominant nature of miR-155 during its promotion of immune responses.

Summary Chronic inflammation is a contributing factor to most life shortening human diseases. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that sustain chronic inflammatory responses remain poorly understood making it difficult to treat this deleterious condition. Using a mouse model of age-dependent inflammation that results from a deficiency in miR-146a, we demonstrate that miR-155 contributed to the progressive inflammatory disease that emerged as Mir146a−/− mice grew older. Upon analyzing lymphocytes from inflamed versus healthy middle-aged mice we found elevated numbers of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, germinal center (GC) B cells and autoantibodies, all occurring in a miR-155-dependent manner. Further, Cd4-cre Mir155fl/fl mice were generated and demonstrated that miR-155 functions in T cells, in addition to its established role in B cells, to promote humoral immunity in a variety of contexts. Taken together, our study discovers that miR-146a and miR-155 counter-regulate Tfh cell development that drives aberrant GC reactions during chronic inflammation.

Th17 cells are central to the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease, and recently specific noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to regulate their development. However, it remains unclear if miRNAs are also involved in modulating Th17 cell effector functions. Consequently, we examined the role of miR-155 in differentiated Th17 cells during their induction of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE). Using adoptive transfer experiments, we found that highly purified, MOG antigen-specific Th17 cells lacking miR-155 were defective in their capacity to cause EAE. Gene expression profiling of purified miR-155−/− IL-17F+ Th17 cells identified a subset of effector genes that are dependent upon miR-155 for their proper expression through a mechanism involving repression of the transcription factor Ets1. Among the genes reduced in the absence of miR-155 was IL-23R, resulting in miR-155−/− Th17 cells being hypo-responsive to IL-23. Taken together, our study demonstrates a critical role for miR-155 in Th17 cells as they unleash autoimmune inflammation, and finds that this occurs through a signaling network involving miR-155, Ets1 and the clinically relevant IL-23-IL-23R pathway.

Extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, have recently been implicated as novel mediators of immune cell communication in mammals. However, roles for endogenously produced exosomes in regulating immune cell functions in vivo are just beginning to be identified. Here, we demonstrate that Rab27a and Rab27b double knockout (Rab27DKO) mice that are deficient in exosome secretion have a chronic, low-grade inflammatory phenotype characterized by elevated inflammatory cytokines and myeloproliferation. Upon further investigation, we found that some of these phenotypes could be complemented by WT hematopoietic cells or administration of exosomes produced by GM-CSF expanded bone marrow cells. Additionally, chronically inflamed Rab27DKO mice had a blunted response to bacterial LPS, resembling endotoxin tolerance. This defect was rescued by bone marrow exosomes from WT but not miR-155−/− cells suggesting that uptake of miR-155-containing exosomes is important for a proper LPS response. Further, we found that SHIP1 and IRAK-M, direct targets of miR-155 that are known negative regulators of the LPS response, were elevated in Rab27DKO mice and decreased following treatment with WT but not miR-155−/− exosomes. Together, our study finds that Rab27-dependent exosome production contributes to homeostasis within the hematopoietic system and appropriate responsiveness to inflammatory stimuli.