Aminobisphosphonates inhibit dendritic cell-mediated antigen-specific activation of CD1d-restricted iNKT cells

- iNKT cells can be activated by the synthetic glycolipid α-galactosylceramide.
- iNKT cells can initiate and propagate antitumor immunity upon activation.
- Cancer patients are frequently treated with aminobisphosphonates (NBP).
- NBP reduce apoE production by moDC and limit α-GalCer induced iNKT cell activation.
- The effect of NBP on moDC could impact iNKT cell based anti-cancer therapies.

CD1d-restricted invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells constitute an important immunoregulatory T cell subset that can be activated by the synthetic glycolipid α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) and initiate antitumor immune responses. As cancer patients are frequently treated with aminobisphosphonates (NBP), it is relevant to determine possible effects of NBP on CD1d-restricted glycolipid Ag-presentation to iNKT cells. We report a striking reduction of α-GalCer-induced iNKT cell activation by monocyte derived dendritic cells (moDC) upon their exposure to NBP during maturation. We found that production of apolipoprotein E (apoE), which is a known facilitator of trans-membrane transport of exogenously derived glycolipids, was significantly diminished in moDC exposed to NBP. As the inhibitory effect of NBP on iNKT cell activation was alleviated by exogenous apoE, our data indicate that reduced apoE production by antigen presenting cells (APC) through NBP limits glycolipid-induced iNKT cell activation. This should be taken into account in the design of iNKT cell-based anti-cancer therapies.