CD57+ CD4 T Cells Underlie Belatacept-Resistant Allograft Rejection

Belatacept is a B7-specific fusion protein used to prevent allograft rejection by blocking T cell costimulation. Generally efficacious, it fails to prevent acute rejection in a sizable minority of patients. In experimental models, memory T cells mediate costimulation blockade-resistant rejection (CoBRR), but this remains undefined in humans. To explore relationships between individual patients' immune cell phenotypes and CoBRR, we studied patients receiving belatacept or conventional calcineurin inhibitor-based immunosuppression. We identified a population of CD57(+)PD1(-) CD4 T cells present prior to transplantation that correlated with CoBRR. Contrary to data recognizing CD57 as a marker of senescence on CD8 T cells, we discovered a nonsenescent, cytolytic phenotype associated with CD57 on CD4 T cells. Moreover, CD57(+) CD4 T cells expressed high levels of adhesion molecules implicated in experimental CoBRR, were CD28(-), expressed a transcriptional phenotype broadly defining allograft rejection and were shown to be present in rejecting human kidney allografts. These data implicate CD57(+) CD4 T cells in clinical CoBRR. If prospectively validated, this characteristic could identify patients at higher risk for acute rejection on belatacept-based therapy. The authors identify a population of CD57+PD1- CD4 T cells present in the peripheral blood prior to transplantation that may identify patients at a higher risk for acute rejection on belatacept-based therapy. See Shabir et al's article on page 1113, and Murakami and Riella's editorial on page 1045.