It is now clear that anti-CTLA-4 (α-CTLA-4)
antibodies stimulate
tumor immunity either by relieving inhibition of effector T-cell function or by depletion of regulatory T cells (Treg). Several recent reports, however, have suggested that these
antibodies may deliver a "go" signal to effector T cells, thus interrupting
T-cell receptor signaling and subsequent T-cell activation. We examined the behavior of
melanoma-specific CD8+ pmel-1 T cells in the B16/BL6 mouse model using intravital microscopy. Pmel-1 velocities in progressively growing
tumors were lower than their velocities in
tumors given a therapeutic combination that included α-CTLA-4
antibodies, suggesting that successful
immunotherapy correlates with greater T-cell motility. When α-CTLA-4
antibodies were injected during imaging, the velocities of pmel-1 T cells in
tumor-draining lymph nodes also increased. Because α-CTLA-4
Fab fragments had the same effect as the intact antibody, the higher T-cell motility does not seem to be due to CTLA-4 inhibitory signaling but rather to the release of nonproductive stable interactions between
tumor-infiltrating T cells and
tumor targets or antigen-presenting cells subsequent to CTLA-4 blockade. This phenomenon resembles the recently described reversal of the
antiviral T-cell motility
paralysis by programmed death 1 (PD-1)-specific
antibodies during T-cell exhaustion in persistent
viral infections.