Sialic acid blockade in dendritic cells enhances CD8(+) T cell responses by facilitating high-avidity interactions

Sialic acids are negatively charged carbohydrates that cap the glycans of glycoproteins and glycolipids. Sialic acids are involved in various biological processes including cell–cell adhesion and immune recognition. In dendritic cells (DCs), the major antigen-presenting cells of the immune system, sialic acids emerge as important regulators of maturation and interaction with other lymphocytes including T cells. Many aspects of how sialic acids regulate DC functions are not well understood and tools and model systems to address these are limited. Here, we have established cultures of murine bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) that lack sialic acid expression using a sialic acid-blocking mimetic Ac(5)3F(ax)Neu5Ac. Ac(5)3F(ax)Neu5Ac treatment potentiated BMDC activation via toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation without affecting differentiation and viability. Sialic acid blockade further increased the capacity of BMDCs to induce antigen-specific CD8(+) T cell proliferation. Transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis revealed that sialic acid mimetic treatment of BMDCs induces differential expression of genes involved in T cell activation, cell-adhesion, and cell–cell interactions. Subsequent cell clustering assays and single cell avidity measurements demonstrated that BMDCs with reduced sialylation form higher avidity interactions with CD8(+) T cells. This increased avidity was detectable in the absence of antigens, but was especially pronounced in antigen-dependent interactions. Together, our data show that sialic acid blockade in BMDCs ameliorates maturation and enhances both cognate T cell receptor–MHC-dependent and independent T cell interactions that allow for more robust CD8(+) T cell responses. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-021-04027-x.