Infectious disease
Abstract
The human lung harbors a large population of resident memory T cells (Trm cells). These cells are perfectly positioned to mediate rapid protection against respiratory pathogens such as influenza virus, a highly contagious respiratory pathogen that continues to be a major public health burden. Animal models show that influenza-specific lung CD8+ Trm cells are indispensable for crossprotection against pulmonary infection with different influenza virus strains. However, it is not known whether influenza-specific CD8+ Trm cells present within the human lung have the same critical role in modulating the course of the disease. Here, we showed that human lung contains a population of CD8+ Trm cells that are highly proliferative and have polyfunctional progeny. We observed that different influenza virus–specific CD8+ T cell specificities differentiated into Trm cells with varying efficiencies and that the size of the influenza-specific CD8+ T cell population persisting in the lung directly correlated with the efficiency of differentiation into Trm cells. To our knowledge, we provide the first ex vivo dissection of paired T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of human influenza–specific CD8+ Trm cells. Our data reveal diverse TCR profiles within the human lung Trm cells and a high degree of clonal sharing with other CD8+ T cell populations, a feature important for effective T cell function and protection against the generation of viral-escape mutants.
Authors
Angela Pizzolla, Thi H.O. Nguyen, Sneha Sant, Jade Jaffar, Tom Loudovaris, Stuart I. Mannering, Paul G. Thomas, Glen P. Westall, Katherine Kedzierska, Linda M. Wakim
Abstract
Ebolaviruses and marburgviruses belong to the family Filoviridae and cause high lethality in infected patients. There are currently no licensed filovirus vaccines or antiviral therapies. The development of broad-spectrum therapies against members of the Marburgvirus genus, including Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV), is difficult because of substantial sequence variability. RNAi therapeutics offer a potential solution, as identification of conserved target nucleotide sequences may confer activity across marburgvirus variants. Here, we assessed the therapeutic efficacy of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery of a single nucleoprotein–targeting (NP-targeting) siRNA in nonhuman primates at advanced stages of MARV or RAVV disease to mimic cases in which patients begin treatment for fulminant disease. Sixteen rhesus monkeys were lethally infected with MARV or RAVV and treated with NP siRNA-LNP, with MARV-infected animals beginning treatment four or five days after infection and RAVV-infected animals starting treatment three or six days after infection. While all untreated animals succumbed to disease, NP siRNA-LNP treatment conferred 100% survival of RAVV-infected macaques, even when treatment began just 1 day prior to the death of the control animals. In MARV-infected animals, day-4 treatment initiation resulted in 100% survival, and day-5 treatment resulted in 50% survival. These results identify a single siRNA therapeutic that provides broad-spectrum protection against both MARV and RAVV.
Authors
Emily P. Thi, Chad E. Mire, Amy C.H. Lee, Joan B. Geisbert, Raul Ursic-Bedoya, Krystle N. Agans, Marjorie Robbins, Daniel J. Deer, Robert W. Cross, Andrew S. Kondratowicz, Karla A. Fenton, Ian MacLachlan, Thomas W. Geisbert
Abstract
Escherichia coli and other Enterobacteriaceae are among the most common pathogens of the human urinary tract. Among the genetic gains of function associated with urinary E. coli isolates is the Yersinia high pathogenicity island (HPI), which directs the biosynthesis of yersiniabactin (Ybt), a virulence-associated metallophore. Using a metabolomics approach, we found that E. coli and other Enterobacteriaceae expressing the Yersinia HPI also secrete escherichelin, a second metallophore whose chemical structure matches a known synthetic inhibitor of the virulence-associated pyochelin siderophore system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We detected escherichelin during clinical E. coli urinary tract infection (UTI) and experimental human colonization with a commensal, potentially probiotic E. coli bacteriuria strain. Escherichelin production by colonizing enterobacteria may help human hosts resist opportunistic infections by Pseudomonas and other pyochelin-expressing bacteria. This siderophore-based mechanism of microbial antagonism may be one of many elements contributing to the protective effects of the human microbiome. Future UTI-preventive probiotic strains may benefit by retaining the escherichelin biosynthetic capacity of the Yersinia HPI while eliminating the Ybt biosynthetic capacity.
Authors
Shannon I. Ohlemacher, Daryl E. Giblin, D. André d’Avignon, Ann E. Stapleton, Barbara W. Trautner, Jeffrey P. Henderson
Abstract
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) typically causes chickenpox upon primary infection. In rare cases, VZV can give rise to life-threatening disease in otherwise healthy people, but the immunological basis for this remains unexplained. We report 4 cases of acute severe VZV infection affecting the central nervous system or the lungs in unrelated, otherwise healthy children who are heterozygous for rare missense mutations in POLR3A (one patient), POLR3C (one patient), or both (two patients). POLR3A and POLR3C encode subunits of RNA polymerase III. Leukocytes from all 4 patients tested exhibited poor IFN induction in response to synthetic or VZV-derived DNA. Moreover, leukocytes from 3 of the patients displayed defective IFN production upon VZV infection and reduced control of VZV replication. These phenotypes were rescued by transduction with relevant WT alleles. This work demonstrates that monogenic or digenic POLR3A and POLR3C deficiencies confer increased susceptibility to severe VZV disease in otherwise healthy children, providing evidence for an essential role of a DNA sensor in human immunity.
Authors
Benson Ogunjimi, Shen-Ying Zhang, Katrine B. Sørensen, Kristian A. Skipper, Madalina Carter-Timofte, Gaspard Kerner, Stefanie Luecke, Thaneas Prabakaran, Yujia Cai, Josephina Meester, Esther Bartholomeus, Nikhita Ajit Bolar, Geert Vandeweyer, Charlotte Claes, Yasmine Sillis, Lazaro Lorenzo, Raffaele A. Fiorenza, Soraya Boucherit, Charlotte Dielman, Steven Heynderickx, George Elias, Andrea Kurotova, Ann Vander Auwera, Lieve Verstraete, Lieven Lagae, Helene Verhelst, Anna Jansen, Jose Ramet, Arvid Suls, Evelien Smits, Berten Ceulemans, Lut Van Laer, Genevieve Plat Wilson, Jonas Kreth, Capucine Picard, Horst Von Bernuth, Joël Fluss, Stephane Chabrier, Laurent Abel, Geert Mortier, Sebastien Fribourg, Jacob Giehm Mikkelsen, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Søren R. Paludan, Trine H. Mogensen
Abstract
Mutations in the human NBEAL2 gene cause gray platelet syndrome (GPS), a bleeding diathesis characterized by a lack of α granules in platelets. The functions of the NBEAL2 protein have not been explored outside platelet biology, but there are reports of increased frequency of infection and abnormal neutrophil morphology in patients with GPS. We therefore investigated the role of NBEAL2 in immunity by analyzing the phenotype of Nbeal2-deficient mice. We found profound abnormalities in the Nbeal2-deficient immune system, particularly in the function of neutrophils and NK cells. Phenotyping of Nbeal2-deficient neutrophils showed a severe reduction in granule contents across all granule subsets. Despite this, Nbeal2-deficient neutrophils had an enhanced phagocyte respiratory burst relative to Nbeal2-expressing neutrophils. This respiratory burst was associated with increased expression of cytosolic components of the NADPH oxidase complex. Nbeal2-deficient NK cells were also dysfunctional and showed reduced degranulation. These abnormalities were associated with increased susceptibility to both bacterial (Staphylococcus aureus) and viral (murine CMV) infection in vivo. These results define an essential role for NBEAL2 in mammalian immunity.
Authors
John M. Sowerby, David C. Thomas, Simon Clare, Marion Espéli, Jose A. Guerrero, Kim Hoenderdos, Katherine Harcourt, Morgan Marsden, Juneid Abdul-Karim, Mathew Clement, Robin Antrobus, Yagnesh Umrania, Philippa R. Barton, Shaun M. Flint, Jatinder K. Juss, Alison M. Condliffe, Paul A. Lyons, Ian R. Humphreys, Edwin R. Chilvers, Willem H. Ouwehand, Gordon Dougan, Kenneth G.C. Smith
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells engineered to express a hepatitis B virus–specific (HBV-specific) T cell receptor (TCR) may supplement HBV-specific immune responses in chronic HBV patients and facilitate HBV control. However, the risk of triggering unrestrained proliferation of permanently engineered T cells raises safety concerns that have hampered testing of this approach in patients. The aim of the present study was to generate T cells that transiently express HBV-specific TCRs using mRNA electroporation and to assess their antiviral and pathogenetic activity in vitro and in HBV-infected human liver chimeric mice. We assessed virological and gene-expression changes using quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR), immunofluorescence, and Luminex technology. HBV-specific T cells lysed HBV-producing hepatoma cells in vitro. In vivo, 3 injections of HBV-specific T cells caused progressive viremia reduction within 12 days of treatment in animals reconstituted with haplotype-matched hepatocytes, whereas viremia remained stable in mice receiving irrelevant T cells redirected toward hepatitis C virus–specific TCRs. Notably, increases in alanine aminotransferase levels, apoptotic markers, and human inflammatory cytokines returned to pretreatment levels within 9 days after the last injection. T cell transfer did not trigger inflammation in uninfected mice. These data support the feasibility of using mRNA electroporation to engineer HBV TCR–redirected T cells in patients with chronic HBV infection.
Authors
Janine Kah, Sarene Koh, Tassilo Volz, Erica Ceccarello, Lena Allweiss, Marc Lütgehetmann, Antonio Bertoletti, Maura Dandri
Abstract
Protective responses against pathogens require a rapid mobilization of resting neutrophils and the timely removal of activated ones. Neutrophils are exceptionally short-lived leukocytes, yet it remains unclear whether the lifespan of pathogen-engaged neutrophils is regulated differently from that in the circulating steady-state pool. Here, we have found that under homeostatic conditions, the mRNA-destabilizing protein tristetraprolin (TTP) regulates apoptosis and the numbers of activated infiltrating murine neutrophils but not neutrophil cellularity. Activated TTP-deficient neutrophils exhibited decreased apoptosis and enhanced accumulation at the infection site. In the context of myeloid-specific deletion of
Authors
Florian Ebner, Vitaly Sedlyarov, Saren Tasciyan, Masa Ivin, Franz Kratochvill, Nina Gratz, Lukas Kenner, Andreas Villunger, Michael Sixt, Pavel Kovarik
Abstract
Authors
Ajitha Thanabalasuriar, Bas G.J. Surewaard, Michelle E. Willson, Arpan S. Neupane, Charles K. Stover, Paul Warrener, George Wilson, Ashley E. Keller, Bret R. Sellman, Antonio DiGiandomenico, Paul Kubes
Abstract
Type I IFNs promote cellular responses to viruses, and IFN receptor (IFNAR) signaling regulates the responses of endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during neurotropic viral infection. However, the role of astrocytes in innate immune responses of the BBB during viral infection of the CNS remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we have demonstrated that type I IFNAR signaling in astrocytes regulates BBB permeability and protects the cerebellum from infection and immunopathology. Mice with astrocyte-specific loss of IFNAR signaling showed decreased survival after West Nile virus infection. Accelerated mortality was not due to expanded viral tropism or increased replication. Rather, viral entry increased specifically in the hindbrain of IFNAR-deficient mice, suggesting that IFNAR signaling critically regulates BBB permeability in this brain region. Pattern recognition receptors and IFN-stimulated genes had higher basal and IFN-induced expression in human and mouse cerebellar astrocytes than did cerebral cortical astrocytes, suggesting that IFNAR signaling has brain region–specific roles in CNS immune responses. Taken together, our data identify cerebellar astrocytes as key responders to viral infection and highlight the existence of distinct innate immune programs in astrocytes from evolutionarily disparate regions of the CNS.
Authors
Brian P. Daniels, Harsha Jujjavarapu, Douglas M. Durrant, Jessica L. Williams, Richard R. Green, James P. White, Helen M. Lazear, Michael Gale Jr., Michael S. Diamond, Robyn S. Klein
Abstract
Cerebral malaria is characterized by cytoadhesion of
Authors
Julio Gallego-Delgado, Upal Basu-Roy, Maureen Ty, Matilde Alique, Cristina Fernandez-Arias, Alexandru Movila, Pollyanna Gomes, Ada Weinstock, Wenyue Xu, Innocent Edagha, Samuel C. Wassmer, Thomas Walther, Marta Ruiz-Ortega, Ana Rodriguez
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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)