CD8+ T cells play a key role in clearing primary virus infections and in protecting against subsequent challenge. The potent antiviral effects of these cells make them important components of vaccine-induced immunity and, because of this, peptide vaccines often contain epitopes designed to induce strong CD8+ T cell responses. However, the same effector functions that protect the host also can be harmful if they are not tightly regulated, and virus-specific CD8+ T cells are a frequent cause of immunopathology. Here, we report that the administration of peptide to virus-immune recipient mice can lead to the synchronous activation of preexisting virus-specific CD8+ T cells with serious, and even lethal, consequences. Mice infected with LCMV or vaccinia virus developed rapid and profound hypothermia following injection of cognate synthetic peptides, and LCMV-infected mice frequently died within hours. Detailed analyses of the LCMV infected mice revealed enterocyte apoptosis and implicated TNF produced by peptide-specific CD8+ T cells as the major mediator of disease. The caspase inhibitor zVADfmk had no demonstrable effect on the development of hypothermia, but diminished enterocyte apoptosis and greatly reduced the number of deaths. These findings, if similarly observed in patients, counsel caution when administering powerful immunogens such as peptide vaccines to individuals who may have a large preexisting pool of epitope-specific CD8+ T cells.
Fei Liu, Ralph Feuer, Daniel E. Hassett, J. Lindsay Whitton
Depletion or dysfunction of CD4+ T lymphocytes profoundly perturbs host defenses and impairs immunogenicity of vaccines. Here, we show that plasmid DNA vaccination with a cassette encoding antigen (OVA) and a second cassette encoding full-length CD40 ligand (CD40L), a molecule expressed on activated CD4+ T lymphocytes and critical for T cell helper function, can elicit significant titers of antigen-specific immunoglobulins in serum and Tc1 CD8+ T cell responses in CD4-deficient mice. To investigate whether this approach leads to CD4+ T cell–independent vaccine protection against a prototypic AIDS-defining infection, Pneumocystis (PC) pneumonia, we used serum from mice vaccinated with PC-pulsed, CD40L-modifed DCs to immunoprecipitate PC antigens. Kexin, a PC antigen identified by this approach, was used in a similar DNA vaccine strategy with or without CD40L. CD4-deficient mice receiving DNA vaccines encoding Kexin and CD40L showed significantly higher anti-PC IgG titers as well as opsonic killing of PC compared with those vaccinated with Kexin alone. Moreover, CD4-depleted, Kexin-vaccinated mice showed a 3-log greater protection in a PC challenge model. Adoptive transfer of CD19+ cells or IgG to SCID mice conferred protection against PC challenge, indicating a role of humoral immunity in the protection. The results of these studies show promise for CD4-independent vaccination against HIV-related or other opportunistic pathogens.
Mingquan Zheng, Alistair J. Ramsay, Myles B. Robichaux, Karen A. Norris, Corrine Kliment, Christopher Crowe, Rekha R. Rapaka, Chad Steele, Florencia McAllister, Judd E. Shellito, Luis Marrero, Paul Schwarzenberger, Qiu Zhong, Jay K. Kolls
Reovirus induces apoptosis in cultured cells and in vivo. In cell culture models, apoptosis is contingent upon a mechanism involving reovirus-induced activation of transcription factor NF-κB complexes containing p50 and p65/RelA subunits. To explore the in vivo role of NF-κB in this process, we tested the capacity of reovirus to induce apoptosis in mice lacking a functional nfkb1/p50 gene. The genetic defect had no apparent effect on reovirus replication in the intestine or dissemination to secondary sites of infection. In comparison to what was observed in wild-type controls, apoptosis was significantly diminished in the CNS of p50-null mice following reovirus infection. In sharp contrast, the loss of p50 was associated with massive reovirus-induced apoptosis and uncontrolled reovirus replication in the heart. Levels of IFN-β mRNA were markedly increased in the hearts of wild-type animals but not p50-null animals infected with reovirus. Treatment of p50-null mice with IFN-β substantially diminished reovirus replication and apoptosis, which suggests that IFN-β induction by NF-κB protects against reovirus-induced myocarditis. These findings reveal an organ-specific role for NF-κB in the regulation of reovirus-induced apoptosis, which modulates encephalitis and myocarditis associated with reovirus infection.
Sean M. O’Donnell, Mark W. Hansberger, Jodi L. Connolly, James D. Chappell, Melissa J. Watson, Janene M. Pierce, J. Denise Wetzel, Wei Han, Erik S. Barton, J. Craig Forrest, Tibor Valyi-Nagy, Fiona E. Yull, Timothy S. Blackwell, Jeffrey N. Rottman, Barbara Sherry, Terence S. Dermody
Difficulties in understanding the mechanisms of HIV neuropathogenesis include the inability to study dynamic processes of infection, cumulative effects of the virus, and contributing host immune responses. We used 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy and studied monocyte activation and progression of CNS neuronal injury in a CD8 lymphocyte depletion model of neuroAIDS in SIV-infected rhesus macaque monkeys. We found early, consistent neuronal injury coincident with viremia and SIV infection/activation of monocyte subsets and sought to define the role of plasma virus and monocytes in contributing to CNS disease. Antiretroviral therapy with essentially non–CNS-penetrating agents resulted in slightly decreased levels of plasma virus, a significant reduction in the number of activated and infected monocytes, and rapid, near-complete reversal of neuronal injury. Robust macrophage accumulation and productive virus replication were found in brains of infected and CD8 lymphocyte–depleted animals, but no detectable virus and few scattered infiltrating macrophages were observed in CD8 lymphocyte–depleted animals compared with animals not receiving antiretroviruses that were sacrificed at the same time after infection. These results underscore the role of activated monocytes and monocyte infection outside of the brain in driving CNS disease.
Kenneth Williams, Susan Westmoreland, Jane Greco, Eva Ratai, Margaret Lentz, Woong-Ki Kim, Robert A. Fuller, John P. Kim, Patrick Autissier, Prahbat K. Sehgal, Raymond F. Schinazi, Norbert Bischofberger, Michael Piatak Jr., Jeffrey D. Lifson, Eliezer Masliah, R. Gilberto González
Patients with infectious mononucleosis (IM) undergoing primary EBV infection show large expansions of EBV-specific CD8+ T cells in the blood. While latent infection of the B cell pool is quickly controlled, virus shedding from lytically infected cells in the oropharynx remains high for several months. We therefore studied how responses localize to the tonsil, a major target site for EBV, during primary infection and persistence. In acute IM, EBV-specific effectors were poorly represented among CD8+ T cells in tonsil compared with blood, coincident with absence of the CCR7 lymphoid homing marker on these highly activated cells. In patients who had recently recovered from IM, latent epitope reactivities were quicker than lytic reactivities both to acquire CCR7 and to accumulate in the tonsil, with some of these cells now expressing the CD103 integrin, which mediates retention at mucosal sites. By contrast, in long-term virus carriers in whom both lytic and latent infections had been controlled, there was 2- to 5-fold enrichment of lytic epitope reactivities and 10- to 20-fold enrichment of latent epitope reactivities in tonsil compared with blood; up to 20% of tonsillar CD8+ T cells were EBV specific, and many now expressed CD103. We suggest that efficient control of EBV infection requires appropriate CD8+ T cell homing to oropharyngeal sites.
Andrew D. Hislop, Michael Kuo, Adrian B. Drake-Lee, Arne N. Akbar, Wolfgang Bergler, Nicolas Hammerschmitt, Naeem Khan, Umaimainthan Palendira, Alison M. Leese, Judith M. Timms, Andrew I. Bell, Christopher D. Buckley, Alan B. Rickinson
Little is known about the role of CD1d-restricted T cells in antiviral immune responses. Here we show that the lytic replication cycle of the Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) promotes downregulation of cell-surface CD1d. This is caused by expression of the 2 modulator of immune recognition (MIR) proteins of the virus, each of which promotes the loss of surface CD1d expression following transfection into uninfected cells. Inhibition of CD1d surface expression is due to ubiquitination of the CD1d α-chain on a unique lysine residue in its cytoplasmic tail, which triggers endocytosis. Unlike MIR-mediated MHC class I downregulation, however, CD1d downregulation does not appear to include accelerated lysosomal degradation. MIR2-induced downregulation of CD1d results in reduced activation of CD1d-restricted T cells in vitro. KSHV modulation of CD1d expression represents a strategy for viral evasion of innate host immune responses and implicates CD1d-restricted T cells as regulators of this viral infection.
David Jesse Sanchez, Jenny E. Gumperz, Don Ganem
Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is linked with all clinical forms of Kaposi sarcoma and several lymphoproliferative disorders. Like other herpesviruses, KSHV becomes latent in the infected cells, expressing only a few genes that are essential for the establishment and maintenance of its latency and for the survival of the infected cells. Inhibiting the expression of these latent genes should lead to eradication of herpesvirus infection. All currently available drugs are ineffective against latent infection. Here we show, for the first time to our knowledge, that latent infection with KSHV in B lymphocytes can be terminated by glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a triterpenoid compound earlier shown to inhibit the lytic replication of other herpesviruses. We demonstrate that GA disrupts latent KSHV infection by downregulating the expression of latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) and upregulating the expression of viral cyclin and selectively induces cell death of KSHV-infected cells. We show that reduced levels of LANA lead to p53 reactivation, an increase in ROS, and mitochondrial dysfunction, which result in G1 cell cycle arrest, DNA fragmentation, and oxidative stress–mediated apoptosis. Latent genes are involved in KSHV-induced oncogenesis, and strategies to interfere with their expression might prove useful for eradicating latent KSHV infection and have future therapeutic implications.
Francesca Curreli, Alvin E. Friedman-Kien, Ornella Flore
Poliovirus replication is limited to a few organs, including the brain and spinal cord. This restricted tropism may be a consequence of organ-specific differences in translation initiation by the poliovirus internal ribosome entry site (IRES). A C-to-U mutation at base 472 in the IRES of the Sabin type 3 poliovirus vaccine strain, known to attenuate neurovirulence, may further restrict tropism by eliminating viral replication in the CNS. To determine the relationship between IRES-mediated translation and poliovirus tropism, recombinant human adenoviruses were used to express bicistronic mRNAs in murine organs. The IRESs of poliovirus, the cardiotropic coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), and the hepatotropic hepatitis C virus (HCV) mediate translation in many organs, including those that do not support viral replication. A translation defect associated with the Sabin type 3 IRES was observed in all organs examined. Poliovirus type 1 and recombinant polioviruses dependent on the IRES of CVB3 or HCV replicate in the CNS of mice and cause paralysis. Although the type 3 Sabin strain is an effective vaccine, polioviruses with a U at base 472 of the IRES cause paralysis in newborn mice. Tropism of wild-type and vaccine strains of poliovirus is therefore determined after internal ribosome entry.
Steven E. Kauder, Vincent R. Racaniello
DCs play a pivotal role in bringing forth innate and adaptive immune responses. Viruses can specifically target DCs, rendering them ineffective in stimulating T cells, which can ultimately lead to immunosuppression. In the present study we have identified several potential mechanisms by which lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) induces immunosuppression in its natural murine host. The immunosuppressive LCMV variant clone 13 (Cl 13) infects DCs and interferes with their maturation and antigen-presenting capacity as evidenced by a significant reduction in the surface expression of MHC class I, MHC class II, CD40, CD80, and CD86 molecules. Additionally, Cl 13 infects hematopoietic progenitor cells both in vivo and in vitro, impairing their development. One mechanism by which hematopoietic progenitors are developmentally impaired is through the Cl 13–induced production of IFN-α and IFN-β (IFN-α/β). Mice deficient in the receptor for IFN-α/β show a normal differentiation of progenitors into DCs despite viral infection. Thus, a virus can evolve a strategy to boost its survival by preventing the maturation of DCs from infected progenitor cells and by reducing the expression of antigen-presenting and costimulatory molecules on developed DCs.
Noemí Sevilla, Dorian B. McGavern, Chao Teng, Stefan Kunz, Michael B.A. Oldstone
Antigenic stimulation of T cells gives rise to short-lived effector cells and long-lived memory cells. We used two stable isotope-labeling techniques to identify kinetically distinct subpopulations of T cells and to determine the effect of advanced infection with HIV-1. Long-term deuterated water (2H2O) incorporation into DNA demonstrated biphasic accrual of total and of memory/effector (m/e)–phenotype but not naive-phenotype T cells, consistent with the presence of short-lived and longer-lived subpopulations within the m/e-phenotype T cell pool. These results were mirrored by biphasic die-away kinetics in m/e- but not naive-phenotype T cells after short-term 2H-glucose labeling. Persistent label retention was observed in a subset of m/e-phenotype T cells (presumably memory T cells), confirming the presence of T cells with very different life spans in humans. In advanced HIV-1 infection, much higher proportions of T cells were short-lived, compared to healthy controls. Effective long-term anti-retroviral therapy restored values to normal. These results provide the first quantitative evidence that long-lived and quiescent T cells do indeed predominate in the T cell pool in humans and determine T cell pool size, as in rodents. The greatest impact of advanced HIV-1 infection is to reduce the generation of long-lived, potential progenitor T cells.
Marc K. Hellerstein, Rebecca A. Hoh, Mary Beth Hanley, Denise Cesar, Daniel Lee, Richard A. Neese, Joseph M. McCune
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