scholarly journals Casp8p41 generated by HIV protease kills CD4 T cells through direct Bak activation

2014 ◽  
Vol 206 (7) ◽  
pp. 867-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy M. Sainski ◽  
Haiming Dai ◽  
Sekar Natesampillai ◽  
Yuan-Ping Pang ◽  
Gary D. Bren ◽  
...  

Previous studies have shown that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease cleaves procaspase 8 to a fragment, termed Casp8p41, that lacks caspase activity but nonetheless contributes to T cell apoptosis. Herein, we show that Casp8p41 contains a domain that interacts with the BH3-binding groove of pro-apoptotic Bak to cause Bak oligomerization, Bak-mediated membrane permeabilization, and cell death. Levels of active Bak are higher in HIV-infected T cells that express Casp8p41. Conversely, targeted mutations in the Bak-interacting domain diminish Bak binding and Casp8p41-mediated cell death. Similar mutations in procaspase 8 impair the ability of HIV to kill infected T cells. These observations support a novel paradigm in which HIV converts a normal cellular constituent into a direct activator that functions like a BH3-only protein.

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 6700-6708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yida Yang ◽  
Ilia Tikhonov ◽  
Tracy J. Ruckwardt ◽  
Mahmoud Djavani ◽  
Juan Carlos Zapata ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Tat protein has a critical role in viral transcription, but this study focuses on its additional role as an extracellular effector of lymphocyte cell death. It is well known that Tat induces tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and we show that the majority of TRAIL is produced by the monocyte subset of PBMC. Human monocytes and U937 monoblastoid cells did not take up soluble HIV Tat-86, as T cells did, yet produced more TRAIL than did T cells. TRAIL secretion was induced by Tat and by a cysteine-rich peptide of Tat but not by sulfhydryl-modified Tat toxoid. Although there was only a slight increase in cell surface expression of TRAIL on monocytes, sufficient TRAIL was secreted to be toxic for T cells. The cytotoxicity of Tat-stimulated monocyte medium could be blocked by a TRAIL-neutralizing antibody. T cells treated with Tat did not secrete enough TRAIL to mediate cell death in our assay. Remarkably, uninfected T cells are more susceptible to TRAIL than are HIV-infected T cells. The production of TRAIL by Tat-stimulated monocytes provides a mechanism by which HIV infection can destroy uninfected bystander cells.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 3195-3199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Daniel Lelièvre ◽  
Frédéric Petit ◽  
Damien Arnoult ◽  
Jean-Claude Ameisen ◽  
Jérôme Estaquier

ABSTRACT Fas-mediated T-cell death is known to occur during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In this study, we found that HIV type 1 LAI (HIV-1LAI) primes CD8+ T cells from healthy donors for apoptosis, which occurs after Fas ligation. This effect is counteracted by a broad caspase inhibitor (zVAD-fmk). Fas-mediated cell death does not depend on CD8+ T-cell infection, because it occurred in the presence of reverse transcriptase inhibitors. However, purified CD8+ T cells are sensitive to Fas only in the presence of soluble CD4. Finally, we found that interleukin 7 (IL-7) increases Fas-mediated CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell death induced by HIV-1LAI. Since high levels of IL-7 are a marker of poor prognosis during HIV infection, our data suggest that enhancement of Fas-mediated T-cell death by HIV-1LAI and IL-7 is one of the mechanisms involved in progression to AIDS.


Blood ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 1400-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
RP Lauener ◽  
S Huttner ◽  
M Buisson ◽  
JP Hossle ◽  
M Albisetti ◽  
...  

One mechanism proposed to play a role in T-cell depletion in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is apoptosis (activation-induced cell death). We assessed whether apoptosis is related to activation of T cells in vivo and its possible triggers. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) taken from 16 vertically HIV- infected children and 9 HIV-negative children born to HIV-positive mothers (controls) and tested by agarose gel electrophoresis for the presence of DNA fragments specific for apoptosis. Signs of apoptosis were found on in vitro culture of PBMC from 12 of 16 HIV-infected children, but not in PBMC from the nine controls. Eleven of the 12 HIV- infected children with apoptosis showed an elevated (> 15%) proportion of CD3+/HLA-DR+ cells. This was due to an increased proportion of CD8+/HLA-DR+ cells, as shown in 7 of 7 further tested patients. In none of the probands an increased (> 5%) proportion of IL-2 receptor expressing CD3+ cells was found. T cells undergoing apoptosis were preferentially of the CD8+ phenotype. Expansion of circulating CD8+/interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R)-/HLA-DR+ T cells is known to occur during active infection with herpes viruses. To investigate the possible role of herpes viral coinfections for apoptosis in HIV infection, we focused on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as an example for a herpes virus usually acquired during childhood. In 10 of 12 patients with apoptosis, we found increased levels of EBV genome in PBMC and/or tissues, indicating active EBV replication. By contrast, no increased burden of EBV was found in the four HIV-infected patients without apoptosis or in the controls. Our data indicate that in children the occurrence of apoptosis in HIV infection is closely related to activation of CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, primoinfection with or reactivation of herpes viruses, such as EBV, may substantially contribute to such T-cell activation and the ensuing apoptosis. Additional studies are warranted to evaluate the contribution of herpes virus-triggered apoptosis to the T-cell loss leading to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (15) ◽  
pp. 7700-7710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Gasper-Smith ◽  
Deanna M. Crossman ◽  
John F. Whitesides ◽  
Nadia Mensali ◽  
Janet S. Ottinger ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The death of CD4+ CCR5+ T cells is a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We studied the plasma levels of cell death mediators and products—tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), Fas ligand, TNF receptor type 2 (TNFR-2), and plasma microparticles—during the earliest stages of infection following HIV type 1 (HIV-1) transmission in plasma samples from U.S. plasma donors. Significant plasma TRAIL level elevations occurred a mean of 7.2 days before the peak of plasma viral load (VL), while TNFR-2, Fas ligand, and microparticle level elevations occurred concurrently with maximum VL. Microparticles had been previously shown to mediate immunosuppressive effects on T cells and macrophages. We found that T-cell apoptotic microparticles also potently suppressed in vitro immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibody production by memory B cells. Thus, release of TRAIL during the onset of plasma viremia (i.e., the eclipse phase) in HIV-1 transmission may initiate or amplify early HIV-1-induced cell death. The window of opportunity for a HIV-1 vaccine is from the time of HIV-1 transmission until establishment of the latently infected CD4+ T cells. Release of products of cell death and subsequent immunosuppression following HIV-1 transmission could potentially narrow the window of opportunity during which a vaccine is able to extinguish HIV-1 infection and could place severe constraints on the amount of time available for the immune system to respond to the transmitted virus.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (18) ◽  
pp. 9154-9163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhou ◽  
Lin Shen ◽  
Hung-Chih Yang ◽  
Robert F. Siliciano

ABSTRACT CD4+ T-cell depletion is the hallmark of AIDS pathogenesis. Multiple mechanisms may contribute to the death of productively infected CD4+ T cells and innocent-bystander cells. In this study, we characterize a novel mechanism in which human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection preferentially depletes peripheral memory CD4+ T cells before the completion of reverse transcription. Using a recombinant HIV-1 carrying the green fluorescent protein reporter gene, we demonstrate that memory CD4+ T cells were susceptible to infection-induced cell death at a low multiplicity of infection. Infected memory CD4+ T cells underwent rapid necrotic cell death. Killing of host cells was dependent on X4 envelope-mediated viral fusion, but not on virion-associated Vpr or Nef. In contrast to peripheral resting CD4+ T cells, CD4+ T cells stimulated by mitogen or certain cytokines were resistant to HIV-1-induced early cell death. These results demonstrate that early steps in HIV-1 infection have a detrimental effect on certain subsets of CD4+ T cells. The early cell death may serve as a selective disadvantage for X4-tropic HIV-1 in acute infection but may play a role in accelerated disease progression, which is associated with the emergence of X4-tropic HIV-1 in the late stage of AIDS.


2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (8) ◽  
pp. 1907-1911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Stocker ◽  
Carsten Scheller ◽  
Christian Jassoy

Infection of CD4+ T lymphocytes with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro is accompanied by extensive cytopathicity. The mechanism of cell death is unclear, but may be related to expression of the viral envelope glycoprotein. Here, it is demonstrated that T cell destruction in primary T cells occurs upon contact of infected with uninfected lymphocytes. Cell death was due to the interaction of the envelope glycoprotein with CD4 and subsequent fusion of the cells. Agents that interfered with cell-to-cell fusion such as a monoclonal antibody to CD4 and the peptide T20 prevented T cell death and depletion. In contrast, single-cell lysis due to expression and intracellular processing of the envelope glycoprotein was insignificant. These results suggest that cell-to-cell fusion and concomitant rapid cell death promote the depletion of T cells in HIV-infected individuals.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 6377-6391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Priceputu ◽  
Isabelle Rodrigue ◽  
Pavel Chrobak ◽  
Johanne Poudrier ◽  
Tak W. Mak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT CD4+- and CD8+-T-cell death is a frequent immunological dysfunction associated with the development of human AIDS. We studied a murine model of AIDS, the CD4C/HIV transgenic (Tg) mouse model, to assess the importance of the apoptotic pathway in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) pathogenesis. In these Tg mice, Nef is the major determinant of the disease and is expressed in immature and mature CD4+ T cells and in cells of the macrophage/myeloid lineage. We report here a novel AIDS-like phenotype: enhanced death, most likely by apoptosis (as assessed by 7-aminoactinomycin D and annexin V/propidium iodide staining), of Tg thymic and peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The Tg CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were also more susceptible to cell death after activation in vitro in mixed lymph node (LN) cultures. However, activation-induced cell death was not higher in Tg than in non-Tg-purified CD4+ T cells. In addition, expression of Fas and FasL, assessed by flow cytometry, was increased in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from Tg mice compared to that of non-Tg littermates. Despite the enhanced expression of Fas and FasL on Tg CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, Fas (lpr/lpr) and FasL (gld/gld) mutant CD4C/HIV Tg mice developed an AIDS-like disease indistinguishable from lpr/+ and gld/+ CD4C/HIV Tg mice, including loss of CD4+ T cells. Similarly, CD4C/HIV Tg mice homozygous for mutations of two other genes implicated in cell death (interleukin-1β-converting enzyme [ICE], tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 [TNFR-1]) developed similar AIDS-like disease as their respective heterozygous controls. Moreover, the double-Tg mice from a cross between the Bcl2/Wehi25 and CD4C/HIV Tg mice showed no major protection against disease. These results represent genetic evidence for the dispensable role of Fas, FasL, ICE, and TNFR-1 on the development of both T-cell loss and organ disease of these Tg mice. They also provide compelling evidence on the lack of protection by Bcl2 against Tg CD4+-T-cell death. In view of the high resemblance between numerous phenotypes observed in the CD4C/HIV Tg mice and in human AIDS, our findings are likely to be relevant for the human disease.


1992 ◽  
Vol 175 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Groux ◽  
G Torpier ◽  
D Monté ◽  
Y Mouton ◽  
A Capron ◽  
...  

In immature thymocytes, T cell receptor for antigen (TCR) mobilization leads to an active T cell suicide process, apoptosis, which is involved in the selection of the T cell repertoire. We have proposed that inappropriate induction of such a cell death program in the mature CD4+ T cell population could account for both early qualitative and late quantitative CD4+ T lymphocyte defects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals (Ameisen, J.C., and A. Capron. 1991. Immunol. Today. 4:102). Here, we report that the selective failure of CD4+ T cells from 59 clinically asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals to proliferate in vitro to TCR mobilization by major histocompatibility complex class II-dependent superantigens and to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) is due to an active CD4+ T cell death process, with the biochemical and ultrastructural features of apoptosis. Activation-induced cell death occurred only in the CD4+ T cell population from HIV-infected asymptomatic individuals and was not observed in T cells from any of 58 HIV-seronegative controls, including nine patients with other acute or chronic infectious diseases. Activation-induced CD4+ T cell death was prevented by cycloheximide, cyclosporin A, and a CD28 monoclonal antibody (mAb). The CD28 mAb not only prevented apoptosis but also restored T cell proliferation to stimuli, including PWM, superantigens, and the tetanus and influenza recall antigens. These findings may have implications for the understanding of the pathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and for the design of specific therapeutic strategies.


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