scholarly journals The impact of murine cytomegalovirus (mCMV) route and age at infection upon virus spread, immune responses and the establishment of latency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P Coplen ◽  
Mladen Jergović ◽  
Elana L Terner ◽  
Jennifer L Uhrlaub ◽  
Janko Nikolich-Žugich

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous human virus, which establishes a characteristic lifetime infection in its host. Murine CMV (mCMV) is a widely-used infection model that has been employed to investigate the nature and extent of CMV's contribution to inflammatory, immunological, and health disturbances in humans. In an effort to assess the role of route and age in modeling hCMV infection in mice, we have performed a comparative analysis of two common experimental modes of infection (intraperitoneal and intranasal) at two different clinically relevant ages (4 weeks, or prepubescent childhood equivalent, and 12 weeks, or young postpubescent adult). We found that while both routes of infection led to similar early viral loads, differential activation of several parameters of innate immune function were observed. In particular, younger, prepubescent mice exhibited the strongest NK activation in the blood in response to i.p. infection, with this trend holding true in NK cells expressing the mCMV-specific receptor Ly49H. Moreover, i.p. infected animals accumulated a larger amount of anti-mCMV IgG and experienced a greater expansion of both acute and latent phase CD8+ T cells. This was especially true for young postpubescent mice, further illustrating a distinction in the bloodborne immune response across not only infection routes, but also ages. These results may be important in the understanding of how a more physiologically applicable model of CMV influences immunity, inflammation, and health over the lifespan.

Endocrinology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 161 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle P Huizinga ◽  
Benjamin H Singer ◽  
Kanakadurga Singer

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced us to consider the physiologic role of obesity in the response to infectious disease. There are significant disparities in morbidity and mortality by sex, weight, and diabetes status. Numerous endocrine changes might drive these varied responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, including hormone and immune mediators, hyperglycemia, leukocyte responses, cytokine secretion, and tissue dysfunction. Studies of patients with severe COVID-19 disease have revealed the importance of innate immune responses in driving immunopathology and tissue injury. In this review we will describe the impact of the metabolically induced inflammation (meta-inflammation) that characterizes obesity on innate immunity. We consider that obesity-driven dysregulation of innate immune responses may drive organ injury in the development of severe COVID-19 and impair viral clearance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (38) ◽  
pp. eabb4565
Author(s):  
Bruno Hernáez ◽  
Graciela Alonso ◽  
Iliana Georgana ◽  
Misbah El-Jesr ◽  
Rocío Martín ◽  
...  

Cells contain numerous immune sensors to detect virus infection. The cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) recognizes cytosolic DNA and activates innate immune responses via stimulator of interferon genes (STING), but the impact of DNA sensing pathways on host protective responses has not been fully defined. We demonstrate that cGAS/STING activation is required to resist lethal poxvirus infection. We identified viral Schlafen (vSlfn) as the main STING inhibitor, and ectromelia virus was severely attenuated in the absence of vSlfn. Both vSlfn-mediated virulence and STING inhibitory activity were mapped to the recently discovered poxin cGAMP nuclease domain. Animals were protected from subcutaneous, respiratory, and intravenous infection in the absence of vSlfn, and interferon was the main antiviral protective mechanism controlled by the DNA sensing pathway. Our findings support the idea that manipulation of DNA sensing is an efficient therapeutic strategy in diseases triggered by viral infection or tissue damage–mediated release of self-DNA.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Cognasse ◽  
Kathryn Hally ◽  
Sebastien Fauteux-Daniel ◽  
Marie-Ange Eyraud ◽  
Charles-Antoine Arthaud ◽  
...  

AbstractAside from their canonical role in hemostasis, it is increasingly recognized that platelets have inflammatory functions and can regulate both adaptive and innate immune responses. The main topic this review aims to cover is the proinflammatory effects and side effects of platelet transfusion. Platelets prepared for transfusion are subject to stress injury upon collection, preparation, and storage. With these types of stress, they undergo morphologic, metabolic, and functional modulations which are likely to induce platelet activation and the release of biological response modifiers (BRMs). As a consequence, platelet concentrates (PCs) accumulate BRMs during processing and storage, and these BRMs are ultimately transfused alongside platelets. It has been shown that BRMs present in PCs can induce immune responses and posttransfusion reactions in the transfusion recipient. Several recent reports within the transfusion literature have investigated the concept of platelets as immune cells. Nevertheless, current and future investigations will face the challenge of encompassing the immunological role of platelets in the scope of transfusion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 3090
Author(s):  
Toshimasa Shimizu ◽  
Hideki Nakamura ◽  
Atsushi Kawakami

Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the salivary and lacrimal glands and extra-glandular lesions. Adaptive immune response including T- and B-cell activation contributes to the development of SS. However, its pathogenesis has not yet been elucidated. In addition, several patients with SS present with the type I interferon (IFN) signature, which is the upregulation of the IFN-stimulated genes induced by type I IFN. Thus, innate immune responses including type I IFN activity are associated with SS pathogenesis. Recent studies have revealed the presence of activation pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) including Toll-like receptors, RNA sensor retinoic acid-inducible gene I and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5, and inflammasomes in infiltrating and epithelial cells of the salivary glands among patients with SS. In addition, the activation of PRRs via the downstream pathway such as the type I IFN signature and nuclear factor kappa B can directly cause organ inflammation, and it is correlated with the activation of adaptive immune responses. Therefore, this study assessed the role of the innate immune signal pathway in the development of inflammation and immune abnormalities in SS.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaoyao Xia ◽  
Yikun Li ◽  
Xiaoyan Wu ◽  
Qingzhuo Zhang ◽  
Siyuan Chen ◽  
...  

Iron fine-tunes innate immune responses, including macrophage inflammation. In this review, we summarize the current understanding about the iron in dictating macrophage polarization. Mechanistically, iron orchestrates macrophage polarization through several aspects, including cellular signaling, cellular metabolism, and epigenetic regulation. Therefore, iron modulates the development and progression of multiple macrophage-associated diseases, such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and liver diseases. Collectively, this review highlights the crucial role of iron for macrophage polarization, and indicates the potential application of iron supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in different inflammatory disorders relative to the balance of macrophage polarization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renjie Chang ◽  
Qing Chu ◽  
Weiwei Zheng ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Tianjun Xu

As is known to all, the production of type I interferon (IFN) plays pivotal roles in host innate antiviral immunity, and its moderate production play a positive role in promoting the activation of host innate antiviral immune response. However, the virus will establish a persistent infection model by interfering with the production of IFN, thereby evading the organism inherent antiviral immune response. Therefore, it is of great necessity to research the underlying regulatory mechanisms of type I IFN appropriate production under viral invasion. In this study, we report that a Sp1–responsive miR-15b plays a negative role in siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV)-triggered antiviral response in teleost fish. We found that SCRV could dramatically upregulate miiuy croaker miR-15b expression. Enhanced miR-15b could negatively regulate SCRV-triggered antiviral genes and inflammatory cytokines production by targeting TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), thereby accelerating viral replication. Importantly, we found that miR-15b feedback regulates antiviral innate immune response through NF-κB and IRF3 signaling pathways. These findings highlight that miR-15b plays a crucial role in regulating virus–host interactions, which outlines a new regulation mechanism of fish’s innate immune responses.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Marquant ◽  
Daphné Laubreton ◽  
Carole Drajac ◽  
Elliot Mathieu ◽  
Edwige Bouguyon ◽  
...  

AbstractThe microbiota contributes to shaping efficient and safe immune defenses in the gut. However, little is known about the role of the microbiota in the education of pulmonary innate immune responses. Here, we tested whether the endogenous microbiota can modulate reactivity of pulmonary tissue to pathogen stimuli by comparing the response of specific pathogen-free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) mice. Using SPF and GF mice intranasally exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of Gram-negative bacteria, we observed earlier and greater inflammation in the pulmonary compartment of GF mice than that of SPF mice. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was more abundantly expressed in the lungs of GF mice than those of SPF mice at steady state, which could predispose the innate immunity of GF mice to strongly react to environmental stimuli. Lung explants were stimulated with different TLR agonists or infected with the human airways pathogen, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), resulting in greater inflammation under almost all conditions for the GF explants. Finally, alveolar macrophages (AM) from GF mice presented a higher innate immune response upon RSV infection than those of SPF mice. Overall, these data suggest that the presence of microbiota in SPF mice induced a process of innate immune tolerance in the lungs by a mechanism which remains to be elucidated. Our study represents a step forward to establishing the link between the microbiota and the immune reactivity of the lungs.Plain Language summaryMicrobiota represents an important partner of immunologic system at the interface between immune cells and epithelium. It is well known, notably in the gut, that the microbiota contributes in shaping efficient and safe defenses. However, little is known about the role of the microbiota in the education of pulmonary innate immune responses. In this study, we postulate that endogenous microbiota could dampen an excessive reactivity of pulmonary tissue to external stimuli. Thus, we sought to study the innate immune reaction switched on by viral or bacterial ligands in respiratory tract cells coming from mice with or without microbiota (germ-free condition, GF). Altogether, our results show a higher inflammatory reaction in GF condition. This study represents a step forward to better establish the link between the microbiota and the reactivity of the lung tissue. Not only these data demonstrate that the microbiota educates the pulmonary innate immune system, but also contributes the emerging concept of using respiratory commensal bacteria as potential next-generation probiotics to prevent susceptibility to respiratory diseases.


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