scholarly journals A Role for Perforin in Downregulating T-Cell Responses during Chronic Viral Infection

1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 2527-2536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Matloubian ◽  
M. Suresh ◽  
Alison Glass ◽  
Marisa Galvan ◽  
Kit Chow ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cytotoxic T cells secrete perforin to kill virus-infected cells. In this study we show that perforin also plays a role in immune regulation. Perforin-deficient (perf −/−) mice chronically infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) contained greater numbers of antiviral T cells compared to persistently infected +/+ mice. The enhanced expansion was seen in both CD4 and CD8 T cells, but the most striking difference was in the numbers of LCMV-specific CD8 T cells present in infected perf −/− mice. Persistent LCMV infection of +/+ mice results in both deletion and anergy of antigen-specific CD8 T cells, and our results show that this peripheral “exhaustion” of activated CD8 T cells occurred less efficiently in perf −/− mice. This excessive accumulation of activated CD8 T cells resulted in immune-mediated damage in persistently infected perf −/− mice; ∼50% of these mice died within 2 to 4 weeks, and mortality was fully reversed by in vivo depletion of CD8 T cells. This finding highlights an interesting dichotomy between the role of perforin in viral clearance and immunopathology; perforin-deficient CD8 T cells were unable to clear the LCMV infection but were capable of causing immune-mediated damage. Finally, this study shows that perforin also plays a role in regulating T-cell-mediated autoimmunity. Mice that were deficient in both perforin and Fas exhibited a striking acceleration of the spontaneous lymphoproliferative disease seen in Fas-deficient (lpr) mice. Taken together, these results show that the perforin-mediated pathway is involved in downregulating T-cell responses during chronic viral infection and autoimmunity and that perforin and Fas act independently as negative regulators of activated T cells.

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (15) ◽  
pp. 9419-9429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole E. Miller ◽  
Jennifer R. Bonczyk ◽  
Yumi Nakayama ◽  
M. Suresh

ABSTRACT Although it is well documented that CD8 T cells play a critical role in controlling chronic viral infections, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of CD8 T-cell responses are not well understood. Using the mouse model of an acute and chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, we have examined the relative importance of peripheral T cells and thymic emigrants in the elicitation and maintenance of CD8 T-cell responses. Virus-specific CD8 T-cell responses were compared between mice that were either sham thymectomized or thymectomized (Thx) at ∼6 weeks of age. In an acute LCMV infection, thymic deficiency did not affect either the primary expansion of CD8 T cells or the proliferative renewal and maintenance of virus-specific lymphoid and nonlymphoid memory CD8 T cells. Following a chronic LCMV infection, in Thx mice, although the initial expansion of CD8 T cells was normal, the contraction phase of the CD8 T-cell response was exaggerated, which led to a transient but striking CD8 T-cell deficit on day 30 postinfection. However, the virus-specific CD8 T-cell response in Thx mice rebounded quickly and was maintained at normal levels thereafter, which indicated that the peripheral T-cell repertoire is quite robust and capable of sustaining an effective CD8 T-cell response in the absence of thymic output during a chronic LCMV infection. Taken together, these findings should further our understanding of the regulation of CD8 T-cell homeostasis in acute and chronic viral infections and might have implications in the development of immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 701-712
Author(s):  
Nathália V. Batista ◽  
Yu-Han Chang ◽  
Kuan-Lun Chu ◽  
Kuan Chung Wang ◽  
Mélanie Girard ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (17) ◽  
pp. 8627-8638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Grayson ◽  
Ashley E. Weant ◽  
Beth C. Holbrook ◽  
David Hildeman

ABSTRACT Apoptosis is critical for the development and maintenance of the immune system. The proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim is important for normal immune system homeostasis. Although previous experiments have shown that Bim is critical for the apoptosis of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells during acute viral infection, the role of Bim during chronic viral infection is unclear. Using lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus clone 13 infection of mice, we demonstrate a role for Bim in CD8+ T-cell apoptosis during chronic viral infection. Enumeration of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells by major histocompatibility complex class I tetramer staining revealed that CD8+ DbNP396-404+ T cells, which undergo extensive deletion in wild-type mice, exhibited almost no decrease in Bim mutant mice. This contrasts with CD8+ DbGP33-41+ and CD8+ DbGP276-286+ T cells that underwent similar decreases in numbers in both Bim mutant and wild-type mice. Increased numbers of CD8+ DbNP396-404+ T cells in Bim mutant mice were due to lack of apoptosis and could not be explained by altered proliferation, differential homing to tissues, or increased help from CD4+ T cells. When viral titers were examined, high levels were initially observed in both groups, but in Bim mutant mice, clearance from the spleen and sera was slightly accelerated. These experiments demonstrate the critical role of Bim during chronic viral infection to down-regulate CD8+ T-cell responses and have implications for designing strategies for optimizing immunotherapies during situations where antigen persists, such as chronic infection, autoimmune syndromes, and cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 139-140
Author(s):  
B K Hardman ◽  
L C Osborne

Abstract Background Human Norovirus infection is the most common viral cause of gastroenteritis globally and the second most reported viral infection in Canada after the common cold. Most infections are acute, symptomatic, and rapidly cleared but some cases persist asymptomatically or induce post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome. Despite the global burden of these infections, no vaccine to prevent disease exists nor is the mechanism for persistence understood. MNV-CW3 and MNV-CR6 are murine noroviruses which demonstrate distinct biological behaviors that correlate with differential quantity and quality of antiviral CD8+ T cell responses. MNV-CW3 causes acute systemic infections initiated in the small intestine and cleared by day 8 due to a robust antiviral CD8+ T cell response. In contrast, MNV-CR6 causes chronic infections localized to the colonic intestinal epithelium and induces fewer antiviral CD8+ T cells with reduced effector molecule expression. Aims This research interrogates the mechanisms underlying strain-specific differential antiviral CD8+ T cell responses. Methods At days 3, 4, 5 and 8 post-infection, the phenotype and quantity of adoptively transferred MNV specific CD8+ T cells in the spleen, mesenteric lymph node (MLN), and the small and large intestine are analyzed by flow cytometry. Concurrently, immunofluorescent microscopy is used to determine whether CD8+ T cells are broadly disseminated throughout the intestines or localize in acute clusters of antiviral response. Combining these complementary techniques provides novel insight into mechanisms governing intestinal antiviral T cell responses. Results Activated MNV-specific CD8 T cells first accumulate in the MLN following oral infection with both MNV-CW3 and CR6, suggesting this is the site of immune activation. Supporting this hypothesis, preliminary data indicates that preventing T cell egress from activation sites by treatment with the S1PR1 agonist FTY720 leads to an enrichment of activated CD8+ T cells in the MLN following CW3 infection. Notably, the earliest stages of CD8+ T cell activation to CR6 infection is delayed compared to that elicited by CW3. Furthermore, at the peak of CD8+ T cell expansion (day 8 post-infection), CR6-elicited CD8+ T cells preferentially develop into short-lived effector populations rather than memory precursor populations. Conclusions These data reveal previously unknown differences in early events in CD8+ T cell activation following infection with two highly related viral strains that correlate with long-lasting effects on T cell differentiation and function. We are currently investigating the hypothesis that MNV-CW3 and CR6 may induce activation of distinct populations of, or pathways in, APC populations that would drive these differences. These results may have broad impacts on our understanding of how non-latent, chronic viral infections persist within a host. Funding Agencies CIHR


2005 ◽  
Vol 201 (7) ◽  
pp. 1053-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason K. Whitmire ◽  
Joyce T. Tan ◽  
J. Lindsay Whitton

Interferon-γ (IFNγ) is important in regulating the adaptive immune response, and most current evidence suggests that it exerts a negative (proapoptotic) effect on CD8+ T cell responses. We have developed a novel technique of dual adoptive transfer, which allowed us to precisely compare, in normal mice, the in vivo antiviral responses of two T cell populations that differ only in their expression of the IFNγ receptor. We use this technique to show that, contrary to expectations, IFNγ strongly stimulates the development of CD8+ T cell responses during an acute viral infection. The stimulatory effect is abrogated in T cells lacking the IFNγ receptor, indicating that the cytokine acts directly upon CD8+ T cells to increase their abundance during acute viral infection.


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