scholarly journals Transcriptional Profiling of Macrophages Reveals Distinct Parasite Stage-driven Signatures During Early Infection by Leishmania Donovani

Author(s):  
Visnu Chaparro ◽  
Tyson E. Graber ◽  
Tommy Alain ◽  
Maritza Jaramillo

Abstract Macrophages undergo swift changes in mRNA abundance upon pathogen invasion. Herein we describe early remodelling of the macrophage transcriptome during infection by amastigotes or promastigotes of Leishmania donovani. Approximately 10% - 16% of host mRNAs were differentially modulated in L. donovani-infected macrophages when compared to uninfected controls. This response was partially stage-specific as a third of changes in mRNA abundance were either exclusively driven by one of the parasite forms or significantly different between them. Gene ontology analyses identified categories associated with immune functions (e.g. antigen presentation and leukocyte activation) among significantly downregulated mRNAs while cytoprotective-related categories (e.g. DNA repair and apoptosis inhibition) were enriched in upregulated transcripts during amastigote infection. Interestingly a combination of upregulated (e.g. cellular response to IFNβ) and repressed (e.g. leukocyte activation, chemotaxis) immune-related transcripts were overrepresented in the promastigote-infected dataset. In addition, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA®) coupled specific mRNA subsets with a number of upstream transcriptional regulators predicted to be modulated in macrophages infected with L. donovani amastigotes (e.g. STAT1 inhibition) or promastigotes (e.g. NRF2, IRF3, and IRF7 activation). Overall, our results indicate that early parasite stage-driven transcriptional remodelling in macrophages contributes to orchestrate both protective and deleterious host cell responses during L. donovani infection.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 350-359
Author(s):  
Liliana Acevedo-Saenz ◽  
Federico Perdomo-Celis ◽  
Carlos J. Montoya ◽  
Paula A. Velilla

Background: : The diversity of the HIV proteome influences the cellular response and development of an effective vaccine, particularly due to the generation of viral variants with mutations located within CD8+ T-cell epitopes. These mutations can affect the recognition of the epitopes, that may result in the selection of HIV variants with mutated epitopes (autologous epitopes) and different CD8+ T-cell functional profiles. Objective:: To determine the phenotype and functionality of CD8+ T-cell from HIV-infected Colombian patients in response to autologous and consensus peptides derived from HIV-1 clade B protease and reverse transcriptase (RT). Methods:: By flow cytometry, we compared the ex vivo CD8+ T-cell responses from HIV-infected patients to autologous and consensus peptides derived from HIV-1 clade B protease and RT, restricted by HLA-B*35, HLA-B*44 and HLA-B*51 alleles. Results:: Although autologous peptides restricted by HLA-B*35 and HLA-B*44 did not show any differences compared with consensus peptides, we observed the induction of a higher polyfunctional profile of CD8+ T-cells by autologous peptides restricted by HLA-B*51, particularly by the production of interferon-γ and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β. The response by different memory CD8+ T-cell populations was comparable between autologous vs. consensus peptides. In addition, the magnitude of the polyfunctional response induced by the HLA-B*51-restricted QRPLVTIRI autologous epitope correlated with low viremia. Conclusion:: Autologous peptides should be considered for the evaluation of HIV-specific CD8+ Tcell responses and to reveal some relevant epitopes that could be useful for therapeutic strategies aiming to promote polyfunctional CD8+ T-cell responses in a specific population of HIV-infected patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Louzada da Silva ◽  
Diana M. Elizondo ◽  
Nailah Z. D. Brandy ◽  
Naomi L. Haddock ◽  
Thomas A. Boddie ◽  
...  

AbstractMacrophages and monocytes are important for clearance of Leishmania infections. However, immune evasion tactics employed by the parasite results in suppressed inflammatory responses, marked by deficient macrophage functions and increased accumulation of monocytes. This results in an ineffective ability to clear parasite loads. Allograft Inflammatory Factor-1 (AIF1) is expressed in myeloid cells and serves to promote immune responses. However, AIF1 involvement in monocyte and macrophage functions during parasitic infections has not been explored. This study now shows that Leishmania donovani inhibits AIF1 expression in macrophages to block pro-inflammatory responses. Mice challenged with the parasite had markedly reduced AIF1 expression in splenic macrophages. Follow-up studies using in vitro approaches confirmed that L. donovani infection in macrophages suppresses AIF1 expression, which correlated with reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokine production and increased parasite load. Ectopic overexpression of AIF1 in macrophages provided protection from infection, marked by robust pro-inflammatory cytokine production and efficient pathogen clearance. Further investigations found that inhibiting AIF1 expression in bone marrow cells or monocytes impaired differentiation into functional macrophages. Collectively, results show that AIF1 is a critical regulatory component governing monocyte and macrophage immune functions and that L. donovani infection can suppress the gene as an immune evasion tactic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara M Schultz ◽  
Felipe Melo-Gonzalez ◽  
Luisa F Duarte ◽  
Nicolas MS Galvez ◽  
Gaspar A Pacheco ◽  
...  

Numerous vaccines have been generated to decrease the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. CoronaVac® is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent COVID-19 that has safety and immunogenicity profiles described in different clinical trials. We previously reported an increase in levels of neutralizing antibodies two- and four-weeks after administering two doses of CoronaVac® in a two-week interval (0-14 day) vaccination schedule, as compared to pre-immune sera in adults in the Chilean population that are participating in phase 3 clinical trial. Here we report the levels of antibodies directed against the Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein comparing their neutralizing capacities and the cellular response at five months after the second dose and four weeks after a booster (third) dose in volunteers immunized with two doses of CoronaVac®in a four-week interval (0-28 day) vaccination schedule. We observed a decrease in the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with neutralizing capacities five months after the second dose (GMU 39.0 95% confidence interval (CI)(32.4-47.0), which increased up to 12 times at four weeks after the booster dose (GMU 499.4, 95% CI=370.6-673.0). Equivalent results were observed in adults aged 18-59 years old and individuals ≥60 years old. In the case of cellular response, we observed that activation of specific CD4+ T cells increases in time and reaches its maximum at four weeks after the booster dose in both groups. Our results support the notion that a booster dose of the SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine increases the levels of neutralizing antibodies and the specific cellular response in adults of both groups, which is likely to boost the protective capacity of these vaccines against COVID-19.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 2143-2154
Author(s):  
Priscila Carmona ◽  
Yordanka Medina-Armenteros ◽  
Amanda Cabral ◽  
Sandra Maria Monteiro ◽  
Simone Gonçalves Fonseca ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Antigen-specific cellular response is essential in immune tolerance. We tested whether antigen-specific cellular response is differentially modulated in operational tolerance (OT) in renal transplantation with respect to critical antigenic challenges in allotransplantation—donor antigens, pathogenic antigens and self-antigens. Methods We analysed the profile of immunoregulatory (REG) and pro-inflammatory (INFLAMMA) cytokines for the antigen-specific response directed to these three antigen groups, by Luminex. Results We showed that, in contrast to chronic rejection and healthy individuals, OT gives rise to an immunoregulatory deviation in the cellular response to donor human leucocyte antigen DR isotype peptides, while preserving the pro-inflammatory response to pathogenic peptides. Cellular autoreactivity to the N6 heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) peptide also showed a REG profile in OT, increasing IL4, IL-5, IL-10 and IL-13. Conclusions The REG shift of donor indirect alloreactivity in OT, with inhibition of interleukin (IL)-1B, IL-8, IL-12, IL-17, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, Interferon-γ and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, indicates that this may be an important mechanism in OT. In addition, the differential REG profile of cellular response to the Hsp60 peptide in OT suggests that REG autoimmunity may also play a role in human transplantation tolerance. Despite cross-reactivity of antigen-specific T cell responses, a systemic functional antigen-specific discrimination takes place in OT.


2012 ◽  
Vol 209 (8) ◽  
pp. 1437-1444 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. William DePaolo ◽  
Karishma Kamdar ◽  
Samira Khakpour ◽  
Yui Sugiura ◽  
Wenxia Wang ◽  
...  

The balance between regulatory and inflammatory immune responses is critical to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Furthermore, the nature of the inflammatory response needs to be tailored to the tissue to provide proper protective immunity while preserving host integrity. TLR2 (Toll-like receptor 2) is a unique TLR in that it has been shown to promote regulatory and inflammatory T cell responses. Using Yersinia enterocolitica, we show that oral infection promotes TH17 immunity, whereas systemic infection promotes TH1 immunity. Furthermore, induction of TH17 immunity during oral infection is dependent on TLR1 and results from the combinatorial effect of TLR2/TLR1-induced IL-6 and IL-23 and the presence of TGF-β in the intestinal environment. Interestingly, TLR2/TLR1 was not involved in TH1 immune responses during systemic infection, whereas the TLR2/TLR6 receptor complex induced IL-10+ regulatory T cell responses during both systemic and oral infections. Our results reveal that the route of infection is central in determining which pathways provide protective immunity. Furthermore, they also demonstrate that TLR2 has dual immune functions in the gut and identify TLR1 as a critical innate receptor for protective intestinal TH17 immunity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shashi Bhushan Chauhan ◽  
Rebecca Faleiro ◽  
Rajiv Kumar ◽  
Susanna Ng ◽  
Bhawana Singh ◽  
...  

Abstract Control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania donovani requires interferon-γ production by CD4+ T cells. In VL patients, antiparasitic CD4+ T-cell responses are ineffective for unknown reasons. In this study, we measured the expression of genes associated with various immune functions in these cells from VL patients and compared them to CD4+ T cells from the same patients after drug treatment and from endemic controls. We found reduced GATA3, RORC, and FOXP3 gene expression in CD4+ T cells of VL patients, associated with reduced Th2, Th17, and FOXP3+CD4+ T regulatory cell frequencies in VL patient blood. Interleukin 2 (IL-2) was an important upstream regulator of CD4+ T cells from VL patients, and functional studies demonstrated the therapeutic potential of IL-2 for improving antiparasitic immunity. Together, these results provide new insights into the characteristics of CD4+ T cells from VL patients that can be used to improve antiparasitic immune responses.


2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 827-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp von Hundelshausen ◽  
Dirk Lievens

SummaryBeyond obvious functions in haemostasis and thrombosis, platelets are considered to be essential in proinflammatory surroundings such as atherosclerosis, allergy, rheumatoid arthritis and even cancer. In atherosclerosis, platelets facilitate the recruitment of inflammatory cells towards the lesion sites and release a plethora of inflammatory mediators, thereby enriching and boosting the inflammatory milieu. Platelets do so by interacting with endothelial cells, circulating leukocytes (monocytes, neutrophils, dendritic cells, T-cells) and progenitor cells. This cross-talk enforces leukocyte activation, adhesion and transmigration. Furthermore, platelets are known to function in innate host defense through the release of antimicrobial peptides and the expression of pattern recognition receptors. In severe sepsis, platelets are able to trigger the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which bind and clear pathogens. The present antiplatelet therapies that target key pathways of platelet activation and aggregation therefore hold the potential to modulate platelet-derived immune functions by reducing cellular interactions of platelets with other immune components and by reducing the secretion of inflammatory proteins into the milieu. The objective of this review is to update and discuss the current perceptions of the platelet immune constituents and their prospect as therapeutic targets in an atherosclerotic setting.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C Altman ◽  
Nicole Baldwin ◽  
Elizabeth Whalen ◽  
Taha Al-Shaikhly ◽  
Scott Presnell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundWhile our understanding of the role that the immune system plays in health and disease is growing at a rapid pace, available clinical tools to capture this complexity are lagging. We previously described the construction of a third-generation modular transcriptional repertoire derived from genome-wide transcriptional profiling of blood of 985 subjects across 16 diverse immunologic conditions, which comprises 382 distinct modules.ResultsHere we describe the use of this modular repertoire framework for the development of a targeted transcriptome fingerprinting assay (TFA). The first step consisted in down-selection of the number of modules to 32, on the basis of similarities in changes in transcript abundance and functional interpretation. Next down-selection took place at the level of each of the 32 modules, with each one of them being represented by four transcripts in the final 128 gene panel. The assay was implemented on both the Fluidigm high throughput microfluidics PCR platform and the Nanostring platform, with the list of assays target probes being provided for both. Finally, we provide evidence of the versatility of this assay to assess numerous immune functionsin vivoby demonstrating applications in the context of disease activity assessment in systemic lupus erythematosus and longitudinal immune monitoring during pregnancy.ConclusionsThis work demonstrates the utility of data-driven network analysis applied to large-scale transcriptional profiling to identify key markers of immune responses, which can be downscaled to a rapid, inexpensive, and highly versatile assay of global immune function applicable to diverse investigations of immunopathogenesis and biomarker discovery.


mBio ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haibin Huang ◽  
Gary R. Ostroff ◽  
Chrono K. Lee ◽  
Charles A. Specht ◽  
Stuart M. Levitz

ABSTRACTβ-Glucan particles (GPs) are purifiedSaccharomyces cerevisiaecell walls treated so that they are primarily β1,3-d-glucans and free of mannans and proteins. GPs are phagocytosed by dendritic cells (DCs) via the Dectin-1 receptor, and this interaction stimulates proinflammatory cytokine secretion by DCs. As the hollow, porous GP structure allows for high antigen loading, we hypothesized that antigen-loaded GPs could be exploited as a receptor-targeted vaccine delivery system. Ovalbumin (OVA) was electrostatically complexed inside the hollow GP shells (GP-OVA). Incubation of C57BL/6J mouse bone marrow-derived DCs with GP-OVA resulted in phagocytosis, upregulation of maturation markers, and rapid proteolysis of OVA. Compared with free OVA, GP-OVA was >100-fold more potent at stimulating the proliferation of OVA-reactive transgenic CD8+OT-I and CD4+OT-II T cells, as measured byin vitro[3H]thymidine incorporation using DCs as antigen-presenting cells. Next, immune responses in C57BL/6J mice following subcutaneous immunizations with GP-OVA were compared with those in C57BL/6J mice following subcutaneous immunizations with OVA absorbed onto the adjuvant alum (Alum/OVA). Vaccination with GP-OVA stimulated substantially higher antigen-specific CD4+T-cell lymphoproliferative and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) responses than that with Alum/OVA. Moreover, the T-cell responses induced by GP-OVA were Th1 biased (determined by gamma interferon [IFN-γ] ELISPOT assay) and Th17 biased (determined by interleukin-17a [IL-17a] ELISPOT assay). Finally, both the GP-OVA and Alum/OVA formulations induced strong secretions of IgG1 subclass anti-OVA antibodies, although only GP-OVA induced secretion of Th1-associated IgG2c antibodies. Thus, the GP-based vaccine platform combines adjuvanticity and antigen delivery to induce strong humoral and Th1- and Th17-biased CD4+T-cell responses.IMPORTANCEMost licensed vaccines work by promoting protective antibody responses. However, for many infectious diseases, antibody-mediated protection appears to play a relatively minor role, and vaccination has met with limited success. While live-attenuated organisms generally elicit T-cell responses, their use in vaccines is limited by the potential for causing disease. Thus, there is an urgent need for new vaccine platforms that deliver antigens in such a manner as to promote strong T-cell-mediated responses. Here we designed a novel vaccine platform consisting of yeast-derived β-glucan particles (GPs) that combines antigen delivery and adjuvant activity. GPs loaded with the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) stimulated robust humoral and T-cell responses in mice. In addition, the cellular response was Th1 and Th17 biased. This work has implications for the design of vaccines that stimulate biased T-cell responses as well as for understanding how immunity to fungal pathogens develops.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 927-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Katholnig ◽  
Monika Linke ◽  
Ha Pham ◽  
Markus Hengstschläger ◽  
Thomas Weichhart

The innate myeloid immune system is a complex network of cells that protect against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells, but it is also implicated in homoeostatic mechanisms such as tissue remodelling and wound healing. Myeloid phagocytes such as monocytes, macrophages or dendritic cells are at the basis of controlling these immune responses in all tissues of the body. In the present review, we summarize recent studies demonstrating that mTOR [mammalian (or mechanistic) target of rapamycin] regulates innate immune reactions in macrophages and dendritic cells. The mTOR pathway serves as a decision maker to control the cellular response to pathogens and tumours by regulating the expression of inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, chemokines or interferons. In addition to various in vivo mouse models, kidney transplant patients under mTOR inhibitor therapy allowed the elucidation of important innate immune functions regulated by mTOR in humans. The role of the mTOR pathway in macrophages and dendritic cells enhances our understanding of the immune system and suggests new therapeutic avenues for the regulation of pro- versus anti-inflammatory mediators with potential relevance to cancer therapy, the design of novel adjuvants and the control of distinct infectious and autoimmune diseases.


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