scholarly journals Hepatitis C Virus Affects Tuberculosis-Specific T Cells in HIV-Negative Patients

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ahmed El-Mokhtar ◽  
Sherein G. Elgendy ◽  
Abeer Sharaf Eldin ◽  
Elham Ahmed Hassan ◽  
Ali Abdel Azeem Hasan ◽  
...  

The occurrence of tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in the same patient presents a unique clinical challenge. The impact of HCV infection on the immune response to TB remains poorly investigated in TB+/HCV+ patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of HCV on the T-cell-mediated immune response to TB in coinfected patients. Sixty-four patients with active TB infections were screened for coinfection with HCV. The expression of immune activation markers IFN-γ, CD38, and HLA-DR on TB-specific CD4+ T cells was evaluated by flow cytometry in TB-monoinfected patients, TB/HCV-coinfected patients, and healthy controls. IL-2, IL-4, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10 levels were measured using ELISA. The end-of-treatment response to anti-TB therapy was recorded for both patient groups. Significantly lower levels of CD4+IFN-γ+CD38+ and CD4+IFN-γ+HLA-DR+ T cells were detected in TB/HCV-coinfected patients compared to TB monoinfected patients and controls. TB+/HCV+-coinfected patients showed higher serum levels of IL-10. The baseline frequencies of TB-specific activated T-cell subsets did not predict the response to antituberculous therapy in TB+/HCV+ patients. We concluded that different subsets of TB-specific CD4+ T cells in TB/HCV-infected individuals are partially impaired in early-stage HCV infection. This was combined with increased serum IL-10 level. Such immune modulations may represent a powerful risk factor for disease progression in patients with HCV/TB coinfection.

Author(s):  
Michal Holub ◽  
Alžběta Stráníková ◽  
Ondřej Beran ◽  
Simona Arientová ◽  
Oldřich Bartoš ◽  
...  

Background. Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with altered cell-mediated immune response. Objective. The aim of the study was to characterize functional alterations in CD4+ T cell subsets and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) during chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Methodology. The expression levels of the lineage-defining transcriptional factors (TFs) T-bet, Gata3, Rorγt, and Foxp3 in circulating CD4+ T cells and percentages of MDSCs in peripheral blood were evaluated in 33 patients with CHC, 31 persons, who had spontaneously cleared the HCV infection, and 30 healthy subjects. Analysis. The CD4+ T cells TFs T-bet (T-box expressed in T cells), Foxp3 (Forkhead box P3 transcription factor), Gata3 (Gata-binding protein 3), and Rorγt (retinoic-acid-related orphan receptor gamma) and activation of CD8+ T cells, as well as percentages of MDSCs, were measured by multicolor flow cytometry after intracellular and surface staining of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with fluorescent monoclonal antibodies. Result. The patients with CHC had significantly lower percentages of CD4+ T cells expressing Rorγt and Gata3 and higher percentages of Foxp3-expressing CD4+ T cells than healthy controls and persons who spontaneously cleared HCV infection. The ratios of T-bet+/Gata3+ and Foxp3+/Rorγt+ CD4+ T cells were the highest in the patients with CHC. In the patients with CHC, the percentages of Gata3+ and Rorγt+ CD4+ T cells and the percentages of T-bet+ CD4+ T cells and CD38+/HLA-DR+ CD8+ T cells demonstrated significant positive correlations. In addition, the percentage of CD38+/HLA-DR+ CD8+ T cells correlated negatively with the percentage of MDSCs. Conclusion. Chronic HCV infection is associated with downregulation of TFs Gata3 and Rorγt polarizing CD4+ T cells into Th2 and Th17 phenotypes together with upregulation of Foxp3 responsible for induction of regulatory T cells suppressing immune response.


2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
pp. 4633-4633
Author(s):  
V. Kasprowicz ◽  
J. S. zur Wiesch ◽  
T. Kuntzen ◽  
B. E. Nolan ◽  
S. Longworth ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (11) ◽  
pp. 5693-5707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Liang ◽  
Rodney S. Russell ◽  
Nicole L. Yonkers ◽  
David McDonald ◽  
Benigno Rodriguez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Dendritic cells (DCs) are reported to be functionally deficient during chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Differing results have been reported on direct effects of intact replicative-form HCV on DC function. To better understand the effect of HCV on DC function, we treated freshly purified human myeloid DCs (mDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) with HCV JFH1. We found that HCV upregulated mDC maturation marker (CD83, CD86, and CD40) expression and did not inhibit Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) ligand [poly(I:C)]-induced mDC maturation, a finding consistent with the phenotype of DCs from HCV-infected subjects. At the same time, HCV JFH1 inhibited the ability of poly(I:C)-treated mDCs to activate naive CD4 T cells. In contrast, although there was no direct effect of virus on pDC maturation, HCV JFH1 inhibited TLR7 ligand (R848)-induced pDC CD40 expression, and this was associated with impaired ability to activate naive CD4 T cells. Parallel experiments with recombinant HCV proteins indicated HCV core protein may be responsible for a portion of the activity. Furthermore, HCV-mediated mDC maturation was dependent upon CD81-E2 interaction and, in part, TLR2. Using UV-treated HCV, we show that HCV-mediated mDC and pDC maturation is virus replication independent and, using strand specific PCR, we found no evidence for HCV replication within DCs. Because these effects of HCV on DC subset maturation and function in part recapitulate direct ex vivo analysis of DCs in chronic HCV infection, the mechanisms described here likely account for a portion of the DC subset defects observed in vivo.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuto Shiode ◽  
Hayato Hikita ◽  
Satoshi Tanaka ◽  
Kumiko Shirai ◽  
Akira Doi ◽  
...  

Abstract Autophagy, a degradation system, works to maintain cellular homeostasis. However, as the impact of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on hepatocyte autophagy and its effect on HCV replication remain unclear, we examined them. HCV infection suppressed late-stage autophagy and increased Rubicon. siRNA-mediated knockdown of Rubicon promoted autophagy in HCV-infected cells. In Huh-7 cells harbouring the HCV replicon, Rubicon knockdown downregulated the expression of type 1 interferon (IFN)-related genes and upregulated HCV replication. Rubicon overexpression or administration of bafilomycin A1 or chloroquine, an inhibitor of late-stage autophagy, suppressed autophagy and activated the type 1 IFN pathway. On the other hand, Atg7 knockout suppressed early-stage autophagy and did not activate the type 1 IFN pathway. In livers of humanized liver chimeric mice, HCV infection increased Rubicon and enhanced type 1 IFN signalling. Elimination of HCV in the mice reduced the increase in Rubicon due to HCV infection. The expression levels of Rubicon and IFN-stimulated genes in chronic hepatitis C patients were higher than those in non-B, non-C hepatitis patients. HCV infection increased Rubicon and suppressed hepatocyte autophagy, leading to activation of the intracellular immune response. Rubicon induction is involved in HCV replication via activation of the intracellular immune response.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 815-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bala Ramaswami ◽  
Iulia Popescu ◽  
Camila Macedo ◽  
Chunqing Luo ◽  
Ron Shapiro ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBK virus (BKV) nephropathy and hemorrhagic cystitis are increasingly recognized causes of disease in renal and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, respectively. Functional characterization of the immune response to BKV is important for clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and vaccine design. A peptide mix (PepMix) and overlapping (OPP) or random (RPP) peptide pools derived from BKV large T antigen (LTA) were used to restimulate 14-day-expanded peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 27 healthy control subjects in gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-specific enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays. A T-cell response to LTA PepMix was detected in 15/27 subjects. A response was frequently observed with peptides derived from the helicase domain (9/15 subjects), while the DNA binding and host range domains were immunologically inert (0/15 subjects). For all nine subjects who responded to LTA peptide pools, the immune response could be explained largely by a 15-mer peptide designated P313. P313-specific CD4+T-cell clones demonstrated (i) stringent LTA peptide specificity; (ii) promiscuous recognition in the context of HLA-DR alleles; (iii) cross recognition of homologous peptides from the polyomavirus simian virus 40 (SV40); (iv) an effector memory phenotype, CD107a expression, and intracellular production of IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α); (v) cytotoxic activity in a chromium release assay; and (vi) the ability to directly present cognate antigen to autologous T cells. In conclusion, T-cell-mediated immunity to BKV in healthy subjects is associated with a polyfunctional population of CD4+T cells with dual T-helper and T-cytotoxic properties. HLA class II promiscuity in antigen presentation makes the targeted LTA peptide sequence a suitable candidate for inclusion in immunotherapy protocols.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rollier ◽  
E. Depla ◽  
J. A. R. Drexhage ◽  
E. J. Verschoor ◽  
B. E. Verstrepen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine trials with human volunteers are pending. There is an important need for immunological end points which correlate with vaccine efficacy and which do not involve invasive procedures, such as liver biopsies. By using a multicomponent DNA priming-protein boosting vaccine strategy, naïve chimpanzees were immunized against HCV structural proteins (core, E1, and E2) as well as a nonstructural (NS3) protein. Following immunization, exposure to the heterologous HCV 1b J4 subtype resulted in a peak of plasma viremia which was lower in both immunized animals. Compared to the naïve infection control and nine additional historical controls which became chronic, vaccinee 2 (Vac2) rapidly resolved the infection, while the other (Vac1) clearly controlled HCV infection. Immunization induced antibodies, peptide-specific gamma interferon (IFN-γ), protein-specific lymphoproliferative responses, IFN-γ, interleukin-2 (IL-2), and IL-4 T-helper responses in both vaccinees. However, the specificities were markedly different: Vac2 developed responses which were lower in magnitude than those of Vac1 but which were biased towards Th1-type cytokine responses for E1 and NS3. This proof-of-principle study in chimpanzees revealed that immunization with a combination of nonstructural and structural antigens elicited T-cell responses associated with an alteration of the course of infection. Our findings provide data to support the concept that the quality of the response to conserved epitopes and the specific nature of the peripheral T-helper immune response are likely pivotal factors influencing the control and clearance of HCV infection.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (20) ◽  
pp. 9808-9822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Radziewicz ◽  
Chris C. Ibegbu ◽  
Huiming Hon ◽  
Melissa K. Osborn ◽  
Kamil Obideen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A majority of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not sustain an effective T-cell response, and viremia persists. The mechanism leading to failure of the HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell response in patients developing chronic infection is unclear. We investigated apoptosis susceptibility of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during the acute and chronic stages of infection. Although HCV-specific CD8+ T cells in the blood during the acute phase of infection and in the liver during the chronic phase were highly activated and expressed an effector phenotype, the majority was undergoing apoptosis. In contrast, peripheral blood HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during the chronic phase expressed a resting memory phenotype. Apoptosis susceptibility of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells was associated with very high levels of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and low CD127 expression and with significant functional T-cell deficits. Further evaluation of the “death phase” of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during acute HCV infection showed that the majority of cells were dying by a process of cytokine withdrawal, mediated by activated caspase 9. Contraction during the acute phase occurred rapidly via this process despite the persistence of the virus. Remarkably, in the chronic phase of HCV infection, at the site of infection in the liver, a substantial frequency of caspase 9-mediated T-cell death was also present. This study highlights the importance of cytokine deprivation-mediated apoptosis with consequent down-modulation of the immune response to HCV during acute and chronic infections.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 862-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Thomson ◽  
Michelina Nascimbeni ◽  
Michael B. Havert ◽  
Marian Major ◽  
Sophia Gonzales ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in humans and chimpanzees is thought to be associated with the induction of strong T-cell responses. We studied four chimpanzees infected with HCV derived from an infectious full-length HCV genotype 1b cDNA. Two of the chimpanzees cleared the infection to undetectable levels for more than 12 months of follow-up; the other two became persistently infected. Detailed analyses of HCV-specific immune responses were performed during the courses of infection in these chimpanzees. Only weak and transient T helper responses were detected during the acute phase in all four chimpanzees. A comparison of the frequency of gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood by ELISpot assay did not reveal any correlation between viral clearance and T-cell responses. In addition, analyses of IFN-γ, IFN-α, and interleukin-4 mRNA levels in liver biopsies, presumably indicative of intrahepatic T-cell responses, revealed no distinct pattern in these chimpanzees with respect to infection outcome. The present study suggests that the outcome of HCV infection in chimpanzees is not necessarily attributable to HCV sequence variation and that chimpanzees may recover from HCV infection by mechanisms other than the induction of readily detectable HCV-specific T-cell responses.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 4351-4351
Author(s):  
Shigeo Fuji ◽  
Julia Fischer ◽  
Markus Kapp ◽  
Thomas G Bumm ◽  
Hermann Einsele ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 4351 Wilms‘ tumor protein-1 (WT1) is one of the most investigated tumor-associated antigens (TAA) in hematological malignancies. CD8 T-cell responses against several WT1-derived peptides have been characterized and are known to contribute to disease control after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Also the identification of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II-restricted CD4 T-cell epitopes from WT1 is a challenging task of T-cell-based cancer immunotherapy to improve the effectiveness of WT1 peptide vaccination. We found a highly immunogenic WT1 peptide composed of only 9 amino acids having the ability to induce IFN-γ secretion in CD4 T-cells in an HLA DR-restricted manner. This finding is of great interest as it was generally accepted that HLA class II binding peptides are composed of at least 12 amino acids being recognized by CD4 T-cells, whereas HLA class I binding peptides are composed of 8–11 amino acids being recognized by CD8 T-cells (Wang et al Mol. Immunol. 2002). However, both HLA class I and class II molecules bind to primary and secondary peptide anchor motifs covering the central 9–10 amino acids. Thus, considering this common structural basis for peptide binding there is a possibility that the WT1 9-mer peptide binds to HLA class II molecules, and induces CD4 T-cell responses. IFN-γ induction in response to several WT1 9-mer peptides was screened in 24 HLA-A*02:01 positive patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome after allogeneic HSCT. Responses to one WT1 9-mer peptide were exclusively detected in CD3+CD4+ T-cells of 2 patients after allogeneic HSCT, but not in CD3+CD4+ T-cells of their corresponding HSC donors. CD4+ T-cell responses to this WT1 9-mer peptide exhibited high levels of functional avidity, as IFN-γ induction was detected after stimulation with 100 ng peptide per mL. Peptide-induced IFN-γ production was confirmed with IFN-γ ELISPOT assays and the HLA restriction of the T-cell response was determined by HLA blocking antibodies. The reaction was significantly blocked by anti-pan HLA class II antibody (85 % reduction), but neither by pan-HLA class I nor by anti-HLA A2 antibody. To identify the subtype of HLA class II molecule, blocking assays with antibodies against HLA-DP, HLA-DR and HLA-DQ were performed. IFN-γ induction was completely abrogated by anti-HLA-DR antibody (99 % reduction) (fig 1, p value of unpaired student‘s t-test <0.0001 for the medium control vs anti-pan HLA class II antibody or anti-HLA-DR antibody, respectively). To test whether IFN-γ was exclusively induced in CD4 T cells, CD4 or CD8 T-cells were depleted from PBMC. Whereas CD8 T-cell depletion did not affect IFN-γ induction, CD4 T-cell depletion completely abrogated the WT1 9-mer peptide induced response (fig 2). CD4 T-cells responding to the WT1 9-mer peptide were indicated to be functional cytotoxic T-cells with an effector CD4 T-cell phenotype. Longitudinal analyses demonstrated the persistence and functionality of WT1 9-mer specific CD4 T-cells in PBMC of patients even at day 1368 after allogeneic HSCT. These data indicate for the first time that a TAA-derived 9-mer peptide can induce HLA class II-restricted CD4 T-cell responses. Vaccination with the characterized WT1 9-mer peptide can enhance the induction and maintenance of not only CD4 but also indirect CD8 T-cell responses. Considering that CD4 T-cells play an important role in tumor rejection, the possibility that other TAA-derived 9-mer peptides having the potential to induce CD4 T-cell responses should be explored in other settings of tumor immunology as well to improve vaccination strategies. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 683 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wolski ◽  
Georg M. Lauer

The hepatitis C virus is unique among chronic viral infections in that an acute outcome with complete viral elimination is observed in a minority of infected patients. This unique feature allows direct comparison of successful immune responses with those that fail in the setting of the same human infection. Here we review how this scenario can be used to achieve better understanding of transcriptional regulation of T-cell differentiation. Specifically, we discuss results from a study comparing transcriptional profiles of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific CD8 T-cells during early HCV infection between patients that do and do not control and eliminate HCV. Identification of early gene expression differences in key T-cell differentiation molecules as well as clearly distinct transcriptional networks related to cell metabolism and nucleosomal regulation reveal novel insights into the development of exhausted and memory T-cells. With additional transcriptional studies of HCV-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cells in different stages of infection currently underway, we expect HCV infection to become a valuable model disease to study human immunity to viruses.


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