Amino acid supplementation confers protection to red blood cells before Plasmodium falciparum bystander stress.

ABSTRACT: Malaria is a highly oxidative parasitic disease in which anemia is the most common clinical symptom. A major contributor to the malarial anemia pathogenesis is the destruction of bystander, uninfected red blood cells (RBCs). Metabolic fluctuations are known to occur in the plasma of individuals with acute malaria, emphasizing the role of metabolic changes in disease progression and severity. Here, we report conditioned medium from Plasmodium falciparum culture induces oxidative stress in uninfected, catalase-depleted RBCs. As cell-permeable precursors to glutathione, we demonstrate the benefit of pre-exposure to exogenous glutamine, cysteine, and glycine amino acids for RBCs. Importantly, this pretreatment intrinsically prepares RBCs to mitigate oxidative stress.

Amino acid supplementation confers protection to red blood cells prior to Plasmodium falciparum bystander stress.

Malaria is a highly oxidative parasitic disease in which anemia is the most common clinical symptom. A major contributor to malarial anemia pathogenesis is the destruction of bystander, uninfected red blood cells. Metabolic fluctuations are known to occur in the plasma of individuals with acute malaria, emphasizing the role of metabolic changes in disease progression and severity. Here, we report that conditioned media from Plasmodium falciparum culture induces oxidative stress in healthy uninfected RBCs. Additionally, we show the benefit of amino acid pre-exposure for RBCs and how this pre-treatment intrinsically prepares RBCs to mitigate oxidative stress. Key points: Intracellular ROS is acquired in red blood cells incubated with Plasmodium falciparum conditioned media Glutamine, cysteine, and glycine amino acid supplementation increased glutathione biosynthesis and reduced ROS levels in stressed RBCs.

A New Method of Bone Stromal Cell Characterization by Flow Cytometry.

The bone microenvironment cellular composition plays an essential role in bone health and is disrupted in bone pathologies, such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Flow cytometry protocols for hematopoietic stem cell lineages are well defined and well established. Additionally, a consensus for mesenchymal stem cell flow markers has been developed. However, flow cytometry markers for bone-residing cells-osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes-have not been proposed. Here, we describe a novel partial digestion method to separate these cells from the bone matrix and present new markers for enumerating these cells by flow cytometry. We optimized bone digestion and analyzed markers across murine, nonhuman primate, and human bone. The isolation and staining protocols can be used with either cell sorting or flow cytometry. Our method allows for the enumeration and collection of hematopoietic and mesenchymal lineage cells in the bone microenvironment combined with bone-residing stromal cells. Thus, we have established a multi-fluorochrome bone marrow cell-typing methodology. © 2022 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Partial digestion for murine long bone stromal cell isolation Alternate Protocol 1: Partial digestion for primate vertebrae stromal cell isolation Alternate Protocol 2: Murine vertebrae crushing for bone stromal cell isolation Basic Protocol 2: Staining of bone stromal cells Support Protocol 1: Fluorescence minus one control, isotype control, and antibody titration Basic Protocol 3: Cell sorting of bone stromal cells Alternate Protocol 3: Flow cytometry analysis of bone stromal cells Support Protocol 2: Preparing compensation beads.

Initiation of HIV neutralizing B cell lineages with sequential envelope immunizations.

A strategy for HIV-1 vaccine development is to define envelope (Env) evolution of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in infection and to recreate those events by vaccination. Here, we report host tolerance mechanisms that limit the development of CD4-binding site (CD4bs), HCDR3-binder bnAbs via sequential HIV-1 Env vaccination. Vaccine-induced macaque CD4bs antibodies neutralize 7% of HIV-1 strains, recognize open Env trimers, and accumulate relatively modest somatic mutations. In naive CD4bs, unmutated common ancestor knock-in mice Env+B cell clones develop anergy and partial deletion at the transitional to mature B cell stage, but become Env- upon receptor editing. In comparison with repetitive Env immunizations, sequential Env administration rescue anergic Env+ (non-edited) precursor B cells. Thus, stepwise immunization initiates CD4bs-bnAb responses, but immune tolerance mechanisms restrict their development, suggesting that sequential immunogen-based vaccine regimens will likely need to incorporate strategies to expand bnAb precursor pools.

HIV DNA-Adenovirus Multiclade Envelope Vaccine Induces gp41 Antibody Immunodominance in Rhesus Macaques.

Dominant antibody responses in vaccinees who received the HIV-1 multiclade (A, B, and C) envelope (Env) DNA/recombinant adenovirus virus type 5 (rAd5) vaccine studied in HIV-1 Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) efficacy trial 505 (HVTN 505) targeted Env gp41 and cross-reacted with microbial antigens. In this study, we asked if the DNA/rAd5 vaccine induced a similar antibody response in rhesus macaques (RMs), which are commonly used as an animal model for human HIV-1 infections and for testing candidate HIV-1 vaccines. We also asked if gp41 immunodominance could be avoided by immunization of neonatal RMs during the early stages of microbial colonization. We found that the DNA/rAd5 vaccine elicited a higher frequency of gp41-reactive memory B cells than gp120-memory B cells in adult and neonatal RMs. Analysis of the vaccine-induced Env-reactive B cell repertoire revealed that the majority of HIV-1 Env-reactive antibodies in both adult and neonatal RMs were targeted to gp41. Interestingly, a subset of gp41-reactive antibodies isolated from RMs cross-reacted with host antigens, including autologous intestinal microbiota. Thus, gp41-containing DNA/rAd5 vaccine induced dominant gp41-microbiota cross-reactive antibodies derived from blood memory B cells in RMs as observed in the HVTN 505 vaccine efficacy trial. These data demonstrated that RMs can be used to investigate gp41 immunodominance in candidate HIV-1 vaccines. Moreover, colonization of neonatal RMs occurred within the first week of life, and immunization of neonatal RMs during this time also induced a dominant gp41-reactive antibody response.IMPORTANCE Our results are critical to current work in the HIV-1 vaccine field evaluating the phenomenon of gp41 immunodominance induced by HIV-1 Env gp140 in RMs and humans. Our data demonstrate that RMs are an appropriate animal model to study this phenomenon and to determine the immunogenicity in new HIV-1 Env trimer vaccine designs. The demonstration of gp41 immunodominance in memory B cells of both adult and neonatal RMs indicated that early vaccination could not overcome gp41 dominant responses.

Tissue memory B cell repertoire analysis after ALVAC/AIDSVAX B/E gp120 immunization of rhesus macaques.

The ALVAC prime/ALVAC + AIDSVAX B/E boost RV144 vaccine trial induced an estimated 31% efficacy in a low-risk cohort where HIV­1 exposures were likely at mucosal surfaces. An immune correlates study demonstrated that antibodies targeting the V2 region and in a secondary analysis antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), in the presence of low envelope-specific (Env-specific) IgA, correlated with decreased risk of infection. Thus, understanding the B cell repertoires induced by this vaccine in systemic and mucosal compartments are key to understanding the potential protective mechanisms of this vaccine regimen. We immunized rhesus macaques with the ALVAC/AIDSVAX B/E gp120 vaccine regimen given in RV144, and then gave a boost 6 months later, after which the animals were necropsied. We isolated systemic and intestinal vaccine Env-specific memory B cells. Whereas Env-specific B cell clonal lineages were shared between spleen, draining inguinal, anterior pelvic, posterior pelvic, and periaortic lymph nodes, members of Env­specific B cell clonal lineages were absent in the terminal ileum. Env­specific antibodies were detectable in rectal fluids, suggesting that IgG antibodies present at mucosal sites were likely systemically produced and transported to intestinal mucosal sites.

Strain-Specific V3 and CD4 Binding Site Autologous HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibodies Select Neutralization-Resistant Viruses.

The third variable (V3) loop and the CD4 binding site (CD4bs) of the HIV-1 envelope are frequently targeted by neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in infected individuals. In chronic infection, HIV-1 escape mutants repopulate the plasma, and V3 and CD4bs nAbs emerge that can neutralize heterologous tier 1 easy-to-neutralize but not tier 2 difficult-to-neutralize HIV-1 isolates. However, neutralization sensitivity of autologous plasma viruses to this type of nAb response has not been studied. We describe the development and evolution in vivo of antibodies distinguished by their target specificity for V3 and CD4bs epitopes on autologous tier 2 viruses but not on heterologous tier 2 viruses. A surprisingly high fraction of autologous circulating viruses was sensitive to these antibodies. These findings demonstrate a role for V3 and CD4bs antibodies in constraining the native envelope trimer in vivo to a neutralization-resistant phenotype, explaining why HIV-1 transmission generally occurs by tier 2 neutralization-resistant viruses.

HIV-1 VACCINES. Diversion of HIV-1 vaccine-induced immunity by gp41-microbiota cross-reactive antibodies.

An HIV-1 DNA prime vaccine, with a recombinant adenovirus type 5 (rAd5) boost, failed to protect from HIV-1 acquisition. We studied the nature of the vaccine-induced antibody (Ab) response to HIV-1 envelope (Env). HIV-1-reactive plasma Ab titers were higher to Env gp41 than to gp120, and repertoire analysis demonstrated that 93% of HIV-1-reactive Abs from memory B cells responded to Env gp41. Vaccine-induced gp41-reactive monoclonal antibodies were non-neutralizing and frequently polyreactive with host and environmental antigens, including intestinal microbiota (IM). Next-generation sequencing of an immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region repertoire before vaccination revealed an Env-IM cross-reactive Ab that was clonally related to a subsequent vaccine-induced gp41-reactive Ab. Thus, HIV-1 Env DNA-rAd5 vaccine induced a dominant IM-polyreactive, non-neutralizing gp41-reactive Ab repertoire response that was associated with no vaccine efficacy.

Maternal HIV-1 envelope-specific antibody responses and reduced risk of perinatal transmission.

Despite the wide availability of antiretroviral drugs, more than 250,000 infants are vertically infected with HIV-1 annually, emphasizing the need for additional interventions to eliminate pediatric HIV-1 infections. Here, we aimed to define humoral immune correlates of risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1, including responses associated with protection in the RV144 vaccine trial. Eighty-three untreated, HIV-1-transmitting mothers and 165 propensity score-matched nontransmitting mothers were selected from the Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS) of US nonbreastfeeding, HIV-1-infected mothers. In a multivariable logistic regression model, the magnitude of the maternal IgG responses specific for the third variable loop (V3) of the HIV-1 envelope was predictive of a reduced risk of MTCT. Neutralizing Ab responses against easy-to-neutralize (tier 1) HIV-1 strains also predicted a reduced risk of peripartum transmission in secondary analyses. Moreover, recombinant maternal V3-specific IgG mAbs mediated neutralization of autologous HIV-1 isolates. Thus, common V3-specific Ab responses in maternal plasma predicted a reduced risk of MTCT and mediated autologous virus neutralization, suggesting that boosting these maternal Ab responses may further reduce HIV-1 MTCT.

HIV-1 envelope gp41 antibodies can originate from terminal ileum B cells that share cross-reactivity with commensal bacteria.

Monoclonal antibodies derived from blood plasma cells of acute HIV-1-infected individuals are predominantly targeted to the HIV Env gp41 and cross-reactive with commensal bacteria. To understand this phenomenon, we examined anti-HIV responses in ileum B cells using recombinant antibody technology and probed their relationship to commensal bacteria. The dominant ileum B cell response was to Env gp41. Remarkably, a majority (82%) of the ileum anti-gp41 antibodies cross-reacted with commensal bacteria, and of those, 43% showed non-HIV-1 antigen polyreactivity. Pyrosequencing revealed shared HIV-1 antibody clonal lineages between ileum and blood. Mutated immunoglobulin G antibodies cross-reactive with both Env gp41 and microbiota could also be isolated from the ileum of HIV-1 uninfected individuals. Thus, the gp41 commensal bacterial antigen cross-reactive antibodies originate in the intestine, and the gp41 Env response in HIV-1 infection can be derived from a preinfection memory B cell pool triggered by commensal bacteria that cross-react with Env.

HIV-1 vaccine-induced C1 and V2 Env-specific antibodies synergize for increased antiviral activities.

The RV144 ALVAC/AIDSVax HIV-1 vaccine clinical trial showed an estimated vaccine efficacy of 31.2%. Viral genetic analysis identified a vaccine-induced site of immune pressure in the HIV-1 envelope (Env) variable region 2 (V2) focused on residue 169, which is included in the epitope recognized by vaccinee-derived V2 monoclonal antibodies. The ALVAC/AIDSVax vaccine induced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against the Env V2 and constant 1 (C1) regions. In the presence of low IgA Env antibody levels, plasma levels of ADCC activity correlated with lower risk of infection. In this study, we demonstrate that C1 and V2 monoclonal antibodies isolated from RV144 vaccinees synergized for neutralization, infectious virus capture, and ADCC. Importantly, synergy increased the HIV-1 ADCC activity of V2 monoclonal antibody CH58 at concentrations similar to that observed in plasma of RV144 vaccinees. These findings raise the hypothesis that synergy among vaccine-induced antibodies with different epitope specificities contributes to HIV-1 antiviral antibody responses and is important to induce for reduction in the risk of HIV-1 transmission. Importance: The Thai RV144 ALVAC/AIDSVax prime-boost vaccine efficacy trial represents the only example of HIV-1 vaccine efficacy in humans to date. Studies aimed at identifying immune correlates involved in the modest vaccine-mediated protection identified HIV-1 envelope (Env) variable region 2-binding antibodies as inversely correlated with infection risk, and genetic analysis identified a site of immune pressure within the region recognized by these antibodies. Despite this evidence, the antiviral mechanisms by which variable region 2-specific antibodies may have contributed to lower rates of infection remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that vaccine-induced HIV-1 envelope variable region 2 and constant region 1 antibodies synergize for recognition of virus-infected cells, infectious virion capture, virus neutralization, and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. This is a major step in understanding how these types of antibodies may have cooperatively contributed to reducing infection risk and should be considered in the context of prospective vaccine design.

Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity-mediating antibodies from an HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial target multiple epitopes and preferentially use the VH1 gene family.

The ALVAC-HIV/AIDSVAX-B/E RV144 vaccine trial showed an estimated efficacy of 31%. RV144 secondary immune correlate analysis demonstrated that the combination of low plasma anti-HIV-1 Env IgA antibodies and high levels of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) inversely correlate with infection risk. One hypothesis is that the observed protection in RV144 is partially due to ADCC-mediating antibodies. We found that the majority (73 to 90%) of a representative group of vaccinees displayed plasma ADCC activity, usually (96.2%) blocked by competition with the C1 region-specific A32 Fab fragment. Using memory B-cell cultures and antigen-specific B-cell sorting, we isolated 23 ADCC-mediating nonclonally related antibodies from 6 vaccine recipients. These antibodies targeted A32-blockable conformational epitopes (n = 19), a non-A32-blockable conformational epitope (n = 1), and the gp120 Env variable loops (n = 3). Fourteen antibodies mediated cross-clade target cell killing. ADCC-mediating antibodies displayed modest levels of V-heavy (VH) chain somatic mutation (0.5 to 1.5%) and also displayed a disproportionate usage of VH1 family genes (74%), a phenomenon recently described for CD4-binding site broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs). Maximal ADCC activity of VH1 antibodies correlated with mutation frequency. The polyclonality and low mutation frequency of these VH1 antibodies reveal fundamental differences in the regulation and maturation of these ADCC-mediating responses compared to VH1 bNAbs.

HIV-1 gp120 vaccine induces affinity maturation in both new and persistent antibody clonal lineages.

Most antibodies that broadly neutralize HIV-1 are highly somatically mutated in antibody clonal lineages that persist over time. Here, we describe the analysis of human antibodies induced during an HIV-1 vaccine trial (GSK PRO HIV-002) that used the clade B envelope (Env) gp120 of clone W6.1D (gp120(W6.1D)). Using dual-color antigen-specific sorting, we isolated Env-specific human monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and studied the clonal persistence of antibodies in the setting of HIV-1 Env vaccination. We found evidence of V(H) somatic mutation induced by the vaccine but only to a modest level (3.8% ± 0.5%; range 0 to 8.2%). Analysis of 34 HIV-1-reactive MAbs recovered over four immunizations revealed evidence of both sequential recruitment of naïve B cells and restimulation of previously recruited memory B cells. These recombinant antibodies recapitulated the anti-HIV-1 activity of participant serum including pseudovirus neutralization and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). One antibody (3491) demonstrated a change in specificity following somatic mutation with binding of the inferred unmutated ancestor to a linear C2 peptide while the mutated antibody reacted only with a conformational epitope in gp120 Env. Thus, gp120(W6.1D) was strongly immunogenic but over four immunizations induced levels of affinity maturation below that of broadly neutralizing MAbs. Improved vaccination strategies will be needed to drive persistent stimulation of antibody clonal lineages to induce affinity maturation that results in highly mutated HIV-1 Env-reactive antibodies.

Enhanced outgrowth of EBV-transformed chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells mediated by coculture with macrophage feeder cells.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by the clonal expansion of CD5-expressing B lymphocytes that produce mAbs often reactive with microbial or autoantigens. Long-term culture of B-CLL clones would permit the collection and characterization of B-CLL mAbs to study antigen specificity and of B-CLL DNA to investigate molecular mechanisms promoting the disease. However, the derivation of long-term cell lines (eg, by EBV), has not been efficient. We have improved the efficiency of EBV B-CLL transformation of CpG oligonucleotide-stimulated cells by incubating patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of an irradiated mouse macrophage cell line, J774A.1. Using this approach, peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 13 of 21 B-CLL patients were transformed as documented by IGHV-D-J sequencing. Four clones grew and retained CD5 expression in culture for 2 to 4 months. However, despite documentation of EBV infection by expression of EBNA2 and LMP1, B-CLL cells died after removal of macrophage feeder cells. Nevertheless, using electrofusion technology, we generated 6 stable hetero-hybridoma cell lines from EBV-transformed B-CLL cells, and these hetero-hybridomas produced immunoglobulin. Thus, we have established enhanced methods of B-CLL culture that will enable broader interrogation of B-CLL cells at the genetic and protein levels.

H3N2 influenza infection elicits more cross-reactive and less clonally expanded anti-hemagglutinin antibodies than influenza vaccination.

BACKGROUND: During the recent H1N1 influenza pandemic, excess morbidity and mortality was seen in young but not older adults suggesting that prior infection with influenza strains may have protected older subjects. In contrast, a history of recent seasonal trivalent vaccine in younger adults was not associated with protection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: To study hemagglutinin (HA) antibody responses in influenza immunization and infection, we have studied the day 7 plasma cell repertoires of subjects immunized with seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) and compared them to the plasma cell repertoires of subjects experimentally infected (EI) with influenza H3N2 A/Wisconsin/67/2005. The majority of circulating plasma cells after TIV produced influenza-specific antibodies, while most plasma cells after EI produced antibodies that did not react with influenza HA. While anti-HA antibodies from TIV subjects were primarily reactive with single or few HA strains, anti-HA antibodies from EI subjects were isolated that reacted with multiple HA strains. Plasma cell-derived anti-HA antibodies from TIV subjects showed more evidence of clonal expansion compared with antibodies from EI subjects. From an H3N2-infected subject, we isolated a 4-member clonal lineage of broadly cross-reactive antibodies that bound to multiple HA subtypes and neutralized both H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. This broad reactivity was not detected in post-infection plasma suggesting this broadly reactive clonal lineage was not immunodominant in this subject. CONCLUSION: The presence of broadly reactive subdominant antibody responses in some EI subjects suggests that improved vaccine designs that make broadly reactive antibody responses immunodominant could protect against novel influenza strains.

Initial antibodies binding to HIV-1 gp41 in acutely infected subjects are polyreactive and highly mutated.

The initial antibody response to HIV-1 is targeted to envelope (Env) gp41, and is nonneutralizing and ineffective in controlling viremia. To understand the origins and characteristics of gp41-binding antibodies produced shortly after HIV-1 transmission, we isolated and studied gp41-reactive plasma cells from subjects acutely infected with HIV-1. The frequencies of somatic mutations were relatively high in these gp41-reactive antibodies. Reverted unmutated ancestors of gp41-reactive antibodies derived from subjects acutely infected with HIV-1 frequently did not react with autologous HIV-1 Env; however, these antibodies were polyreactive and frequently bound to host or bacterial antigens. In one large clonal lineage of gp41-reactive antibodies, reactivity to HIV-1 Env was acquired only after somatic mutations. Polyreactive gp41-binding antibodies were also isolated from uninfected individuals. These data suggest that the majority of gp41-binding antibodies produced after acute HIV-1 infection are cross-reactive responses generated by stimulating memory B cells that have previously been activated by non-HIV-1 antigens.

Analysis of a clonal lineage of HIV-1 envelope V2/V3 conformational epitope-specific broadly neutralizing antibodies and their inferred unmutated common ancestors.

V2/V3 conformational epitope antibodies that broadly neutralize HIV-1 (PG9 and PG16) have been recently described. Since an elicitation of previously known broadly neutralizing antibodies has proven elusive, the induction of antibodies with such specificity is an important goal for HIV-1 vaccine development. A critical question is which immunogens and vaccine formulations might be used to trigger and drive the development of memory B cell precursors with V2/V3 conformational epitope specificity. In this paper we identified a clonal lineage of four V2/V3 conformational epitope broadly neutralizing antibodies (CH01 to CH04) from an African HIV-1-infected broad neutralizer and inferred their common reverted unmutated ancestor (RUA) antibodies. While conformational epitope antibodies rarely bind recombinant Env monomers, a screen of 32 recombinant envelopes for binding to the CH01 to CH04 antibodies showed monoclonal antibody (MAb) binding to the E.A244 gp120 Env and to chronic Env AE.CM243; MAbs CH01 and CH02 also bound to transmitted/founder Env B.9021. CH01 to CH04 neutralized 38% to 49% of a panel of 91 HIV-1 tier 2 pseudoviruses, while the RUAs neutralized only 16% of HIV-1 isolates. Although the reverted unmutated ancestors showed restricted neutralizing activity, they retained the ability to bind to the E.A244 gp120 HIV-1 envelope with an affinity predicted to trigger B cell development. Thus, E.A244, B.9021, and AE.CM243 Envs are three potential immunogen candidates for studies aimed at defining strategies to induce V2/V3 conformational epitope-specific antibodies.

The long and the short of telomeres in bone marrow recipient SCID patients.

Telomeres are noncoding DNA regions at the end of the chromosomes that are crucial for genome stability. Since telomere length decreases with cell division, they can be used as a signature of cell proliferation history. T-cell reconstitution in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) subjects, recipients of T-cell-depleted, allogeneic-related bone marrow cells, is due to the development and maturation of donor T-cell precursors in the infant's vestigial thymus and to homeostatic proliferation of mature T cells in the peripheral organs. Since T-cell function, thymic output, and T-cell clonal diversity are maintained long term in these patients, we investigated whether donor T-cell engraftment resulted in increased telomere shortening. Our study of seven SCID patients, following successful bone marrow transplantation, demonstrates that the patients' peripheral T cells did not exhibit greater than normal telomere shortening.

Adaptation in a mouse colony monoassociated with Escherichia coli K-12 for more than 1,000 days.

Although mice associated with a single bacterial species have been used to provide a simple model for analysis of host-bacteria relationships, bacteria have been shown to display adaptability when grown in a variety of novel environments. In this study, changes associated with the host-bacterium relationship in mice monoassociated with Escherichia coli K-12 over a period of 1,031 days were evaluated. After 80 days, phenotypic diversification of E. coli was observed, with the colonizing bacteria having a broader distribution of growth rates in the laboratory than the parent E. coli. After 1,031 days, which included three generations of mice and an estimated 20,000 generations of E. coli, the initially homogeneous bacteria colonizing the mice had evolved to have widely different growth rates on agar, a potential decrease in tendency for spontaneous lysis in vivo, and an increased tendency for spontaneous lysis in vitro. Importantly, mice at the end of the experiment were colonized at an average density of bacteria that was more than 3-fold greater than mice colonized on day 80. Evaluation of selected isolates on day 1,031 revealed unique restriction endonuclease patterns and differences between isolates in expression of more than 10% of the proteins identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis, suggesting complex changes underlying the evolution of diversity during the experiment. These results suggest that monoassociated mice might be used as a tool for characterizing niches occupied by the intestinal flora and potentially as a method of targeting the evolution of bacteria for applications in biotechnology.

Polyclonal B cell differentiation and loss of gastrointestinal tract germinal centers in the earliest stages of HIV-1 infection.

BACKGROUND: The antibody response to HIV-1 does not appear in the plasma until approximately 2-5 weeks after transmission, and neutralizing antibodies to autologous HIV-1 generally do not become detectable until 12 weeks or more after transmission. Moreover, levels of HIV-1-specific antibodies decline on antiretroviral treatment. The mechanisms of this delay in the appearance of anti-HIV-1 antibodies and of their subsequent rapid decline are not known. While the effect of HIV-1 on depletion of gut CD4(+) T cells in acute HIV-1 infection is well described, we studied blood and tissue B cells soon after infection to determine the effect of early HIV-1 on these cells. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In human participants, we analyzed B cells in blood as early as 17 days after HIV-1 infection, and in terminal ileum inductive and effector microenvironments beginning at 47 days after infection. We found that HIV-1 infection rapidly induced polyclonal activation and terminal differentiation of B cells in blood and in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) B cells. The specificities of antibodies produced by GALT memory B cells in acute HIV-1 infection (AHI) included not only HIV-1-specific antibodies, but also influenza-specific and autoreactive antibodies, indicating very early onset of HIV-1-induced polyclonal B cell activation. Follicular damage or germinal center loss in terminal ileum Peyer's patches was seen with 88% of follicles exhibiting B or T cell apoptosis and follicular lysis. CONCLUSIONS: Early induction of polyclonal B cell differentiation, coupled with follicular damage and germinal center loss soon after HIV-1 infection, may explain both the high rate of decline in HIV-1-induced antibody responses and the delay in plasma antibody responses to HIV-1. Please see later in the article for Editors' Summary.