ABSTRACT
Intestinal helminth infection triggers a type 2 immune response that promotes a 'weep-and sweep' response characterised by increased mucus secretion and intestinal hypermotility, which function to dislodge the worm from its intestinal habitat. Recent studies have discovered that several other pathogens cause intestinal dysmotility through major alterations to the immune and enteric nervous systems (ENS), and their interactions, within the gastrointestinal tract. However, the involvement of these systems has not been investigated for helminth infections. Eosinophils represent a key cell type recruited by the type 2 immune response and alter intestinal motility under steady-state conditions. Our study aimed to investigate whether altered intestinal motility driven by the murine hookworm, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, infection involves eosinophils and how the ENS and smooth muscles of the gut are impacted. Eosinophil deficiency did not influence helminth-induced intestinal hypermotility and hypermotility did not involve gross structural or functional changes to the ENS. Hypermotility was instead associated with a dramatic increase in smooth muscle thickness and contractility, an observation that extended to another rodent nematode, Heligmosomoides polygyrus. In summary our data indicate that, in contrast to other pathogens, helminth-induced intestinal hypermotility is driven by largely by myogenic, rather than neurogenic, alterations with such changes occurring independently of eosinophils. (<300 words).
ABSTRACT
CD8 virtual memory T (TVM) cells are Ag-naive CD8 T cells that have undergone partial differentiation in response to common γ-chain cytokines, particularly IL-15 and IL-4. TVM cells from young individuals are highly proliferative in response to TCR and cytokine stimulation but, with age, they lose TCR-mediated proliferative capacity and exhibit hallmarks of senescence. Helminth infection can drive an increase in TVM cells, which is associated with improved pathogen clearance during subsequent infectious challenge in young mice. Given the cytokine-dependent profile of TVM cells and their age-associated dysfunction, we traced proliferative and functional changes in TVM cells, compared with true naive CD8 T cells, after helminth infection of young and aged C57BL/6 mice. We show that IL-15 is essential for the helminth-induced increase in TVM cells, which is driven only by proliferation of existing TVM cells, with negligible contribution from true naive cell differentiation. Additionally, TVM cells showed the greatest proliferation in response to helminth infection and IL-15 compared with other CD8 T cells. Furthermore, TVM cells from aged mice did not undergo expansion after helminth infection due to both TVM cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic changes associated with aging.
Subject(s)
Helminthiasis , Interleukin-15 , Animals , Mice , Aging/immunology , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/parasitology , Cytokines , Helminthiasis/immunology , Helminthiasis/metabolism , Helminths/pathogenicity , Immunologic Memory , Interleukin-15/metabolism , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Receptors, Antigen, T-CellABSTRACT
Loss of p53-dependent apoptosis contributes to the development of hematologic malignancies and failure to respond to treatment. Proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Puma is essential for apoptosis in HoxB8-immortalized interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent myeloid cell lines (FDM cells) provoked by IL-3 deprivation. p53 and FoxO3a can transcriptionally regulate Puma. To investigate which transcriptional regulator is responsible for IL-3 deprivation-induced Puma expression and apoptosis, we generated wild-type (WT), p53(-/-), and FoxO3a(-/-) FDM cells and found that p53(-/-) but not FoxO3a(-/-) cells were protected against IL-3 withdrawal. Loss of p21(cip/waf), which is critical for p53-mediated cell-cycle arrest, afforded no protection against IL-3 deprivation. A survival advantage was also observed in untransformed p53(-/-) hematopoietic progenitor cells cultured in the presence or absence of cytokines. In response to IL-3 deprivation, increased Puma protein levels in p53(-/-) cells were substantially delayed compared with WT cells. Increased p53 transcriptional activity was detected after cytokine deprivation. This was substantially less than that induced by DNA damage and associated not with increased p53 protein levels but with loss of the p53 regulator, MDM2. Thus, we conclude that p53 protein is activated after IL-3 deprivation by loss of MDM2. Activated p53 transcriptionally up-regulates Puma, which initiates apoptosis.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/biosynthesis , Apoptosis , Interleukin-3/metabolism , Myeloid Progenitor Cells/metabolism , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/metabolism , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/biosynthesis , Up-Regulation , Animals , Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/genetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Survival/drug effects , Cell Survival/genetics , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/genetics , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/metabolism , DNA Damage/drug effects , DNA Damage/genetics , Forkhead Box Protein O3 , Forkhead Transcription Factors/genetics , Forkhead Transcription Factors/metabolism , Gene Deletion , Homeodomain Proteins/genetics , Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism , Interleukin-3/pharmacology , Mice , Myeloid Progenitor Cells/cytology , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2/metabolism , Time Factors , Transcription, Genetic/drug effects , Transcription, Genetic/genetics , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that the airway microbiome plays a key role in the establishment of respiratory health by interacting with the developing immune system early in life. While it has become clear that bacteria are involved in this process, there is a knowledge gap concerning the role of fungi. Moreover, the inter-kingdom interactions that influence immune development remain unknown. In this prospective exploratory human study, we aimed to determine early post-natal microbial and immunological features of the upper airways in 121 healthy newborns. RESULTS: We found that the oropharynx and nasal cavity represent distinct ecological niches for bacteria and fungi. Breastfeeding correlated with changes in microbiota composition of oropharyngeal samples with the greatest impact upon the relative abundance of Streptococcus species and Candida. Host transcriptome profiling revealed that genes with the highest expression variation were immunological in nature. Multi-omics factor analysis of host and microbial data revealed unique co-variation patterns. CONCLUSION: These data provide evidence of a diverse multi-kingdom microbiota linked with local immunological characteristics in the first week of life that could represent distinct trajectories for future respiratory health. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NHS Health Research Authority, IRAS ID 199053. Registered 5 Oct 2016. https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/breathing-together/ Video abstract.
Subject(s)
Microbiota , Bacteria , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Microbiota/genetics , Microbiota/immunology , Oropharynx/immunology , Oropharynx/microbiology , Prospective Studies , Respiratory System/immunology , Respiratory System/microbiologyABSTRACT
The IκB kinase complex, consisting of IKK1, IKK2 and the regulatory subunit NEMO, is required for NF-κB signalling following the activation of several cell surface receptors, such as members of the Tumour Necrosis Factor Receptor superfamily and the Interleukin-1 Receptor. This is critical for haematopoietic cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and immune responses. To determine the role of IKK in the regulation of haematopoiesis, we used the Rosa26Cre-ERT2 Cre/lox recombination system to achieve targeted, haematopoietic cell-restricted deletion of the genes for IKK1 or IKK2 in vivo. We found that the IKK complex plays a critical role in haematopoietic cell development and function. Deletion of IKK2, but not loss of IKK1, in haematopoietic cells led to an expansion of CD11b/Gr-1-positive myeloid cells (neutrophilia), severe anaemia and thrombocytosis, with reduced numbers of long-term haematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs), short-term haematopoietic stem cells (ST-HSCs) and multipotential progenitor cells (MPPs), increased circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) and severe gastrointestinal inflammation. These findings identify distinct functions for the two IKK catalytic subunits, IKK1 and IKK2, in the haematopoietic system.
Subject(s)
Gastritis/immunology , Hematopoiesis/immunology , I-kappa B Kinase/immunology , Interleukin-6/immunology , Stem Cells/immunology , Animals , Cell Differentiation , Female , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , NF-kappa B/immunology , Stem Cells/cytologyABSTRACT
p53 is critical in the normal response to a variety of cellular stresses including DNA damage and loss of p53 function is a common feature of many cancers. In hematological malignancies, p53 deletion is less common than in solid malignancies but is associated with poor prognosis and resistance to chemotherapy. Compared to their wild-type (WT) counterparts, hematopoietic progenitor cells lacking p53 have a greater propensity to survive cytokine loss, in part, due to the failure to transcribe Puma, a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member. Using expression arrays, we have further characterized the differences that distinguish p53(-/-) cells from WT myeloid cells in the presence of Interleukin-3 (IL-3) to determine if such differences contribute to the increased clonogenicity and survival responses observed in p53(-/-) cells. We show that p53(-/-) cells have a deregulated intracellular signaling environment and display a more rapid and sustained response to IL-3. This was accompanied by an increase in active ERK1/2 and a dependence on an intact MAP kinase signaling pathway. Contrastingly, we find that p53(-/-) cells are independent on AKT for their survival. Thus, loss of p53 in myeloid cells results in an altered transcriptional and kinase signaling environment that favors enhanced cytokine signaling.
Subject(s)
Interleukin-3/metabolism , Signal Transduction , Transcription, Genetic , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics , Animals , Cell Survival , MAP Kinase Signaling System , Mice , Myeloid Cells/cytology , Myeloid Cells/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/deficiencyABSTRACT
A normalized subtracted gene expression library was generated from freshly isolated mouse dendritic cells (DC) of all subtypes, then used to construct cDNA microarrays. The gene expression profiles of the three splenic conventional DC (cDC) subsets were compared by microarray hybridization and two genes encoding signal regulatory protein beta (Sirpbeta1 and Sirpbeta4) molecules were identified as differentially expressed in CD8(-) cDC. Genomic sequence analysis revealed a third Sirpbeta member localized in the same gene cluster. These Sirpbeta genes encode cell surface molecules containing extracellular Ig domains and short intracytoplasmic domains that have a charged amino acid in the transmembrane region which can potentially interact with ITAM-bearing molecules to mediate signaling. Indeed, we demonstrated interactions between Sirpbeta1 and beta2 with the ITAM-bearing signaling molecule Dap12. Real-time PCR analysis showed that all three Sirpbeta genes were expressed by CD8(-) cDC, but not by CD8(+) cDC or plasmacytoid pre-DC. The related Sirpalpha gene showed a similar expression profile on cDC subtypes but was also expressed by plasmacytoid pre-DC. The differential expression of Sirpalpha and Sirpbeta1 molecules on DC was confirmed by staining with mAbs, including a new mAb recognizing Sirpbeta1. Cross-linking of Sirpbeta1 on DC resulted in a reduction in phagocytosis of Leishmania major parasites, but did not affect phagocytosis of latex beads, perhaps indicating that the regulation of phagocytosis by Sirpbeta1 is a ligand-dependent interaction. Thus, we postulate that the differential expression of these molecules may confer the ability to regulate the phagocytosis of particular ligands to CD8(-) cDC.