Neutralizing Antibodies against Plasmodium falciparum Associated with Successful Cure after Drug Therapy.

An effective antibody response can assist drug treatment to contribute to better parasite clearance in malaria patients. To examine this, sera were obtained from two groups of adult patients with acute falciparum malaria, prior to drug treatment: patients who (1) have subsequent recrudescent infection, or (2) were cured by Day 28 following treatment. Using a Plasmodium falciparum antigen library, we examined the antibody specificities in these sera. While the antibody repertoire of both sera groups was extremely broad and varied, there was a differential antibody profile between the two groups of sera. The proportion of cured patients with antibodies against EXP1, MSP3, GLURP, RAMA, SEA and EBA181 was higher than the proportion of patients with recrudescent infection. The presence of these antibodies was associated with higher odds of treatment cure. Sera containing all six antibodies impaired the invasion of P. falciparum clinical isolates into erythrocytes. These results suggest that antibodies specific against EXP1, MSP3, GLURP, RAMA, SEA and EBA181 in P. falciparum infections could assist anti-malarial drug treatment and contribute to the resolution of the malarial infection.

Breadth of humoral response and antigenic targets of sporozoite-inhibitory antibodies associated with sterile protection induced by controlled human malaria infection.

The development of an effective malaria vaccine has remained elusive even until today. This is because of our incomplete understanding of the immune mechanisms that confer and/or correlate with protection. Human volunteers have been protected experimentally from a subsequent challenge by immunization with Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites under drug cover. Here, we demonstrate that sera from the protected individuals contain neutralizing antibodies against the pre-erythrocytic stage. To identify the antigen(s) recognized by these antibodies, a newly developed library of P. falciparum antigens was screened with the neutralizing sera. Antibodies from protected individuals recognized a broad antigenic repertoire of which three antigens, PfMAEBL, PfTRAP and PfSEA1 were recognized by most protected individuals. As a proof of principle, we demonstrated that anti-PfMAEBL antibodies block liver stage development in human hepatocytes. Thus, these antigens identified are promising targets for vaccine development against malaria.

Rodent Plasmodium-infected red blood cells: imaging their fates and interactions within their hosts.

Malaria, a disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite, remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases known to mankind. The parasite has a complex life cycle, of which only the erythrocytic stage is responsible for the diverse pathologies induced during infection. To date, the disease mechanisms that underlie these pathologies are still poorly understood. In the case of infections caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for most malaria related deaths, pathogenesis is thought to be due to the sequestration of infected red blood cells (IRBCs) in deep tissues. Other human and rodent malaria parasite species are also known to exhibit sequestration. Here, we review the different techniques that allow researchers to study how rodent malaria parasites modify their host cells, the distribution of IRBCs in vivo as well as the interactions between IRBCs and host tissues.

Dendritic cells and the malaria pre-erythrocytic stage.

Malaria remains one of the main infectious diseases in intertropical regions. The malaria parasite has a complex life cycle in its mammalian host, switching between variable forms as it traverses through different tissues and anatomic locations, either intra- or intercellularly. During its journey, the parasite encounters and interacts with the host immune system, which functions to prevent infections and limit ensuing pathologies. One important component of the host immune system is the dendritic cells (DC) network. DC form a heterogeneous group of pathogen-sensing and antigen-presenting cells that play a crucial role in the initiation of adaptive immunity. Here, we review the known and unknown interactions between the malaria parasites and the DC system, starting from the inoculation of the parasite in the skin up to its exit from the liver, also known as the pre-erythrocytic stage of the infection, and discuss how deciphering these interactions may contribute to our understanding of the Plasmodium parasite biology as well as to the induction of immune protection via vaccination.

Elevated AIM2-mediated pyroptosis triggered by hypercytotoxic Francisella mutant strains is attributed to increased intracellular bacteriolysis.

Intracellular bacterial pathogens Francisella novicida and the Live Vaccine Strain (LVS) are recognized in the macrophage cytosol by the AIM2 inflammasome, which leads to the activation of caspase-1 and the processing and secretion of active IL-1ß, IL-18 and pyroptosis. Previous studies have reported that F. novicida and LVS mutants in specific genes (e.g. FTT0584, mviN and ripA) induce elevated inflammasome activation and hypercytotoxicity in host cells, leading to the proposal that F. novicida and LVS may have proteins that actively modulate inflammasome activation. However, there has been no direct evidence of such inflammasome evasion mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the above mutants, along with a wide range of F. novicida hypercytotoxic mutants that are deficient for membrane-associated proteins (ΔFTT0584, ΔmviN, ΔripA, ΔfopA and ΔFTN1217) or deficient for genes involved in O-antigen or LPS biosynthesis (ΔwbtA and ΔlpxH) lyse more intracellularly, thus activating increased levels of AIM2-dependent pyroptosis and other innate immune signalling pathways. This suggests that an inflammasome-specific evasion mechanism may not be present in F. novicida and LVS. Furthermore, future studies may need to consider increased bacterial lysis as a possible cause of elevated stimulation of multiple innate immune pathways when the protein composition or surface carbohydrates of the bacterial membrane is altered.

Francisella tularensis Schu S4 O-antigen and capsule biosynthesis gene mutants induce early cell death in human macrophages.

Francisella tularensis is capable of rampant intracellular growth and causes a potentially fatal disease in humans. Whereas many mutational studies have been performed with avirulent strains of Francisella, relatively little has been done with strains that cause human disease. We generated a near-saturating transposon library in the virulent strain Schu S4, which was subjected to high-throughput screening by transposon site hybridization through primary human macrophages, negatively selecting 202 genes. Of special note were genes in a locus of the Francisella chromosome, FTT1236, FTT1237, and FTT1238. Mutants with mutations in these genes demonstrated significant sensitivity to complement-mediated lysis compared with wild-type Schu S4 and exhibited marked defects in O-antigen and capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis. In the absence of complement, these mutants were phagocytosed more efficiently by macrophages than wild-type Schu S4 and were capable of phagosomal escape but exhibited reduced intracellular growth. Microscopic and quantitative analyses of macrophages infected with mutant bacteria revealed that these macrophages exhibited signs of cell death much earlier than those infected with Schu S4. These data suggest that FTT1236, FTT1237, and FTT1238 are important for polysaccharide biosynthesis and that the Francisella O antigen, capsule, or both are important for avoiding the early induction of macrophage death and the destruction of the replicative niche.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 is a lung-specific innate immune defense mechanism that inhibits growth of Francisella tularensis tryptophan auxotrophs.

Upon microbial challenge, organs at various anatomic sites of the body employ different innate immune mechanisms to defend against potential infections. Accordingly, microbial pathogens evolved to subvert these organ-specific host immune mechanisms to survive and grow in infected organs. Francisella tularensis is a bacterium capable of infecting multiple organs and thus encounters a myriad of organ-specific defense mechanisms. This suggests that F. tularensis may possess specific factors that aid in evasion of these innate immune defenses. We carried out a microarray-based, negative-selection screen in an intranasal model of Francisella novicida infection to identify Francisella genes that contribute to bacterial growth specifically in the lungs of mice. Genes in the bacterial tryptophan biosynthetic pathway were identified as being important for F. novicida growth specifically in the lungs. In addition, a host tryptophan-catabolizing enzyme, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), is induced specifically in the lungs of mice infected with F. novicida or Streptococcus pneumoniae. Furthermore, the attenuation of F. novicida tryptophan mutant bacteria was rescued in the lungs of IDO1(-/-) mice. IDO1 is a lung-specific innate immune mechanism that controls pulmonary Francisella infections.

Type I IFN signaling constrains IL-17A/F secretion by gammadelta T cells during bacterial infections.

Recognition of intracellular bacteria by macrophages leads to secretion of type I IFNs. However, the role of type I IFN during bacterial infection is still poorly understood. Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia, is a pathogenic bacterium that replicates in the cytosol of macrophages leading to secretion of type I IFN. In this study, we investigated the role of type I IFNs in a mouse model of tularemia. Mice deficient for type I IFN receptor (IFNAR1(-/-)) are more resistant to intradermal infection with F. tularensis subspecies novicida (F. novicida). Increased resistance to infection was associated with a specific increase in IL-17A/F and a corresponding expansion of an IL-17A(+) gammadelta T cell population, indicating that type I IFNs negatively regulate the number of IL-17A(+) gammadelta T cells during infection. Furthermore, IL-17A-deficient mice contained fewer neutrophils compared with wild-type mice during infection, indicating that IL-17A contributes to neutrophil expansion during F. novicida infection. Accordingly, an increase in IL-17A in IFNAR1(-/-) mice correlated with an increase in splenic neutrophil numbers. Similar results were obtained in a mouse model of pneumonic tularemia using the highly virulent F. tularensis subspecies tularensis SchuS4 strain and in a mouse model of systemic Listeria monocytogenes infection. Our results indicate that the type I IFN-mediated negative regulation of IL-17A(+) gammadelta T cell expansion is conserved during bacterial infections. We propose that this newly described activity of type I IFN signaling might participate in the resistance of the IFNAR1(-/-) mice to infection with F. novicida and other intracellular bacteria.

The Salmonella SPI2 effector SseI mediates long-term systemic infection by modulating host cell migration.

Host-adapted strains of Salmonella enterica cause systemic infections and have the ability to persist systemically for long periods of time despite the presence of a robust immune response. Chronically infected hosts are asymptomatic and transmit disease to naïve hosts via fecal shedding of bacteria, thereby serving as a critical reservoir for disease. We show that the bacterial effector protein SseI (also called SrfH), which is translocated into host cells by the Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 2 (SPI2) type III secretion system (T3SS), is required for Salmonella typhimurium to maintain a long-term chronic systemic infection in mice. SseI inhibits normal cell migration of primary macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) in vitro, and such inhibition requires the host factor IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein 1 (IQGAP1), an important regulator of cell migration. SseI binds directly to IQGAP1 and co-localizes with this factor at the cell periphery. The C-terminal domain of SseI is similar to PMT/ToxA, a bacterial toxin that contains a cysteine residue (C1165) that is critical for activity. Mutation of the corresponding residue in SseI (C178A) eliminates SseI function in vitro and in vivo, but not binding to IQGAP1. In addition, infection with wild-type (WT) S. typhimurium suppressed DC migration to the spleen in vivo in an SseI-dependent manner. Correspondingly, examination of spleens from mice infected with WT S. typhimurium revealed fewer DC and CD4(+) T lymphocytes compared to mice infected with Delta sseI S. typhimurium. Taken together, our results demonstrate that SseI inhibits normal host cell migration, which ultimately counteracts the ability of the host to clear systemic bacteria.

Genetic alterations in the tyrosine kinase transcriptome of human cancer cell lines.

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) play a critical role in the manifestation of cancer cell properties, and respective signaling mechanisms have been studied extensively on immortalized tumor cells. To characterize and analyze commonly used cancer cell lines with regard to variations in the primary structure of all expressed PTKs, we conducted a cDNA-based sequence analysis of the entire tyrosine kinase transcriptome of 254 established tumor cell lines. The profiles of cell line intrinsic PTK transcript alterations and the evaluation of 155 identified polymorphisms and 234 somatic mutations are made available in a database designated "Tykiva" (tyrosine kinome variant). Tissue distribution analysis and/or the localization within defined protein domains indicate functional relevance of several genetic alterations. The cysteine replacement of the highly conserved Y367 residue in fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 or the Q26X nonsense mutation in the tumor-suppressor kinase CSK are examples, and may contribute to cell line-specific signaling characteristics and tumor progression. Moreover, known variants, such as epidermal growth factor receptor G719S, that were shown to mediate anticancer drug sensitivity could be detected in other than the previously reported tumor types. Our data therefore provide extensive system information for the design and interpretation of cell line-based cancer research, and may stimulate further investigations into broader clinical applications of current cancer therapeutics.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene promoter polymorphisms in chronic schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in cytokine levels in patients with schizophrenia have been documented. Polymorphisms in these cytokine genes are thus potential genetic markers for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate four biallelic polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) gene promoter in relation to susceptibility to schizophrenia. METHODS: Three hundred two patients and 152 control subjects were genotyped and frequencies of genotypes and alleles were compared for the -1031T/C, -863C/A, -857C/T, and -308G/A polymorphisms. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared between controls and patients. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequencies for the -308 polymorphism (p <.001). Genotype distribution and allele frequencies of the other three polymorphisms were not different between patients and reference controls. CONCLUSIONS: The -308 polymorphism or another genetic variant in linkage disequilibrium with it could be a susceptibility factor for chronic schizophrenia.