Antibiotic treatment-induced secondary IgA deficiency enhances susceptibility to Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics are widely used with patients in intensive care units (ICUs), many of whom develop hospital-acquired infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Although preceding antimicrobial therapy is known as a major risk factor for P. aeruginosa-induced pneumonia, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that depletion of the resident microbiota by broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment inhibited TLR-dependent production of a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), resulting in a secondary IgA deficiency in the lung in mice and human ICU patients. Microbiota-dependent local IgA contributed to early antibacterial defense against P. aeruginosa. Consequently, P. aeruginosa-binding IgA purified from lamina propria culture or IgA hybridomas enhanced resistance of antibiotic-treated mice to P. aeruginosa infection after transnasal substitute. Our study provides a mechanistic explanation for the well-documented risk of P. aeruginosa infection following antimicrobial therapy, and we propose local administration of IgA as a novel prophylactic strategy.

Discovery of herpesviruses in multi-infected primates using locked nucleic acids (LNA) and a bigenic PCR approach.

Targeting the highly conserved herpes DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene with PCR using panherpes degenerate primers is a powerful tool to universally detect unknown herpesviruses. However, vertebrate hosts are often infected with more than one herpesvirus in the same tissue, and pan-herpes DPOL PCR often favors the amplification of one viral sequence at the expense of the others. Here we present two different technical approaches that overcome this obstacle: (i) Pan-herpes DPOL PCR is carried out in the presence of an oligonucleotide substituted with locked nucleic acids (LNA).This suppresses the amplification of a specific herpesvirus DPOL sequence by a factor of approximately 1000, thereby enabling the amplification of a second, different DPOL sequence. (ii) The less conserved glycoprotein B (gB) gene is targeted with several sets of degenerate primers that are restricted to gB genes of different herpesvirus subfamilies or genera. These techniques enable the amplification of gB and DPOL sequences of multiple viruses from a single specimen. The partial gB and DPOL sequences can be connected by long-distance PCR, producing final contiguous sequences of approximately 3.5 kbp. Such sequences include parts of two genes and therefore allow for a robust phylogenetic analysis. To illustrate this principle, six novel herpesviruses of the genera Rhadinovirus, Lymphocryptovirus and Cytomegalovirus were discovered in multi-infected samples of non-human primates and phylogenetically characterized.

Novel mouse model to study T cell-dependent IgA induction in vivo.

Commensal microbiota at the mucosal surfaces controls multiple aspects of body homeostasis. Therefore, regulation of microflora composition by the host is crucial, and one of the mechanisms driving microbiota diversity is the production of large quantities of immunoglobulin A (IgA) at the mucosal surfaces. However, mechanisms of IgA induction in the gut are not completely understood. Here we further characterize a mouse model for studying T cell-dependent IgA production in the gut due to specific genetic ablation of LTß in RORγt+ cells. Using in utero blockade of the mesenteric lymph node development, we showed that IgA induction in these mice occurs directly in the LP. Furthermore, T cell-dependent IgA inducing mechanism in these mice generates distinct IgA plasma cells producing commensal microflora-binding IgA antibodies. Thus, this model represents a unique in vivo tool for the analysis of T cell-dependent IgA plasma cell generation and their antibody specificity.

Nonredundant function of soluble LTα3 produced by innate lymphoid cells in intestinal homeostasis.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) production at mucosal surfaces contributes to protection against pathogens and controls intestinal microbiota composition. However, mechanisms regulating IgA induction are not completely defined. We show that soluble lymphotoxin α (sLTα3) produced by RORγt(+) innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) controls T cell-dependent IgA induction in the lamina propria via regulation of T cell homing to the gut. By contrast, membrane-bound lymphotoxin ß (LTα1ß2) produced by RORγt(+) ILCs is critical for T cell-independent IgA induction in the lamina propria via control of dendritic cell functions. Ablation of LTα in RORγt(+) cells abrogated IgA production in the gut and altered microbiota composition. Thus, soluble and membrane-bound lymphotoxins produced by ILCs distinctly organize adaptive immune responses in the gut and control commensal microbiota composition.

An improved 'cold SSCP' method for the genotypic and subgenotypic characterization of Cryptosporidium.

A simple, non-isotopic PCR-based single-strand conformation polymorphism ('cold SSCP') method is described which allows the efficient detection of genetic variation among and within genotypes of Cryptosporidium parvum. This low cost approach has important advantages over other 'genotyping' methods and is applicable to a wide range of genetic loci and organisms.