The human immune system recognizes neopeptides derived from mitochondrial DNA deletions.

Mutations in mitochondrial (mt) DNA accumulate with age and can result in the generation of neopeptides. Immune surveillance of such neopeptides may allow suboptimal mitochondria to be eliminated, thereby avoiding mt-related diseases, but may also contribute to autoimmunity in susceptible individuals. To date, the direct recognition of neo-mtpeptides by the adaptive immune system has not been demonstrated. In this study we used bioinformatics approaches to predict MHC binding of neopeptides identified from known deletions in mtDNA. Six such peptides were confirmed experimentally to bind to HLA-A*02. Pre-existing human CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from healthy donors were shown to recognize and respond to these neopeptides. One remarkably promiscuous immunodominant peptide (P9) could be presented by diverse MHC molecules to CD4(+) and/or CD8(+) T cells from 75% of the healthy donors tested. The common soil microbe, Bacillus pumilus, encodes a 9-mer that differs by one amino acid from P9. Similarly, the ATP synthase F0 subunit 6 from normal human mitochondria encodes a 9-mer with a single amino acid difference from P9 with 89% homology to P9. T cells expanded from human PBMCs using the B. pumilus or self-mt peptide bound to P9/HLA-A2 tetramers, arguing for cross-reactivity between T cells with specificity for self and foreign homologs of the altered mt peptide. These findings provide proof of principal that the immune system can recognize peptides arising from spontaneous somatic mutations and that such responses might be primed by foreign peptides and/or be cross-reactive with self.

Influenza H3N2 variant viruses with pandemic potential: preventing catastrophe in remote and isolated Canadian communities.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of age-specific cross-reactive antibody protection levels on the outcomes of a pandemic outbreak of new variants of H3N2 influenza A viruses (H3N2v). METHODS: We calibrated a previously validated agent-based model of human-to-human transmission of influenza viruses to project the outcomes of various protection levels in a remote and isolated Canadian community, when demographics are drawn from the Statistics Canada census data. We then compared the outcomes with a scenario in which demographic variables were shifted to resemble an urban structure. This comparative evaluation was conducted using in-silico computer simulations, where the epidemiological data were drawn from relevant estimates in published literature. RESULTS: Simulations, using estimates of transmissibility for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain in the study population, show that the epidemic size is primarily affected by the cross-reactive protection levels of young children. A lower number of secondary infections at the early stages of an outbreak does not necessarily correspond to a lower epidemic size. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic variables could play a significant role in determining the outcomes of an outbreak. The findings strongly suggest that, when an H3N2v-specific vaccine becomes available, children below the age of 17 should be prioritized for vaccination. This prioritization is essential in population settings with a low average age, including aboriginal communities in northern latitudes.

T cell memory to evolutionarily conserved and shared hemagglutinin epitopes of H1N1 viruses: a pilot scale study.

BACKGROUND: The 2009 pandemic influenza was milder than expected. Based on the apparent lack of pre-existing cross-protective antibodies to the A (H1N1)pdm09 strain, it was hypothesized that pre-existing CD4+ T cellular immunity provided the crucial immunity that led to an attenuation of disease severity. We carried out a pilot scale study by conducting in silico and in vitro T cellular assays in healthy population, to evaluate the pre-existing immunity to A (H1N1)pdm09 strain. METHODS: Large-scale epitope prediction analysis was done by examining the NCBI available (H1N1) HA proteins. NetMHCIIpan, an eptiope prediction tool was used to identify the putative and shared CD4+ T cell epitopes between seasonal H1N1 and A (H1N1)pdm09 strains. To identify the immunogenicity of these putative epitopes, human IFN-γ-ELISPOT assays were conducted using the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from fourteen healthy human donors. All donors were screened for the HLA-DRB1 alleles. RESULTS: Epitope-specific CD4+ T cellular memory responses (IFN-γ) were generated to highly conserved HA epitopes from majority of the donors (93%). Higher magnitude of the CD4+ T cell responses was observed in the older adults. The study identified two HA2 immunodominant CD4+ T cell epitopes, of which one was found to be novel. CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides a compelling evidence of HA epitope specific CD4+ T cellular memory towards A (H1N1)pdm09 strain. These well-characterized epitopes could recruit alternative immunological pathways to overcome the challenge of annual seasonal flu vaccine escape.

Stabilised DNA secondary structures with increasing transcription localise hypermutable bases for somatic hypermutation in IGHV3-23.

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) mediated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is a transcription-coupled mechanism most responsible for generating high affinity antibodies. An issue remaining enigmatic in SHM is how AID is preferentially targeted during transcription to hypermutable bases in its substrates (WRC motifs) on both DNA strands. AID targets only single stranded DNA. By modelling the dynamical behaviour of IGHV3-23 DNA, a commonly used human variable gene segment, we observed that hypermutable bases on the non-transcribed strand are paired whereas those on transcribed strand are mostly unpaired. Hypermutable bases (both paired and unpaired) are made accessible to AID in stabilised secondary structures formed with increasing transcription levels. This observation provides a rationale for the hypermutable bases on both the strands of DNA being targeted to a similar extent despite having differences in unpairedness. We propose that increasing transcription and RNAP II stalling resulting in the formation and stabilisation of stem-loop structures with AID hotspots in negatively supercoiled region can localise the hypermutable bases of both strands of DNA, to AID-mediated SHM.

The role of cellular immunity in influenza H1N1 population dynamics.

BACKGROUND: Pre-existing cellular immunity has been recognized as one of the key factors in determining the outcome of influenza infection by reducing the likelihood of clinical disease and mitigates illness. Whether, and to what extent, the effect of this self-protective mechanism can be captured in the population dynamics of an influenza epidemic has not been addressed. METHODS: We applied previous findings regarding T-cell cross-reactivity between the 2009 pandemic H1N1 strain and seasonal H1N1 strains to investigate the possible changes in the magnitude and peak time of the epidemic. Continuous Monte-Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) model was employed to simulate the role of pre-existing immunity on the dynamical behavior of epidemic peak. RESULTS: From the MCMC model simulations, we observed that, as the size of subpopulation with partially effective pre-existing immunity increases, the mean magnitude of the epidemic peak decreases, while the mean time to reach the peak increases. However, the corresponding ranges of these variations are relatively small. CONCLUSIONS: Our study concludes that the effective role of pre-existing immunity in alleviating disease outcomes (e.g., hospitalization) of novel influenza virus remains largely undetectable in population dynamics of an epidemic. The model outcome suggests that rapid clinical investigations on T-cell assays remain crucial for determining the protection level conferred by pre-existing cellular responses in the face of an emerging influenza virus.

Altered spectrum of somatic hypermutation in common variable immunodeficiency disease characteristic of defective repair of mutations.

Pathogenic common variable immunodeficiency diseases (CVID) are genetic, usually inherited diseases for which a limited number of genetic defects have been implicated. As CVID presents with a wide range of clinical characteristics, there are likely diverse and for the most part unidentified genetic causes. In some individuals, defects in somatic hypermutation (SHM) have been suggested as the underlying cause of CVID. To address the mechanisms of SHM defects in CVID, we conducted a comprehensive mutational analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain sequences from CVID patients. We identified several remarkably specific alterations in the spectra of SHM in comparison to healthy individuals. We provide evidence that some CVID cases are associated with defective repair of AID-induced mutations by the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) machinery. Our findings together with reports of increased chromosomal radiosensitivity and associated lymphoproliferative disorders amongst CVID patients, suggest that altered DNA damage repair may be a cause of CVID.

Regulatory mechanisms in the differential expression of Hemokinin-1.

Hemokinin-1, encoded by the TAC4 gene, is the most recent addition to the tachykinin family. Although most closely related to the neuropeptide Substance P, Hemokinin-1 distinguishes itself from other tachykinins by its predominantly non-neuronal expression pattern. Its expression in T and B lymphocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells points to an important role for Hemokinin-1 in the immune system. To seek reasons for its preferential expression in the immune system and ultimately to provide clues to its function, we investigated the molecular mechanisms driving the differential expression pattern of this unique tachykinin. Our study provides the first analysis of the promoter region of the TAC4 gene, which reveals regulatory mechanism different from the Substance P promoter. We demonstrate for the first time that Hemokinin-1 initiates transcription from multiple start sites through a TATA-less promoter. Conservation of the 5' non-coding region indicates the importance of the upstream regulatory region in directing expression of Hemokinin-1 in specific cell types, during cell differentiation and activation. Furthermore, NFkappaB, a transcription factor important in the activation of immune cells was shown to be involved in promoting increased TAC4 transcription during PMA induction of a T cell line. Our studies reveal that Hemokinin-1 is regulated by a unique transcription regulation system that likely governs its differential expression pattern and suggests a role for Hemokinin-1 distinct from Substance P.

A genetic approach to quantifying human in vivo mutation frequency uncovers transcription level effects.

Much attention has been paid to polymorphisms, germline mutations, copy number variations and other inherited forms of genetic disparity among individuals. Less attention, except in the area of tumor formation, has been given to somatic changes to the genome -- changes which have the potential to affect all areas of human health. Discussions of somatic mutations in disease must begin with an understanding of the underlying spontaneous mutation rate/frequency. Previous assays of spontaneous mutant frequency relied on peptide display or function -- a selective step that limits the type of mutations detected. In order to obtain mutation frequencies through unbiased means we used a purely genetic approach to quantitate spontaneous in vivo mutant frequency from human blood cells. Using the constitutively expressed, essential gene Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) we found mutational frequencies on the order of one mutation per kilobasepair. This is 10-1000x higher than previously reported spontaneous mutant frequencies which depended on a selective step. Our genomic based methods also revealed a role for transcription levels in somatic mutation generation and/or accumulation.

RAG1/2 re-expression causes receptor revision in a model B cell line.

The expression of RAG1 and RAG2 is essential for V(D)J rearrangement of the immunoglobulin (Ig) locus in developing B cells. In mature B cells further V(D)J rearrangement is suppressed and RAG1/2 proteins decline to undetectable levels. However, there is evidence that mature B cells in the periphery may re-express RAG1/2. In humans evidence of RAG1/2 re-expression is often linked with an autoimmune state, indicating that further understanding of re-expression may be crucial to understanding immune disorders. We have investigated the molecular consequences of RAG1/2 expression in mature lymphocytes using a cell culture system (M12 and DR3). M12 (IgG+, Igkappa+ and RAG-) is a mouse B cell lymphoma. DR3 is a RAG1+/RAG2+ line derived from M12 by introduction of stable plasmids carrying RAG1 and RAG2 cDNAs. RAG1/2 mediated receptor revision occurs in the DR3 line, as evidenced by both the deletion of the endogenous rearranged Igkappa gene segment (present in the parent M12 lines) and the presence of a new Iglambda rearrangement. Gene expression profiles obtained through microarray analysis and RT-PCR found differences in expression levels between the two lines for: fibronectin, lysyl oxidase, TAP2, B220, Igkappa, TIS11B, HMG2 and DNAPKcs. Thus, the expression of RAG1/2 in a previously RAG- cell line results in multiple changes to the gene expression profile as well as receptor revision. The significance of the changes found in this model of RAG re-expression is discussed.

Targeted expression of a human pituitary tumor-derived isoform of FGF receptor-4 recapitulates pituitary tumorigenesis.

It is estimated that up to one in five individuals develop pituitary gland tumors. Despite the common occurrence of these tumors, the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying their development remain largely unknown. We report the identification of a novel pituitary tumor-derived, N-terminally truncated isoform of FGF receptor-4 (ptd-FGFR4). The corresponding mRNA results from alternative transcription initiation and encodes a polypeptide that lacks a signal peptide and the first two extracellular Ig-like domains. ptd-FGFR4 has a distinctive cytoplasmic residence, is constitutively phosphorylated, and is transforming in vitro and in vivo. Here we show that targeted expression of ptd-FGFR4, but not FGFR4, results in pituitary tumors that morphologically recapitulate the human disease.

Lack of MSH2 involvement differentiates V(D)J recombination from other non-homologous end joining events.

V(D)J recombination and class switch recombination are the two DNA rearrangement events used to diversify the mouse and human antibody repertoires. While their double strand breaks (DSBs) are initiated by different mechanisms, both processes use non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in the repair phase. DNA mismatch repair elements (MSH2/MSH6) have been implicated in the repair of class switch junctions as well as other DNA DSBs that proceed through NHEJ. MSH2 has also been implicated in the regulation of factors such as ATM and the MRN (Mre11, Rad50, Nbs1) complex, which are involved in V(D)J recombination. These findings led us to examine the role of MSH2 in V(D)J repair. Using MSH2-/- and MSH2+/+ mice and cell lines, we show here that all pathways involving MSH2 are dispensable for the generation of an intact pre-immune repertoire by V(D)J recombination. In contrast to switch junctions and other DSBs, the usage of terminal homology in V(D)J junctions is not influenced by MSH2. Thus, whether the repair complex for V(D)J recombination is of a canonical NHEJ type or a separate microhomology-mediated-end joining (MMEJ) type, it does not involve MSH2. This highlights a distinction between the repair of V(D)J recombination and other NHEJ reactions.

The recombination difference between mouse kappa and lambda segments is mediated by a pair-wise regulation mechanism.

In mice, kappa light chains dominate over lambda in the immunoglobulin repertoire by as much as 20-fold. Although a major contributor to this difference is the recombination signal sequences (RSS), the mechanism by which RSS cause differential representation has not been determined. To elucidate the mechanism, we tested kappa and lambda RSS flanked by their natural 5' and 3' flanks in three systems that monitor V(D)J recombination. Using extra-chromosomal recombination substrates, we established that a kappa RSS and its flanks support six- to nine-fold higher levels of recombination than a lambda counterpart. In vitro cleavage assays with these same sequences demonstrated that single cleavage at individual kappa or lambda RSS (plus flanks) occurs with comparable frequencies, but that a pair of kappa RSS (plus flanks) support significantly higher levels of double cleavage than a pair of lambda RSS (plus flanks). Using EMSA with double stranded oligonucleotides containing the same kappa or lambda RSS and their respective flanks, we examined RAG/DNA complex formation. We report that, surprisingly, RAG-1/2 form only modestly higher levels of complexes on individual 12 and 23 kappa RSS (plus natural flanks) as compared to their lambda counterparts. We conclude that the overuse of kappa compared to lambda segments cannot be accounted for by differences in RAG-1/2 binding nor by cleavage at individual RSS but rather could be accounted for by enhanced pair-wise cleavage of kappa RSS by RAG-1/2. Based on the data presented, we suggest that the biased usage of light chain segments is imposed at the level of synaptic RSS pairs.

Preexisting CD4+ T-cell immunity in human population to avian influenza H7N9 virus: whole proteome-wide immunoinformatics analyses.

In 2013, a novel avian influenza H7N9 virus was identified in human in China. The antigenically distinct H7N9 surface glycoproteins raised concerns about lack of cross-protective neutralizing antibodies. Epitope-specific preexisting T-cell immunity was one of the protective mechanisms in pandemic 2009 H1N1 even in the absence of cross-protective antibodies. Hence, the assessment of preexisting CD4+ T-cell immunity to conserved epitopes shared between H7N9 and human influenza A viruses (IAV) is critical. A comparative whole proteome-wide immunoinformatics analysis was performed to predict the CD4+ T-cell epitopes that are commonly conserved within the proteome of H7N9 in reference to IAV subtypes (H1N1, H2N2, and H3N2). The CD4+ T-cell epitopes that are commonly conserved (∼ 556) were further screened against the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) to validate their immunogenic potential. This analysis revealed that 45.5% (253 of 556) epitopes are experimentally proven to induce CD4+ T-cell memory responses. In addition, we also found that 23.3% of CD4+ T-cell epitopes have ≥ 90% of sequence homology with experimentally defined CD8+ T-cell epitopes. We also conducted the population coverage analysis across different ethnicities using commonly conserved CD4+ T-cell epitopes and corresponding HLA-DRB1 alleles. Interestingly, the indigenous populations from Canada, United States, Mexico and Australia exhibited low coverage (28.65% to 45.62%) when compared with other ethnicities (57.77% to 94.84%). In summary, the present analysis demonstrate an evidence on the likely presence of preexisting T-cell immunity in human population and also shed light to understand the potential risk of H7N9 virus among indigenous populations, given their high susceptibility during previous pandemic influenza events. This information is crucial for public health policy, in targeting priority groups for immunization programs.

Experimental evidence that mutated-self peptides derived from mitochondrial DNA somatic mutations have the potential to trigger autoimmunity.

Autoimmune disease is a critical health concern, whose etiology remains enigmatic. We hypothesized that immune responses to somatically mutated self proteins could have a role in the development of autoimmune disease. IFN-γ secretion by T cells stimulated with mitochondrial peptides encoded by published mitochondrial DNA was monitored to test the hypothesis. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy controls and autoimmune patients were assessed for their responses to the self peptides and mutated-self peptides differing from self by one amino acid. None of the self peptides but some of the mutated-self peptides elicited an immune response in healthy controls. In some autoimmune patients, PBMCs responded not only to some of the mutated-self peptides, but also to some of the self peptides, suggesting that there is a breach of self-tolerance in these patients. Although PBMCs from healthy controls failed to respond to self peptides when stimulated with self, the mutated-self peptide could elicit a response to the self peptide upon re-stimulation in vitro, suggesting that priming with mutated-self peptides elicits a cross-reactive response with self. The data raise the possibility that DNA somatic mutations are one of the events that trigger and/or sustain T cell responses in autoimmune diseases.

Gene Conversion-Like Events in the Diversification of Human Rearranged IGHV3-23*01 Gene Sequences.

Gene conversion (GCV), a mechanism mediated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is well established as a mechanism of immunoglobulin diversification in a few species. However, definitive evidence of GCV-like events in human immunoglobulin genes is scarce. The lack of evidence of GCV in human rearranged immunoglobulin gene sequences is puzzling given the presence of highly similar germline donors and the presence of all the enzymatic machinery required for GCV. In this study, we undertook a computational analysis of rearranged IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequences from common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients, AID-deficient patients, and healthy individuals to survey "GCV-like" activities. We analyzed rearranged IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequences obtained from total PBMC RNA and single-cell polymerase chain reaction of individual B cell lysates. Our search identified strong evidence of GCV-like activity. We observed that GCV-like tracts are flanked by AID hotspot motifs. Structural modeling of IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequence revealed that hypermutable bases flanking GCV-like tracts are in the single stranded DNA (ssDNA) of stable stem-loop structures (SLSs). ssDNA is inherently fragile and also an optimal target for AID. We speculate that GCV could have been initiated by the targeting of hypermutable bases in ssDNA state in stable SLSs, plausibly by AID. We have observed that the frequency of GCV-like events is significantly higher in rearranged IGHV3-23-(*)01 sequences from healthy individuals compared to that of CVID patients. We did not observe GCV-like events in rearranged IGHV3-23-(*)01 sequences from AID-deficient patients. GCV, unlike somatic hypermutation (SHM), can result in multiple base substitutions that can alter many amino acids. The extensive changes in antibody affinity by GCV-like events would be instrumental in protecting humans against pathogens that diversify their genome by antigenic shift.

Early B-cell factor regulates the expression of Hemokinin-1 in the olfactory epithelium and differentiating B lymphocytes.

Hemokinin-1, encoded by the TAC4 gene, is a tachykinin most closely related to substance P. Previous studies have shown that TAC4 distinguishes itself from other tachykinins by its predominantly non-neuronal expression profile, particularly in cells of the immune system. Here we report for the first time that the highest levels of TAC4 expression are found in the olfactory epithelium. Furthermore, we identify olfactory neuron-specific transcription factor (Olf-1), also known as early B-cell factor (EBF), as a novel regulator of TAC4 expression. EBF present in the olfactory epithelium and in B cells binds to two sites in the TAC4 promoter and modulates expression in developing B cells. Our findings suggest a role for TAC4 in cell differentiation, and represent a regulatory bridge between the nervous system and the immune system.

A novel interpretation of structural dot plots of genomes derived from the analysis of two strains of Neisseria meningitidis.

Neisseria meningitidis is the agent of invasive meningococcal disease, including cerebral meningitis and septicemia. Because the diseases caused by different clonal groups (sequence types) have their own epidemiological characteristics, it is important to understand the differences among the genomes of the N. meningitidis clonal groups. To this end, a novel interpretation of a structural dot plot of genomes was devised and applied; exact nucleotide matches between the genomes of N. meningitidis serogroup A strain Z2491 and serogroup B strain MC58 were identified, leading to the specification of various structural regions. Known and putative virulence genes for each N. meningitidis strain were then classified into these regions. We found that virulence genes of MC58 tend more to the translocated regions (chromosomal segments in new sequence contexts) than do those of Z2491, notably tending towards the interface between one of the translocated regions and the collinear region. Within the col-linear region, virulence genes tend to occur within 16 kb of gaps in the exact matches. Verification of these tendencies using genes clustered in the cps locus was sufficiently supportive to suggest that these tendencies can be used to focus the search for and understanding of virulence genes and mechanisms of pathogenicity in these two organisms.

Highly conserved cross-reactive CD4+ T-cell HA-epitopes of seasonal and the 2009 pandemic influenza viruses.

BACKGROUND: The relatively mild nature of the 2009 influenza pandemic (nH1N1) highlights the overriding importance of pre-existing immune memory. The absence of cross-reactive antibodies to nH1N1 in most individuals suggests that such attenuation may be attributed to pre-existing cellular immune responses to epitopes shared between nH1N1 virus and previously circulating strains of inter-pandemic influenza A viruses. RESULTS: We sought to identify potential CD4+ T cell epitopes and predict the level of cross-reactivity of responding T cells. By performing large-scale major histocompatibility complex II analyses on Hemagglutinin (HA) proteins, we investigated the degree of T-cell cross-reactivity between seasonal influenza A (sH1N1, H3N2) from 1968 to 2009 and nH1N1 strains. Each epitope was examined against all the protein sequences that correspond to sH1N1, H3N2, and nH1N1. T-cell cross-reactivity was estimated to be 52%, and maximum conservancy was found between sH1N1 and nH1N1 with a significant correlation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Given the importance of cellular responses in kinetics of influenza infection in humans, our findings underscore the role of T-cell assays for understanding the inter-pandemic variability in severity and for planning treatment methods for emerging influenza viruses.

Role of positive selection pressure on the evolution of H5N1 hemagglutinin.

The surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) helps the influenza A virus to evade the host immune system by antigenic variation and is a major driving force for viral evolution. In this study, the selection pressure on HA of H5N1 influenza A virus was analyzed using bioinformatics algorithms. Most of the identified positive selection (PS) sites were found to be within or adjacent to epitope sites. Some of the identified PS sites are consistent with previous experimental studies, providing further support to the biological significance of our findings. The highest frequency of PS sites was observed in recent strains isolated during 2005-2007. Phylogenetic analysis was also conducted on HA sequences from various hosts. Viral drift is almost similar in both avian and human species with a progressive trend over the years. Our study reports new mutations in functional regions of HA that might provide markers for vaccine design or can be used to predict isolates of pandemic potential.