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Item SDS Interferes with SaeS Signaling of Staphylococcus aureus Independently of SaePQ(Public Library of Science, 2013-08-20) Makgotlho, Phuti E.; Marincola, Gabriella; Schäfer, Daniel; Liu, Qian; Bae, Taeok; Geiger, Tobias; Wasserman, Elizabeth; Wolz, Christiane; Ziebuhr, Wilma; Sinha, Bhanu; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineThe Staphylococcus aureus regulatory saePQRS system controls the expression of numerous virulence factors, including extracellular adherence protein (Eap), which amongst others facilitates invasion of host cells. The saePQRS operon codes for 4 proteins: the histidine kinase SaeS, the response regulator SaeR, the lipoprotein SaeP and the transmembrane protein SaeQ. S. aureus strain Newman has a single amino acid substitution in the transmembrane domain of SaeS (L18P) which results in constitutive kinase activity. SDS was shown to be one of the signals interfering with SaeS activity leading to inhibition of the sae target gene eap in strains with SaeS(L) but causing activation in strains containing SaeS(P). Here, we analyzed the possible involvement of the SaeP protein and saePQ region in SDS-mediated sae/eap expression. We found that SaePQ is not needed for SDS-mediated SaeS signaling. Furthermore, we could show that SaeS activity is closely linked to the expression of Eap and the capacity to invade host cells in a number of clinical isolates. This suggests that SaeS activity might be directly modulated by structurally non-complex environmental signals, as SDS, which possibly altering its kinase/phosphatase activity.Item Coordination of bacterial proteome with metabolism by cyclic AMP signalling(Springer Nature, 2013) You, Conghui; Okano, Hiroyuki; Hui, Sheng; Zhang, Zhongge; Kim, Minsu; Gunderson, Carl W.; Wang, Yi-Ping; Lenz, Peter; Yan, Dalai; Hwa, Terence; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineThe cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent catabolite repression effect in Escherichia coli is among the most intensely studied regulatory processes in biology. However, the physiological function(s) of cAMP signalling and its molecular triggers remain elusive. Here we use a quantitative physiological approach to show that cAMP signalling tightly coordinates the expression of catabolic proteins with biosynthetic and ribosomal proteins, in accordance with the cellular metabolic needs during exponential growth. The expression of carbon catabolic genes increased linearly with decreasing growth rates upon limitation of carbon influx, but decreased linearly with decreasing growth rate upon limitation of nitrogen or sulphur influx. In contrast, the expression of biosynthetic genes showed the opposite linear growth-rate dependence as the catabolic genes. A coarse-grained mathematical model provides a quantitative framework for understanding and predicting gene expression responses to catabolic and anabolic limitations. A scheme of integral feedback control featuring the inhibition of cAMP signalling by metabolic precursors is proposed and validated. These results reveal a key physiological role of cAMP-dependent catabolite repression: to ensure that proteomic resources are spent on distinct metabolic sectors as needed in different nutrient environments. Our findings underscore the power of quantitative physiology in unravelling the underlying functions of complex molecular signalling networks.Item A Role for NADPH Oxidase in Antigen Presentation(Frontiers Media, 2013-09-23) Gardiner, Gail J.; Deffit, Sarah N.; McLetchie, Shawna; Pérez, Liliana; Walline, Crystal C.; Blum, Janice S.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineThe nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase expressed in phagocytes is a multi-subunit enzyme complex that generates superoxide (O2.−). This radical is an important precursor of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other reactive oxygen species needed for microbicidal activity during innate immune responses. Inherited defects in NADPH oxidase give rise to chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a primary immunodeficiency characterized by recurrent infections and granulomatous inflammation. Interestingly, CGD, CGD carrier status, and oxidase gene polymorphisms have all been associated with autoinflammatory and autoimmune disorders, suggesting a potential role for NADPH oxidase in regulating adaptive immune responses. Here, NADPH oxidase function in antigen processing and presentation is reviewed. NADPH oxidase influences dendritic cell (DC) crosspresentation by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules through regulation of the phagosomal microenvironment, while in B lymphocytes, NADPH oxidase alters epitope selection by major histocompatibility complex class II molecules.Item Inhibition of HCV Replication by Oxysterol-Binding Protein-Related Protein 4 (ORP4) through Interaction with HCV NS5B and Alteration of Lipid Droplet Formation(Public Library of Science, 2013-09-17) Park, In-Woo; Ndjomou, Jean; Wen, Yahong; Liu, Ziqing; Ridgway, Neale D.; Kao, C. Cheng; He, Johnny J.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineHepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication involves complex interactions among the 3'x RNA element within the HCV 3' untranslated region, viral and host proteins. However, many of the host proteins remain unknown. In this study, we devised an RNA affinity chromatography /2D/MASS proteomics strategy and identified nine putative 3' X-associated host proteins; among them is oxysterol-binding protein-related protein 4 (ORP4), a cytoplasmic receptor for oxysterols. We determined the relationship between ORP4 expression and HCV replication. A very low level of constitutive ORP4 expression was detected in hepatocytes. Ectopically expressed ORP4 was detected in the endoplasmic reticulum and inhibited luciferase reporter gene expression in HCV subgenomic replicon cells and HCV core expression in JFH-1-infected cells. Expression of ORP4S, an ORP4 variant that lacked the N-terminal pleckstrin-homology domain but contained the C-terminal oxysterol-binding domain also inhibited HCV replication, pointing to an important role of the oxysterol-binding domain in ORP4-mediated inhibition of HCV replication. ORP4 was found to associate with HCV NS5B and its expression led to inhibition of the NS5B activity. ORP4 expression had little effect on intracellular lipid synthesis and secretion, but it induced lipid droplet formation in the context of HCV replication. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ORP4 is a negative regulator of HCV replication, likely via interaction with HCV NS5B in the replication complex and regulation of intracellular lipid homeostasis. This work supports the important role of lipids and their metabolism in HCV replication and pathogenesis.Item Insights into the Role of Bcl6 in Follicular Helper T Cells Using a New Conditional Mutant Mouse Model(American Association of Immunologists, 2013) Hollister, Kristin; Kusam, Saritha; Wu, Hao; Clegg, Ninah; Mondal, Arpita; Sawant, Deepali V.; Dent, Alexander L.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineThe transcriptional repressor Bcl6 controls development of the follicular Th cell (T(FH)) lineage, but the precise mechanisms by which Bcl6 regulates this process are unclear. A model has been proposed whereby Bcl6 represses the differentiation of T cells into alternative effector lineages, thus favoring T(FH) cell differentiation. Analysis of T cell differentiation using Bcl6-deficient mice has been complicated by the strong proinflammatory phenotype of Bcl6-deficient myeloid cells. In this study, we report data from a novel mouse model where Bcl6 is conditionally deleted in T cells (Bcl6(fl/fl)Cre(CD4) mice). After immunization, programmed death -1 (PD-1)(high) T(FH) cells in Bcl6(fl/fl)Cre(CD4) mice are decreased >90% compared with control mice, and Ag-specific IgG is sharply reduced. Residual PD-1(high)CXCR5(+) T(FH) cells in Bcl6(fl/fl)Cre(CD4) mice show a significantly higher rate of apoptosis than do PD-1(high)CXCR5(+) T(FH) cells in control mice. Immunization of Bcl6(fl/fl)Cre(CD4) mice did not reveal enhanced differentiation into Th1, Th2, or Th17 lineages, although IL-10 expression by CD4 T cells was markedly elevated. Thus, T cell-extrinsic factors appear to promote the increased Th1, Th2, and Th17 responses in germline Bcl6-deficient mice. Furthermore, IL-10 may be a key target gene for Bcl6 in CD4 T cells, which enables Bcl6 to promote the T(FH) cell phenotype. Finally, our data reveal a novel mechanism for the role of Bcl6 in promoting T(FH) cell survival.Item Forming a Complex with MHC Class I Molecules Interferes with Mouse CD1d Functional Expression(Public Library of Science, 2013-08-29) Gourapura, Renukaradhya J.; Khan, Masood A.; Gallo, Richard M.; Shaji, Daniel; Liu, Jianyun; Brutkiewicz, Randy R.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineCD1d molecules are structurally similar to MHC class I, but present lipid antigens as opposed to peptides. Here, we show that MHC class I molecules physically associate with (and regulate the functional expression of) mouse CD1d on the surface of cells. Low pH (3.0) acid stripping of MHC class I molecules resulted in increased surface expression of murine CD1d on antigen presenting cells as well as augmented CD1d-mediated antigen presentation to NKT cells. Consistent with the above results, TAP1-/- mice were found to have a higher percentage of type I NKT cells as compared to wild type mice. Moreover, bone marrow-derived dendritic cells from TAP1-/- mice showed increased antigen presentation by CD1d compared to wild type mice. Together, these results suggest that MHC class I molecules can regulate NKT cell function, in part, by masking CD1d.Item Increased mobilization and yield of stem cells using plerixafor in combination with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma(Dove Press, 2011-02-27) Pelus, Louis M.; Farag, Sherif S.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineMultiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma remain the most common indications for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell rescue. While a CD34+ cell dose of 1 × 10(6)/kg is considered the minimum required for engraftment, higher CD34+ doses correlate with improved outcome. Numerous studies, however, support targeting a minimum CD34+ cell dose of 2.0 × 10(6)/kg, and an "optimal" dose of 4 to 6 × 10(6)/kg for a single transplant. Unfortunately, up to 40% of patients fail to mobilize an optimal CD34+ cell dose using myeloid growth factors alone. Plerixafor is a novel reversible inhibitor of CXCR4 that significantly increases the mobilization and collection of higher numbers of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Two randomized multi-center clinical trials in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma have demonstrated that the addition of plerixafor to granulocyte-colony stimulating factor increases the mobilization and yield of CD34+ cells in fewer apheresis days, which results in durable engraftment. This review summarizes the pharmacology and evidence for the clinical efficacy of plerixafor in mobilizing hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and discusses potential ways to utilize plerixafor in a cost-effective manner in patients with these diseases.Item Counteracting the enzymatic activity of dipeptidylpeptidase 4 for potential therapeutic advantage, with an emphasis on cord blood transplantation(Korean Association of Internal Medicine, 2013) Broxmeyer, Hal E.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineDipeptidylpeptidase (DPP) 4, also known as CD26, is an enzyme present on the surface of a number of different cell types. It is also found within cells and as a soluble protein in body fluids. It can specifically truncate proteins at the penultimate N-terminus residue for some amino acids, such as alanine, proline, serine, and perhaps others. DPP4 has been implicated in regulating the in vitro and in vivo functional activities of a number of hematopoietically active molecules, and this information, along with that on inhibition of DPP4, has been studied in efforts to enhance hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), hematopoiesis after stress in mouse models, and in the clinical setting of single-unit cord blood (CB) HCT. This article reviews the current status of this compound's effects on regulatory proteins, the field of CB HCT, a potential role for modulating DPP4 activity in enhancing single-unit CB HCT in adults, and future aspects in context of other cellular therapies and the area of regenerative medicine.Item Transcriptional and functional profiling of human intestinal dendritic cells reveals conserved specialization and a role for Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 in terminal subset differentiation(Springer Nature, 2014) Watchmaker, Payal B.; Lahl, Katharina; Lee, Mike; Baumjohann, Dirk; Morton, John; Kim, Sun Jung; Zeng, Ruizhu; Dent, Alexander; Ansel, K. Mark; Diamond, Betty; Hadeiba, Husein; Butcher, Eugene C.; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicineDendritic cells (DCs) that orchestrate mucosal immunity have been studied in mice. Here we characterized human gut DC populations and defined their relationship to previously studied human and mouse DCs. CD103(+)Sirpα(-) DCs were related to human blood CD141(+) DCs and to mouse intestinal CD103(+)CD11b(-) DCs and expressed markers of cross-presenting DCs. CD103(+)Sirpα(+) DCs aligned with human blood CD1c(+) DCs and mouse intestinal CD103(+)CD11b(+) DCs and supported the induction of regulatory T cells. Both CD103(+) DC subsets induced the TH17 subset of helper T cells, while CD103(-)Sirpα(+) DCs induced the TH1 subset of helper T cells. Comparative analysis of transcriptomes revealed conserved transcriptional programs among CD103(+) DC subsets and identified a selective role for the transcriptional repressors Bcl-6 and Blimp-1 in the specification of CD103(+)CD11b(-) DCs and intestinal CD103(+)CD11b(+) DCs, respectively. Our results highlight evolutionarily conserved and divergent programming of intestinal DCs.Item Pyruvate Protects Pathogenic Spirochetes from H2O2 Killing(Public Library of Science, 2014-01-02) Troxell, Bryan; Zhang, Jun-Jie; Bourret, Travis J.; Zeng, Melody Yue; Blum, Janice; Gherardini, Frank; Hassan, Hosni M.; Yang, X. Frank; Microbiology and Immunology, School of MedicinePathogenic spirochetes cause clinically relevant diseases in humans and animals, such as Lyme disease and leptospirosis. The causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the causative agent of leptospirosis, Leptospria interrogans, encounter reactive oxygen species (ROS) during their enzootic cycles. This report demonstrated that physiologically relevant concentrations of pyruvate, a potent H2O2 scavenger, and provided passive protection to B. burgdorferi and L. interrogans against H2O2. When extracellular pyruvate was absent, both spirochetes were sensitive to a low dose of H2O2 (≈0.6 µM per h) generated by glucose oxidase (GOX). Despite encoding a functional catalase, L. interrogans was more sensitive than B. burgdorferi to H2O2 generated by GOX, which may be due to the inherent resistance of B. burgdorferi because of the virtual absence of intracellular iron. In B. burgdorferi, the nucleotide excision repair (NER) and the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathways were important for survival during H2O2 challenge since deletion of the uvrB or the mutS genes enhanced its sensitivity to H2O2 killing; however, the presence of pyruvate fully protected ΔuvrB and ΔmutS from H2O2 killing further demonstrating the importance of pyruvate in protection. These findings demonstrated that pyruvate, in addition to its classical role in central carbon metabolism, serves as an important H2O2 scavenger for pathogenic spirochetes. Furthermore, pyruvate reduced ROS generated by human neutrophils in response to the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist zymosan. In addition, pyruvate reduced neutrophil-derived ROS in response to B. burgdorferi, which also activates host expression through TLR2 signaling. Thus, pathogenic spirochetes may exploit the metabolite pyruvate, present in blood and tissues, to survive H2O2 generated by the host antibacterial response generated during infection.