技术资料

HIV elite controllers (EC) are a rare group of HIV-infected patients who are able to maintain undetectable viral loads during a long period of time in the absence of antiretroviral treatment. Adaptive immunity and host genetic factors,although implicated,do not entirely explain this phenomenon. On the other hand,plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are the principal type I interferon (IFN) producers in response to viral infection,and it is unknown whether pDCs are involved in the control of HIV infection in EC. In our study,we analyzed peripheral pDC levels and IFN-α production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in EC compared to other groups of HIV-infected patients,the ability of pDCs to reduce HIV production in vitro,and the mechanisms potentially involved. We showed preserved pDC counts and IFN-α production in EC. We also observed a higher capacity of pDCs from EC to reduce HIV production and to induce T cell apoptosis,whereas pDCs from viremic patients barely responded without previous Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) stimulus. The preserved functionality of pDCs from EC to reduce viral production may be one of the mechanisms involved in the control of HIV viremia in these subjects. These results demonstrate the importance of innate immunity in HIV pathogenesis,and an understanding of pDC mechanisms would be helpful for the design of new therapies. View Publication

CD46 is a glycoprotein with important functions in innate and adaptive immune responses. Functionally different isoforms are generated by alternative splicing at exons 7-9 (BC and C isoforms) and exon 13 (CYT-1 and CYT-2 isoforms) giving rise to BC1,BC2,C1 and C2. We developed a novel real-time PCR assay that allows quantitative comparisons between these isoforms. Their relative frequency in CD4(+) T cells from 100 donors revealed a distribution with high interpersonally variability. Importantly,the distribution between the isoforms was not random and although splicing favoured inclusion of exon 8 (BC isoforms),exclusion of exon 8 (C isoforms) was significantly linked to exclusion of exon 13 (CYT-2 isoforms). Despite inter-individual differences,CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells,B cells,NK cells and monocytes expressed similar isoform profiles intra-individually. However,memory/effector CD4(+) T cells had a significantly higher frequency of CYT-2 when compared with naïve CD4(+) T cells. Likewise,in vitro activation of naïve and total CD4(+) T cells increased the expression of CYT-2. This indicates that although splicing factors determine a certain expression profile in an individual,the profile can be modulated by external stimuli. This suggests a mechanism by which alterations in CD46 isoforms may temporarily regulate the immune response. View Publication

The active vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid (RA) imprints gut-homing specificity on lymphocytes upon activation by inducing the expression of α4β7 integrin and CCR9. RA receptor (RAR) activation is essential for their expression,whereas retinoid X receptor (RXR) activation is not essential for α4β7 expression. However,it remains unclear whether RXR activation affects the RA-dependent CCR9 expression on T cells and their gut homing. The major physiological RA,all-trans-RA,binds to RAR but not to RXR at physiological concentrations. Cell-surface CCR9 expression was often induced on a limited population of murine naive CD4(+) T cells by all-trans-RA or the RAR agonist Am80 alone upon CD3/CD28-mediated activation in vitro,but it was markedly enhanced by adding the RXR agonist PA024 or the RXR-binding environmental chemicals tributyltin and triphenyltin. Accordingly,CD4(+) T cells treated with the combination of all-trans-RA and tributyltin migrated into the small intestine upon adoptive transfer much more efficiently than did those treated with all-trans-RA alone. Furthermore,naive TCR transgenic CD4(+) T cells transferred into wild-type recipients migrated into the small intestinal lamina propria following i.p. injection of Ag,and the migration was enhanced by i.p. injection of PA024. We also show that PA024 markedly enhanced the all-trans-RA-induced CCR9 expression on naturally occurring naive-like regulatory T cells upon activation,resulting in the expression of high levels of α4β7,CCR9,and Foxp3. These results suggest that RXR activation enhances the RAR-dependent expression of CCR9 on T cells and their homing capacity to the small intestine. View Publication

Current antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS slows disease progression by reducing viral loads and increasing CD4 counts. Yet ART is not curative due to the persistence of CD4+ T-cell proviral reservoirs that chronically resupply active virus. Elimination of these reservoirs through the administration of synergistic combinations of latency reversing agents (LRAs),such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and protein kinase C (PKC) modulators,provides a promising strategy to reduce if not eradicate the viral reservoir. Here,we demonstrate that largazole and its analogues are isoform-targeted histone deacetylase inhibitors and potent LRAs. Significantly,these isoform-targeted HDAC inhibitors synergize with PKC modulators,namely bryostatin-1 analogues (bryologs). Implementation of this unprecedented LRA combination induces HIV-1 reactivation to unparalleled levels and avoids global T-cell activation within resting CD4+ T-cells. View Publication

The maintenance of peripheral naive T lymphocytes in humans is dependent on their homeostatic division,not continuing emigration from the thymus,which undergoes involution with age. However,postthymic maintenance of naive T cells is still poorly understood. Previously we reported that recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) are contained in CD31+CD25- naive T cells as defined by their levels of signal joint T cell receptor rearrangement excision circles (sjTRECs). Here,by differential gene expression analysis followed by protein expression and functional studies,we define that the naive T cells having divided the least since thymic emigration express complement receptors (CR1 and CR2) known to bind complement C3b- and C3d-decorated microbial products and,following activation,produce IL-8 (CXCL8),a major chemoattractant for neutrophils in bacterial defense. We also observed an IL-8-producing memory T cell subpopulation coexpressing CR1 and CR2 and with a gene expression signature resembling that of RTEs. The functions of CR1 and CR2 on T cells remain to be determined,but we note that CR2 is the receptor for Epstein-Barr virus,which is a cause of T cell lymphomas and a candidate environmental factor in autoimmune disease. View Publication

The adaptive immune response involves T cell differentiation and migration to sites of inflammation. T cell trafficking is initiated by rolling on inflamed endothelium. Tethers and slings,discovered in neutrophils,facilitate cell rolling at high shear stress. Here,we demonstrate that the ability to form tethers and slings during rolling is highly inducible in T helper 1 (Th1),Th17,and regulatory T (Treg) cells but less in Th2 cells. In vivo,endogenous Treg cells rolled stably in cremaster venules at physiological shear stress. Quantitative dynamic footprinting nanoscopy of Th1,Th17,and Treg cells uncovered the formation of multiple tethers per cell. Human Th1 cells also showed tethers and slings. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed the induction of cell migration and cytoskeletal genes in sling-forming cells. We conclude that differentiated CD4 T cells stabilize rolling by inducible tether and sling formation. These phenotypic changes approximate the adhesion phenotype of neutrophils and support CD4 T cell access to sites of inflammation. View Publication

The early events that determine the decision between lymphocyte tolerance and activation are not well-understood. Using a model of systemic self-antigen recognition by CD4(+) T cells,we show,using single-cell biochemical analyses,that tolerance is characterized by transient signaling events downstream of T-cell receptor engagement in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and NF-κB pathways. Parallel studies done by live cell imaging show that the key difference between tolerance and activation is the duration of the T cell-antigen presenting cell (APC) interaction,as revealed by stable T-cell immobilization on antigen encounter. Brief T cell-APC interactions result in tolerance,and prolonged interactions are associated with activation and the development of effector cells. These studies show that the duration of T cell-APC interactions and magnitude of associated TCR-mediated signaling are key determinants of lymphocyte tolerance vs. activation. View Publication

Regulatory T (Treg) cells expressing Foxp3 transcripton factor are essential for immune homeostasis. They arise in the thymus as a separate lineage from conventional CD4(+)Foxp3(-) T (Tconv) cells. Here,we show that the thymic development of Treg cells depends on the expression of their endogenous cognate self-antigen. The formation of these cells was impaired in mice lacking this self-antigen,while Tconv cell development was not negatively affected. Thymus-derived Treg cells were selected by self-antigens in a specific manner,while autoreactive Tconv cells were produced through degenerate recognition of distinct antigens. These distinct modes of development were associated with the expression of T cell receptor of higher functional avidity for self-antigen by Treg cells than Tconv cells,a difference subsequently essential for the control of autoimmunity. Our study documents how self-antigens define the repertoire of thymus-derived Treg cells to subsequently endow this cell type with the capacity to undermine autoimmune attack. View Publication