Project description:The transcriptional repressor BLIMP1 is a master regulator of B and T cell differentiation. To examine the role of BLIMP1 in innate immunity we used a conditional knockout (CKO) of Blimp1 in myeloid cells and found that Blimp1 CKO mice were protected from lethal infection induced by Listeria monocytogenes. Transcriptome analysis of Blimp1 CKO macrophages identified the murine chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 8, CCL8 as a direct target of Blimp1-mediated transcriptional repression in these cells. BLIMP1-deficient macrophages expressed elevated levels of Ccl8 and consequently Blimp1 CKO mice had higher levels of circulating CCL8 resulting in increased neutrophils in the peripheral blood, promoting a more aggressive anti-bacterial response. Mice lacking the Ccl8 gene were more susceptible to L. monocytogenes infection than wild type mice. While CCL8 failed to recruit neutrophils directly, it was chemotactic for γ/δ T cells and CCL8-responsive γ/δ T cells were enriched for IL-17F. Finally, CCL8-mediated enhanced clearance of L. monocytogenes was dependent on γ/δ T cells. Collectively, these data reveal an important role for BLIMP1 in modulating host-defenses by suppressing expression of the chemokine CCL8. RNA (5μg) was isolated from WT and Blimp1 CKO BMDM untreated or infected for 2 hours with L.monocytogenes (MOI=5). Three biological replicates were performed for each experimental condition. The gene chip mouse genome 430 2.0 Array (Affymetrix) was used. Biological replicates were normalized using the GCRMA method and analyzed using various Bioconductor tools.
Project description:The transcriptional repressor BLIMP1 is a master regulator of B and T cell differentiation. To examine the role of BLIMP1 in innate immunity we used a conditional knockout (CKO) of Blimp1 in myeloid cells and found that Blimp1 CKO mice were protected from lethal infection induced by Listeria monocytogenes. Transcriptome analysis of Blimp1 CKO macrophages identified the murine chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 8, CCL8 as a direct target of Blimp1-mediated transcriptional repression in these cells. BLIMP1-deficient macrophages expressed elevated levels of Ccl8 and consequently Blimp1 CKO mice had higher levels of circulating CCL8 resulting in increased neutrophils in the peripheral blood, promoting a more aggressive anti-bacterial response. Mice lacking the Ccl8 gene were more susceptible to L. monocytogenes infection than wild type mice. While CCL8 failed to recruit neutrophils directly, it was chemotactic for γ/δ T cells and CCL8-responsive γ/δ T cells were enriched for IL-17F. Finally, CCL8-mediated enhanced clearance of L. monocytogenes was dependent on γ/δ T cells. Collectively, these data reveal an important role for BLIMP1 in modulating host-defenses by suppressing expression of the chemokine CCL8.
Project description:To clarify the potential BLIMP1 downstream target regulating PD-L1 expression, we performed proteomics analysis using BLIMP1 Hep3B cells and control cells. Proteomics analysis revealed that SPI1 may serve as a pivotal transcriptional factor that enhances PD-L1 expression by acting as a downstream effector of BLIMP1.
Project description:The meninges are densely innervated by nociceptive sensory neurons that mediate pain and headache. How pain and neuro-immune interactions impact meningeal host defenses is unclear. Bacterial meningitis causes life-threatening infections of the meninges and central nervous system (CNS), affecting over one million people a year. Here we find that Nav1.8+ neuron signaling to immune cells in the meninges via the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) exacerbates bacterial meningitis. Nociceptor ablation reduced meningeal and brain invasion by two bacterial pathogens: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus agalactiae. S. pneumoniae activated nociceptors via Pneumolysin to release CGRP, which acts through its receptor RAMP1 on meningeal macrophages to inhibit chemokine expression, neutrophil recruitment and antimicrobial defenses. Macrophage-specific RAMP1 deficiency or blockade of RAMP1 signaling enhanced immune responses and bacterial clearance in meninges and brain. Therefore, targeting a neuro-immune axis in the meninges can enhance host defenses and may be a potential treatment for bacterial meningitis.
Project description:The mechanisms of transcriptional regulation underlying human primordial germ cell differentiation are largely unknown. Transcriptional repressor Prdm1/Blimp1 is known to play a critical role in controlling germ cell specification in mice. We show that ectopic expression of PRDM1 in hESCs promotes the generation of cells exhibiting transcriptomic features of early primordial germ cells.
Project description:Regulated by histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases (HDACs), histone acetylation is a key epigenetic mechanism controlling chromatin structure, DNA accessibility, and gene expression. HDAC inhibitors induce growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis of tumor cells and are used as anticancer agents. Here we describe the effects of HDAC inhibitors on microbial sensing by macrophages and dendritic cells in vitro and host defenses against infection in vivo. HDAC inhibitors down-regulated the expression of numerous host defense genes, including pattern recognition receptors, kinases, transcription regulators, cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and costimulatory molecules as assessed by genome-wide microarray analyses or innate immune responses of macrophages and dendritic cells stimulated with Toll-like receptor agonists. HDAC inhibitors induced the expression of Mi-2β and enhanced the DNA-binding activity of the Mi-2/NuRD complex that acts as a transcriptional repressor of macrophage cytokine production. In vivo, HDAC inhibitors increased the susceptibility to bacterial and fungal infections but conferred protection against toxic and septic shock. Thus, these data identify an essential role for HDAC inhibitors in the regulation of the expression of innate immune genes and host defenses against microbial pathogens.
Project description:Tissue-resident memory T cells (Trm) are non-circulating memory T cells that localize to portals of pathogen entry such as the skin, gut and lung where they provide efficient early protection against reinfection. Trm are characterized by a molecular profile that actively prevents egress from peripheral sites including the constitutive expression of the lectin CD69 and down-regulation of the chemokine receptor (CCR)7 and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1). This program is partially mediated by down-regulation of the transcription factor KLF2; however, to date no transcriptional regulator specific to Trm has been identified. Here we show that the Blimp1 related transcription factor Hobit is specifically upregulated in Trm and together with Blimp1, mediates the development and maintenance of Trm in various tissues including skin, gut, liver and kidney. Importantly, we found that the Hobit/Blimp1 transcriptional module is also required for other tissue-resident lymphocytes including Natural Killer T (NKT) cells and liver tissue-resident NK cells (trNK). We show that these populations share a universal transcriptional program with Trm instructed by Hobit and Blimp1 that includes the repression of CCR7, S1PR1 and KLF2 thereby enforcing tissue retention. Our results identify Hobit and Blimp1 as major common regulators that drive the differentiation of distinct populations of tissue-resident lymphocytes.