Project description:Systemic infection with Cryptococcus neoformans, a dangerous and contagious pathogen found throughout the world, frequently results in lethal cryptococcal pneumonia and meningoencephalitis, and no effective treatments of cryptococcosis are available. Here, we describe Prm1, a novel regulator of virulence in C. neoformans. C. neoformans prm1 cells exhibit extreme sensitivity to various environmental stress conditions. Furthermore, prm1 cells show deficiencies in the biosynthesis of chitin, chitosan, and mannoprotein, which in turn result in impairment of cell wall integrity. Treatment of mice with heat-killed prm1 cells was found to facilitate the host immunological defence against infection with wild-type C. neoformans. Further investigation demonstrated that prm1 cells strongly promote pulmonary production of interferon- and Th1 responses, leading to activation of macrophage M1 differentiation and inhibition of M2 polarization. Therefore, our findings suggest that C. neoformans Prm1 may be a viable target for the development of anti-cryptococcosis medications and, cells lacking Prm1 represent a promising candidate for a vaccine.
Project description:Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a terminal lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation, accumulation of extracellular matrix accumulation, inflammatory damage, and tissue structure destruction. The pathogenesis of this disease, especiallyparticularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is still remains unknown. Macrophages play a significant rolemajor roles in organ fibrosis diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis. The phenotype and polarization of macrophages are closely associated with the process of pulmonary fibrosis. A new direction in drug research on for antipulmonary fibrosis is focuseds on developing drugs that maintain the stability of the pulmonary microenvironment. Here, tThrough bioinformatics analysis and experiments involving bleomycininduced pulmonary fibrosis in mice, we confirmed the importance of macrophage polarization in IPF. The analysis revealed that macrophage polarization in IPF involves a change in the phenotypice spectrum. Furthermore, the experiments demonstrated showed high expression of M2-type macrophage-related-associated biomarkers and inducible nitric oxide synthase, thus indicating an imbalance in M1/M2 polarization of pulmonary macrophages in mice with pulmonary fibrosis. Our investigation revealed that the ethyl acetate extract (HG2) obtained from the roots of Prismatomeris connataPrismatomeris connata Y. Z. Ruan exhibits therapeutic efficacy against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. HG2 demonstrates the ability to modulates macrophage polarization, alterations in the TGF‐β/Smads pSmad pathway, and downstream protein expression in the context of pulmonary fibrosis. Drawing upon On the basis of our findings, we believe that HG2 exhibits has potential as a novel component of traditional Chinese medicine component for treating pulmonary fibrosis.
Project description:NK cells and pulmonary macrophages both are important components of innate immunity. The interaction between NK cells and pulmonary macrophages during Chlamydia muridarum(C. muridarum)respiratory infections is poorly understood. In this study, we explored the effect of NK cells on regulation of pulmonary macrophage function during chlamydial lung infection. We found that NK depletion led to polarization of pulmonary macrophages from M1 to M2 phenotype, and this related to significantly reduced miR-155 expression in pulmonary macrophage. Using adoptive transfer approach, we found that the recipient mice receiving lung macrophages isolated from C. muridarum-infected NK-cell-depleted mice exhibited an increased bacterial load and severe inflammation in the lung upon chlamydial challenge when compared with the recipients of lung macrophages from infected IgG -treated mice. Herein, the effects of NK cells on macrophage polarization were examined in vitro. We found that NK cells from chlamydial-infected mice (iNK) significantly induced M1 polarization compared to that from sham-infected mice (uNK). Inhibition of miR-155 expression in macrophages attenuated M1 polarization induced by iNK, while miR-155 over-expression enhanced it. Furthermore, neutralization of IFN-γ in the coculture system decreased the expression of miR-155 by macrophages, and resulted in diminished M1 polarization induced by iNK cells. The data indicates that NK cells direct M1 polarization through up-regulation of miR-155 by IFN-γ production, and NK-regulated macrophage polarization is functionally relevant to host defense against chlamydial infection.
Project description:Rationale: Schistosomiasis is one of the most common causes of pulmonary arterial hypertension worldwide, but the pathogenic mechanism by which the host inflammatory response contributes to vascular remodeling is unknown. We sought to identify signaling pathways that play protective or pathogenic roles in experimental Schistosoma-induced pulmonary vascular disease by whole-lung transcriptome analysis. Methods: Wildtype mice were experimentally exposed to S. mansoni ova by intraperitoneal sensitization followed by tail vein augmentation, and the phenotype assessed by right ventricular catheterization and tissue histology, RNA and protein analysis. Whole-lung transcriptome analysis by microarray and RNA sequencing was performed, the latter analyzed using 2 bioinformatic methods. Functional testing of the candidate IL-6 pathway was determined using IL6-knockout mice and the STAT3 inhibitor STI-201. Results: Wild-type mice exposed to S. mansoni had increased right ventricular systolic pressure and thickness of the pulmonary vascular media. Whole lung transcriptome analysis identified the IL6-STAT3-NFATc2 pathway as being upregulated, which was confirmed by PCR and immunostaining of lung tissue from S. mansoni-exposed mice and patients who died of the disease. Mice lacking IL6 or treated with STI-201 developed pulmonary hypertension associated with significant intima remodeling after exposure to S. mansoni. Conclusions: Whole lung transcriptome analysis identified upregulation of the IL6-STAT3-NFATc2 pathway, and IL6 signaling was found to be protective against Schistosoma-induced intimal remodeling. Affy Mouse ST1.0 chip used. Whole lung transcriptome of 3 mice with experimental Schistosoma-induced pulmonary hypertension, compared to 3 control mice. All mice on a C57Bl6/J background.
Project description:Primary objectives: Characterization of the macrophage population subset that is modulated by enteric neurons
Primary endpoints: Characterization of the macrophage population subset that is modulated by enteric neurons via RNA sequencing
Project description:Murine macrophages were isolated from the lungs of mice given a pulmonary challenge with C. neoformans strain H99. Mice were either given a protective (H99γ) or a mock (HKCn) immunization prior to C. neoformans H99 challenge, and macrophages were isolated from the lungs of mice 24 hours, 3 days, or 7 days post-challenge using anti-CD11b microbeads according to the Miltenyi cell sorting system. We used SA Biosciences Toll-like Receptor PCR assay panel to quantitate gene expression of signal transduction factors in total RNA isolated from macrophages derived from immunized mice compared to non-immunized.
Project description:Background: Atherosclerosis leads high mortality, highlighting an urgent need for new therapeutic strategies. Protein kinases orchestrate multiple cellular events in atherosclerosis and may provide new therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis. Here, we identified a protein kinase, WEE1 G2 checkpoint kinase (WEE1), promoting inflammatory response in atherosclerosis. Methods: The ApoE-/- mice without macrophage-specific WEE1 deletion (ApoE-/-WEE1f/f) and ApoE-/- mice with macrophage-specific WEE1 deletion (ApoE-/-WEE1MCKO) were generated using bone marrow transplantation. These mice and WEE1 inhibitor MK1775 were used in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced atherosclerotic model. Human atherosclerotic tissues, mouse primary peritoneal macrophages (MPMs), 293T cells, and recombinant proteins were utilized to investigate the pathogenic role and underlying mechanisms of WEE1. Results: We identified up-regulated p-WEE1 in macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions of HFD-fed ApoE-/- mice. Transcriptome sequencing analysis indicated that WEE1 promotes oxLDL-induced inflammation in macrophages. We then demonstrated that macrophage-specific deletion or pharmacological inhibition of WEE1 attenuates atherosclerosis by reducing inflammation both in vivo and in vitro. The overexpression of wild-type WEE1 or activating-mutant WEE1, but not inactivating-mutant WEE1, exacerbates inflammation in macrophages. Mechanistically, transcriptome sequencing analysis and co-immunoprecipitation followed by quantitative proteomics analysis identified p65 as a binding protein of WEE1. We confirmed that WEE1 directly interacts with the RHD domain of p65 via kinase domain and phosphorylates p65 at S536, thereby facilitating subsequent NF-κB activation and inflammatory response in macrophages. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that macrophage WEE1 promotes inflammatory atherosclerosis by directly binding to p65 and phosphorylate it at S536. This study provides WEE1 as a new p65 regulator in inflammation and a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.
Project description:Bacterial persisters, a subpopulation of genetically susceptible cells that are normally dormant and tolerant to bactericides, have been studied extensively because of their clinical importance. In comparison, much less is known about the determinants underlying fungicide-tolerant fungal persister formation in vivo. Here, we report that during mouse lung infection, Cryptococcus neoformans forms persisters that are highly tolerant to amphotericin B (AmB), the standard of care for treating cryptococcosis. By exploring stationary-phase indicator molecules and developing single-cell tracking strategies, we show that in the lung, AmB persisters are enriched in cryptococcal cells that abundantly produce stationary-phase molecules. The antioxidant ergothioneine plays a specific and key role in AmB persistence, which is conserved in phylogenetically distant fungi. Furthermore, the antidepressant sertraline shows potent activity specifically against cryptococcal AmB persisters. Our results provide evidence for and the determinant of AmB-tolerant persister formation in pulmonary cryptococcosis, which has potential clinical significance.
Project description:Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a major pathogen affecting equines worldwide and causes respiratory disease, abortion, and in some cases, neurological disease. EHV-1 strain KyA is attenuated in the mouse and equine, whereas wild-type strain RacL11 induces severe inflammatory infiltration of the lung, causing infected mice to succumb at 4 to 6 days post-infection. Our previous results showed that EHV-1 KyA immunization protected CBA mice from pathogenic RacL11 challenge at 2 and 4 weeks post-immunization, and that the infection with the attenuated KyA elicits protective humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. To investigate the protective mechanisms of EHV-1 KyA by innate immune responses, CBA mice immunized with live KyA were challenged with RacL11 at various times post-vaccination. KyA immunization effectively protected CBA mice from RacL11 challenge at 1 to 7 days post-immunization. Immunized mice lost less than 10% of their preinfection body weight and rapidly regained body weight. Lung virus titers in EHV-1 KyA-immunized CBA mice were 1,000-fold lower at 2 days post-RacL11 challenge than lungs of non-immunized mice, which was indicative of accelerated virus clearance. Affymetrix microarray analysis revealed that IFN-γ and 16 antiviral interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) were upregulated 3.1- to 48.2-fold at 8 h post-challenge in the lungs of RacL11-challenged mice that had been immunized with KyA. Murine IFN-γinhibited EHV-1 infection of murine alveolar macrophage MH-S cells and effectively protected mice against lethal EHV-1 challenge, suggesting that IFN-γ expression may be important in mediating protection elicited by KyA immunization. These results suggest that EHV-1 KyA can be used as a live attenuated EHV-1 vaccine as well as a prophylactic agent in horses.
Project description:The present study describes a novel xenograft-based biomarker discovery platform and proves its usefulness in the discovery of novel serum markers for prostate cancer (PCa). By immunizing immuno-competent mice with serum from nude mice bearing PCa xenografts, an antibody response against xenograft-derived antigens was elicited. By probing protein microarrays with serum from immunized mice, several PCa-derived antigens were identified, of which a subset was successfully retrieved in serum from mice bearing PCa xenografts and validated in human serum samples of PCa patients. In conclusion, this novel method allows for the identification of low abundant cancer-derived serum proteins, circumventing dynamic range and host-response issues in standard patient cohort proteomics comparisons. To perform a large-scale identification of antibodies generated against human PCa-derived proteins in the serum of immunized mice, sera from mice immunized with either depleted serum, full serum or both from PC346 and PC339-bearing mice as well as preimmune serum and serum from mice immunized with normal mouse serum were incubated onto ProtoArrays. These ProtoArrays contain approximately 8,000 partial and full-length human proteins, expressed as N-terminal glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins. To detect antibodies bound to spotted proteins, ProtoArrays were developed using a fluorescent labeled secondary antibody. Before being used for immunization, serum from xenografted mice was not treated (full) or depleted for most abundant proteins (depleted). Two arrays were hybridized with pre-immune serum and one array with serum from an immune competent mouse that was immunized with serum from a nude mouse. Six arrays were performed using serum from immune competent mice that were immunized with serum from xenograft-bearing nude mice.