Project description:Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are responsible for a broad variety of human diseases, including cold sores, ocular herpes and herpetic encephalitis, leading to a great burden worldwide. However, the role for sex in herpes infection is controversial and unclear due to the complexity of factors involving in the formation of HSV diseases. Herein, we ask whether there is a sexual dimorphism based on the chromosomal rather than hormonal differences in the primary skin cells during low exposure of HSV. Profiling of male and female transcriptional programs reveals that cytosolic sensing pathway is induced to a greater degree in female cells, correlated with higher yields of infectious virions in male counterparts. Female skin cells distinctively reactivate Xist, a critical component of X inactivation, to silence the expression of the transcriptional repressor on X chromosome, which thereby maintains higher viperin level and further explains the different growth phenotypes between two sexes. Collectively, we propose a model that HSV-1 triggers a sex-specific regulation of antiviral response in the cytosolic sensing signaling via the control of Xist.
Project description:Primary human fetal foreskin fibroblasts (HFFFs) were infected with wild-type simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) strain 17 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10. ChIPmentation libraries were prepared starting with 500,000 cells per condition following the protocol described by Christian Schmidl et al, Nature Methods 2015
Project description:Primary human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were infected with wild-type simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) strain 17 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10. Subcellular RNA fractions including total RNA, cytoplasmic RNA, nucleoplasmic RNA and chromatin-associated RNA were prepared and subjected to RNA-seq
Project description:Primary human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were infected with wild-type simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) strain 17 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10. ATAC-seq libraries were prepared starting with 50,000 cells per condition following the protocol described by Buenrostro et al., Nature Methods 2013
Project description:Type III interferons (IFN-λ) are antiviral and immunomodulatory cytokines that have been best characterized in respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, but the effects of IFN-λ against skin infections have not been extensively investigated. We sought to define the skin-specific effects of IFN-λ against the highly prevalent human pathogen herpes simplex virus (HSV). We infected mice lacking the IFN-λ receptor (Ifnlr1-/-), both the IFN-λ and the IFN-αβ receptor (Ifnar1-/- Ifnlr1-/-), or IFN-λ cytokines (Ifnl2/3-/-) and found that IFN-λ restricts the severity of HSV-1 and HSV-2 skin lesions, independent of a direct effect on viral load. Using conditional knockout mice, we found that IFN-λ signaling in both keratinocytes and neutrophils was necessary to control HSV-1 skin lesion severity, and that IFN-λ signaling in keratinocytes suppressed CXCL9-mediated neutrophil recruitment to the skin. Furthermore, depleting neutrophils prevented the development of severe HSV-1 skin lesions in Ifnlr1-/- mice. Altogether, our results suggest that IFN-λ plays an immunomodulatory role in the skin that restricts neutrophil-mediated pathology during HSV infection, and suggest potential applications for IFN-λ in treating viral skin infections.
Project description:Type III interferons (IFN-λ) are antiviral and immunomodulatory cytokines that have been best characterized in respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, but the effects of IFN-λ against skin infections have not been extensively investigated. We sought to define the skin-specific effects of IFN-λ against the highly prevalent human pathogen herpes simplex virus (HSV). We infected mice lacking the IFN-λ receptor (Ifnlr1-/-), both the IFN-λ and the IFN-αβ receptor (Ifnar1-/- Ifnlr1-/-), or IFN-λ cytokines (Ifnl2/3-/-) and found that IFN-λ restricts the severity of HSV-1 and HSV-2 skin lesions, independent of a direct effect on viral load. Using conditional knockout mice, we found that IFN-λ signaling in both keratinocytes and neutrophils was necessary to control HSV-1 skin lesion severity, and that IFN-λ signaling in keratinocytes suppressed CXCL9-mediated neutrophil recruitment to the skin. Furthermore, depleting neutrophils prevented the development of severe HSV-1 skin lesions in Ifnlr1-/- mice. Altogether, our results suggest that IFN-λ plays an immunomodulatory role in the skin that restricts neutrophil-mediated pathology during HSV infection, and suggest potential applications for IFN-λ in treating viral skin infections.
Project description:We report transcriptomic data from HSV-1-infected human cells (HFF and MRC5) Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) is a common human pathogen causing cold sores, and in rare cases, severe keratitis and encephalitis. Mouse models are commonly used to study pathogenesis of HSV-1 infection due to the neurotropic properties of HSV make it hard to reach information from infected humans, but mice are not a natural host for this virus. Therefore, it is important to have insights into transcriptional regulation in human cell cultures, which gave us more information before we interpret experimental results from humans and mouse models. Herein, we provide overall transcriptomic data from two HSV-1infected cells, HFF and MRC5. We found that these two human cells downregulated many genes in an antiviral pathway characterized by interferon-stimulated genes.
Project description:The abundance of HSV mRNAs was determines over 16h of infection in wt (KOS) and n199 (ICP22 mutant) infected cells. ICP22 is an immediate early gene of HSV that affects gene expression
Project description:Primary human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were infected with the ICP27 null mutant of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) strain 17 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10. Subcellular RNA fractions including total RNA, cytoplasmic RNA, nucleoplasmic RNA and chromatin-associated RNA were prepared and subjected to RNA-seq