Research Article
David M. Koelle, Zhi Liu, Christopher M. McClurkan, Max S. Topp, Stanley R. Riddell, Eric G. Pamer, Andrew S. Johnson, Anna Wald, Lawrence Corey
Research Article
Thais P. Salazar-Mather, Casey A. Lewis, Christine A. Biron
Research Article
Kaoru Saegusa, Naozumi Ishimaru, Kumiko Yanagi, Rieko Arakaki, Kouichi Ogawa, Ichiro Saito, Nobuhiko Katunuma, Yoshio Hayashi
Commentary
Terry Davies, Russell Marians, Rauf Latif
Research Article
Michael J. Walter, Jeffrey D. Morton, Naohiro Kajiwara, Eugene Agapov, Michael J. Holtzman
Research Article
Niels C. Riedemann, Ren-Feng Guo, Thomas A. Neff, Ines J. Laudes, Katie A. Keller, Vidya J. Sarma, Maciej M. Markiewski, Dimitrios Mastellos, Christoph W. Strey, Carl L. Pierson, John D. Lambris, Firas S. Zetoune, Peter A. Ward
Research Article
Tania Nikolcheva, Stephane Pyronnet, Szu-yi Chou, Nahum Sonenberg, An Song, Carol Clayberger, Alan M. Krensky
Group B coxsackieviral (CVB) infection commonly causes viral myocarditis. Mice are protected from CVB3 myocarditis by gene-targeted knockout of p56Lck(Lck), the Src family kinase (Src) essential for T cell activation. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK-1/2) can influence cell function downstream of Lck. Using T cell lines and neonatal cardiac myocytes we investigated the role of ERK-1/2 in CVB3 infection. In Jurkat T cells ERK-1/2 is rapidly activated by CVB3; but, this response is absent in Lck-negative JCaM T cells. Inhibition of ERK-1/2 with UO126 reduced CVB3 titers in Jurkat cells, but not in JCaM cells. In cardiac myocytes CVB3 activation of ERK-1/2 is blocked by the Src inhibitor PP2. In addition, viral production in myocytes is decreased by Src or ERK-1/2 inhibition. In vitro, in both immune and myocardial cells, ERK-1/2 is activated by CVB3 downstream of Lck and other Src’s and is necessary for efficient CVB3 replication. In vivo, following CVB3 infection, ERK-1/2 activation is evident in the myocardium. ERK-1/2 activation is intense in the hearts of myocarditis-susceptible A/J mice. In contrast, significantly less ERK-1/2 activation is found in the hearts of myocarditis-resistant C57BL/6 mice. Therefore, the ERK-1/2 response to CVB3 infection may contribute to differential host susceptibility to viral myocarditis.
Mary Anne Opavsky, Tami Martino, Marlene Rabinovitch, Josef Penninger, Chris Richardson, Martin Petric, Cathy Trinidad, Lisa Butcher, Janice Chan, Peter P. Liu
The TNF-like ligands APRIL and BLyS are close relatives and share the capacity to bind the receptors TACI and BCMA. BLyS has been shown to play an important role in B cell homeostasis and autoimmunity, but the biological role of APRIL remains less well defined. Analysis of T cells revealed an activation-dependent increase in APRIL mRNA expression. We therefore generated mice expressing APRIL as a transgene in T cells. These mice appeared normal and showed no signs of B cell hyperplasia. Transgenic T cells revealed a greatly enhanced survival in vitro as well as enhanced survival of staphylococcal enterotoxin B–reactive CD4+ T cells in vivo, which both directly correlate with elevated Bcl-2 levels. Analysis of humoral responses to T cell–dependent antigens in the transgenic mice indicated that APRIL affects only IgM but not IgG responses. In contrast, T cell–independent type 2 (TI-2) humoral response was enhanced in APRIL transgenic mice. As TACI was previously reported to be indispensable for TI-2 antibody formation, these results suggest a role for APRIL/TACI interactions in the generation of this response. Taken together, our data indicate that APRIL is involved in the induction and/or maintenance of T and B cell responses.
Jens V. Stein, Marta López-Fraga, Fernando A. Elustondo, Carla E. Carvalho-Pinto, Dolores Rodríguez, Ruth Gómez-Caro, Joan de Jong, Carlos Martínez-A, Jan Paul Medema, Michael Hahne
Estrogen is thought to contribute to the increased frequency of autoimmune disorders occurring in females, but a molecular basis for its effects on autoimmunity remains to be elucidated. We have shown previously that estrogen leads to the survival and activation of autoreactive cells in the naive repertoire. To identify the molecular pathways involved in B cell tolerance, we sought to identify genes that are differentially regulated by estrogen in mouse B cells. Several genes involved in B cell activation and survival, including cd22, shp-1, bcl-2, and vcam-1, were upregulated by estrogen in B cells. We found that overexpression of CD22 and SHP-1 in B cells decreased B cell receptor signaling. Estrogen receptors α and β are expressed on B cells and are functional, since they can directly upregulate expression of CD22, SHP-1, and Bcl-2. Estrogen treatment protected isolated primary B cells from B cell receptor–mediated apoptosis. These results suggest that estrogen induces a genetic program that alters survival and activation of B cells in a B cell–autonomous fashion and thus skews the naive immune system toward autoreactivity.
Christine M. Grimaldi, James Cleary, A. Selma Dagtas, Dariush Moussai, Betty Diamond