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PubMed1990

Signal-regulator interactions. Genetic analysis of the effector binding site of xylS, the benzoate-activated positive regulator of Pseudomonas TOL plasmid meta-cleavage pathway operon.

This study reports a genetic analysis of the interactions between a positive regulator of gene expression and its effector molecules. Transcription of the TOL plasmid meta-cleavage pathway operon is specifically stimulated by the XylS protein positive regulator either through activation of this regulator by benzoate effectors or through its hyperproduction. One xylS mutant that exhibits constitutive expression of the operon promoter has been characterized, together with six mutants encoding altered XylS proteins that recognize as effectors benzoate analogues that are non-effectors for the XylS wild-type protein. The changes in two mutant regulators are located at the N-terminal end of the protein, within a putative beta-pleated domain. These mutant proteins exhibit a markedly increased affinity for normal benzoate effectors, with K's values fivefold to 60-fold lower than those of the wild-type XylS protein. They are additionally activated by new effectors having certain substituents at position 2, 3 and 4 of the aromatic ring. Two other mutant proteins recognize new effectors having substituents at position 4 and 5 of the aromatic ring, and contain mutations at their C-terminal end within a putative alpha-helix-rich domain. Three other mutations, one of which leads to constitutive expression from Pm, each result in an amino acid change in the central region of the regulator. These findings suggest but do not prove that the effector binding pocket of the XylS protein may be composed of two or more non-contiguous segments of its primary structure. The XylS protein exhibits homology with the AraC protein of Escherichia coli, a protein that stimulates transcription from ara promoters when it is activated by arabinose or benzoate. Mutations influencing effector activation of the XylS protein characterized in this study are all located in regions exhibiting a high degree of homology with the corresponding aligned sequence of AraC protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Effector CD4 cell tolerization is mediated through functional inactivation and involves preferential impairment of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma expression potentials.

It has recently been shown that effector/memory T cells can undergo peripheral tolerization in response to self-antigen. In the present study, we found that within 24h self-antigen profoundly impairs the ability of CD4 effectors to express TNF-alpha (and to a lesser extent IFN-gamma); however, several days of self-antigen exposure is required to impair non-effector functions such as IL-2 expression and proliferation. Since only half of the initial effector CD4 cell population expresses effector cytokines following brief antigenic stimulation, tolerization might have been mediated either through functional inactivation of effector-competent cells, or alternatively by the selective deletion of competent and expansion of non-competent cells. When briefly stimulated effectors were fractionated based on their expression of IFN-gamma, the IFN-gamma(-) sub-population was able to express IFN-gamma following secondary stimulation, indicating that all effector CD4 cells are functionally competent. Furthermore, both IFN-gamma(+) and IFN-gamma(-) sub-populations underwent tolerization in response to self-HA (although the former was slightly more prone to deletion at later time points). Thus, effector CD4 cell tolerization is mediated primarily through the functional inactivation of effector-competent cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Solution structure of the toluene 4-monooxygenase effector protein (T4moD).

Toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) from Pseudomonas mendocina catalyzes the NADH- and O(2)-dependent hydroxylation of toluene to form p-cresol. The complex consists of an NADH oxidoreductase (T4moF), a Rieske ferredoxin (T4moC), a diiron hydroxylase [T4moH, with (alphabetagamma)(2) quaternary structure], and a catalytic effector protein (T4moD). The solution structure of the 102-amino acid T4moD effector protein has been determined from 2D and 3D (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N NMR spectroscopic data. The structural model was refined through simulated annealing by molecular dynamics in torsion angle space (DYANA software) with input from 1467 experimental constraints, comprising 1259 distance constraints obtained from NOEs, 128 dihedral angle constraints from J-couplings, and 80 hydrogen bond constraints. Of 60 conformers that met the acceptance criteria, the 20 that best satisfied the input constraints were selected to represent the solution structure. With exclusion of the ill-defined N- and C-terminal segments (Ser1-Asn11 and Asp99-Met102), the atomic root-mean-square deviation for the 20 conformers with respect to the mean coordinates was 0.71 A for the backbone and 1.24 A for all non-hydrogen atoms. The secondary structure of T4moD consists of three alpha-helices and seven beta-strands arranged in an N-terminal betaalphabetabeta and a C-terminal betaalphaalphabetabetabeta domain topology. Although the published NMR structures of the methane monooxygenase effector proteins from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b and Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) have a similar secondary structure topology, their three-dimensional structures differ from that of T4moD. The major differences in the structures of the three effector proteins are in the relative orientations of the two beta-sheets and the interactions between the alpha-helices in the two domains. The structure of T4moD is closer to that of the methane monooxygenase effector protein from M. capsulatus (Bath) than that from M. trichosporium OB3b. The specificity of T4moD as an effector protein was investigated by replacing it in reconstituted T4MO complexes with effector proteins from monooxygenases from other bacterial species: Pseudomonas pickettii PKO1 (TbuV, toluene 3-monooxygenase); Pseudomonas species JS150 (TbmC, toluene 2-monooxygenase); and Burkeholderia cepacia G4 (S1, toluene 2-monooxygenase). The results showed that the closely related TbuV effector protein (55% sequence identity) provided partial activation of the complex, whereas the more distantly related TbmC (34% sequence identity) and S1 (29% sequence identity) did not. The (1)H NMR chemical shifts of the side-chain amide protons of Asn34, a conserved, structurally relevant amino acid, were found to be similar in spectra of effector proteins T4moD and TbuV but not in the spectrum of TbmC. This suggests that the region around Asn34 may be involved in structural aspects contributing to functional specificity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Residues in Cdc42 that specify binding to individual CRIB effector proteins.

Cdc42 is a member of the Rho family of small G proteins. Signal transduction events emanating from Cdc42 lead to cytoskeletal rearrangements, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation. Many effector proteins have been identified for Cdc42; however, it is not clear how certain effectors specifically recognize and bind to Cdc42, as opposed to Rac or Rho, or in many cases, which effector controls what cellular events. Mutations were introduced into Cdc42 at residues: Met1, Val8, Phe28, Tyr32, Val33, Thr35, Val36, Phe37, Asp38, Tyr40, Val42, Met45, Ile46, Glu127, Ala130, Asn132, Gln134, Lys135, and Leu174. Measurements were made of their equilibrium binding constants to the Cdc42 binding domains of the CRIB effectors ACK, PAK, and WASP and to the GTPase-activating protein Rho GAP. Generally, mutations in the effector loop have an equally deleterious effect on binding to all CRIB proteins tested, though the F37A mutation resulted in significant selectivity. Residues outside the effector loop were found to be important for binding of Cdc42 to CRIB containing proteins and also to contribute to selectivity. Mutations such as V42A and L174A resulted in large, selective changes in binding to specific CRIB effectors. Neither mutation resulted in alteration in PAK binding, whereas both severely disrupt binding to ACK and only L174A disrupted binding to WASP. These mutations are interpreted using the structures of the Cdc42/ACK and Cdc42/WASP complexes to give insight into how effectors can specifically recognize Cdc42. Those mutations in Cdc42 that inhibit certain interactions, while retaining others, should aid investigations of the role of specific effectors in Cdc42 signaling in vivo.

Amino Acid Motifs↗
PubMed2006

Unique ability of activated CD4+ T cells but not rested effectors to migrate to non-lymphoid sites in the absence of inflammation.

Recent studies suggest that effector T cells generated by immune responses migrate to multiple non-lymphoid sites, even those without apparent expression of antigen or inflammation. To investigate the ability of distinct CD4(+) T lymphocyte subsets to enter and persist in non-lymphoid, noninflamed compartments, we examined the migration and persistence of naïve, effector, and rested effector CD4(+) T cells generated in vitro following transfer to nonimmunized adoptive hosts. Th1 and Th2 effectors migrated to both lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs (peritoneum, fat pads, and lung). In contrast, rested effectors and naïve cells migrated only to lymphoid areas. Adhesion molecule expression, but not chemokine receptor expression, correlated with the ability to enter non-lymphoid sites. Donor cells persisted longer in lymphoid than in non-lymphoid sites. When hosts with naïve and memory donor cells were challenged with antigen, effectors developed in situ, which also migrated to non-lymphoid sites. Memory cells showed an accelerated shift to non-lymphoid migration, in keeping with memory effector formation. These results suggest that only recently activated effector T cells can disperse to non-lymphoid sites in the absence of antigen and inflammation, and as effectors return to rest, they lose this ability. These data also argue that memory cells in lymphoid sites are longer lived and not in equilibrium with those in non-lymphoid sites.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1999

Migration kinetics and final destination of type 1 and type 2 CD8 effector cells predict protection against pulmonary virus infection.

The requirements for CD8 T cells to provide protection against a localized virus infection in models of adoptive immunotherapy are not well defined. Here we investigated the protective value of defined in vitro-generated hemagglutinin (HA) peptide-specific primary CD8 T cell effectors from the clone 4 T cell receptor transgenic mice, secreting type 1 or type 2 cytokines, against pulmonary infection with whole influenza virus. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes producing type 1 and type 2 cytokine (Tc1 and Tc2) populations were equally cytolytic, but Tc1 effectors and not Tc2 effectors reduced the pulmonary virus titer early during infection. Host recovery mediated by Tc1 effectors was found to be independent of interferon gamma production. Tc2 effectors entered the lung with delayed kinetics as compared with Tc1 effectors, and after lung entry Tc2 effector cells did not localize near the infected airway epithelium as did Tc1 effectors but were found within clusters of inflammatory cells distant from the epithelium. We also show that the expression of several chemokine receptors was selectively regulated in the Tc1 and Tc2 subsets. Thus, the protective value of a CD8 cell population against pulmonary influenza virus infection is strongly correlated with its ability to exert its effector potential at the site of virus infection.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Isolation and characterization of effector-loop mutants of CDC42 in yeast.

The highly conserved small GTPase Cdc42p is a key regulator of cell polarity and cytoskeletal organization in eukaryotic cells. Multiple effectors of Cdc42p have been identified, although it is unclear how their activities are coordinated to produce particular cell behaviors. One strategy used to address the contributions made by different effector pathways downstream of small GTPases has been the use of "effector-loop" mutants of the GTPase that selectively impair only a subset of effector pathways. We now report the generation and preliminary characterization of a set of effector-loop mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC42. These mutants define genetically separable pathways influencing actin or septin organization. We have characterized the phenotypic defects of these mutants and the binding defects of the encoded proteins to known yeast Cdc42p effectors in vitro. The results suggest that these effectors cannot account for the observed phenotypes, and therefore that unknown effectors exist that affect both actin and septin organization. The availability of partial function alleles of CDC42 in a genetically tractable system serves as a useful starting point for genetic approaches to identify such novel effectors.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2004

Effector genes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria promote transmission and enhance other fitness traits in the field.

Establishing durable disease resistance in agricultural crops, where much of the plant defense is provided through effector-R gene interactions, is complicated by the ability of pathogens to overcome R gene resistance by losing the corresponding effector gene. Many proposed methods to maintain disease resistance in the field depend on the idea that effector gene loss results in a fitness cost to the pathogen. In this article we test for fitness costs of effector gene function loss. We created directed knockouts of up to four effector genes from the bacterial plant pathogen Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria (Xav) and examined the effect of the loss of a functional gene product on several important fitness parameters in the field. These traits included transmission, lesion development, and epiphytic survival. We found that the products of all four effector genes had significant and often additive effects on fitness traits. Additional greenhouse tests revealed costs of effector gene loss on in planta growth and further showed that the effects on lesion development were separable from the effects on growth. Observable fitness effects of the three plasmid-borne effector genes were dependent upon the loss of functional avrBs2, indicating that complex functional interactions exist among effector genes with Xav.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Naive CD4+ cells from cord blood can generate competent Th effector cells.

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) cells have been increasingly used as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for allogeneic transplantation. Previous reports suggest that the low risk of graft-versus-host disease in patients that received cord blood cells seems related to the distinctive nature of cord blood T cells. METHODS: To analyze the maturation of CD4+CD45RA+ cord blood cells, we performed an in vitro differentiation assay to compare the generation of Th effector cells strictly from UCB and adult peripheral blood (APB) CD4+CD45RA+ cells. RESULTS: During the maturation into effector cells, UCB and APB cells acquired a comparable activation level determined by the expression pattern of CD69, CD40L, OX40 and CD62L as well as PD1 and CTLA-4 molecules. Moreover, the expression of CD45RO isoform was induced in most activated effector cells from both UCB and APB. OKT3-restimulated effector cells generated from naive UCB expressed higher levels of CD25 coinciding with the secretion of higher amounts of IL-2. Effector cells from both origins consisted of heterogeneous populations with similar frequencies of Th1 and Th2 cytokine producing cells, secreting equivalent levels of IL-4, IL-5 and IFNgamma. Although, higher levels of IL-10 were detected in the cytokine mRNA profile and in the supernatants of OKT3-restimulated UCB effector cells, blocking endogenous IL-10 with anti-IL-10 mAbs enhanced significantly the proliferative response of UCB as well as APB effector cells (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that Th effector cells generated from naive UCB cells were intrinsically as competent as naive APB to respond to TCR-mediated stimulation. In addition, UCB effector cells produced higher IL-10 but its inhibitory effect on proliferation may be partially compensated by the higher production of IL-2 and enhanced expression of CD25.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2003

Pseudomonas syringae exchangeable effector loci: sequence diversity in representative pathovars and virulence function in P. syringae pv. syringae B728a.

Pseudomonas syringae is a plant pathogen whose pathogenicity and host specificity are thought to be determined by Hop/Avr effector proteins injected into plant cells by a type III secretion system. P. syringae pv. syringae B728a, which causes brown spot of bean, is a particularly well-studied strain. The type III secretion system in P. syringae is encoded by hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) and hrc (hrp conserved) genes, which are clustered in a pathogenicity island with a tripartite structure such that the hrp/hrc genes are flanked by a conserved effector locus and an exchangeable effector locus (EEL). The EELs of P. syringae pv. syringae B728a, P. syringae strain 61, and P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 differ in size and effector gene composition; the EEL of P. syringae pv. syringae B728a is the largest and most complex. The three putative effector proteins encoded by the P. syringae pv. syringae B728a EEL--HopPsyC, HopPsyE, and HopPsyV--were demonstrated to be secreted in an Hrp-dependent manner in culture. Heterologous expression of hopPsyC, hopPsyE, and hopPsyV in P. syringae pv. tabaci induced the hypersensitive response in tobacco leaves, demonstrating avirulence activity in a nonhost plant. Deletion of the P. syringae pv. syringae B728a EEL strongly reduced virulence in host bean leaves. EELs from nine additional strains representing nine P. syringae pathovars were isolated and sequenced. Homologs of avrPphE (e.g., hopPsyE) and hopPsyA were particularly common. Comparative analyses of these effector genes and hrpK (which flanks the EEL) suggest that the EEL effector genes were acquired by horizontal transfer after the acquisition of the hrp/hrc gene cluster but before the divergence of modern pathovars and that some EELs underwent transpositions yielding effector exchanges or point mutations producing effector pseudogenes after their acquisition.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1977

The mononuclear cell in human blood which mediates antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity to virus-infected target cells. I. Identification of the population of effector cells.

Mononuclear cells (MC) from human blood were fractionated by a variety of physical and immunologic techniques, and the cellular subpopulations generated were assessed for their capacity to lyse herpes simplex virus (HSV)-infected target cells in the presence of IgG antibody to HSV. Latex phagocytosis and surface marker studies were performed in parallel in order to identify the major effector cells by their phagocytic properties and their possession of surface immunoglobulin and receptors for either sheep erythrocytes, C3, or the Fc fragment of IgG. Cytotoxic effector cell activity was unaffected or slightly enhanced after the removal of plastic-adherent or carbonyl iron-adherent MC, indicating that the major effector cell is not a classical monocyte. Similar results were obtained after removal of more than 90% of the T cells by depletion of rosette-forming cells. Likewise, effector cell activity was generally unchanged when more than 95% of the B cells were removed by filtering MC on nylon wool columns. Effector cell function was also found to be normal in three patients with B cell-deficient X-linked agammaglobulinemia. These observations strongly suggest that the effector cells are not T cells or B cells. A 4- to 5-fold enrichment in effector cells, however, was consistently found in a subpopulation, consisting of 5% of the unfractionated MC, that was dramatically enriched both for nonphagocytic cells with only Fc receptor (K cells) and for nonphagocytic cells with no detectable surface markers (null cells). Since, as is demonstrated in the accompanying report, effector surface Fc receptors play a critical role in the mediation of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity directed at HSV-infected target cells, the major mononuclear effector cell in human blood is a K cell.

Antibody Specificity↗
PubMed1987

L-arginine is required for expression of the activated macrophage effector mechanism causing selective metabolic inhibition in target cells.

L-Arginine is required for expression of the activated macrophage cytotoxic effector mechanism that causes inhibition of mitochondrial respiration, aconitase activity, and DNA synthesis in tumor target cells. This effector mechanism is active in the presence of L-arginine even when the cocultivation medium lacks all other amino acids and serum. Cytotoxic activated macrophage-induced inhibition of mitochondrial respiration in target cells is proportional to the concentration of L-arginine in the medium. L-Arginine must be present during the cocultivation period. Pretreatment of cytotoxic activated macrophages with L-arginine or posttreatment of the target cells after cocultivation is not effective. D-Arginine does not substitute for L-arginine and at high concentrations is a competitive inhibitor of the L-arginine-dependent effector mechanism. Other analogues that could not replace L-arginine include agmatine, argininic acid, arginine hydroxamate, and tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester. L-homoarginine, however, can effectively substitute for L-arginine. NG-monomethyl-L-arginine is a potent competitive inhibitor of this effector mechanism. High concentrations of lipopolysaccharide do not reverse inhibition of the L-arginine-dependent effector mechanism by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. However, inhibition of the effector mechanism by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine can be overridden by increasing the concentration of L-arginine in the culture medium. We compared NGNG-dimethyl-L-arginine and NGN1G-dimethyl-L-arginine with NG-monomethyl-L-arginine as inhibitors of the L-arginine-dependent effector mechanism. The results show that the inhibitory effect of these guanidino methylated derivatives of L-arginine is highly determined by structure. Guanidine is a weak competitive inhibitor of the L-arginine-dependent effector mechanism. The requirement for L-arginine does not appear to be for protein synthesis, creatine biosynthesis, polyamine biosynthesis, or ADP ribosylation reactions. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide is effective as a second signal only when the cocultivation medium contains L-arginine, and this strict L-arginine dependency is not overridden by increasing the concentration of lipopolysaccharide. Bovine liver arginase, by competing for L-arginine in the cocultivation medium, inhibits the L-arginine-dependent activated macrophage cytotoxic effector mechanism.

Aconitate Hydratase↗
PubMed1989

CD4+ suppressor cells differentially affect the production of IFN-gamma by effector cells of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Spleen cells from rats that have recovered from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) suppress the production of IFN-gamma by effector T cells of EAE in an Ag-specific manner. These postrecovery suppressor cells also inhibit EAE in vivo. Fractionation of the postrecovery suppressor spleen cells on nylon wool and OX-8 coated plates yields a nylon wool-adherent CD4+ suppressor cell population that, when cocultured with effector T cells, suppresses IFN-gamma production by these effector cells. In contrast, the nylon wool-adherent, CD4+ postrecovery suppressor cell population fails to inhibit the production of IL-2 by the effector T cells. In further experiments, the effector T cell population was depleted of CD8+ cells and cocultured with the nylon wool-adherent, CD4+ postrecovery suppressor cells, and the supernatants were assayed for IFN-gamma and IL-2. IFN-gamma production was inhibited in these cultures but IL-2 production was not inhibited. Irradiated effector T cells were cocultured with CD4+ postrecovery suppressor cells, without myelin basic protein, in an effort to determine whether the mechanism of differential lymphokine suppression involved an anti-idiotypic response against effector T cells. No IL-2 was produced, indicating that there was no CD4+ suppressor cell mediated anti-idiotypic response against effector T cells. These studies suggest that the suppressor cell is a nylon wool adherent, CD4+ T cell that functions to down-regulate EAE effector T cells by differential inhibition of lymphokine production.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

LY-2+ effectors cytotoxic for syngeneic tumor cells: generation by allogeneic stimulation and by supernatants from mixed leukocyte cultures.

The present study was aimed at gaining insight into means by which stimulation of mouse spleen cells with allogeneic normal cells in mixed leukocyte cultures (MLC) can result in the generation of effector cells cytotoxic for syngeneic tumor or transformed cells. Stimulation of lymphocytes from BALB/c or C3H mice for 5 days with cells from mice of every allogeneic strain tested, in medium containing mouse serum and lacking xenogeneic serum, resulted in the activation of effectors cytotoxic for syngeneic cells transformed spontaneously or by SV40, polyoma or adenovirus. In each experiment, all of the syngeneic transformed cell lines, as well as clones derived from these lines, were lysed to the highest degree by effectors obtained from the same culture, and therefore stimulated with cells from the same allogeneic strain. Although the particular allogeneic sensitizing strain that induced the highest cytolytic activity varied between experiments, effectors obtained from the culture with the highest cell recovery always exhibited the greatest cytotoxicity against all the syngeneic transformed cells and clones. Lysis was mediated predominantly by Ly-2+ effectors; total lytic units of cytotoxicity recovered after treatment with monoclonal anti-Ly-2 antibody and complement (C) were reduced by 85 to 90% compared to cells treated with C alone. Lysis of syngeneic tumor cells by the allosensitized effectors in cytotoxicity assays was not inhibited by the addition of unlabeled "blocking" lymphocytes from the allogeneic strain used for sensitization. In addition, it was found that lymphocytes cultured without stimulating cells for 5 days in medium supplemented with supernatants from secondary MLC that are known to contain high levels of lymphokines, mediated high levels of cytotoxicity on all the transformed cells tested, but lacked detectable cytotoxic activity for syngeneic or allogeneic Con A blasts. The MLC supernatant-activated effectors that lyse the transformed cells are phenotypically CTL, because treatment with anti-Ly-2 and C reduced lytic activity by approximately 75%. Taken together, these findings suggest that the generation in MLC of Ly-2+ effector cells cytotoxic for syngeneic transformed cell lines might not be due, in some cases, to lymphocyte responses to particular alloantigens on the stimulating cells that are cross-reactive with "alien" histocompatibility antigens on transformed cells, but rather is due to effector cell activation by lymphokines produced during allogeneic stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity against tumor cells II. Characteristics and tissue distribution of concanavalin A-activated cytotoxic effector cells.

In vivo or in vitro activation of cytotoxic effector lymphocytes by concanavalin A (Con A) has been shown to result in a population of effector cells exhibiting a degree of immunological specificity when Con A was present during the cytotoxic assay (Waterfield, J.D. et al., Cell. Immunol. 1975. 17:392). In this communication we have characterized the Con A-activated effector cell by physical criteria and tried to assign it to a given subpopulation of thymus-derived lymphocytes. It was shown that macrophages played no role in target cell lysis in this system, nor was their presence required for Con A activation of the effector cell. The effector cell proved insensitive to anti-theta serum, but was classified as a T cell by the enrichment of cytotoxicity when a purified population of T cells was activated by Con A in vitro and by the failure to activate the effector cell in nude mice. Precursors of the effector cell were shown to reside primarily in the spleen, to be radioresistant up to 400 R, and to be short-lived after adult thymectomy. Thus, the effector cell can be classified with the T1 population of T cells and has similar characteristics as a cytolytically active cell described by Stobo et al. (J. Immunol. 1973. 110: 362, 652).

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Subversion of effector CD8+ T cell differentiation in acute hepatitis C virus infection: exploring the immunological mechanisms.

Hallmark of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a severe virus-specific effector CD8(+) T cell dysfunction that seems to be a critical factor in preventing the resolution of infection and in favoring the onset of chronic liver immunopathology. We suggest that this dysfunction is critical in the establishment of HCV persistence, unless it is compensated by multispecific responses, as found in individuals resolving infection. Analyses on purified populations indicate that central memory HCV-specific CCR7(+)/CD8(+) T cells efficiently proliferate and differentiate in vitro, although the large population of memory effector CCR7(-) cells found in the peripheral blood of acutely infected patients display poor effector functions ex vivo (semi-effectors). However, we report strong evidence in support of IL-2 being capable of pushing semi-effector CTL to complete their effector cell program. Therefore, IL-2 deficiency during T cell activation may be responsible for the dichotomy between memory CTL expansion and incomplete effector differentiation shown in patients with acute HCV infection. These data are consistent with the possible therapeutic treatment with IL-2 to rebuild the effector T cell pool in these patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2006

Bcl6 controls granzyme B expression in effector CD8+ T cells.

Bcl6, a sequence-specific transcriptional repressor, is important for generation and maintenance of memory CD8(+) T cells. Although memory CD8(+) T cells are generated from effector CD8(+) T cells, a role for Bcl6 in effector CD8(+) T cells is largely unknown. We show here that Bcl6 expression was transiently induced in activated CD8(+) T cells and continuously up-regulated in effector CD8(+) T cells. The amount of granzyme B mRNA among effector molecules produced by effector CD8(+) T cells inversely correlated with the amount of Bcl6 mRNA in CD8(+) T cells. Overexpression of Bcl6 in CD8(+) T cells resulted in lower killing activity at their effector phase, supporting the reduction of granzyme B expression in effector CD8(+) T cells by Bcl6. We identified a putative Bcl6-binding DNA sequence in the promoter region of the granzyme B gene. Binding of Bcl6 to the Bcl6-binding sequence was detected in naive CD8(+) T cells but not in activated CD8(+) T cells by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. Furthermore, the Bcl6-binding sequence was required for Bcl6 to repress the luciferase reporter gene expression controlled by the granzyme B promoter. Thus, the granzyme B gene is a molecular target of Bcl6 in effector CD8(+) T cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Rapid turnover of the CD8(+)CD28(-) T-cell subset of effector cells in the circulation of patients with head and neck cancer.

CD8(+) T cells in the circulation of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) were previously shown to be significantly more sensitive to, and preferentially targeted for, apoptosis than CD4(+) T cells (Hoffmann et al., Clin Cancer Res, 8:2553-2562, 2002). To distinguish global from CD8(+) subset-specific apoptosis, we studied Annexin-binding to naïve, memory, and effector subsets of CD8(+) cells by multicolor flow cytometry. Age-related changes in naïve and effector CD8(+) cell subsets were observed in patients and normal controls (NC). The frequencies of naïve (CD28(+)CD45RO(-)) CD8(+) T cells were lower and those of memory (CD28(+)CD45RO(+)) and effector (CD28(-)) CD8(+) T cells significantly higher in the circulation of HNC patients relative to age-matched NC. Among CD8(+) T cells, the CD28(-) effector cell subset contained the highest proportion of Annexin-binding cells, while the naïve CD28(+)CD45RO(-) subset contained the lowest. This suggested a high turnover rate of the CD8(+)CD28(-) effector cell subset in patients with HNC, which was being compensated by a rapid transition of naïve CD8(+) T cells to the effector cell pool. Following tumor resection, the frequency of CD8(+)CD28(-) T cells normalized in the patients, an indication that the presence of tumor had an influence on the size of CD8(+)CD28(-) T-cell pool. Ex vivo, in mixed lymphocyte-tumor cultures (MLTC) with semiallogeneic T cells as responders, CD8(+)CD28(-) T cells could be generated from CD8(+)CD28(+) cells by repeated stimulations with tumor cells. These CD8(+)CD28(-) effector cells lysed the tumor, produced IFN-gamma in response to the tumor, and strongly expressed granzyme B. Thus, the high rate of their apoptosis in the circulation of patients with HNC might be expected to contribute to tumor progression. However, the ex vivo generation of this cell subset was suppressed by strong CD28/B7 ligation or by overexpresson of MHC molecules on tumor cells, suggesting that adequate costimulation is necessary for protection from apoptosis. It appears that interactions of immune and tumor cells might determine the fate of this terminally differentiated effector cell subset.

Adult↗