Immunology
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccines, comprised of aseptic, purified, live parasites that arrest during or just after liver stage development, show excellent safety and efficacy in humans. They can induce complete protection against Pf infection, mediated primarily by cellular immune responses against parasite antigens expressed in hepatocytes. Current PfSPZ vaccines rely on the West African PfNF54 parasite, which uniquely produces high numbers of PfSPZ in mosquitoes, facilitating manufacturing efficiency. However, PfNF54 has relatively low hepatocyte infectivity, limiting potency. We created hybrid pan-African Pf strains by genetically crossing PfNF54 with East African Pf strains. The hybrid, AV27, was selected for development based on balanced contribution of parental genomes, high PfSPZ production and high liver stage infectivity. As compared to NF54-based PfSPZ vaccines, we expect AV27-based vaccines will have greater and broader efficacy at lower doses due to higher liver stage infectivity and inclusion of unique East African CD8+ T cell epitopes.
Authors
Lucia Pazzagli, Bethany Jenkins, Ankit Dwivedi, Asha Patil, Yonas Abebe, Tales V. Pascini, Urvashi Rai, Priya Gupta, Nastaran Rezakhani, Chakshu Gandhi, Yiwei Yang, Sudhir Kumar, Mohd Kamil, Gigliola Zanghí, Manuel Llinás, Stephen L. Hoffman, Joana C. Silva, Ashley M. Vaughan, B. Kim Lee Sim
Abstract
The glymphatic-meningeal pathway, important for brain homeostasis, depends on the drainage function of the cervical lymphatic system. Although new therapies aim to modulate this pathway, a lack of methods for quantifying lymphatic drainage function hinders our ability to understand how targeting the cervical lymph nodes may benefit brain health. To address this, we developed and applied a fluid transport model to dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) data to visualize and quantify tracer-tagged lymph through the deep cervical lymph nodes (dcLN). The model incorporated physical principles of solute transport to provide a biologically interpretable framework for analyzing microflows in real-time. We applied this model to investigate the effects of chronic hypertension on dcLN drainage by comparing normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats with spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone (SHRSP) rats. In normal rats, the model revealed complex and tortuous lymph streams, of a 200 kDa tracer transported through the sinus system of the dcLN. In contrast, SHRSP rats exhibited significantly altered fluid dynamics, characterized by simpler stream patterns and reduced flow through the dcLN. These findings demonstrated that untreated chronic hypertension adversely affects lymph node drainage function. This provides new insight into impaired lymphatic drainage as a mechanism linking systemic disease to brain health.
Authors
Kaiming Xu, Ankita Bhardwaj, Sunil Koundal, Qin Ren, Chenyu You, Xenophon Papademetris, Helene Benveniste, Tryphon T. Georgiou
Abstract
Bone marrow-derived circulating monocytes continuously replenish intestinal macrophages, which become dysregulated in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and contribute to disease pathology. The origins of this dysregulation remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the reprogramming of circulating monocytes in IBD prior to tissue recruitment using single-cell transcriptomic, epigenomic and functional approaches. We characterise blood monocyte heterogeneity in newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve IBD patients and healthy controls and show that monocytes in Crohn’s disease (CD) display a distinct transcriptional profile and altered distributions across inferred developmental trajectories; less pronounced changes are observed in ulcerative colitis (UC). We link CD-associated transcriptional changes to alterations in chromatin accessibility and identify NFB, EGR, KLF and AP-1 family transcription factors as putative regulators of an inflammatory gene program in blood monocytes from CD patients. We uncover a potential role for IFN- in priming blood monocytes for inflammatory function in CD by limiting their capacity to be regulated by IL-10. Finally, we show that the transcriptional and functional alterations in monocytes from CD patients are maintained in monocyte-derived cells from the intestine. Together these data suggest that intestinal macrophage dysfunction in CD is, at least in part, pre-established by systemic signals prior to tissue recruitment.
Authors
Eve Hornsby, Radha Gadhok, Inva Hoti, Eva Wozniak, James R. Boot, Emma Connick, Paul A Stevens, Holly Creed, Amy Lewis, Andrew Silver, James O Lindsay, Andrew J. Stagg
Abstract
The NF-κB signaling pathway coordinates inflammation, cell survival, and proliferation, while restraining excessive cell death to maintain immune homeostasis. Truncating mutations in RELA, encoding the NF-κB subunit p65, have been linked to autoinflammation and autoimmunity, but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely defined. We investigated six patients from five unrelated families carrying previously unreported heterozygous truncating RELA variants. Despite reduced p65 expression, patients exhibited a broad spectrum of inflammatory manifestations alongside elevated baseline and stimulus-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines. Functional analyses in patient-derived cells and mutant RELA knock-in models showed that upstream NF-κB signaling was intact, but induction of inhibitory regulators such as IκBα and A20 was impaired. This defective feedback control shifted immune homeostasis toward amplified inflammatory responses that depended on the residual activity of the remaining functional RELA allele. Single-cell transcriptomics revealed distinct cell type-specific consequences: monocytes displayed constitutive type I interferon and NF-κB activation, B cells retained partial compensatory signaling, whereas T and NK cells exhibited transcriptional signatures of cell death pathways. Patient fibroblasts and mutant RELA knock-in cells further confirmed enhanced TNF-induced inflammatory gene expression and hypersensitivity to apoptosis and necroptosis. These findings establish RELA haploinsufficiency as a cause of systemic immune dysregulation, and link defective NF-κB feedback control to unchecked inflammation and inflammatory cell death.
Authors
Nadja Lucas, Sophia Weidler, Antonia A. Eicher, Baerbel Keller, Özlem Satirer, Adam Desrochers, Timothy J.S. Ramnarine, Mohammad Mokhtari, Sophie Elstner, Timmy Strauss, Simon W. Mages, Arek Kendirli, Oana Cristina Buzoianu, Tobias B. Haack, Lina Igel, Tim Niehues, Sandra von Hardenberg, Maria Fasshauer, Rami Abou Jamra, Hagen Ott, Ulrike Hüffmeier, Catharina Schütz, Marisa Bijwaard, Susan Wagner, Paulina Switala, Sarah Koss, Jurek Schultz, Stefanie Kretschmer, Jasmin Kümmerle-Deschner, Christine Wolf, Johanna Klughammer, Min Ae Lee-Kirsch
Abstract
Authors
Yudai Miyashita, Taisuke Kaiho, Yuriko Yagi, Taichi Nagano, Xin Wu, Yuanqing Yan, Haiying Sun, Carl Atkinson, GR Scott Budinger, Ankit Bharat, Chitaru Kurihara
Abstract
BACKGROUND Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is a common cause of acute kidney injury (AKI), but the diagnosis may be missed as kidney biopsies are rarely obtained when acute tubular injury (ATI) is suspected.METHODS The Kidney Precision Medicine Project is a cohort study that obtains kidney biopsies from individuals with AKI, which undergo pathologic and molecular interrogation. We compared ATI and AIN cases among the first 60 AKI participants.RESULTS On clinicopathologic adjudication, 30 patients (50%) had a primary adjudicated diagnosis of ATI, 13 (22%) patients had AIN, 9 (15%) had diabetic nephropathy, and 3 (5%) had other conditions. There were increased interstitial white blood cells and tubulitis (P < 0.05 for both) in AIN compared with ATI. Prior to biopsy, the treating clinician suspected ATI in 83% of the cases with adjudicated ATI, while the treating clinician suspected AIN in 54% of the cases with AIN. Tissue transcriptomic signatures showed enrichment of proinflammatory signaling and increased expression of CXCL9, a chemokine induced by IFN-γ, in myeloid cells of participants with AIN. CXCL9 localized to inflammatory infiltration in spatial transcriptomic data.CONCLUSION Adjudication of kidney biopsies revealed distinct pathologic and molecular profiles between ATI and AIN. Kidney biopsy should be considered more frequently in AKI, as AIN is clinically underrecognized.TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04334707.FUNDING National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grants U01DK133081, U01DK133091, U01DK133092, U01DK133093, U01DK133095, U01DK133097, U01DK114866, U01DK114908, U01DK133090, U01DK133113, U01DK133766, U01DK133768, U01DK114907, U01DK114920, U01DK114923, U01DK114933, U24DK114886, UH3DK114926, UH3DK114861, UH3DK114915, and UH3DK114937.
Authors
Jennifer A. Schaub, Rajasree Menon, Ricardo Melo Ferreira, Elizabeth Kiernan, Insa M. Schmidt, Christine P. Limonte, Soumya Yennapureddy, Ying-Hua Cheng, Leal Herlitz, Avi Z. Rosenberg, Joel M. Henderson, Kelly D. Smith, Jeffrey B. Hodgin, Edgar Otto, Gilbert W. Moeckel, Lloyd G. Cantley, Suman Setty, Ulysses G.J. Balis, Dawit Demeke, Agnes B. Fogo, Andrew S. Bomback, Vivette D. D’Agati, Isaac E. Stillman, Jose R. Torrealba, Allen R. Hendricks, Erika Bracamonte, Vanessa Moreno, Pavan Bhatraju, Amy K. Mottl, Frank C. Brosius, Bijin Thajudeen, Steven G. Coca, Paul M. Palevsky, Parmjeet S. Randhawa, Raghavan Murugan, Laura Barisoni, Charles E. Alpers, Steven Menez, F. Perry Wilson, Dennis G. Moledina, Michael T. Eadon, Matthias Kretzler, Jonathan Himmelfarb, Chirag R. Parikh, the Kidney Precision Medicine Project
Abstract
Obstructive nephropathy is a significant and preventable contributor to chronic kidney disease, yet no disease-modifying anti-fibrotic agents are currently available.We hypothesized that interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) functions as a macrophage transcriptional regulator that directly transactivates matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) to initiate early extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Analysis of 30 human obstructive nephropathy biopsy specimens demonstrated that IRF5+CD68+ macrophage density increased progressively with fibrosis severity and correlated significantly with α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) positive areas. In the murine unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model, both global and myeloid-specific Irf5 deletion significantly attenuated collagen deposition, immune cell infiltration, and fibrotic gene expression compared with wild-type controls. Cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT&Tag) analysis demonstrated that IRF5 directly binds the Mmp9 enhancer region and increases chromatin accessibility. Consequently, myeloid-specific Irf5 knockout significantly reduced Mmp9 mRNA and MMP9 protein levels. Pharmacological inhibition using the IRF5 inhibitor N5-1 mitigated established fibrosis, down-regulated α-SMA and MMP9 expression, and reduced CD68+ macrophage infiltration. These findings identify the IRF5-MMP9 axis as a therapeutically targetable pathway driving macrophage-mediated ECM expansion and provide pre-clinical evidence supporting IRF5 inhibition as a potential treatment strategy for patients with obstructive nephropathy.
Authors
Jia Wei, Gengyu Du, Zixia Li, Min Yang, Ting Chen, Zihao Xu, Zhen Yuan, Yidan Zheng, Xiang Yan
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells undergo stepwise differentiation from multipotent progenitors within secondary lymphoid tissues. Despite the central importance of the tissue microenvironment in their development, little is known about cell-cell interactions that regulate human NK cell trafficking and maturation. Here, we identify the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12 as regulators of stromal-NK cell interactions required for NK cell maturation. We demonstrate that CXCR4 is expressed throughout human NK cell development in peripheral blood and tonsil, and CXCL12 is enriched in stromal niches containing developing NK cells. Pharmacologic blockade or genetic disruption of CXCR4 resulted in diminished adhesion to integrin ligands, and high-resolution imaging demonstrated crosstalk between CXCR4 and integrins, providing a mechanistic basis for chemokine-dependent modulation of adhesion. Further, CXCR4 blockade resulted in altered contact-dependent motility on stromal cells and integrin ligands, with decreased stable stromal engagement and increased cell speed. Consistent with a requirement for these interactions, treatment with the CXCR4 antagonist plerixafor (AMD3100) impaired NK cell generation from CD34+ precursors. Analysis of NK cells from WHIM syndrome patients with CXCR4 gain-of-function mutations treated with plerixafor revealed similar defects in migration and adhesion, supporting the in-vivo relevance of CXCR4-dependent regulation of NK cell adhesion and motility.
Authors
Shira E. Eisman, Francesca E. Grossberg, Batya S. Koenigsberg, David H. McDermott, Frédérique van den Haak, Luis A. Pedroza, Everardo Hegewisch-Solloa, Philip M. Murphy, Emily M. Mace
Abstract
Type 2 (T2) immune cells dominate the airways of mild-moderate asthma (MMA) patients with a more complex Type 1 (T1)-T2 mixed immune response evident in treatment-refractory severe asthma (SA). We hypothesized that comparing the transcriptomes of the airway epithelium of SA and MMA patients would reveal molecular signatures associated with more severe disease in the context of a complex immune response. Using our novel interpretable machine learning tool, SLIDE, meaningful latent factors (context-specific gene co-expression networks) were revealed that distinguished SA from MMA. Unexpectedly, an aberrant high expression of normally host-protective, membrane-tethered and IFN-inducible mucins, MUC1 and MUC4, was identified in SA. Gene networks in the significant latent factors discriminating SA from MMA corresponded to enrichment of a keratinization program in SA airways. Keratinization was marked by increased expression of the stress keratin KRT16, signifying squamous metaplasia suggesting adaptive reprogramming of the airway epithelium in response to chronic stress. These mucins and KRT16 were inversely associated with lung function in two separate asthma cohorts. Imaging of endobronchial biopsies revealed significantly higher KRT16 protein expression in SA compared to MMA that strongly correlated with MUC1 protein expression. Our study identifies dysregulated host-protective and maladaptive repair responses in SA distinguishing from MMA.
Authors
Sagar L. Kale, Augusta M. Vincent, Mark A. Ross, Isha Mehta, Michael J. Calderon, Richard P. Ramonell, Himanshu Setya, Jessica C. McCreary-Partyka, Huijuan Yuan, Stephanie A. Christenson, Prescott G. Woodruff, Mario Castro, Kaharu Sumino, Nizar N. Jarjour, Loren C. Denlinger, Benjamin Gaston, Eugene R. Bleecker, Deborah A. Meyers, Wendy C. Moore, Elliot Israel, Bruce D. Levy, David Mauger, Serpil Erzurum, Anthony Newbrough, Taylor J. Nee, Prabir Ray, Claudette M. St. Croix, Sally E. Wenzel, Jishnu Das, Anuradha Ray, Marc C. Gauthier
Abstract
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) arises from mutations in cilia-associated genes, such as PKD1 and PKD2, expressed in renal epithelial cells, leading to progressive kidney dysfunction and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). PKD patients exhibit significant heterogeneity in disease progression, largely due to genetic and environmental modifiers. Like patients, mouse models of PKD also exhibit significant heterogeneity with regards to the gene mutated, age of disease onset, and rate of disease progression. To elucidate the cellular and molecular consequences of these variables, we constructed an integrated single-cell RNA sequencing atlas across mouse models of PKD, mapping changes in cell type composition, gene expression, and intercellular signaling networks across the whole atlas and within individual models. Across models, single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) data revealed increased Spp1 (osteopontin) expression and signaling from PKD-enriched clusters. Global deletion of Spp1 in Pkd1RC/RC mice resulted in a modest reduction in cyst severity and improved kidney function. From these studies, we created a freely available, searchable website (https://bmblx.bmi.osumc.edu/scPKD/) that can be used to identify cross- and intra-model changes in gene expression, guiding researchers to new therapeutic targets for treating PKD.
Authors
Sarah J. Miller, Hua Zhong, Weidong Wu, Audrey M. Cordova, Morgan E. Yashchenko, Alex Yashchenko, Zhang Li, Daniyal J. Jafree, Chelsea N. Zimmerman, Christa I. DeVette, Vicki Do, Maya E. Hignite, Yohan Park, Fariha Nusrat, Bibi Maryam, Sizhao Lu, Xiaoyan Li, Jenny R. Gipson, Xiaogang Li, David A. Long, Mary C.M. Weiser-Evans, Bradley K. Yoder, Benjamin D. Cowley, Jr., Katharina Hopp, Jason R. Stubbs, Qin Ma, Anjun Ma, Kurt A. Zimmerman
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