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Many pathogens evade cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) by downregulating HLA molecules on infected cells,but the loss of HLA can trigger NK cell-mediated lysis. HIV-1 is thought to subvert CTLs while preserving NK cell inhibition by Nef-mediated downregulation of HLA-A and -B but not HLA-C molecules. We find that HLA-C is downregulated by most primary HIV-1 clones,including transmitted founder viruses,in contrast to the laboratory-adapted NL4-3 virus. HLA-C reduction is mediated by viral Vpu and reduces the ability of HLA-C restricted CTLs to suppress viral replication in CD4+ cells in vitro. HLA-A/B are unaffected by Vpu,and primary HIV-1 clones vary in their ability to downregulate HLA-C,possibly in response to whether CTLs or NK cells dominate immune pressure through HLA-C. HIV-2 also suppresses HLA-C expression through distinct mechanisms,underscoring the immune pressure HLA-C exerts on HIV. This viral immune evasion casts new light on the roles of CTLs and NK cells in immune responses against HIV. View Publication

Under steady-state conditions,aged neutrophils are removed from the circulation in bone marrow,liver,and spleen thereby maintaining myeloid cell homeostasis. The fate of these aged immune cells under inflammatory conditions,however,remains largely obscure. Here,we demonstrate that in the acute inflammatory response during endotoxemia aged neutrophils cease returning to the bone marrow and instead rapidly migrate to the site of inflammation. Having arrived in inflamed tissue,aged neutrophils were found to exhibit a higher phagocytic activity as compared to the subsequently recruited non-aged neutrophils. This distinct behavior of aged neutrophils under inflammatory conditions is dependent on specific age-related changes in their molecular repertoire that enable these 'experienced' immune cells to instantly translate inflammatory signals into immune responses. In particular,aged neutrophils engage toll-like receptor-4- and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases-dependent pathways to induce conformational changes in β2 integrins which allow these phagocytes to effectively accomplish their mission in the front line of the inflammatory response. Hence,ageing in the circulation might represent a critical process for neutrophils that enables these immune cells to properly unfold their functional properties for host defense. View Publication

Regulation of gene expression in immune cells is known to be under genetic control,and likely contributes to susceptibility to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). How this occurs in concert across multiple immune cell types is poorly understood. Using a mouse model that harnesses the genetic diversity of wild-derived mice,more accurately reflecting genetically diverse human populations,we provide an extensive characterization of the genetic regulation of gene expression in five different naive immune cell types relevant to MS. The immune cell transcriptome is shown to be under profound genetic control,exhibiting diverse patterns: global,cell-specific and sex-specific. Bioinformatic analysis of the genetically controlled transcript networks reveals reduced cell type specificity and inflammatory activity in wild-derived PWD/PhJ mice,compared with the conventional laboratory strain C57BL/6J. Additionally,candidate MS-GWAS (genome-wide association study candidate genes for MS susceptibility) genes were significantly enriched among transcripts overrepresented in C57BL/6J cells compared with PWD. These expression level differences correlate with robust differences in susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis,the principal model of MS,and skewing of the encephalitogenic T-cell responses. Taken together,our results provide functional insights into the genetic regulation of the immune transcriptome,and shed light on how this in turn contributes to susceptibility to autoimmune disease.Genes and Immunity advance online publication,22 September 2016; doi:10.1038/gene.2016.37. View Publication

IL-25,a new member of the IL-17 cytokine family,is involved in type 2 immunity initiation and has been associated with the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However,its exact role remains unclear. Here,we aimed to analyse IL-25 expression in the serum and synovial fluid of RA patients and evaluated the correlations between serum IL-25 levels,clinical and laboratory values and inflammation cytokines. Additionally,we investigated whether IL-25 can suppress Th1/Th17 responses involved in RA pathogenesis. We further determined whether IL-25 can alleviate collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) development in mice and the underlying mechanisms using in vitro and in vivo experiments. Our results showed that IL-25 was upregulated in the serum and synovial fluid of RA patients. Increased serum IL-25 levels were associated with disease severity and inflammatory response in RA patients. Furthermore,IL-25 inhibited CD4(+) T-cell activation and differentiation into Th17 cells,without affecting Th1 cells in human RA and CIA models. Administration of IL-25 could attenuate CIA development by Th17 suppression in an IL-13-dependent manner. Our findings indicate that IL-25 plays a potent immunosuppressive role in the pathogenesis of RA and CIA by downregulating Th17 cell response,and thus,may be a potential therapeutic agent for RA. View Publication

Staphylococcus aureus is both an important pathogen and a human commensal. To explore this ambivalent relationship between host and microbe,we analysed the memory humoral response against IsdB,a protein involved in iron acquisition,in four healthy donors. Here we show that in all donors a heavily biased use of two immunoglobulin heavy chain germlines generated high affinity (pM) antibodies that neutralize the two IsdB NEAT domains,IGHV4-39 for NEAT1 and IGHV1-69 for NEAT2. In contrast to the typical antibody/antigen interactions,the binding is primarily driven by the germline-encoded hydrophobic CDRH-2 motifs of IGHV1-69 and IGHV4-39,with a binding mechanism nearly identical for each antibody derived from different donors. Our results suggest that IGHV1-69 and IGHV4-39,while part of the adaptive immune system,may have evolved under selection pressure to encode a binding motif innately capable of recognizing and neutralizing a structurally conserved protein domain involved in pathogen iron acquisition. View Publication

The regulatory properties of B cells have been studied in autoimmune diseases; however,their role in allergic diseases is poorly understood. We demonstrate that Semaphorin 4C (Sema4C),an axonal guidance molecule,plays a crucial role in B cell regulatory function. Mice deficient in Sema4C exhibited increased airway inflammation after allergen exposure,with massive eosinophilic lung infiltrates and increased Th2 cytokines. This phenotype was reproduced by mixed bone marrow chimeric mice with Sema4C deficient only in B cells,indicating that B lymphocytes were the key cells affected by the absence of Sema4C expression in allergic inflammation. We determined that Sema4C-deficient CD19(+)CD138(+) cells exhibited decreased IL-10 and increased IL-4 expression in vivo and in vitro. Adoptive transfer of Sema4c(-/-) CD19(+)CD138(+) cells induced marked pulmonary inflammation,eosinophilia,and increased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid IL-4 and IL-5,whereas adoptive transfer of wild-type CD19(+)CD138(+)IL-10(+) cells dramatically decreased allergic airway inflammation in wild-type and Sema4c(-/-) mice. This study identifies a novel pathway by which Th2-mediated immune responses are regulated. It highlights the importance of plasma cells as regulatory cells in allergic inflammation and suggests that CD138(+) B cells contribute to cytokine balance and are important for maintenance of immune homeostasis in allergic airways disease. Furthermore,we demonstrate that Sema4C is critical for optimal regulatory cytokine production in CD138(+) B cells. View Publication

NK cells protect hosts against viral pathogens and transformed cells,and dendritic cells (DCs) play important roles in activating NK cells. We now find that murine IL-15Ralpha-deficient DCs fail to support NK cell cytolytic activity and elaboration of IFN-gamma,despite the fact that these DCs express normal levels of costimulatory molecules and IL-12. By contrast,IL-15Ralpha expression on NK cells is entirely dispensable for their activation by DCs. In addition,blockade with anti-IL-15Ralpha and anti-IL-2Rbeta but not anti-IL-2Ralpha-specific Abs prevents NK cell activation by wild-type DCs. Finally,presentation of IL-15 by purified IL-15Ralpha/Fc in trans synergizes with IL-12 to support NK cell priming. These findings suggest that murine DCs require IL-15Ralpha to present IL-15 in trans to NK cells during NK cell priming. View Publication

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH),an iron overload disease associated with mutations in the HFE gene,is characterized by increased intestinal iron absorption and consequent deposition of excess iron,primarily in the liver. Patients with HH and Hfe-deficient (Hfe-/-) mice manifest inappropriate expression of the iron absorption regulator hepcidin,a peptide hormone produced by the liver in response to iron loading. In this study,we investigated the contribution of Hfe expression in macrophages to the regulation of liver hepcidin levels and iron loading. We used bone marrow transplantation to generate wild-type (wt) and Hfe-/- mice chimeric for macrophage Hfe gene expression. Reconstitution of Hfe-deficient mice with wt bone marrow resulted in augmented capacity of the spleen to store iron and in significantly decreased liver iron loading,accompanied by a significant increase of hepatic hepcidin mRNA levels. Conversely,wt mice reconstituted with Hfe-deficient bone marrow had a diminished capacity to store iron in the spleen but no significant alterations of liver iron stores or hepcidin mRNA levels. Our results suggest that macrophage Hfe participates in the regulation of splenic and liver iron concentrations and liver hepcidin expression. View Publication

The repertoire of receptors that is expressed by NK cells is critical for their ability to kill virally infected or transformed cells. However,the molecular mechanisms that determine whether and when NK receptor genes are transcribed during hemopoiesis remain unclear. In this study,we show that hypomethylation of a CpG-rich region in the mouse NKG2A gene is associated with transcription of NKG2A in ex vivo NK cells and NK cell lines. This observation was extended to various developmental stages of NK cells sorted from bone marrow,in which we demonstrate that the CpGs are methylated in the NKG2A-negative stages (hemopoietic stem cells,NK progenitors,and NKG2A-negative NK cells),and hypomethylated specifically in the NKG2A-positive NK cells. Furthermore,we provide evidence that DNA methylation is important in maintaining the allele-specific expression of NKG2A. Finally,we show that acetylated histones are associated with the CpG-rich region in NKG2A positive,but not negative,cell lines,and that treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A alone is sufficient to induce NKG2A expression. Treatment with the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine only is insufficient to induce transcription,but cotreatment with both drugs resulted in a significantly greater induction,suggesting a cooperative role for DNA methylation and histone acetylation status in regulating gene expression. These results enhance our understanding of the formation and maintenance of NK receptor repertoires in developing and mature NK cells. View Publication

An urgent need exists to devise strategies to augment antiviral immune responses in patients with HIV who are virologically well controlled and immunologically stable on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The objective of this study was to compare the immunomodulatory effects of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-21 with IL-15 on CD8 T cells in patients with HIV RNA of less than 50 copies/mL and CD4 counts greater than 200 cells/mm.(3) Patient CD8 T cells displayed skewed maturation and decreased perforin expression compared with healthy controls. Culture of freshly isolated patient peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for 5 hours to 5 days with IL-21 resulted in up-regulation of perforin in CD8 T cells,including memory and effector subsets and virus-specific T cells. IL-21 did not induce T-cell activation or proliferation,nor did it augment T-cell receptor (TCR)-induced degranulation. Treatment of patient PBMCs with IL-15 resulted in induction of perforin in association with lymphocyte proliferation and augmentation of TCR-induced degranulation. Patient CD8 T cells were more responsive to cytokine effects than the cells of healthy volunteers. We conclude that CD8 T cells of patients with HIV can be modulated by IL-21 to increase perforin expression without undergoing overt cellular activation. IL-21 could potentially be useful for its perforin-enhancing properties in anti-HIV immunotherapy. View Publication

B cell-activating factor belonging to the TNF family (BAFF) plays a critical role in B cell maturation,yet its precise role in B cell differentiation into Ig-secreting cells (ISCs) remains unclear. In this study,we find that upon isolation human naive and memory B (MB) cells have prebound BAFF on their surface,whereas germinal center (GC) B cells lack detectable levels of prebound BAFF. We attribute their lack of prebound BAFF to cell activation,because we demonstrate that stimulation of naive and MB cells results in the loss of prebound BAFF. Furthermore,the absence of prebound BAFF on GC B cells is not related to a lack of BAFF-binding receptors or an inability to bind exogenous BAFF. Instead,our data suggest that accessibility to soluble BAFF is limited within GCs,perhaps to prevent skewing of the conventional B cell differentiation program. In support of this concept,whereas BAFF significantly enhances ISC differentiation in response to T cell-dependent activation,we report for the first time the ability of BAFF to considerably attenuate ISC differentiation of MB cells in response to CpG stimulation,a form of T cell-independent activation. Our data suggest that BAFF may be providing regulatory signals during specific T cell-independent events,which protect the balance between MB cells and ISCs outside GCs. Taken together,these data define a complex role for BAFF in humoral immune responses and show for the first time that BAFF can also play an inhibitory role in B cell differentiation. View Publication

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) results in the dissemination of virus to gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Subsequently,HIV-1 mediates massive depletion of gut CD4+ T cells,which contributes to HIV-1-induced immune dysfunction. The migration of lymphocytes to gut-associated lymphoid tissue is mediated by integrin alpha4beta7. We demonstrate here that the HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 bound to an activated form of alpha4beta7. This interaction was mediated by a tripeptide in the V2 loop of gp120,a peptide motif that mimics structures presented by the natural ligands of alpha4beta7. On CD4+ T cells,engagement of alpha4beta7 by gp120 resulted in rapid activation of LFA-1,the central integrin involved in the establishment of virological synapses,which facilitate efficient cell-to-cell spreading of HIV-1. View Publication