病原体逃逸宿主固有免疫的新策略：抑制细胞焦亡

细胞焦亡是一种由Gasdermin家族蛋白介导的新型程序性细胞死亡。当宿主细胞感应病原体感染或其他危险信号时，Gasdermin家族蛋白被切割活化并诱导细胞焦亡。细胞焦亡过程往往伴随大量炎性细胞因子释放，这些炎性细胞因子在宿主清除病原体过程中发挥着至关重要作用，而病原体在与宿主长期“博弈”过程中也进化出抑制细胞焦亡的策略以实现免疫逃逸。本文介绍了细胞焦亡的发现历程及其在抗感染免疫中的重要功能，并总结了病原体抑制细胞焦亡的多种新策略及其相关研究进展。深入理解细胞焦亡的发生及调控机制，可揭示相关感染性疾病的发病机制并有助于开发有效的抗感染治疗策略。     

结核分枝杆菌免疫相关蛋白脯氨酸-谷氨酸家族的研究进展

脯氨酸-谷酸家族蛋白是一个在结核分枝杆菌中新发现高度保守的富含甘氨酸、丙氨酸的酸性蛋白质家族。目前认为该家族与结核分枝杆菌抗原变异相关,有利于细菌逃避宿主免疫系统,并通过抑制宿主免疫细胞对其抗原的呈递过程影响机体的免疫应答,干扰宿主对结核感染的保护性。该家族蛋白作为结核感染的免疫学标志,在结核诊断和新药物靶向以及抗结核DNA疫苗的研制开发方面具有重要意义和广阔的应用前景。     

人巨细胞病毒博弈宿主免疫进展

人巨细胞病毒(HCMV)感染在人群中极其普遍,病毒一旦侵入机体,将长期存在于体内,且具有潜伏-活化的生物学特性。在病毒与宿主共同进化的漫长过程中,病毒靶向性的产生了多种免疫逃避机制,通过编码病毒自身免疫调节分子,参与调控机体主要组织相容性复合体、细胞免疫、体液免疫、细胞因子及趋化因子等方面的功能,以躲避宿主的免疫杀伤作用。HCMV的免疫调节基因被认为在病毒的致病机制中扮演重要角色。本文将对近年来有关HCMV的免疫调控机制研究作一综述,从病毒编码的免疫调节分子功能的角度并结合本实验室的相关研究成果,探讨病毒与宿主免疫的相互作用过程,从病毒干预宿主免疫关键分子作用的角度映射机体对抗病毒的免疫机理。     

细菌中的去泛素化酶及其生物学功能研究进展

在细菌感染过程中,宿主细胞可以利用自身泛素系统对其进行免疫应答.研究发现,在宿主与细菌协同进化过程中,细菌可以编码去泛素化酶靶向宿主泛素系统,降低宿主炎症信号反应,这有利于细菌的生存与繁殖.该文综合介绍了目前在细菌中已发现的去泛素化酶并将其分类总结,此外,该文详细阐述了OTU家族去泛素化酶、CE家族去泛素化酶的切割特异...     

病原体感染及其免疫逃逸机制研究进展

病原体进入宿主后,可通过多种致病机制损伤机体。与此同时,病原体为维持其在宿主体内的生存繁殖,可通过各种方式逃避宿主免疫系统的攻击。简要介绍了病毒、细菌及寄生虫主要的感染及免疫逃逸机制。     

双歧杆菌免疫调节作用的研究进展

双歧杆菌是人和动物肠道内最重要的生理性细菌之一,参与宿主的多种生态效应和生理作用,对维持宿主健康起着重要的作用。本文总结了近年来双歧杆菌对肠黏膜上皮细胞的黏附及其引发机体免疫反应的研究进展,并对肠黏膜免疫系统做了简要描述。     

丙型肝炎病毒基因突变与免疫逃逸

免疫逃逸（Immune evasion）是指病原体逃避机体免疫监控的现象。在宿主和病毒的长期共同进化过程中,病毒形成了各种逃选机制以逃避宿主的免疫监控,其中病毒基因变异是最主要机制。丙型肝炎病毒（Hepatitis C virus,HCV）在感染个体中表现出极高的基因异质性,能有效地逃逸机体免疫识剐和破坏宿主免疫应答的能力,HCV还可侵袭免疫细胞来抑制机体的免疫功能,而建立HCV持续性感染。了解HCV病毒突变与免疫逃逸机制将会为预防和控制丙型肝炎提供依据。     

小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞被S-O_2-I菌苗激活后的抑瘤作用——Ⅱ.小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞被动转移的抑瘤效应及其肿瘤的病理观察

众所周知肿瘤的发展受宿主免疫功能的影响,当机体免疫功能下降时,肿瘤发展快,死亡率也高。卡介苗和厌氧棒状杆菌苗等一类的细菌佐剂能提高机体的免疫功能,增强机体对肿瘤细胞的排斥能力,它们的抗肿瘤活性和临床应用已有大量报道(Cross et al.,1976;Yamamura et al.,1979;Woodruff et al.,1975;Isral et al.,1976)。近年来,发现S-O_2-1菌苗在临床试用中,具有一定的抗肿瘤活性,并且副作用小,因     

致病菌与宿主相互作用中sRNA的调控作用

sRNA在细菌的生命过程中发挥重要调控作用,可以调节自身基因改变新陈代谢,在不利的宿主环境(pH、温度、氧化物等)中生存下来,而且越来越多证据表明sRNA在与宿主细胞相互作用中,能够直接影响宿主基因表达,尤其是免疫基因,降低宿主免疫反应,改变宿主细胞内环境,最终破坏宿主细胞,引起疾病的发生。但目前致病菌sRNA与宿主相互作用的研究仍处在初级阶段,还没有相关系统综述。现结合国内外最新研究前沿以及实验室相关研究工作,详细论述sRNA在与宿主相互作用中的具体调控方式,为细菌sRNA进一步研究提供有益帮助。     

一氧化氮的抗感染免疫作用及其机制

一氧化氮在机体抗感染免疫防御体系中的重要作用被发现之后,各国学者进行了大量的相关研究。这些研究证明：一氧化氮作为活化巨噬细胞的一种细胞毒效分子,在抑制和杀伤病毒,细菌,寄生虫等的免疫应答中起重要作用。一氧化氮抗感染的作用机制十分复杂,它通过调节Th1/Th2的平衡来促进机体的免疫应答,并可直接与含铁酶的Fe-S基团结合,破坏酶的活性,进而杀伤病原体及其宿主细胞。     

PANoptosis in Viral Infection: The Missing Puzzle Piece in the Cell Death Field

In the past decade, emerging viral outbreaks like SARS-CoV-2, Zika and Ebola have presented major challenges to the global health system. Viruses are unique pathogens in that they fully rely on the host cell to complete their lifecycle and potentiate disease. Therefore, programmed cell death (PCD), a key component of the host innate immune response, is an effective strategy for the host cell to curb viral spread. The most well-established PCD pathways, pyroptosis, apoptosis and necroptosis, can be activated in response to viruses. Recently, extensive crosstalk between PCD pathways has been identified, and there is evidence that molecules from all three PCD pathways can be activated during virus infection. These findings have led to the emergence of the concept of PANoptosis, defined as an inflammatory PCD pathway regulated by the PANoptosome complex with key features of pyroptosis, apoptosis, and/or necroptosis that cannot be accounted for by any of these three PCD pathways alone. While PCD is important to eliminate infected cells, many viruses are equipped to hijack host PCD pathways to benefit their own propagation and subvert host defense, and PCD can also lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines and inflammation. Therefore, PANoptosis induced by viral infection contributes to either host defense or viral pathogenesis in context-specific ways. In this review, we will discuss the multi-faceted roles of PCD pathways in controlling viral infections.     

Tipping the balance: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum secreted oxalic acid suppresses host defenses by manipulating the host redox environment

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic ascomycete fungus with an extremely broad host range. This pathogen produces the non-specific phytotoxin and key pathogenicity factor, oxalic acid (OA). Our recent work indicated that this fungus and more specifically OA, can induce apoptotic-like programmed cell death (PCD) in plant hosts, this induction of PCD and disease requires generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the host, a process triggered by fungal secreted OA. Conversely, during the initial stages of infection, OA also dampens the plant oxidative burst, an early host response generally associated with plant defense. This scenario presents a challenge regarding the mechanistic details of OA function; as OA both suppresses and induces host ROS during the compatible interaction. In the present study we generated transgenic plants expressing a redox-regulated GFP reporter. Results show that initially, Sclerotinia (via OA) generates a reducing environment in host cells that suppress host defense responses including the oxidative burst and callose deposition, akin to compatible biotrophic pathogens. Once infection is established however, this necrotroph induces the generation of plant ROS leading to PCD of host tissue, the result of which is of direct benefit to the pathogen. In contrast, a non-pathogenic OA-deficient mutant failed to alter host redox status. The mutant produced hypersensitive response-like features following host inoculation, including ROS induction, callose formation, restricted growth and cell death. These results indicate active recognition of the mutant and further point to suppression of defenses by the wild type necrotrophic fungus. Chemical reduction of host cells with dithiothreitol (DTT) or potassium oxalate (KOA) restored the ability of this mutant to cause disease. Thus, Sclerotinia uses a novel strategy involving regulation of host redox status to establish infection. These results address a long-standing issue involving the ability of OA to both inhibit and promote ROS to achieve pathogenic success.     

Anti-apoptotic machinery protects the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea from host-induced apoptotic-like cell death during plant infection

Necrotrophic fungi are unable to occupy living plant cells. How such pathogens survive first contact with living host tissue and initiate infection is therefore unclear. Here, we show that the necrotrophic grey mold fungus Botrytis cinerea undergoes massive apoptotic-like programmed cell death (PCD) following germination on the host plant. Manipulation of an anti-apoptotic gene BcBIR1 modified fungal response to PCD-inducing conditions. As a consequence, strains with reduced sensitivity to PCD were hyper virulent, while strains in which PCD was over-stimulated showed reduced pathogenicity. Similarly, reduced levels of PCD in the fungus were recorded following infection of Arabidopsis mutants that show enhanced susceptibility to B. cinerea. When considered together, these results suggest that Botrytis PCD machinery is targeted by plant defense molecules, and that the fungal anti-apoptotic machinery is essential for overcoming this host-induced PCD and hence, for establishment of infection. As such, fungal PCD machinery represents a novel target for fungicides and antifungal drugs.     

Down the rabbit hole: Is necroptosis truly an innate response to infection?

Pathogenic microbes have evolved countless sophisticated mechanisms to subvert host immune responses and cause disease. Understanding evasion strategies employed by pathogens has led to numerous discoveries on specific host cell processes that are critical for controlling infection. Programmed cell death (PCD) is a key host defence to microbial infection, as well as being critical for organ development and cellular homeostasis in multicellular organisms. Much of our current understanding of PCD as a host response to infection has stemmed from the discovery and study of viral inhibitors of apoptosis, and more recently viral inhibition of the newly characterised from of PCD termed necroptosis, the mechanisms of which are still under intense investigation. Many bacterial pathogens also encode inhibitors of PCD, yet these discoveries are relatively more recent and thus the biological significance of such mechanisms is still under debate. In this viewpoint article, we will argue the concept that necroptosis is merely a “back‐up” mechanism in the event that apoptosis is inhibited, or whether it is a true host innate response to infection that has evolved in response to a growing arsenal of microbial evasion strategies.     

Protozoan parasites: programmed cell death as a mechanism of parasitism

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a potent mechanism to remove parasitized cells, but it has also been shown that protozoan parasites can induce or inhibit apoptosis in host cells. In recent years, it has become clear that unicellular parasites can also undergo PCD, meaning that they commit suicide in response to various stimuli. This review focuses on the role of protozoan PCD and on the interaction between protozoan parasites and the host cell death machinery from the perspective of parasite survival strategies.     

Pseudomonas type III effector AvrPtoB induces plant disease susceptibility by inhibition of host programmed cell death

The AvrPtoB type III effector protein is conserved among diverse genera of plant pathogens suggesting it plays an important role in pathogenesis. Here we report that Pseudomonas AvrPtoB acts inside the plant cell to inhibit programmed cell death (PCD) initiated by the Pto and Cf9 disease resistance proteins and, remarkably, the pro-apoptotic mouse protein Bax. AvrPtoB also suppressed PCD in yeast, demonstrating that AvrPtoB functions as a cell death inhibitor across kingdoms. Using truncated AvrPtoB proteins, we identified distinct N- and C-terminal domains of AvrPtoB that are sufficient for host recognition and PCD inhibition, respectively. We also identified a novel resistance phenotype, Rsb, that is triggered by an AvrPtoB truncation disrupted in the anti-PCD domain. A Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 strain with a chromosomal mutation in the AvrPtoB C-terminus elicited Rsb-mediated immunity in previously susceptible tomato plants and disease was restored when full-length AvrPtoB was expressed in trans. Thus, our results indicate that a type III effector can induce plant susceptibility to bacterial infection by inhibiting host PCD.     

The BRI1-associated kinase 1, BAK1, has a brassinolide-independent role in plant cell-death control

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a common host response to microbial infection [1-3]. In plants, PCD is associated with immunity to biotrophic pathogens, but it can also promote disease upon infection by necrotrophic pathogens [4]. Therefore, plant cell-suicide programs must be strictly controlled. Here we demonstrate that the Arabidopsis thaliana Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1 (BRI1)-associated receptor Kinase 1 (BAK1), which operates as a coreceptor of BRI1 in brassinolide (BL)-dependent plant development, also regulates the containment of microbial infection-induced cell death. BAK1-deficient plants develop spreading necrosis upon infection. This is accompanied by production of reactive oxygen intermediates and results in enhanced susceptibility to necrotrophic fungal pathogens. The exogenous application of BL rescues growth defects of bak1 mutants but fails to restore immunity to fungal infection. Moreover, BL-insensitive and -deficient mutants do not exhibit spreading necrosis or enhanced susceptibility to fungal infections. Together, these findings suggest that plant steroid-hormone signaling is dispensable for the containment of infection-induced PCD. We propose a novel, BL-independent function of BAK1 in plant cell-death control that is distinct from its BL-dependent role in plant development.     

坏死性凋亡在细菌与宿主相互作用中的机制研究进展

坏死性凋亡(necroptosis)是由受体相互作用蛋白(receptor-interacting protein/receptor-interacting protein kinase,RIP/RIPK)调控的调节性细胞死亡(regulated cell death,RCD)方式之一,可分为依赖RIPK1的经典途径和不依赖RIPK1的非经典途径。RIPK3和混合系列激酶结构域样蛋白(mixed lineage kinase domain-like,MLKL)通过以上两种途径被有序激活,最终诱导细胞发生坏死性凋亡。病原微生物感染过程中会发生多种形式的细胞死亡,其结局高度依赖宿主受感染细胞的命运,一方面细菌毒力因子导致宿主细胞发生坏死性凋亡;另一方面坏死性凋亡也是宿主免疫防御的重要方式。深入探讨坏死性凋亡在细菌与宿主相互作用中的机制对揭示感染性疾病的发生和发展具有重要意义。     

Predicting and Analyzing Interactions between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Its Human Host

The outcome of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) depends greatly on how the host responds to the bacteria and how the bacteria manipulates the host, which is facilitated by protein–protein interactions. Thus, to understand this process, there is a need for elucidating protein interactions between human and Mtb, which may enable us to characterize specific molecular mechanisms allowing the bacteria to persist and survive under different environmental conditions. In this work, we used the interologs method based on experimentally verified intra-species and inter-species interactions to predict human-Mtb functional interactions. These interactions were further filtered using known human-Mtb interactions and genes that are differentially expressed during infection, producing 190 interactions. Further analysis of the subcellular location of proteins involved in these human-Mtb interactions confirms feasibility of these interactions. We also conducted functional analysis of human and Mtb proteins involved in these interactions, checking whether these proteins play a role in infection and/or disease, and enriching Mtb proteins in a previously predicted list of drug targets. We found that the biological processes of the human interacting proteins suggested their involvement in apoptosis and production of nitric oxide, whereas those of the Mtb interacting proteins were relevant to the intracellular environment of Mtb in the host. Mapping these proteins onto KEGG pathways highlighted proteins belonging to the tuberculosis pathway and also suggested that Mtb proteins might use the host to acquire nutrients, which is in agreement with the intracellular lifestyle of Mtb. This indicates that these interactions can shed light on the interplay between Mtb and its human host and thus, contribute to the process of designing novel drugs with new biological mechanisms of action.     

Cell death and human intestinal protozoa: a brief overview

Protozoan programmed cell death or apoptosis is an important factor in the survival of the parasite and its pathogenicity. The most amazing aspect of protozoan cell death is in its molecular architecture. To date, protozoa lack most of the components of the highly complex cell death machinery studied in multicellular organisms. Hence the unique apoptotic machinery in protozoa can be exploited for the development of therapeutic drugs and diagnostic markers. This review focuses on human intestinal protozoa undergoing cell death and inducing or inhibiting host cell apoptosis. The first part of this review focuses on intestinal protozoa that undergo PCD under various stress conditions. The second part focuses on protozoa that induce or inhibit PCD in their host cell. Although these intestinal parasites differ in their mechanism of infection and intracellular localization, they may activate conserved cell death pathways within themselves and in the host cell. Understanding conserved cell death pathways in the intestinal protozoa and their host-parasite PCD relationship may lead to drug targets which can be used for a broad range of parasitic diseases.