Antibody fingerprints in lyme disease deciphered with high density peptide arrays

Lyme disease is the most common tick‐borne infectious disease in Europe and North America. Previous studies discovered the immunogenic role of a surface‐exposed lipoprotein (VlsE) of Borreliella burgdorferi. We employed high density peptide arrays to investigate the antibody response to the VlsE protein in VlsE‐positive patients by mapping the protein as overlapping peptides and subsequent in‐depth epitope substitution analyses. These investigations led to the identification of antibody fingerprints represented by a number of key residues that are indispensable for the binding of the respective antibody. This approach allows us to compare the antibody specificities of different patients to the resolution of single amino acids. Our study revealed that the sera of VlsE‐positive patients recognize different epitopes on the protein. Remarkably, in those cases where the same epitope is targeted, the antibody fingerprint is almost identical. Furthermore, we could correlate two fingerprints with human autoantigens and an Epstein‐Barr virus epitope; yet, the link to autoimmune disorders seems unlikely and must be investigated in further studies. The other three fingerprints are much more specific for B. burgdorferi. Since antibody fingerprints of longer sequences have proven to be highly disease specific, our findings suggest that the fingerprints could function as diagnostic markers that can reduce false positive test results.     

Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide Ameliorates Experimental Acute Ileitis and Extra-Intestinal Sequelae

Background

The neuropeptide Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) plays pivotal roles in immunity and inflammation. So far, potential immune-modulatory properties of PACAP have not been investigated in experimental ileitis.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Mice were perorally infected with Toxoplasma (T.) gondii to induce acute ileitis (day 0) and treated daily with synthetic PACAP38 from day 1 to 6 post infection (p.i.; prophylaxis) or from day 4 to 6 p.i. (therapy). Whereas placebo-treated control mice suffered from acute ileitis at day 7 p.i. and succumbed to infection, intestinal immunopathology was ameliorated following PACAP prophylaxis. PACAP-treated mice exhibited increased abundance of small intestinal FOXP3+ cells, but lower numbers of ileal T lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes and macrophages, which was accompanied by less ileal expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-23p19, IL-22, IFN-γ, and MCP-1. Furthermore, PACAP-treated mice displayed higher anti-inflammatory IL-4 concentrations in mesenteric lymph nodes and liver and higher systemic anti-inflammatory IL-10 levels in spleen and serum as compared to control animals at day 7 p.i. Remarkably, PACAP-mediated anti-inflammatory effects could also be observed in extra-intestinal compartments as indicated by reduced pro-inflammatory mediator levels in spleen (TNF-α, nitric oxide) and liver (TNF-α, IFN-γ, MCP-1, IL-6) and less severe histopathological sequelae in lungs and kidneys following prophylactic PACAP treatment. Strikingly, PACAP prolonged survival of T. gondii infected mice in a time-of-treatment dependent manner.

Conclusion/Significance

Synthetic PACAP ameliorates acute small intestinal inflammation and extra-intestinal sequelae by down-regulating Th1-type immunopathology, reducing oxidative stress and up-regulating anti-inflammatory cytokine responses. These findings provide novel potential treatment options of inflammatory bowel diseases.     

Physiological homogeneity among the endosymbionts of Riftia pachyptila and Tevnia jerichonana revealed by proteogenomics

The two closely related deep-sea tubeworms Riftia pachyptila and Tevnia jerichonana both rely exclusively on a single species of sulfide-oxidizing endosymbiotic bacteria for their nutrition. They do, however, thrive in markedly different geochemical conditions. A detailed proteogenomic comparison of the endosymbionts coupled with an in situ characterization of the geochemical environment was performed to investigate their roles and expression profiles in the two respective hosts. The metagenomes indicated that the endosymbionts are genotypically highly homogeneous. Gene sequences coding for enzymes of selected key metabolic functions were found to be 99.9% identical. On the proteomic level, the symbionts showed very consistent metabolic profiles, despite distinctly different geochemical conditions at the plume level of the respective hosts. Only a few minor variations were observed in the expression of symbiont enzymes involved in sulfur metabolism, carbon fixation and in the response to oxidative stress. Although these changes correspond to the prevailing environmental situation experienced by each host, our data strongly suggest that the two tubeworm species are able to effectively attenuate differences in habitat conditions, and thus to provide their symbionts with similar micro-environments.     

A Unifying Organ Model of Pancreatic Insulin Secretion

The secretion of insulin by the pancreas has been the object of much attention over the past several decades. Insulin is known to be secreted by pancreatic β-cells in response to hyperglycemia: its blood concentrations however exhibit both high-frequency (period approx. 10 minutes) and low-frequency oscillations (period approx. 1.5 hours). Furthermore, characteristic insulin secretory response to challenge maneuvers have been described, such as frequency entrainment upon sinusoidal glycemic stimulation; substantial insulin peaks following minimal glucose administration; progressively strengthened insulin secretion response after repeated administration of the same amount of glucose; insulin and glucose characteristic curves after Intra-Venous administration of glucose boli in healthy and pre-diabetic subjects as well as in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Previous modeling of β-cell physiology has been mainly directed to the intracellular chain of events giving rise to single-cell or cell-cluster hormone release oscillations, but the large size, long period and complex morphology of the diverse responses to whole-body glucose stimuli has not yet been coherently explained. Starting with the seminal work of Grodsky it was hypothesized that the population of pancreatic β-cells, possibly functionally aggregated in islets of Langerhans, could be viewed as a set of independent, similar, but not identical controllers (firing units) with distributed functional parameters. The present work shows how a single model based on a population of independent islet controllers can reproduce very closely a diverse array of actually observed experimental results, with the same set of working parameters. The model’s success in reproducing a diverse array of experiments implies that, in order to understand the macroscopic behaviour of the endocrine pancreas in regulating glycemia, there is no need to hypothesize intrapancreatic pacemakers, influences between different islets of Langerhans, glycolitic-induced oscillations or β-cell sensitivity to the rate of change of glycemia.     

Calcium signals activated by ghrelin and D-Lys-GHRP-6 ghrelin antagonist in developing dorsal root ganglion glial cells

Ghrelin is a hormone regulating energy homeostasis via interaction with its receptor, GHSR-1a. Ghrelin activities in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) cells are unknown. Herein we show that ghrelin induces a change of cytosolic calcium concentration in both glia and neurons of embryonic chick DRG. Both RT-PCR and binding studies performed with fluorescent ghrelin in the presence of either unlabeled ghrelin or GHSR-1a antagonist D-Lys³-GHRP-6, indicate that DRG cells express GHSR-1a. In glial cells the response is characterized by a rapid transient rise in [Ca²⁺]_i followed by a long lasting rise. The calcium elevation is dependent on calcium release from thapsigargin-sensitive intracellular stores and on activation of two distinct Ca²⁺ entry pathways, a receptor activated calcium entry and a store operated calcium entry. Surprisingly, D-Lys³-GHRP-6 exerts several activities in the absence of exogenous ghrelin: (i) it activates calcium release from thapsigargin-sensitive intracellular stores and calcium entry via voltage-operated channels in non-neuronal cells; (ii) it inhibits calcium oscillations in non-neuronal cells exhibiting spontaneous Ca²⁺ activity and iii) it promotes apoptosis of DRG cells, both neurons and glia. In summary, we provide the first evidence for ghrelin activity in DRG, and we also demonstrate that the widely used D-Lys³-GHRP-6 ghrelin antagonist features ghrelin independent activities.     

A candidate for Lr19, an exotic gene conditioning leaf rust resistance in wheat

Lr19, one of the few widely effective genes conferring resistance to leaf rust in wheat, was transferred from the wild relative Thinopyrum ponticum to durum wheat. Since Lr19 confers a hypersensitive response to the pathogen, it was considered likely that the gene would be a member of the major nucleotide-binding site (NBS)-leucine-rich repeat (LRR) plant R gene family. NBS profiling, based on PCR amplification of conserved NBS motifs, was applied to durum wheat–Th. ponticum recombinant lines involving different segments of the alien 7AgL chromosome arm, carrying or lacking Lr19. Differential PCR products were isolated and sequenced. From one such sequence (AG15), tightly linked to Lr19, a 4,121-bp full-length cDNA was obtained. Its deduced 1,258 amino acid sequence has the characteristic NBS-LRR domains of plant R gene products and includes a coiled-coil (CC) region typical of monocots. The genomic DNA sequence showed the presence of two exons and a short intron upstream of the predicted stop codon. Homology searches revealed considerable identity of AG15 with the cloned wheat resistance gene Pm3a and a lower similarity with wheat Lr1, Lr21, and Lr10. Quantitative PCR on leaf-rust-infected and non-infected Lr19 carriers proved AG15 to be constitutively expressed, as is common for R genes. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.