TLR2 and TLR7 mediate distinct immunopathological and antiviral plasmacytoid dendritic cell responses to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection

Understanding the molecular pathways driving the acute antiviral and inflammatory response to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is critical for developing treatments for severe COVID‐19. Here, we find decreasing number of circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in COVID‐19 patients early after symptom onset, correlating with disease severity. pDC depletion is transient and coincides with decreased expression of antiviral type I IFNα and of systemic inflammatory cytokines CXCL10 and IL‐6. Using an in vitro stem cell‐based human pDC model, we further demonstrate that pDCs, while not supporting SARS‐CoV‐2 replication, directly sense the virus and in response produce multiple antiviral (interferons: IFNα and IFNλ1) and inflammatory (IL‐6, IL‐8, CXCL10) cytokines that protect epithelial cells from de novo SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Via targeted deletion of virus‐recognition innate immune pathways, we identify TLR7‐MyD88 signaling as crucial for production of antiviral interferons (IFNs), whereas Toll‐like receptor (TLR)2 is responsible for the inflammatory IL‐6 response. We further show that SARS‐CoV‐2 engages the receptor neuropilin‐1 on pDCs to selectively mitigate the antiviral interferon response, but not the IL‐6 response, suggesting neuropilin‐1 as potential therapeutic target for stimulation of TLR7‐mediated antiviral protection.     

Microbial diversity of biofilms in dental unit water systems

We investigated the microbial diversity of biofilms found in dental unit water systems (DUWS) by three methods. The first was microscopic examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), acridine orange staining, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Most bacteria present in the biofilm were viable. FISH detected the beta and gamma, but not the alpha, subclasses of Proteobacteria: In the second method, 55 cultivated biofilm isolates were identified with the Biolog system, fatty acid analysis, and 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing. Only 16S identified all 55 isolates, which represented 13 genera. The most common organisms, as shown by analyses of 16S rDNA, belonged to the genera Afipia (28%) and Sphingomonas (16%). The third method was a culture-independent direct amplification and sequencing of 165 subclones from community biofilm 16S rDNA. This method revealed 40 genera: the most common ones included Leptospira (20%), Sphingomonas (14%), Bacillus (7%), Escherichia (6%), Geobacter (5%), and Pseudomonas (5%). Some of these organisms may be opportunistic pathogens. Our results have demonstrated that a biofilm in a health care setting may harbor a vast diversity of organisms. The results also reflect the limitations of culture-based techniques to detect and identify bacteria. Although this is the greatest diversity reported in DUWS biofilms, other genera may have been missed. Using a technique based on jackknife subsampling, we projected that a 25-fold increase in the number of subclones sequenced would approximately double the number of genera observed, reflecting the richness and high diversity of microbial communities in these biofilms.     

Cell volume regulation and signaling in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and adipocytes: on the possible roles of caveolae, insulin receptors, FAK and ERK1/2

Caveolae have been implicated in sensing of cell volume perturbations, yet evidence is still limited and findings contradictory. Here, we investigated the possible role of caveolae in cell volume regulation and volume sensitive signaling in an adipocyte system with high (3T3-L1 adipocytes); intermediate (3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes); and low (cholesterol-depleted 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes) caveolae levels. Using large-angle light scattering, we show that compared to pre-adipocytes, differentiated adipocytes exhibit several-fold increased rates of volume restoration following osmotic cell swelling (RVD) and osmotic cell shrinkage (RVI), accompanied by increased swelling-activated taurine efflux. However, caveolin-1 distribution was not detectably altered after osmotic swelling or shrinkage, and caveolae integrity, as studied by cholesterol depletion or expression of dominant negative Cav-1, was not required for either RVD or RVI in pre-adipocytes. The insulin receptor (InsR) localizes to caveolae and its expression dramatically increases upon adipocyte differentiation. In pre-adipocytes, InsR and its effectors focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK1/2) localized to focal adhesions and were activated by a 5 min exposure to insulin (100 nM). Osmotic shrinkage transiently inhibited InsR Y(146)-phosphorylation, followed by an increase at t=15 min; a similar pattern was seen for ERK1/2 and FAK, in a manner unaffected by cholesterol depletion. In contrast, cell swelling had no detectable effect on InsR, yet increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In conclusion, differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes exhibit greatly accelerated RVD and RVI responses and increased swelling-activated taurine efflux compared to pre-adipocytes. Furthermore, in pre-adipocytes, Cav-1/caveolae integrity is not required for volume regulation. Given the relationship between hyperosmotic stress and insulin signaling, the finding that cell volume regulation is dramatically altered upon adipocyte differentiation may be relevant for the understanding of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.     

Alterations in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity during the course of HIV-1 infection. Humoral and cellular defects

HIV-1-specific cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) is a form of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in which HIV-1-specific antibodies arm NK cells directly to become cytotoxic for targets bearing HIV-1 antigenic determinants. This non-MHC-restricted cytotoxic activity is present in early stages of disease and declines markedly with disease progression. To understand the cellular and humoral factors contributing to the reduction in this activity, the conditions under which maximal arming of cells occurs was examined in vitro. With the use of a large patient cohort, a strong positive correlation was found between the capacity of a serum to direct lysis in standard ADCC assays and its ability to arm NK cells. Patients with minimal HIV-1-specific ADCC-directing antibodies exhibited low levels of CMC and were unable to arm normal effector cells in vitro. The lack of sufficient ADCC-directing antibodies was found to be one cause of defective CMC in some patients. Unlike asymptomatics, only a weak positive correlation was found between arming and ADCC with sera from AIDS patients, indicating that a factor other than absolute HIV-1 specific antibody titer was responsible for decreased CMC in this patient population. Another group of patients was found to have diminished CMC despite the presence of antibodies in the serum that were fully capable of arming normal effector cells to become cytotoxic for gp120-expressing targets. When compared with those of normal individuals, lymphocytes from seropositive patients mediated significantly reduced levels of cytotoxicity in ADCC and arming assays with the use of a high titered HIV-1-specific serum. In both assay systems, the magnitude and frequency of dysfunction in antibody-dependent cytolysis was found to be greater among AIDS patients than among asymptomatic individuals. The demonstration of both cellular and humoral defects in the ability of seropositive individuals to manifest ADCC reactivities strongly suggests that HIV-1 infection may significantly compromise the effectiveness of this potentially important cytolytic reactivity in vivo.     

Linkage of Bipolar Affective Disorder to Chromosome 18 Markers in a New Pedigree Series

Several groups have reported evidence suggesting linkage of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) to chromosome 18. We have reported data from 28 pedigrees that showed linkage to marker loci on 18p and to loci 40 cM distant on 18q. Most of the linkage evidence derived from families with affected phenotypes in only the paternal lineage and from marker alleles transmitted on the paternal chromosome. We now report results from a series of 30 new pedigrees (259 individuals) genotyped for 13 polymorphic markers spanning chromosome 18. Subjects were interviewed by a psychiatrist and were diagnosed by highly reliable methods. Genotypes were generated with automated technology and were scored blind to phenotype. Affected sib pairs showed excess allele sharing at the 18q markers D18S541 and D18S38. A parent-of-origin effect was observed, but it was not consistently paternal. No robust evidence of linkage was detected for markers elsewhere on chromosome 18. Multipoint nonparametric linkage analysis in the new sample combined with the original sample of families supports linkage on chromosome 18q, but the susceptibility gene is not well localized.     

Regulation of the expression and subcellular localization of the taurine transporter TauT in mouse NIH3T3 fibroblasts.

The cellular level of the organic osmolyte taurine is a balance between active uptake and passive leak via a volume sensitive pathway. Here, we demonstrate that NIH3T3 mouse fibroblasts express a saturable, high affinity taurine transporter (TauT, Km = 18 microm), and that taurine uptake via TauT is a Na+- and Cl(-)-dependent process with an apparent 2.5 : 1 : 1 Na+/Cl-/taurine stoichiometry. Transport activity is reduced following acute administration of H2O2 or activators of protein kinases A or C. TauT transport activity, expression and nuclear localization are significantly increased upon serum starvation (24 h), exposure to tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha; 16 h), or hyperosmotic medium (24 h); conditions that are also associated with increased localization of TauT to the cytosolic network of microtubules. Conversely, transport activity, expression and nuclear localization of TauT are reduced in a reversible manner following long-term exposure (24 h) to high extracellular taurine concentration. In contrast to active taurine uptake, swelling-induced taurine release is significantly reduced following preincubation with TNFalpha (16 h) but unaffected by high extracellular taurine concentration (24 h). Thus, in NIH3T3 cells, (a) active taurine uptake reflects TauT expression; (b) TauT activity is modulated by multiple stimuli, both acutely, and at the level of TauT expression; (c) the subcellular localization of TauT is regulated; and (d) volume-sensitive taurine release is not mediated by TauT.     

Limited dispersal and its effect on population structure in the milkweed beetle Tetraopes tetraophthalmus

Summary The movement patterns of adult milkweed beetles, Tetraopes tetraphthalmus, were monitored via a mark-recapture technique. Movement or dispersal patterns were studied in two natural populations, one in which the host plant, Asclepias syriaca, was nearly continuously distributed over a 250×90 m area and another where Asclepias was distributed in 17 small discrete patches. In both populations dispersal distances resulting from the flight patterns of the adult beetles were quite short, averaging less than 40 m from the point of first encounter 10 days after marking. Males were shown to be more vagile than females. The distribution of dispersal distances collected from one of the populations was fit to three statistical distributions cited in the literature as expected from dispersal by many small-scale movements or observed in other species. It was found that an equation describing an exponential decay gave the best statistical fit to the data collected here for milkweed beetles. The data is discussed in the context of the effects of the limited dispersal power of the beetles and the distribution of suitable habitat on the population structure of Tetraopes.