Positive selection is a general phenomenon in the evolution of abalone sperm lysin

Lysin is a 16kDa acrosomal protein used by abalone sperm to create a hole in the egg vitelline envelope (VE). The interaction of lysin with the VE is species-selective and is one step in the multistep fertilization process that restricts heterospecific (cross-species) fertilization. For this reason, the evolution of lysin could play a role in establishing prezygotic reproductive isolation between species. Previously, we sequenced sperm lysin cDNAs from seven California abalone species and showed that positive Darwinian selection promotes their divergence. In this paper an additional 13 lysin sequences are presented representing species from Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe. The total of 20 sequences represents the most extensive analysis of a fertilization protein to date. The phylogenetic analysis divides the sequences into two major clades, one composed of species from the northern Pacific (California and Japan) and the other composed of species from other parts of the world. Analysis of nucleotide substitution demonstrates that positive selection is a general process in the evolution of this fertilization protein. Analysis of nucleotide and codon usage bias shows that neither parameter can account for the robust data supporting positive selection. The selection pressure responsible for the positive selection on lysin remains unknown.      

Early virus-associated bystander events affect the fitness of the CD8 T cell response to persistent virus infection

Chronic Ag exposure during persistent viral infection erodes virus-specific CD8 T cell numbers and effector function, with a concomitant loss of pathogen control. Less clear are the respective contributions of Ag-specific and Ag-nonspecific (bystander) events on the quantity, quality, and maintenance of antiviral CD8 T cells responding to persistent virus infection. In this study, we show that low-dose inoculation with mouse polyomavirus (PyV) elicits a delayed, but numerically equivalent, antiviral CD8 T cell response compared with high-dose inoculation. Low-dose infection generated virus-specific CD8 T cells endowed with multicytokine functionality and a superior per cell capacity to produce IFN-gamma. PyV-specific CD8 T cells primed by low-dose inoculation also expressed higher levels of IL-7Ralpha and bcl-2 and possessed enhanced Ag-independent survival. Importantly, the quantity and quality of the antiviral CD8 T cell response elicited by dendritic cell-mediated immunization were mitigated by infection with a mutant PyV lacking the dominant CD8 T cell viral epitope. These findings suggest that the fitness of the CD8 T cell response to persistent virus infection is programmed in large part by early virus-associated Ag-nonspecific factors, and imply that limiting bystander inflammation at the time of inoculation, independent of Ag load, may optimize adaptive immunity to persistent viral infection.     

Cutting edge: gut microenvironment promotes differentiation of a unique memory CD8 T cell population

Whether tissue microenvironment influences memory CD8 T cell differentiation is unclear. We demonstrate that virus-specific intraepithelial lymphocytes in gut resemble neither central nor effector memory CD8 T cells isolated from spleen or blood. This unique phenotype arises in situ within the gut, suggesting that anatomic location plays an inductive role in the memory differentiation program. In support of this hypothesis, memory CD8 T cells changed phenotype upon change in location. After transfer and in vivo restimulation, gut or spleen memory cells proliferated, disseminated into spleen and gut, and adopted the memory T cell phenotype characteristic of their new environment. Our data suggests that anatomic location directly impacts the memory T cell differentiation program.     

Cutting edge: intravascular staining redefines lung CD8 T cell responses

Nonlymphoid T cell populations control local infections and contribute to inflammatory diseases, thus driving efforts to understand the regulation of their migration, differentiation, and maintenance. Numerous observations indicate that T cell trafficking and differentiation within the lung are starkly different from what has been described in most nonlymphoid tissues, including intestine and skin. After systemic infection, we found that >95% of memory CD8 T cells isolated from mouse lung via standard methods were actually confined to the pulmonary vasculature, despite perfusion. A respiratory route of challenge increased virus-specific T cell localization within lung tissue, although only transiently. Removing blood-borne cells from analysis by the simple technique of intravascular staining revealed distinct phenotypic signatures and chemokine-dependent trafficking restricted to Ag-experienced T cells. These results precipitate a revised model for pulmonary T cell trafficking and differentiation and a re-evaluation of studies examining the contributions of pulmonary T cells to protection and disease.     

4-1BB signaling synergizes with programmed death ligand 1 blockade to augment CD8 T cell responses during chronic viral infection

Previous studies have identified the inhibitory role that the programmed death 1 (PD-1) pathway plays during chronic infection. Blockade of this pathway results in rescue of viral-specific CD8 T cells, as well as reduction of viral loads in mice chronically infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). We tested the effect of combining PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade with an agonistic regimen that induces 4-1BB costimulation during chronic LCMV infection. There is a boosting effect in the rescue of LCMV-specific CD8 T cell responses after dual treatment with PD-L1 blockade and 4-1BB agonistic Abs when the amount and timing of 4-1BB costimulation are carefully controlled. When PD-L1-blocking Abs are given together with a single low dose of anti-4-1BB agonistic Abs, there is an enhanced and stable expansion of viral-specific CD8 T cells. Conversely, when blocking Abs to PD-L1 are given with a repetitive high dose of anti-4-1BB, there is an initial synergistic expansion of viral-specific CD8 T cells by day 7, followed by dramatic apoptosis by day 14. Viral control paralleled CD8 T cell kinetics after dual treatment. By day 7 posttreatment, viral titers were lower in both of the combined regimens (compared with PD-L1 blockade alone). However, whereas the high dose of anti-4-1BB plus PD-L1 blockade resulted in rebound of viral titers to original levels, the low dose of anti-4-1BB plus PD-L1 blockade resulted in a stable reduction of viral loads. These findings demonstrate the importance of carefully manipulating the balance between activating and inhibitory signals to enhance T cell responses during chronic infection.     

Antigen-independent differentiation and maintenance of effector-like resident memory T cells in tissues

Differentiation and maintenance of recirculating effector memory CD8 T cells (T(EM)) depends on prolonged cognate Ag stimulation. Whether similar pathways of differentiation exist for recently identified tissue-resident effector memory T cells (T(RM)), which contribute to rapid local protection upon pathogen re-exposure, is unknown. Memory CD8αβ(+) T cells within small intestine epithelium are well-characterized examples of T(RM), and they maintain a long-lived effector-like phenotype that is highly suggestive of persistent Ag stimulation. This study sought to define the sources and requirements for prolonged Ag stimulation in programming this differentiation state, including local stimulation via cognate or cross-reactive Ags derived from pathogens, microbial flora, or dietary proteins. Contrary to expectations, we found that prolonged cognate Ag stimulation was dispensable for intestinal T(RM) ontogeny. In fact, chronic antigenic stimulation skewed differentiation away from the canonical intestinal T cell phenotype. Resident memory signatures, CD69 and CD103, were expressed in many nonlymphoid tissues including intestine, stomach, kidney, reproductive tract, pancreas, brain, heart, and salivary gland and could be driven by cytokines. Moreover, TGF-β-driven CD103 expression was required for T(RM) maintenance within intestinal epithelium in vivo. Thus, induction and maintenance of long-lived effector-like intestinal T(RM) differed from classic models of T(EM) ontogeny and were programmed through a novel location-dependent pathway that was required for the persistence of local immunological memory.     

Stimulation history dictates memory CD8 T cell phenotype: implications for prime-boost vaccination

Heterologous prime-boost vaccination results in increased frequencies of memory T cells. Although these quantitative effects of reexposure to Ag are well documented, little is known about the impact of boosting on the functional qualities of memory T cells. To address this critical issue, we have used three different types of immunization regimens and examined how boosting effects the function and anatomic location of memory CD8 T cells. We found that memory T cell phenotype differed substantially depending on the number of immunizations and that secondary and tertiary responses resulted in the generation of memory CD8 T cells that retained effector-like properties and showed preferential accumulation in nonlymphoid tissues. These results show that memory differentiation is coupled to the history of Ag experience and that prime-boost vaccination strategies have important consequences on memory CD8 T cell quality and surveillance within mucosal tissues.     

Mitochondrial DNA and bindin gene sequence evolution among allopatric species of the sea urchin genus Arbacia

Sea urchins of the genus Arbacia (order Stirodonta) have discontinuous allopatric distributions ranging over thousands of kilometers. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of four Arbacia species and their geographic populations. There is little evidence of genetic structuring of populations within species, except in two cases at range extremes. The mtDNA sequence differentiation between species suggests that divergence occurred about 4-9 MYA. Gene sequences encoding the sperm protein bindin and its intron were obtained and compared with the mtDNA phylogeny. Sea urchins among the well-studied echinoid order Camarodonta, with degrees of mtDNA divergence similar to those of Arbacia species, are known to have remarkable variation in bindin. However, in Arbacia, little variation in deduced amino acid sequences of bindin was found, indicating that purifying selection acts on the protein. In contrast, bindin intron sequences showed much differentiation, including numerous insertion/deletions. Fertilization experiments performed between a divergent pair of Arbacia species from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans revealed no evidence of blocks to gamete recognition. In Arbacia, fertilization specificities may have evolved relatively slowly as a result of extensive gene flow within species, greater functional constraint on the bindin polypeptide, or reduced selective pressure for species recognition in singly occurring species.      

Females of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus differ in the structures of their egg jelly sulfated fucans

The egg jelly coats of sea urchins contain sulfated fucans which bind to a sperm surface receptor glycoprotein to initiate the signal transduction events resulting in the sperm acrosome reaction. The acrosome reaction is an ion channel regulated exocytosis which is an obligatory event for sperm binding to, and fusion with, the egg. Approximately 90% of individual females of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus spawned eggs having only one of two possible sulfated fucan electrophoretic isotypes, a slow migrating (sulfated fucan I), or a fast migrating (sulfated fucan II) isotype. The remaining 10% of females spawned eggs having both sulfated fucan isotypes. The two sulfated fucan isotypes were purified from egg jelly coats and their structures determined by NMR spectroscopy and methylation analysis. Both sulfated fucans are linear polysaccharides composed of 1-->3-linked alpha-L-fucopyranosyl units. Sulfated fucan I is entirely sulfated at the O -2 position but with a heterogeneous sulfation pattern at O -4 position. Sulfated fucan II is composed of a regular repeating sequence of 3 residues, as follows: [3-alpha-L-Fuc p - 2,4(OSO3)-1-->3-alpha-L-Fuc p -4(OSO3)-1-->3-alpha-L-Fuc p -4(OSO3)- 1]n. Both purified sulfated fucans have approximately equal potency in inducing the sperm acrosome reaction. The significance of two structurally different sulfated fucans in the egg jelly coat of this species could relate to the finding that the sperm receptor protein which binds sulfated fucan contains two carbohydrate recognition modules of the C-type lectin variety which differ by 50% in their primary structure.      

Interstitial Migration of CD8αβ T Cells in the Small Intestine Is Dynamic and Is Dictated by Environmental Cues

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