Human inflammatory mucosal T cells in the female reproductive tract are poised to participate in immunity to infection
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE127834 | GEO | 2019/09/10
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:HIV-1 sexual transmission occurs mainly via mucosal semen exposures. In the female reproductive tract (FRT), seminal plasma (SP) induces physiological modifications, including inflammation. An effective HIV-1 vaccine should elicit mucosal immunity. However, modifications of vaccine responses by the local environment remain to be characterized. Using a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) as a vaccine model, we characterized the impact of HIV-1+ SP intravaginal exposure on the local immune responses of nonhuman primates. Multiple HIV-1+ SP exposures did not impact the anti-MVA antibody responses. However, SP exposures revealed an anti-MVA responses mediated by CD4+ T cells, which was not observed in the control group. Multi-parameter approaches clearly identified the cervix as the most impacted compartment in the FRT. The frequency and the quality of specific anti-MVA CD8+ T cell responses increased in the FRT exposed to SP. Furthermore SP exposures induced a local cell recruitment of antigen presenting cells, especially CD11c+ cells and CD8+ T cell recruitment in the FRT draining lymph nodes. CD11c+ cell recruitment was associated with upregulation of inflammation-related gene expression after SP exposures in the cervix. We thus highlight the fact that physiological conditions, such as SP exposures, should be taken into consideration to test and to improve vaccine efficacy against HIV-1 and other sexually transmitted infections.
2019-02-12 | E-MTAB-7639 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Human inflammatory mucosal T cells in the female reproductive tract are poised to participate in immunity to infection
| PRJNA525619 | ENA
Project description:Worldwide, HIV-1 infects millions of people annually, the majority of whom are women. To establish infection in the female reproductive tract (FRT), HIV-1 in male ejaculate must overcome numerous innate and adaptive immune factors, traverse the genital epithelium, and establish infection in underlying CD4(+) target cells. How the virus achieves this remains poorly defined. By utilizing a new technique, we define how HIV-1 interacts with different tissues of the FRT using human cervical explants and in vivo exposure in the rhesus macaque vaginal transmission model. Despite previous claims of the squamous epithelium being an efficient barrier to virus entry, we reveal that HIV-1 can penetrate both intact columnar and squamous epithelial barriers to depths where the virus can encounter potential target cells. In the squamous epithelium, we identify virus entry occurring through diffusive percolation, penetrating areas where cell junctions are absent. In the columnar epithelium, we illustrate that virus does not transverse barriers as well as previously thought due to mucus impediment. We also show a statistically significant correlation between the viral load of inocula and the ability of HIV-1 to pervade the squamous barrier. Overall, our results suggest a diffusive percolation mechanism for the initial events of HIV-1 entry. With these data, we also mathematically extrapolate the number of HIV-1 particles that penetrate the mucosa per coital act, providing a biological description of the mechanism for HIV-1 transmission during the acute and chronic stages of infection.
| S-EPMC3807311 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Besides bacteria, fungi, protists and archaea, the vaginal ecosystem also contains a range of prokaryote- and eukaryote-infecting viruses, which are collectively referred to as the "virome". Despite its well-described role in the gut and other environmental niches, the vaginal virome remains understudied. With a focus on sexual and reproductive health, we summarize the currently known components of the vaginal virome, its relationship with other constituents of the vaginal microbiota and its association with adverse health outcomes. While a range of eukaryote-infecting viruses has been described to be present in the female genital tract (FGT), few prokaryote-infecting viruses have been described. Literature suggests that various vaginal viruses interact with vaginal bacterial microbiota and host immunity and that any imbalance thereof may contribute to the risk of adverse reproductive health outcomes, including infertility and adverse birth outcomes. Current limitations of vaginal virome research include experimental and analytical constraints. Considering the vaginal virome may represent the missing link in our understanding of the relationship between FGT bacteria, mucosal immunity, and adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes, future studies evaluating the vaginal microbiome and its population dynamics holistically will be important for understanding the role of the vaginal virome in balancing health and disease.
| S-EPMC7472209 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mitogen-activated protein 3 kinase 1 (MAP3K1) has a plethora of cell type-specific functions not yet fully understood. Herein, we describe a role for MAP3K1 in female reproductive tract (FRT) development. MAP3K1 kinase domain-deficient female mice exhibited an imperforate vagina, labor failure and infertility. These defects corresponded with shunted Müllerian ducts (MDs), the embryonic precursors of FRT, that manifested as a contorted caudal vagina and abrogated vaginal-urogenital sinus fusion in neonates. The MAP3K1 kinase domain is required for optimal activation of the Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and cell polarity in the MD epithelium, and for upregulation of WNT signaling in the mesenchyme surrounding the caudal MD. The MAP3K1-deficient epithelial cells and MD epithelium had reduced expression of WNT7B ligands. Correspondingly, conditioned media derived from MAP3K1-competent, but not -deficient, epithelial cells activated a TCF/Lef-luciferase reporter in fibroblasts. These observations indicate that MAP3K1 regulates MD caudal elongation and FRT development, in part through the induction of paracrine factors in the epithelium that trans-activate WNT signaling in the mesenchyme.
| S-EPMC10985838 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC3328984 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The continuing spread of HIV/AIDS is predominantly fueled by sexual exposure to HIV-contaminated semen. Seminal plasma (SP), the liquid portion of semen, harbors a variety of factors that may favor HIV transmission by facilitating viral entry into host cells, eliciting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and enhancing the translocation of HIV across the genital epithelium. One important and abundant class of factors in SP is extracellular vesicles (EVs), which in general are important intercellular signal transducers. Although numerous studies have characterized blood plasma-derived EVs from both uninfected and HIV-infected individuals, little is known about the properties of EVs from semen of HIV-infected individuals. We report here that fractionated SP enriched for EVs from HIV-infected men induce potent transcriptional responses in epithelial and stromal cells that interface with luminal contents of the female reproductive tract. Compared to semen EV fractions from uninfected individuals, those from acutely-infected individuals induced a more pro-inflammatory signature. This was not associated with any observable differences in the surface phenotypes of the vesicles. However, miRNA expression profiling analysis revealed that EV fractions from infected individuals exhibit a broader and more diverse profile. Taken together, our data suggest that SP EVs from HIV-infected individuals exhibit unique miRNA signatures and exert potent pro-inflammatory transcriptional changes in cells of the female reproductive tract, which may facilitate HIV transmission.
2020-06-18 | GSE152714 | GEO
Project description:We present a detailed review of the embryonic and fetal development of the human female reproductive tract utilizing specimens from the 5th through the 22nd gestational week. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) as well as immunohistochemical stains were used to study the development of the human uterine tube, endometrium, myometrium, uterine cervix and vagina. Our study revisits and updates the classical reports of Koff (1933) and Bulmer (1957) and presents new data on development of human vaginal epithelium. Koff proposed that the upper 4/5ths of the vagina is derived from Müllerian epithelium and the lower 1/5th derived from urogenital sinus epithelium, while Bulmer proposed that vaginal epithelium derives solely from urogenital sinus epithelium. These conclusions were based entirely upon H&E stained sections. A central player in human vaginal epithelial development is the solid vaginal plate, which arises from the uterovaginal canal (fused Müllerian ducts) cranially and squamous epithelium of urogenital sinus caudally. Since Müllerian and urogenital sinus epithelium cannot be unequivocally identified in H&E stained sections, we used immunostaining for PAX2 (reactive with Müllerian epithelium) and FOXA1 (reactive with urogenital sinus epithelium). By this technique, the PAX2/FOXA1 boundary was located at the extreme caudal aspect of the vaginal plate at 12 weeks. During the ensuing weeks, the PAX2/FOXA1 boundary progressively extended cranially such that by 21 weeks the entire vaginal epithelium was FOXA1-reactive and PAX2-negative. This observation supports Bulmer's proposal that human vaginal epithelium derives solely from urogenital sinus epithelium. Clearly, the development of the human vagina is far more complex than previously envisioned and appears to be distinctly different in many respects from mouse vaginal development.
| S-EPMC5712241 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe human uterus is traditionally believed to be sterile, while the vaginal microbiota plays an important role in fending off pathogens. Emerging evidence demonstrates the presence of bacteria beyond the vagina. However, a microbiome-wide metagenomic analysis characterizing the diverse microbial communities has been lacking.ResultsWe performed shotgun-sequencing of 52 samples from the cervical canal and the peritoneal fluid of Chinese women of reproductive age using the Illumina platform. Direct annotation of sequencing reads identified the taxonomy of bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses, confirming and extending the results from our previous study. We replicated our previous findings in another 24 samples from the vagina, the cervical canal, the uterus and the peritoneal fluid using the BGISEQ-500 platform revealing that microorganisms in the samples from the same individuals were largely shared in the entire reproductive tract. Human sequences made up more than 99% of the 20GB raw data. After filtering, vaginal microorganisms were well covered in the generated reproductive tract gene catalogue, while the more diverse upper reproductive tract microbiota would require greater depth of sequencing and more samples to meet the full coverage scale.ConclusionsWe provide novel detailed data on the microbial composition of a largely unchartered body site, the female reproductive tract. Our results indicated the presence of an intra-individual continuum of microorganisms that gradually changed from the vagina to the peritoneal fluid. This study also provides a framework for understanding the implications of the composition and functional potential of the distinct microbial ecosystems of the female reproductive tract in relation to health and disease.
| S-EPMC6177736 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Intravaginal HIV microbicides could provide women with a self-controlled means for HIV prevention, but results from clinical trials have been largely disappointing. We postulated that unrecognized effects of intravaginal gels on the upper female reproductive tract (FRT) might contribute to the lower-than-expected efficacy of HIV microbicides. In this observational crossover study, 28 healthy female volunteers used no product (control cycle) or used a nightly application of intravaginal nonoxynol-9 gel [N9] as a 'failed' microbicide or the universal placebo gel [UPG] as a 'safe' gel, from the end of menses to the mid-luteal phase (intervention cycles). They then underwent sample collection for measurements of T-cell phenotypes, transcriptional profiling, and protein levels from 3 anatomic sites above the vagina: the cervical transformation zone, the endocervix and the endometrium. We used hierarchical statistical models to estimate mean (95% CI) intervention:control fold-changes in relevant phenotype levels. Exposure to N9 and UPG generated a common 'harm signature' that included transcriptional up-regulation of inflammatory genes CCL20 and IL8 in the cervix, decreased protein concentrations of secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor and increased percentages of terminally differentiated CD4+ effector T-cells in the endocervix, and transcriptional up-regulation of inflammatory mediators KIR3DS1, glycodelin-A, and osteopontin in the endometrium. These results underscore the need to consider the effects of microbicide agents and gel excipients on the upper FRT in studies of vaginal microbicides. Given the pro-inflammatory effects of UPG on the upper FRT, it may not be a suitable placebo for microbicide trials. Upper tract effects of intravaginal gels in women. This is a cross sectional study involving control samples versus treatment for two tissue types.
2015-08-10 | E-GEOD-58090 | biostudies-arrayexpress