Project description:Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is associated with the development of Adult T-cell Leukemia, an aggressive CD4+ T-cells malignancy. Here, we have developed a new procedure to infect humanized mice with proviruses displaying specific mutations, such as one leading to the loss of the PDZ domain-binding motif (PBM) of Tax. In order to specifically analyze the in vivo role of the PBM of Tax, a comparative study of infected hu-mice was performed. We used next-generation sequencing to perform genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of T-cells infected with wild-type HTLV-1 virus or with virus bearing a mutated form of Tax lacking the PBM. Our results suggest that Tax PBM might be involved in the regulation of genes implicated in proliferation, apoptosis and cytoskeleton organization.
Project description:Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is linked to the development of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and the neuroinflammatory disease, HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The HTLV-1 Tax oncoprotein regulates viral gene expression and the NF-kB pathway to promote the survival of HTLV-1 infected T cells. In thsi study, we utilize a kinome-wide shRNA screen to identify the tyrosine kinase KDR/VEGFR2 as an essential survival factor of HTLV-1-transformed T cells. Inhibition of KDR induces apoptosis of Tax expressing HTLV-1-transformed cell lines and CD4+ T cells from HAM/TSP patients. Phosphoproteomics analysis of HTLV-1 transformed cells treated with a KDR inhibitor revealed inhibition of the phosphorylation of multiple receptors/cell surface proteins, ubiquitin conjugating systems, proteases, phosphatases, apoptotic regulatory factors, adhesion/extracellular matrix proteins and viral proteins. This work suggests that HTLV-1 Tax has hijacked KDR kinase activity to promote Tax stability and the proliferation and survival of HTLV-1 infected cells.
Project description:HTLV-1 preferentially infects CD4+ T cells and these cells play a central role in HTLV-1 infection. In this study, we investigated the global gene expression profile of circulating CD4+ T cells from distinct clinical status of HTLV-1-infected individuals in regard to Tax expression levels. CD4+ T cells were isolated from asymptomatic HTLV-1 carrier (HAC) and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients, in order to identify genes involved in the HAM/TSP development. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that healthy controls (CT) and HTLV-1-infected samples clustered separately. We also observed that HAC and HAM/TSP groups clustered separately regardless Tax expression. The gene expression profile of CD4+ T cells was compared among CT, HAC and HAM/TSP groups. The IL-27, PXN, CXCR4, GZMA, PRF1 and Foxp3 genes were differentially expressed between HAC and HAM/TSP groups and the frequency of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) were higher in HTLV-1-infected individuals. These findings suggest that CD4+ T cells activity is distinct between HAC and HAM/TSP groups as expected.
Project description:HTLV-1 preferentially infects CD4+ T cells and these cells play a central role in HTLV-1 infection. In this study, we investigated the global gene expression profile of circulating CD4+ T cells from distinct clinical status of HTLV-1-infected individuals in regard to Tax expression levels. CD4+ T cells were isolated from asymptomatic HTLV-1 carrier (HAC) and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients, in order to identify genes involved in the HAM/TSP development. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that healthy controls (CT) and HTLV-1-infected samples clustered separately. We also observed that HAC and HAM/TSP groups clustered separately regardless Tax expression. The gene expression profile of CD4+ T cells was compared among CT, HAC and HAM/TSP groups. The IL-27, PXN, CXCR4, GZMA, PRF1 and Foxp3 genes were differentially expressed between HAC and HAM/TSP groups and the frequency of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) were higher in HTLV-1-infected individuals. These findings suggest that CD4+ T cells activity is distinct between HAC and HAM/TSP groups as expected. In order to study the transcriptional changes in CD4 T cell from HTLV-1-infected individuals, immunomagnetically purified CD4+ T-cells from the peripheral blood of 4 asymptomatic HTLV-1 carrier individuals (HAC) and 4 individuals with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), as well as from 4 healthy controls (CT) were isolated and processed the microarray assay according Agilent's protocol. The differential expressed genes, molecular characterization and networks analysis were evaluated using robust bioinformatic tools, then the real time PCR was done to validate the genes.
Project description:RNA-seq analysis of cytoplasmic RNAs extracted from human T Cells obtained from humanized mice infected with wild-type HTLV-1 and a mutant form lacking the PBM of Tax.
Project description:The Tesi system allows analysis of HTLV-1 Tax's impact on the transcriptome of a human CD4+ T-cell which is not derived from leukemia but directly from normal human lymphocytes. By comparing cells with and without Tax, one can specifically filter for celluar genes that are either activated or repressed in the presence of Tax. Keywords: cell type comparison, Tax
Project description:Initially, ATL cell lines (MT-1 or KK-1) were stably transfected with reporter plasmid for HTLV-1 Tax expression, and single clones were isolated . This reporter in composed of Tax responsive element upstream of d2EGFP fluorescent protein. d2EGFP is expressed upon Tax expression in any individual cell. To compare transcriptomes of Tax(-) and Tax(+) cells, FACS sorting was done for d2EGFP(-) and d2EGFP(+) populations and RNA sequencing was performed.
Project description:We previously reported that human T cell lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) Tax oncoprotein constitutively activates TAK1. Here, we established Tax-positive HuT-102 cells stably downregulated TAK1 expression by short-hairpin RNA (HuT-shTAK1 cells), and investigated the physiological function of TAK1. Microarray analysis demonstrated that several interferon (IFN)-inducible genes including chemokines such as CXCL10 and CCL5 were significantly downregulated in HuT-shTAK1 cells. In contrast, Tax-mediated constitutive activation of NF-kB was intact in HuT-shTAK1 cells. IRF3, a critical transcription factor in innate immunity to viral infection, was constitutively activated in a Tax-dependent manner. Activation of IRF3 and IRF3-dependent gene expression were dependent on TAK1 and TBK1. On the other hand, IRF4, another IRF family of transcription factor overexpressed in a Tax-independent manner, negatively regulated the TAK1-dependent IRF3 transcriptional activity. Together, HTLV-1 manipulates IFN signaling by regulating both positive and negative IRFs.
Project description:The Tesi system allows analysis of HTLV-1 Tax's impact on the transcriptome of a human CD4+ T-cell which is not derived from leukemia but directly from normal human lymphocytes. By comparing cells with and without Tax, one can specifically filter for celluar genes that are either activated or repressed in the presence of Tax. Experiment Overall Design: Tesi cells were kept in RPMI 1640 with 50% Panserin, 20% FCS, 0.35g/l glutamine, streptomycin as antibiotic and 40U/ml interleukin-2. To repress Tax expression, 1µg/ml tetracycline was added for ten days. Subsequently, total cellular RNA was extracted from samples and subjected to Affymetrix microarray analysis. For each state (with Tax and without Tax) a biological replicate was generated. Mean values of replicated samples were then compared.
Project description:IL-15 is recognized as a promising candidate for tumor immunotherapy and has been described as both a promoter of cancer and a promoter of anti-cancer immunity. IL-15 was discovered in cells transformed by HTLV-1, the etiologic agent of adult T cell leukemia / lymphoma (ATL) and the human retrovirus that carries the Tax oncogene. We have developed the TAX-LUC mouse model of ATL in which Tax expression drives both malignant transformation and luciferase expression, enabling non-invasive imaging of tumorigenesis in real time. To identify the role of IL-15 in spontaneous development of lymphoma in vivo, an IL-15-/- TAX-LUC strain was developed and examined. The absence of IL-15 resulted in aggressive tumor growth and accelerated mortality and demonstrated that IL-15 was not required for Tax-mediated lymphoma but was essential for anti-tumor immunity. Further analysis revealed a unique transcriptional profile in tumor cells that arise in the absence of IL-15 that included a significant increase in the expression of IL-1α and IL-1α-regulated cytokines. Moreover, anti-IL-1α antibodies and an IL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakinra) were used to interrogate the potential of IL-1α targeted therapies in this model. Taken together, these findings identify IL-15 and IL-1α as therapeutic targets in lymphoma. We used microarrays to compare the gene expression profile of tumors in IL-15-/- TAX-LUC mice to IL-15+/+ TAX-LUC mice RNA was obtained from CD16/32HI and CD16/32LO cells harvested from n=2 IL-15+/+ (control)and n=2 IL-15-/- Tax tumors and was compared to look for alterations in gene expression in malignant and tumor infiltrating cells resulting from loss of IL-15 in vivo