Project description:JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is the causative agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a devastating demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that results in the widespread formation of lesions across the brain parenchyma. The virus is opportunistic and remains in a benign state in the kidneys and lymphoid organs of more than half of the global human adult population. However, in rare cases of severe or selective immune suppression, JCPyV can establish a lytic infection of glial cells in the brain. While PML has traditionally been characterized as a lytic infection of oligodendrocytes, more recent findings suggest an important role for astrocytes during the initial stages of disease. Because of the exceptional species and tissue specificity of the virus, appropriate models of JCPyV infection in the brain are lacking, thus hampering progress towards the development of novel antiviral strategies and biomarkers of disease activity. Here, using iPSC-derived astrocytes infected with JCPyV and analyzed by LC-MS/MS, we show that the virus strongly influences the cell biology, inducing an unique proteomic signature that sharply contrasts with mock-infected cells.
Project description:JC virus (JCV) is a ubiquitous human polyomavirus that causes the demyelinating disease Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV replicates in limited cell types in culture, predominantly in human glial cells. Thus, productive JCV infection is an indicator of the host cell transcription environment. Following introduction of a replication defective SV40 mutant that expressed large T protein into a heterogeneous culture of human fetal brain cells, multiple phenotypes became immortalized (SVG cells). A subset of SVG cells could support JCV replication. This mixed culture was called SVG cells. In the current study, clonal cell lines were selected from the original SVG cell culture. The SVG-5F4 clone showed low levels of viral growth. The SVG-10B1 clone was highly permissive for JCV DNA replication and gene expression. Microarray analysis revealed that viral infection did not significantly change gene expression in these cells. More resistant 5F4 cells expressed high levels of transcription factors known to inhibit JCV transcription. Interestingly, 5F4 cells highly expressed RNA of markers of Bergman or radial glia and 10B1 cells had high expression of markers of immature glial cells and activation of transcription regulators important for stem/progenitor cell self-renewal. These SVG-derived clonal cell lines provide a biologically relevant model to investigate cell type differences in JCV host range and pathogenesis, as well as neural development. 13 Human samples: 3 SVG 10B1 clones 14 days post mock-infection, 3 SVG 10B1 clones 14 days post JCV Mad-4 strain infection, 3 SVG 5F4 clones 14 days post mock-infection, 4 SVG 5F4 clones 14 days post JCV Mad-4 strain infection.
Project description:The human polyomavirus, JCPyV, establishes a lifelong persistent infection in the peripheral organs of a majority of the human population worldwide. Patients who are immunocompromised due to underlying infections, cancer, or to immunomodulatory treatments for autoimmune disease are at risk for developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) when the virus invades the CNS and infects macroglial cells in the brain parenchyma. It is not yet known how the virus enters the CNS to cause disease. The blood-choroid plexus barrier is a potential site of virus invasion as the cells that make up this barrier are known to be infected with virus both in vivo and in vitro. To understand the effects of virus infection on these cells we challenged primary choroid plexus epithelial cells with JCPyV and profiled changes in host gene expression. We found that JC infection induced the expression of proinflammatory chemokines and downregulated junctional proteins essential for maintaining blood-CSF and blood-brain barrier function. These data contribute to our understanding of how virus infection of the choroid plexus can modulate the host cell response to neuroinvasive pathogens.
Project description:We report the expression of microRNAs in renal biopsies from patients with IgA nephropathy (progressive form and non progressive form), membranous and thin membrane nephropathies
Project description:JC virus (JCV) is a ubiquitous human polyomavirus that causes the demyelinating disease Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV replicates in limited cell types in culture, predominantly in human glial cells. Thus, productive JCV infection is an indicator of the host cell transcription environment. Following introduction of a replication defective SV40 mutant that expressed large T protein into a heterogeneous culture of human fetal brain cells, multiple phenotypes became immortalized (SVG cells). A subset of SVG cells could support JCV replication. This mixed culture was called SVG cells. In the current study, clonal cell lines were selected from the original SVG cell culture. The SVG-5F4 clone showed low levels of viral growth. The SVG-10B1 clone was highly permissive for JCV DNA replication and gene expression. Microarray analysis revealed that viral infection did not significantly change gene expression in these cells. More resistant 5F4 cells expressed high levels of transcription factors known to inhibit JCV transcription. Interestingly, 5F4 cells highly expressed RNA of markers of Bergman or radial glia and 10B1 cells had high expression of markers of immature glial cells and activation of transcription regulators important for stem/progenitor cell self-renewal. These SVG-derived clonal cell lines provide a biologically relevant model to investigate cell type differences in JCV host range and pathogenesis, as well as neural development.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.
Project description:JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is the causative agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a devastating demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that results in the widespread formation of lesions across the brain parenchyma. The virus is opportunistic and remains in a benign state in the kidneys and lymphoid organs of more than half of the global human adult population. However, in rare cases of severe or selective immune suppression, JCPyV can establish a lytic infection of glial cells in the brain. While PML has traditionally been characterized as a lytic infection of oligodendrocytes, more recent findings suggest an important role for astrocytes during the initial stages of disease. Because of the exceptional species and tissue specificity of the virus, appropriate models of JCPyV infection in the brain are lacking, thus hampering progress towards the development of novel antiviral strategies and biomarkers of disease activity. Towards the aim of biomarker development extracellular vesicles (EVs) were isolated from JCPyV-infected and mock-infected human iPSC-derived astrocytes and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. As a inflammatory control, EVs were also isolated from cytokine-stimulated iPSC-derived astrocytes. We demonstrate that the proteomic signature associated with EVs from JCPyV-infected astrocytes reflect what was observed on a cellular level for infected astrocytes while being strikingly different from that of EVs generated under inflammatory conditions.