Project description:Analysis of the transcriptional response of HEK293 or HEK293-STAT6 stable cell lines to poly(I:C) transfection. The hypothesis tested was that poly(I:C) transfection is capable of inducing the expression of STAT6-dependent antiviral genes. mRNA isolated from HEK293 or HEK293-STAT6 stable cell lines with control treatment or poly(I:C) transfection for 16 hours.
Project description:E. fischeriana has long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine.Recent studies reported that some compounds of E. fischeriana exhibited antimicrobial and immune enhance activity. Innate immune system is essential for the immune surveillance of inner and outer threats, initial host defense responses and immune modulation. The role of natural drug compounds, including E. fischeriana, in innate immune regulation is largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that E. fischeriana compound Dpo is involved in antiviral signaling. The genome wide RNA-seq analysis revealed that Dpo synergized the induction of ISGs by viral infection. Consistently, Dpo enhanced the antiviral immune responses and protected the mice from death during viral infection. Dpo however was not able to rescue STING deficient mice lethality caused by HSV-1 infection. The enhancement of ISG15 by Dpo was also impaired in STING, IRF3, IRF7 or ELF4 deficient cells, demonstrating that Dpo activates innate immune responses in a STING/IRFs/ELF4 dependent way. The STING/IRFs/ELF4 axis is therefore important for Dpo induced ISGs expression, and can be used by host to counteract infection.
Project description:Innate immunity serves as the primary defense against viral and microbial infections in humans. Among its components, retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs) are well-characterized intracellular pattern-recognition proteins that trigger innate immune responses upon viral infection. However, the precise influence of cellular metabolites, especially fatty acids, on the regulation of RLR-mediated antiviral innate immunity remains largely elusive. Here, through screening a metabolite library, palmitic acid (PA) has been identified as a crucial metabolite responsible for modulating antiviral infections. Mechanistically, PA induces the palmitoylation of MAVS, leading to MAVS aggregation and subsequent activation, thereby enhancing the innate immune response against viral infections. Functionally, the enzyme palmitoyl-transferase ZDHHC24 plays a key role in catalyzing the palmitoylation of MAVS at both C46 and C79 residues, thereby facilitating the transduction of RLR-mediated TBK1-IRF3-IFN signaling pathway, particularly under conditions of PA stimulation or high-fat diet feeding. Conversely, the absence of ZDHHC24 significantly attenuates virus-induced innate immune responses in both cells and mice. Moreover, APT2 counteracts with ZDHHC24 to de-palmitoylate MAVS, thus inhibiting the antiviral response. Consequently, inhibition of APT2 using compounds like ML349 effectively reverses MAVS palmitoylation and activation in response to antiviral infections. These findings underscore the critical role of PA and ZDHHC24 in regulating antiviral innate immunity through MAVS palmitoylation, and suggest potential therapeutic strategies for combating viral infections, such as enhancing PA intake or specifically targeting APT2.
Project description:<p>Healthy behavioral patterns could modulate organ functions to enhance the body’s immunity. However, whether exercise regulates antiviral innate immunity remains elusive. Here, we found that exercise promotes type-I IFN (IFN-I) production in the liver and enhances IFN-I immune activity of the body. Despite the possibility that many exercise-induced factors could regulate IFN-I production, we identified Gpld1 as a crucial molecule and the liver as the major organ to promote IFN-I production after exercise. Exercise largely loses the efficiency to induce IFN-I in Gpld1-/- mice. Further studies demonstrated that exercise-produced 3-hydroxybutanoic acid (3-HB) critically induces Gpld1 expression in the liver. Gpld1 blocks the PP2A-IRF3 interaction and therefore enhances IRF3 activation and IFN-I production, and improves the body’s antiviral ability. This study reveals that the exercise behavior improves antiviral innate immunity by linking the liver metabolism to systemic IFN-I activity, and uncovers an unknown function of liver cells in innate immunity.</p>
Project description:Analysis of the transcriptional response of HEK293 or HEK293-STAT6 stable cell lines to poly(I:C) transfection. The hypothesis tested was that poly(I:C) transfection is capable of inducing the expression of STAT6-dependent antiviral genes.
Project description:Untargeted lipidomics of 3 cell lines at baseline with focus on phospholipids to understand the role of these lipids in endosomal antiviral immunity
Project description:Activation of the STING (Stimulator of Interferon Genes) pathway by microbial or self-DNA, as well as cyclic di nucleotides (CDN), results in the induction of numerous genes that suppress pathogen replication and facilitate adaptive immunity. However, sustained gene transcription is rigidly prevented to avoid lethal STING-dependent pro-inflammatory disease by mechanisms that remain unknown. We demonstrate here that after autophagy-dependent STING delivery of TBK1 (TANK-binding kinase 1) to endosomal/lysosomal compartments and activation of transcription factors IRF3 (interferon regulatory factors 3) and NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa beta), that STING is subsequently phosphorylated by serine/threonine UNC-51-like kinase (ULK1/ATG1) and IRF3 function is suppressed. ULK1 activation occurred following disassociation from its repressor adenine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK), and was elicited by CDN’S generated by the cGAMP synthase, cGAS. Thus, while CDN’s may initially facilitate STING function, they subsequently trigger negative-feedback control of STING activity, thus preventing the persistent transcription of innate immune genes. Total RNA obtained from primary STING deficient mouse embryonic fibroblast reconstituted with mSTING (W), S365A variant (A), or S365D variant (D). These cells were transfected with dsDNA (ISD) for 3 hours.
Project description:BackgroundO-GlcNAcylation modification affects multiple physiological and pathophysiolocal functions of cells. Altered O-GlcNAcylation was reported to participate in antivirus response. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an adaptor mediating DNA virus-induced innate immune response. Whether STING is able to be modified by O-GlcNAcylation and how O-GlcNAcylation affects STING-mediated anti-DNA virus response remain unknown.MethodsMetabolomics analysis was used for detecting metabolic alterations in HSV-1 infection cells. Succinylated wheat germ agglutinin (sWGA), co-immunoprecipitation, and pull-down assay were employed for determining O-GlcNAcylation. Mutagenesis PCR was applied for the generation of STING mutants. WT and Sting1-/- C57BL/6 mice (KOCMP-72512-Sting1-B6NVA) were infected with HSV-1 and treated with O-GlcNAcylation inhibitor for validating the role of STING O-GlcNAcylation in antiviral response.ResultsSTING was functionally activated by O-GlcNAcylation in host cells challenged with HSV-1. We demonstrated that this signaling event was initiated by virus infection-enhanced hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP). HSV-1 (or viral DNA mimics) promotes glucose metabolism of host cells with a marked increase in HBP, which provides donor glucosamine for O-GlcNAcylation. STING was O-GlcNAcylated on threonine 229, which led to lysine 63-linked ubiquitination of STING and activation of antiviral immune responses. Mutation of STING T229 to alanine abrogated STING activation and reduced HSV-1 stimulated production of interferon (IFN). Application of 6-diazo-5-oxonorleucine (DON), an agent that blocks the production of UDP-GlcNAc and inhibits O-GlcNAcylation, markedly attenuated the removal of HSV-1 in wild type C57BL/6 mice, leading to an increased viral retention, elevated infiltration of inflammatory cells, and worsened tissue damages to those displayed in STING gene knockout mice. Together, our data suggest that STING is O-GlcNAcylated in HSV-1, which is crucial for an effective antiviral innate immune response.ConclusionHSV-1 infection activates the generation of UDP-Glc-NAc by upregulating the HBP metabolism. Elevated UDP-Glc-NAc promotes the O-GlcNAcylation of STING, which mediates the anti-viral function of STING. Targeting O-GlcNAcylation of STING could be a useful strategy for antiviral innate immunity.
Project description:Analysis of the transcriptional response of mouse embryonic fibroblasts to reovirus infection. The hypothesis tested was that both peroxisomal and mitochondrial MAVS is capable of inducing the expression of antiviral genes. mRNA isolated from MAVS-expressing cells after infection for various times with reovirus