scholarly journals Characterization of Sex Differences in Ocular HSV-1 Infection and Herpes Stromal Keratitis Pathogenesis of Wild Type and Herpesvirus Entry Mediator Knockout Mice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E Riccio ◽  
Seo J Park ◽  
Richard M Longnecker ◽  
Sarah J Kopp

ABSTRACTSex differences related to immune response and inflammation play a role in the susceptibility and pathogenesis of a variety of viral infections and disease (S. L. Klein, Bioessays 34:1050-9, 2012). Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) causes chronic inflammatory disease in the cornea, an immune privileged tissue, resulting in irreversible damage and blindness in affected individuals (A. Rowe, A. St Leger, S. Jeon, D. K. Dhaliwal, J. E. Knickelbein, and E. Vilain, Prog Retin Eye Res 32:88-101, 2013). Our research focuses on the role of Herpes Viral Entry Mediator (HVEM) as an immune regulator during ocular HSV-1 infection. Mice lacking HVEM (HVEM KO) exhibit lower immune cell infiltrates and less severe ocular disease in the cornea compared to wild type (WT) mice. As sex differences contribute to pathogenesis in many inflammatory diseases, we tested sex as a biological variable in the immune response to HSV-1 infection and Herpes Stromal Keratitis pathogenesis (HSK). Adult male and female WT and HVEM KO mice were inoculated with HSV-1 via corneal scarification and monitored daily for disease course. Viral titers and immune cell infiltrates were collected and analyzed. Our results indicate no significant difference in viral titers in tear film or affected tissues; immune cell infiltration; or clinical symptoms between males and females of either genotype. These results suggest that sex is not a significant biological variable in this experimental model, and that male and female mice can similarly be used in studies of ocular HSV-1 pathogenesis.IMPORTANCESex hormones have only recently been considered as an important factor for the development of certain diseases and as such should continue to be considered as a biological variable. Ocular Herpesvirus Type 1 (HSV-1), and the resulting Herpes Stromal Keratitis, is the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide. We compared ocular HSV-1 infection and pathogenesis between sexes and found no significance difference between male and female wild type mice or herpesvirus entry mediator knockout mice. Therefore, male and female mice can be used interchangeably in studying ocular HSV-1 pathogenesis.

mSphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Riccio ◽  
Seo J. Park ◽  
Richard Longnecker ◽  
Sarah J. Kopp

ABSTRACTSex differences related to immune response and inflammation play a role in the susceptibility and pathogenesis of a variety of viral infections and disease (S. L. Klein, Bioessays 34:1050–1059, 2012,https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201200099). Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) causes chronic inflammatory disease in the cornea, an immune-privileged tissue, resulting in irreversible damage and blindness in affected individuals (A. Rowe, A. St Leger, S. Jeon, D. K. Dhaliwal, et al., Prog Retin Eye Res 32:88–101, 2013,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.preteyeres.2012.08.002). Our research focuses on the role of herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) as an immune regulator during ocular HSV-1 infection. Mice lacking HVEM (HVEM knockout [KO] mice) exhibit lower levels of immune cell infiltrates and less severe ocular disease in the cornea than wild-type (WT) mice. As sex differences contribute to pathogenesis in many inflammatory diseases, we tested whether sex acts as a biological variable in the immune response to HSV-1 infection and herpes stromal keratitis (HSK) pathogenesis. Adult male and female WT and HVEM KO mice were inoculated with HSV-1 via corneal scarification and monitored daily for disease course. Viral titers were determined, and immune cell infiltrates were collected and analyzed. Our results indicated no significant differences in viral titers in tear film or affected tissues, in immune cell infiltration, or in clinical symptoms between males and females of either genotype. These results suggest that sex is not a significant biological variable in this experimental model and that male and female mice of the C57BL/6 background can be used similarly in studies of ocular HSV-1 pathogenesis.IMPORTANCESex hormones have come to be considered an important factor for the development of certain diseases only recently and as such should continue to be considered a biological variable. Ocular HSV-1, and the resulting HSK, is the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide. We compared levels of ocular HSV-1 infection and pathogenesis in the two sexes and found no significance differences between male and female WT mice or HVEM KO mice.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M Ames ◽  
Tejabhiram Yadavalli ◽  
Chandrashekhar Patil ◽  
James Hopkins ◽  
Ilina Bhattacharya ◽  
...  

Herpes stromal keratitis (HSK) is a result of the inflammatory sequelae following primary and recurrent Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) infections. This pathology is known to be mediated by immunopathogenic T cell responses against viral antigens, however most individuals infected with HSV-1 never exhibit signs of this immunopathology. Recent studies have identified the host restriction factor, optineurin (OPTN), as an inhibitor of viral spread in the central nervous system, protecting hosts from viral encephalopathy. In an HSV-1 corneal infection mouse model on OPTN knockout mice, we assess the contribution of OPTN to ameliorating the clinical manifestations of HSK. We identify that OPTN protects the host from loss of ocular and whisker sensitivity and opacification of the cornea. scRNA-seq of the trigeminal ganglion (TG) reveals that transcription changes to the peripheral neurons and immune cell populations drive the expression of Il-17A in CD4 and CD8 T cells, as well as increased infiltration of T cells into the TG. This leads to demyelination and the observed HSK pathology.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 1382-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiko Tanaka ◽  
Hiroyuki Kagawa ◽  
Yuji Yamanashi ◽  
Tetsutaro Sata ◽  
Yasushi Kawaguchi

ABSTRACT In recent years, several laboratories have reported on the cloning of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genomes as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) in Escherichia coli and on procedures to manipulate these genomes by using the bacterial recombination machinery. However, the HSV-BACs reported so far are either replication incompetent or infectious, with a deletion of one or more viral genes due to the BAC vector insertion. For use as a multipurpose clone in research on HSV-1, we attempted to generate infectious HSV-BACs containing the full genome of HSV-1 without any loss of viral genes. Our results were as follows. (i) E. coli (YEbac102) harboring the full-length HSV-1 genome (pYEbac102) in which a BAC flanked by loxP sites was inserted into the intergenic region between UL3 and UL4 was constructed. (ii) pYEbac102 was an infectious molecular clone, given that its transfection into rabbit skin cells resulted in production of infectious virus (YK304). (iii) The BAC vector sequence was almost perfectly excisable from the genome of the reconstituted virus YK304 by coinfection of Vero cells with YK304 and a recombinant adenovirus, AxCANCre, expressing Cre recombinase. (iv) As far as was examined, the reconstituted viruses from pYEbac102 could not be phenotypically differentiated from wild-type viruses in vitro and in vivo. Thus, the viruses grew as well in Vero cells as did the wild-type virus and exhibited wild-type virulence in mice on intracerebral inoculation. (v) The infectious molecular clone pYEbac102 is in fact useful for mutagenesis of the HSV-1 genome by bacterial genetics, and a recombinant virus carrying amino acid substitutions in both copies of the α0 gene was generated. pYEbac102 will have multiple applications to the rapid generation of genetically engineered HSV-1 recombinants in basic research into HSV-1 and in the development of HSV vectors in human therapy.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 2477-2488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boriana Marintcheva ◽  
Sandra K. Weller

ABSTRACT UL9 is a multifunctional protein essential for herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication in vivo. UL9 is a member of the superfamily II helicases and exhibits helicase and origin-binding activities. It is thought that UL9 binds the origin of replication and unwinds it in the presence of ATP and the HSV-1 single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding protein. We have previously characterized the biochemical properties of mutants in all helicase motifs except for motif Ia (B. Marintcheva and S. Weller, J. Biol. Chem. 276:6605-6615, 2001). Structural information for other superfamily I and II helicases indicates that motif Ia is involved in ssDNA binding. By analogy, we hypothesized that UL9 motif Ia is important for the ssDNA-binding function of the protein. On the basis of sequence conservation between several UL9 homologs within the Herpesviridae family and distant homology with helicases whose structures have been solved, we designed specific mutations in motif Ia and analyzed them genetically and biochemically. Mutant proteins with residues predicted to be involved in ssDNA binding (R112A and R113A/F115A) exhibited wild-type levels of intrinsic ATPase activity and moderate to severe defects in ssDNA-stimulated ATPase activity and ssDNA binding. The S110T mutation targets a residue not predicted to contact ssDNA directly. The mutant protein with this mutation exhibited wild-type levels of intrinsic ATPase activity and near wild-type levels of ssDNA-stimulated ATPase activity and ssDNA binding. All mutant proteins lack helicase activity but were able to dimerize and bind the HSV-1 origin of replication as well as wild-type UL9. Our results indicate that residues from motif Ia contribute to the ssDNA-binding and helicase activities of UL9 and are essential for viral growth. This work represents the successful application of an approach based on a combination of bioinformatics and structural information from related proteins to deduce valuable information about a protein of interest.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Vazquez-Oliver ◽  
Silvia Perez-Garcia ◽  
Nieves Pizarro ◽  
Laura Molina-Porcel ◽  
Rafael de la Torre ◽  
...  

Intellectual disability is the most prevalent and limiting hallmark of Down syndrome (DS), without any pharmacological treatment available. Neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation are relevant neurological features of DS reaching to early development of Alzheimer s disease. Preclinical evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid system, an important neuromodulator on cognition and neuroinflammation, could act as beneficial target in DS. Indeed, cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R) activity was enhanced in the hippocampus of young-adult trisomic Ts65Dn mice, a well-characterized surrogate model of DS. In previous studies, inhibition of CB1R, was able to restore key neurological deficits in this mouse model. To determine the possible clinical relevance of this target, it is mandatory to evaluate the long-term consequences of attenuated CB1R activity and to minimize the possible side-effects associated to this mechanism. We found that CB1R expression was significantly enhanced in the hippocampus brains of aged DS subjects. Similarly, middle-aged trisomic mice showed enhanced CB1R expression. Long-term oral administration of a low dose of the CB1R specific antagonist rimonabant was administered to male and female Ts65Dn trisomic and wild-type mice from the time of weaning to 10 months, an age when signs of neurodegeneration have been described in the model. CB1R inhibition resulted in significant cognitive improvement in novel object-recognition memory in trisomic male and female mice, reaching a similar performance to that of wild-type littermates. Interestingly, this long-term rimonabant treatment modify locomotor activity, anxiety-like behavior, body weight or survival rates. Brain analysis at 10 months of age revealed noradrenergic and cholinergic neurodegeneration signs in trisomic mice that were not modified by the treatment, although the alterations in hippocampal microglia morphology shown by vehicle-treated trisomic mice was normalized in trisomic mice exposed to rimonabant. Altogether, our results demonstrate a sustained pro-cognitive effect of CB1R inhibition at doses that do not produce major side effects that could be associated to an anti-inflammatory action, suggesting a potential interest in this target of to preserve cognitive functionality in DS.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 440-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Balliet ◽  
Priscilla A. Schaffer

ABSTRACT In vitro studies of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) viruses containing mutations in core sequences of the viral origins of DNA replication, oriL and oriS, that eliminate the ability of these origins to initiate viral-DNA synthesis have demonstrated little or no effect on viral replication in cultured cells, leading to the conclusion that the two types of origins are functionally redundant. It remains unclear, therefore, why origins that appear to be redundant are maintained evolutionarily in HSV-1 and other neurotropic alphaherpesviruses. To test the hypothesis that oriL and oriS have distinct functions in the HSV-1 life cycle in vivo, we determined the in vivo phenotypes of two mutant viruses, DoriL-ILR and DoriS-I, containing point mutations in oriL and oriS site I, respectively, that eliminate origin DNA initiation function. Following corneal inoculation of mice, tear film titers of DoriS-I were reduced relative to wild-type virus. In all other tests, however, DoriS-I behaved like wild-type virus. In contrast, titers of DoriL-ILR in tear film, trigeminal ganglia (TG), and hindbrain were reduced and mice infected with DoriL-ILR exhibited greatly reduced mortality relative to wild-type virus. In the TG explant and TG cell culture models of reactivation, DoriL-ILR reactivated with delayed kinetics and, in the latter model, with reduced efficiency relative to wild-type virus. Rescuant viruses DoriL-ILR-R and DoriS-I-R behaved like wild-type virus in all tests. These findings demonstrate that functional differences exist between oriL and oriS and reveal a prominent role for oriL in HSV-1 pathogenesis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaohui Wang ◽  
Alexander V. Ljubimov ◽  
Ling Jin ◽  
Klaus Pfeffer ◽  
Mitchell Kronenberg ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTRecently, we reported that the herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM; also called TNFRSF14 or CD270) is upregulated by the latency-associated transcript (LAT) of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and that the absence of HVEM affects latency reactivation but not primary infection in ocularly infected mice. gD has been shown to bind to HVEM. LIGHT (TNFSF14), CD160, and BTLA (B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator) also interact with HVEM and can interfere with HSV gD binding. It was not known if LIGHT, CD160, or BTLA affected the level of latency reactivation in the trigeminal ganglia (TG) of latently infected mice. To address this issue, we ocularly infected LIGHT−/−, CD160−/−, and BTLA−/−mice with LAT(+) and LAT(−) viruses, using similarly infected wild-type (WT) and HVEM−/−mice as controls. The amount of latency, as determined by the levels of gB DNA in the TG of the LIGHT−/−, CD160−/−, and BTLA−/−mice infected with either LAT(+) or LAT(−) viruses, was lower than that in WT mice infected with LAT(+) virus and was similar in WT mice infected with LAT(−) virus. The levels of LAT RNA in HVEM−/−, LIGHT−/−, CD160−/−, and BTLA−/−mice infected with LAT(+) virus were similar and were lower than the levels of LAT RNA in WT mice. However, LIGHT−/−, CD160−/−, and BTLA−/−mice, independent of the presence of LAT, had levels of reactivation similar to those of WT mice infected with LAT(+) virus. Faster reactivation correlated with the upregulation of HVEM transcript. The LIGHT−/−, CD160−/−, and BTLA−/−mice had higher levels of HVEM expression, and this, along with the absence of BTLA, LIGHT, or CD160, may contribute to faster reactivation, while the absence of each molecule, independent of LAT, may have contributed to lower latency. This study suggests that, in the absence of competition with gD for binding to HVEM, LAT RNA is important for WT levels of latency but not for WT levels of reactivation.IMPORTANCEThe effects of BTLA, LIGHT, and CD160 on latency reactivation are not known. We show here that in BTLA, LIGHT, or CD160 null mice, latency is reduced; however, HVEM expression is upregulated compared to that of WT mice, and this upregulation is associated with higher reactivation that is independent of LAT but dependent on gD expression. Thus, one of the mechanisms by which BTLA, LIGHT, and CD160 null mice enhance reactivation appears to be the increased expression of HVEM in the presence of gD. Thus, our results suggest that blockade of HVEM-LIGHT-BTLA-CD160 contributes to reduced HSV-1 latency and reactivation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 5383-5387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier S. Burgos ◽  
Carlos Ramirez ◽  
Isabel Sastre ◽  
Fernando Valdivieso

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is neurotropic and enters a latent state lasting the lifetime of the host. This pathogen has recently been proposed as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in conjunction with apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4). In a murine acute infection model, we showed that viral neuroinvasiveness depends directly on the overall ApoE dosage and especially on the presence of isoform ApoE4. If an interaction between ApoE and HSV-1 is involved in AD, it may occur during latency rather than during acute infection. Certainly, ApoE plays an important role in late-onset AD, i.e., at a time in life when the majority of people harbor HSV-1 in their nervous system. In the present work, wild-type, APOE knockout, APOE3, and APOE4 transgenic mice were used to analyze the influence of the ApoE profile on the levels of latent virus DNA. The knockout mice had significantly lower concentrations of the virus in the nervous system than the wild-type mice, while the APOE4 mice had very high levels in the brain compared to the APOE3 animals. ApoE4 seems to facilitate HSV-1 latency in the brain much more so than ApoE3. The APOE dosage correlated directly with the HSV-1 DNA concentration in the brain, strengthening the hypothesis that HSV-1, together with ApoE, might be involved in AD.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (11) ◽  
pp. 5883-5890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trine H. Mogensen ◽  
Jesper Melchjorsen ◽  
Lene Malmgaard ◽  
Antonella Casola ◽  
Søren R. Paludan

ABSTRACT Viral immune evasion strategies are important for establishment and maintenance of infections. Many viruses are in possession of mechanisms to counteract the antiviral response raised by the infected host. Here we show that a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) mutant lacking functional viral protein 16 (VP16)—a tegument protein promoting viral gene expression—induced significantly higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines than wild-type HSV-1. This was observed in several cell lines and primary murine macrophages, as well as in peritoneal cells harvested from mice infected in vivo. The enhanced ability to stimulate cytokine expression in the absence of VP16 was not mediated directly by VP16 but was dependent on the viral immediate-early genes for infected cell protein 4 (ICP4) and ICP27, which are expressed in a VP16-dependent manner during primary HSV infection. The virus appeared to target cellular factors other than interferon-induced double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase R (PKR), since the virus mutants remained stronger inducers of cytokines in cells stably expressing a dominant-negative mutant form of PKR. Finally, mRNA stability assay revealed a significantly longer half-life for interleukin-6 mRNA after infection with the VP16 mutant than after infection with the wild-type virus. Thus, HSV is able to suppress expression of proinflammatory cytokines by decreasing the stability of mRNAs, thereby potentially impeding the antiviral host response to infection.


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