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Khorki ME, Shi T, Cianciolo EE, Burg AR, Chukwuma PC, Picarsic JL, Morrice MK, Woodle ES, Maltzman JS, Ferguson A, Katz JD, Baker BM, Hildeman DA. Prior viral infection primes cross-reactive CD8+ T cells that respond to mouse heart allografts. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1287546. [PMID: 38143762 PMCID: PMC10748599 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1287546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Significant evidence suggests a connection between transplant rejection and the presence of high levels of pre-existing memory T cells. Viral infection can elicit viral-specific memory T cells that cross-react with allo-MHC capable of driving allograft rejection in mice. Despite these advances, and despite their critical role in transplant rejection, a systematic study of allo-reactive memory T cells, their specificities, and the role of cross-reactivity with viral antigens has not been performed. Methods Here, we established a model to identify, isolate, and characterize cross-reactive T cells using Nur77 reporter mice (C57BL/6 background), which transiently express GFP exclusively upon TCR engagement. We infected Nur77 mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV-Armstrong) to generate a robust memory compartment, where quiescent LCMV-specific memory CD8+ T cells could be readily tracked with MHC tetramer staining. Then, we transplanted LCMV immune mice with allogeneic hearts and monitored expression of GFP within MHC-tetramer defined viral-specific T cells as an indicator of their ability to cross-react with alloantigens. Results Strikingly, prior LCMV infection significantly increased the kinetics and magnitude of rejection as well as CD8+ T cell recruitment into allogeneic, but not syngeneic, transplanted hearts, relative to non-infected controls. Interestingly, as early as day 1 after allogeneic heart transplant an average of ~8% of MHC-tetramer+ CD8+ T cells expressed GFP, in contrast to syngeneic heart transplants, where the frequency of viral-specific CD8+ T cells that were GFP+ was <1%. These data show that a significant percentage of viral-specific memory CD8+ T cells expressed T cell receptors that also recognized alloantigens in vivo. Notably, the frequency of cross-reactive CD8+ T cells differed depending upon the viral epitope. Further, TCR sequences derived from cross-reactive T cells harbored distinctive motifs that may provide insight into cross-reactivity and allo-specificity. Discussion In sum, we have established a mouse model to track viral-specific, allo-specific, and cross-reactive T cells; revealing that prior infection elicits substantial numbers of viral-specific T cells that cross-react to alloantigen, respond very early after transplant, and may promote rapid rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Eyad Khorki
- Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Tiffany Shi
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Immunology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Eileen E. Cianciolo
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Ashley R. Burg
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - P. Chukwunalu Chukwuma
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States
| | - Jennifer L. Picarsic
- Division of Pathology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Department of Pathology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Mary K. Morrice
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Immunology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - E. Steve Woodle
- Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Jonathan S. Maltzman
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States
- Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs (VA) Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Autumn Ferguson
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Jonathan D. Katz
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Immunology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
| | - Brian M. Baker
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States
| | - David A. Hildeman
- Division of Immunobiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
- Immunology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States
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Butic AB, Spencer SA, Shaheen SK, Lukacher AE. Polyomavirus Wakes Up and Chooses Neurovirulence. Viruses 2023; 15:2112. [PMID: 37896889 PMCID: PMC10612099 DOI: 10.3390/v15102112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a human-specific polyomavirus that establishes a silent lifelong infection in multiple peripheral organs, predominantly those of the urinary tract, of immunocompetent individuals. In immunocompromised settings, however, JCPyV can infiltrate the central nervous system (CNS), where it causes several encephalopathies of high morbidity and mortality. JCPyV-induced progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a devastating demyelinating brain disease, was an AIDS-defining illness before antiretroviral therapy that has "reemerged" as a complication of immunomodulating and chemotherapeutic agents. No effective anti-polyomavirus therapeutics are currently available. How depressed immune status sets the stage for JCPyV resurgence in the urinary tract, how the virus evades pre-existing antiviral antibodies to become viremic, and where/how it enters the CNS are incompletely understood. Addressing these questions requires a tractable animal model of JCPyV CNS infection. Although no animal model can replicate all aspects of any human disease, mouse polyomavirus (MuPyV) in mice and JCPyV in humans share key features of peripheral and CNS infection and antiviral immunity. In this review, we discuss the evidence suggesting how JCPyV migrates from the periphery to the CNS, innate and adaptive immune responses to polyomavirus infection, and how the MuPyV-mouse model provides insights into the pathogenesis of JCPyV CNS disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Aron E. Lukacher
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA; (A.B.B.); (S.A.S.); (S.K.S.)
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