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Büttner JK, Becker S, Fink A, Brinkmann MM, Holtappels R, Reddehase MJ, Lemmermann NA. Direct antigen presentation is the canonical pathway of cytomegalovirus CD8 T-cell priming regulated by balanced immune evasion ensuring a strong antiviral response. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1272166. [PMID: 38149242 PMCID: PMC10749961 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1272166] [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: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
CD8 T cells are important antiviral effectors in the adaptive immune response to cytomegaloviruses (CMV). Naïve CD8 T cells can be primed by professional antigen-presenting cells (pAPCs) alternatively by "direct antigen presentation" or "antigen cross-presentation". In the case of direct antigen presentation, viral proteins are expressed in infected pAPCs and enter the classical MHC class-I (MHC-I) pathway of antigen processing and presentation of antigenic peptides. In the alternative pathway of antigen cross-presentation, viral antigenic material derived from infected cells of principally any cell type is taken up by uninfected pAPCs and eventually also fed into the MHC class-I pathway. A fundamental difference, which can be used to distinguish between these two mechanisms, is the fact that viral immune evasion proteins that interfere with the cell surface trafficking of peptide-loaded MHC-I (pMHC-I) complexes are absent in cross-presenting uninfected pAPCs. Murine cytomegalovirus (mCMV) models designed to disrupt either of the two presentation pathways revealed that both are possible in principle and can substitute each other. Overall, however, the majority of evidence has led to current opinion favoring cross-presentation as the canonical pathway. To study priming in the normal host genetically competent in both antigen presentation pathways, we took the novel approach of enhancing or inhibiting direct antigen presentation by using recombinant viruses lacking or overexpressing a key mCMV immune evasion protein. Against any prediction, the strongest CD8 T-cell response was elicited under the condition of intermediate direct antigen presentation, as it exists for wild-type virus, whereas the extremes of enhanced or inhibited direct antigen presentation resulted in an identical and weaker response. Our findings are explained by direct antigen presentation combined with a negative feedback regulation exerted by the newly primed antiviral effector CD8 T cells. This insight sheds a completely new light on the acquisition of viral immune evasion genes during virus-host co-evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia K. Büttner
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sara Becker
- Institute of Virology, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Annette Fink
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Melanie M. Brinkmann
- Institute of Genetics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
- Virology and Innate Immunity Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Rafaela Holtappels
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Matthias J. Reddehase
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Niels A. Lemmermann
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Virology, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Host-Adapted Gene Families Involved in Murine Cytomegalovirus Immune Evasion. Viruses 2022; 14:v14010128. [PMID: 35062332 PMCID: PMC8781790 DOI: 10.3390/v14010128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are host species-specific and have adapted to their respective mammalian hosts during co-evolution. Host-adaptation is reflected by “private genes” that have specialized in mediating virus-host interplay and have no sequence homologs in other CMV species, although biological convergence has led to analogous protein functions. They are mostly organized in gene families evolved by gene duplications and subsequent mutations. The host immune response to infection, both the innate and the adaptive immune response, is a driver of viral evolution, resulting in the acquisition of viral immune evasion proteins encoded by private gene families. As the analysis of the medically relevant human cytomegalovirus by clinical investigation in the infected human host cannot make use of designed virus and host mutagenesis, the mouse model based on murine cytomegalovirus (mCMV) has become a versatile animal model to study basic principles of in vivo virus-host interplay. Focusing on the immune evasion of the adaptive immune response by CD8+ T cells, we review here what is known about proteins of two private gene families of mCMV, the m02 and the m145 families, specifically the role of m04, m06, and m152 in viral antigen presentation during acute and latent infection.
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Lis N, Hein Z, Ghanwat SS, Ramnarayan VR, Chambers BJ, Springer S. The murine cytomegalovirus immunoevasin gp40/m152 inhibits NKG2D receptor RAE-1γ by intracellular retention and cell surface masking. J Cell Sci 2021; 134:269012. [PMID: 34085696 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.257428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
NKG2D (also known as KLRK1) is a crucial natural killer (NK) cell-activating receptor, and the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) employs multiple immunoevasins to avoid NKG2D-mediated activation. One of the MCMV immunoevasins, gp40 (m152), downregulates the cell surface NKG2D ligand RAE-1γ (also known as Raet1c) thus limiting NK cell activation. This study establishes the molecular mechanism by which gp40 retains RAE-1γ in the secretory pathway. Using flow cytometry and pulse-chase analysis, we demonstrate that gp40 retains RAE-1γ in the early secretory pathway, and that this effect depends on the binding of gp40 to a host protein, TMED10, a member of the p24 protein family. We also show that the TMED10-based retention mechanism can be saturated, and that gp40 has a backup mechanism as it masks RAE-1γ on the cell surface, blocking the interaction with the NKG2D receptor and thus NK cell activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Lis
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, Bremen 28759, Germany
| | - Zeynep Hein
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, Bremen 28759, Germany
| | - Swapnil S Ghanwat
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, Bremen 28759, Germany
| | - Venkat R Ramnarayan
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, Bremen 28759, Germany
| | - Benedict J Chambers
- Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 14152, Sweden
| | - Sebastian Springer
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, Bremen 28759, Germany
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Becker S, Fink A, Podlech J, Giese I, Schmiedeke JK, Bukur T, Reddehase MJ, Lemmermann NA. Positive Role of the MHC Class-I Antigen Presentation Regulator m04/gp34 of Murine Cytomegalovirus in Antiviral Protection by CD8 T Cells. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:454. [PMID: 32984075 PMCID: PMC7479846 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Murine cytomegalovirus (mCMV) codes for MHC class-I trafficking modulators m04/gp34, m06/gp48, and m152/gp40. By interacting with the MHC class-Iα chain, these proteins disconnect peptide-loaded MHC class-I (pMHC-I) complexes from the constitutive vesicular flow to the cell surface. Based on the assumption that all three inhibit antigen presentation, and thus the recognition of infected cells by CD8 T cells, they were referred to as “immunoevasins.” Improved antigen presentation mediated by m04 in the presence of m152 after infection with deletion mutant mCMV-Δm06W, compared to mCMV-Δm04m06 expressing only m152, led us to propose renaming these molecules “viral regulators of antigen presentation” (vRAP) to account for both negative and positive functions. In accordance with a positive function, m04-pMHC-I complexes were found to be displayed on the cell surface, where they are primarily known as ligands for Ly49 family natural killer (NK) cell receptors. Besides the established role of m04 in NK cell silencing or activation, an anti-immunoevasive function by activation of CD8 T cells is conceivable, because the binding site of m04 to MHC class-Iα appears not to mask the peptide binding site for T-cell receptor recognition. However, functional evidence was based on mCMV-Δm06W, a virus of recently doubted authenticity. Here we show that mCMV-Δm06W actually represents a mixture of an authentic m06 deletion mutant and a mutant with an accidental additional deletion of a genome region encompassing also gene m152. Reanalysis of previously published experiments for the authentic mutant in the mixture confirms the previously concluded positive vRAP function of m04.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Becker
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Annette Fink
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Jürgen Podlech
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Irina Giese
- TRON - Translational Oncology, Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz, Germany
| | - Julia K Schmiedeke
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Bukur
- TRON - Translational Oncology, Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz gGmbH, Mainz, Germany
| | - Matthias J Reddehase
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Niels A Lemmermann
- Institute for Virology, Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Železnjak J, Lisnić VJ, Popović B, Lisnić B, Babić M, Halenius A, L'Hernault A, Roviš TL, Hengel H, Erhard F, Redwood AJ, Vidal SM, Dölken L, Krmpotić A, Jonjić S. The complex of MCMV proteins and MHC class I evades NK cell control and drives the evolution of virus-specific activating Ly49 receptors. J Exp Med 2019; 216:1809-1827. [PMID: 31142589 PMCID: PMC6683999 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20182213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Železnjak et al. demonstrate that two MCMV-encoded proteins interact with MHC I molecules, forming an altered-self complex that prevents missing self recognition by increasing specificity for inhibitory Ly49 receptors. This led to the evolution of CMV-specific activating Ly49s. CMVs efficiently target MHC I molecules to avoid recognition by cytotoxic T cells. However, the lack of MHC I on the cell surface renders the infected cell susceptible to NK cell killing upon missing self recognition. To counter this, mouse CMV (MCMV) rescues some MHC I molecules to engage inhibitory Ly49 receptors. Here we identify a new viral protein, MATp1, that is essential for MHC I surface rescue. Rescued altered-self MHC I molecules show increased affinity to inhibitory Ly49 receptors, resulting in inhibition of NK cells despite substantially reduced MHC I surface levels. This enables the virus to evade recognition by licensed NK cells. During evolution, this novel viral immune evasion mechanism could have prompted the development of activating NK cell receptors that are specific for MATp1-modified altered-self MHC I molecules. Our study solves a long-standing conundrum of how MCMV avoids recognition by NK cells, unravels a fundamental new viral immune evasion mechanism, and demonstrates how this forced the evolution of virus-specific activating MHC I–restricted Ly49 receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Železnjak
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.,Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Vanda Juranić Lisnić
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.,Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Branka Popović
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Berislav Lisnić
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.,Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Marina Babić
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.,Innate Immunity, German Rheumatism Research Centre, a Leibniz Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anne Halenius
- Institute of Virology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Anne L'Hernault
- Precision Medicine and Genomics, Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tihana Lenac Roviš
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.,Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Hartmut Hengel
- Institute of Virology, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Florian Erhard
- Institute of Virology and Immunobiology, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Alec J Redwood
- Institute for Respiratory Health, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Silvia M Vidal
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,McGill Center for Complex Traits, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Lars Dölken
- Institute of Virology and Immunobiology, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Astrid Krmpotić
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Stipan Jonjić
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia .,Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
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Stempel M, Chan B, Juranić Lisnić V, Krmpotić A, Hartung J, Paludan SR, Füllbrunn N, Lemmermann NA, Brinkmann MM. The herpesviral antagonist m152 reveals differential activation of STING-dependent IRF and NF-κB signaling and STING's dual role during MCMV infection. EMBO J 2019; 38:embj.2018100983. [PMID: 30696688 PMCID: PMC6396373 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2018100983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are master manipulators of the host immune response. Here, we reveal that the murine CMV (MCMV) protein m152 specifically targets the type I interferon (IFN) response by binding to stimulator of interferon genes (STING), thereby delaying its trafficking to the Golgi compartment from where STING initiates type I IFN signaling. Infection with an MCMV lacking m152 induced elevated type I IFN responses and this leads to reduced viral transcript levels both in vitro and in vivo. This effect is ameliorated in the absence of STING. Interestingly, while m152 inhibits STING‐mediated IRF signaling, it did not affect STING‐mediated NF‐κB signaling. Analysis of how m152 targets STING translocation reveals that STING activates NF‐κB signaling already from the ER prior to its trafficking to the Golgi. Strikingly, this response is important to promote early MCMV replication. Our results show that MCMV has evolved a mechanism to specifically antagonize the STING‐mediated antiviral IFN response, while preserving its pro‐viral NF‐κB response, providing an advantage in the establishment of an infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Stempel
- Viral Immune Modulation Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Baca Chan
- Viral Immune Modulation Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Vanda Juranić Lisnić
- Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Astrid Krmpotić
- Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Josephine Hartung
- Viral Immune Modulation Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Søren R Paludan
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus Research Center for Innate Immunology, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Nadia Füllbrunn
- Viral Immune Modulation Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Niels Aw Lemmermann
- Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Melanie M Brinkmann
- Viral Immune Modulation Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany .,Institute of Genetics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
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