Comparison of the roles of reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates in the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis using transgenic mice.

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) and reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) in host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. DESIGN: M. tuberculosis infection (i.v.) was compared in B6 control and two strains of knockout (KO) mice. X-CGD mice with a nonfunctional allele for the gp91phox subunit of the phagocyte oxidase cytochrome b are unable to produce ROI whereas iNOS KO mice lack a functional inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene and fail to make RNI. RESULTS: M. tuberculosis growth was markedly enhanced in the lungs of X-CGD mice compared to B6 mice, but was controlled in the spleen and liver. In iNOS KO mice, M. tuberculosis growth was exacerbated in the spleen, but was unremarkable in the lungs compared to B6 mice until later (Day 60) in the infection. In vitro, X-CGD alveolar and peritoneal macrophages (M phi) produced no ROI, but did produce RNI and inhibited growth of M. tuberculosis when activated with interferon gamma. iNOS KO M phi produced ROI, but failed to produce RNI and could not cope with M. tuberculosis in vitro when activated. The inhibition of M. tuberculosis growth observed in activated B6 and X-CGD M phi) was reversed in the presence of aminoguanidine. CONCLUSION: These KO mouse strains demonstrate the relative potent effects of ROI and RNI in resistance to M. tuberculosis and should prove useful for the study of regulatory and compensatory mechanisms of immunity.     

Deletion of the putative antioxidant noxR1 does not alter the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

SETTING: The cloned M. tuberculosis noxR1 gene has been shown to confer resistance to reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) and reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) upon Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium smegmatis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of noxR1 in resistance to RNI and virulence of M. tuberculosis. DESIGN: The noxR1 gene was deleted from M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis H37Rv by allelic exchange. The mutants were compared to wild type strains with respect to resistance to chemically generated RNI. The virulence of the M. tuberculosis mutant was investigated in a murine model of infection. RESULTS: The NoxR1 mutants grew normally in Sautons and 7H9 broths. The BCG mutant demonstrated decreased resistance to in vitro generated RNI compared to the wild type. Resistance to RNI could be restored to the mutant by reintroduction of the noxR1 locus on a replicating plasmid. However, deletion of noxR1 from M. tuberculosis H37Rv did not result in decreased resistance to RNI nor a difference in growth and survival of the bacterium during murine infection. CONCLUSION: The noxR1 gene locus in M. bovis BCG bestows ability to resist RNI generated in vitro. In M. tuberculosis H37Rv, however, noxR1 is either not involved in RNI resistance and virulence or is better compensated for by other mechanisms.     

Role of cellular activation and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the early expression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 85B mRNA in human alveolar macrophages

BACKGROUND: Infection of alveolar macrophages (AMs), which constitute the first line of defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, initiates an intense interaction between the host's innate immune response and mycobacteria that may assist in the successful intracellular parasitism of M. tuberculosis. METHODS: Expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- alpha and M. tuberculosis 85B mRNA was studied in M. tuberculosis-infected AMs, to better delineate the role of macrophages in the early events in initiation of infection. RESULTS: Both TNF- alpha mRNA and M. tuberculosis 85B were induced in AMs; at 24 h, the time point of maximum TNF- alpha induction, the mRNA levels for TNF- alpha and M. tuberculosis 85B correlated with one another, and induction of either gene correlated strongly with their protein levels. Inhibition of endogenous TNF- alpha by soluble (s) TNF receptor (R) I and sTNFRII reduced expression of both TNF- alpha and M. tuberculosis 85B. The activation of nuclear factor- kappa B was found to underlie expression of both TNF- alpha and M. tuberculosis 85B. Exogenous TNF- alpha was slightly more potent than interleukin (IL)-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and was significantly stronger than IL-1 in inducing expression of M. tuberculosis 85B. Interestingly, inhibition of bactericidal mediators, reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs) and reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNIs), reduced expression of TNF- alpha and M. tuberculosis 85B genes in M. tuberculosis-infected AMs. CONCLUSION: Activation of AMs by M. tuberculosis initiates a cascade of events whereby TNF- alpha, ROI, and RNI enhance the expression of the M. tuberculosis 85B gene.     

巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展

巨噬细胞是结核分枝杆菌在机体内的主要宿主细胞.细胞介导的免疫反应是机体抗结核分枝杆菌的主要免疫保护机制,巨噬细胞可通过吞噬、溶酶体融合,提呈结核分枝杆菌抗原,产生多种细胞因子、反应氧中间产物和反应氮中间产物,以及细胞凋亡等多种途径来杀灭结核分枝杆菌;同时,结核分枝杆菌也可采取各种方式来逃逸巨噬细胞的免疫作用.本文就巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展作一综述.     

巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展

巨噬细胞是结核分枝杆菌在机体内的主要宿主细胞.细胞介导的免疫反应是机体抗结核分枝杆菌的主要免疫保护机制,巨噬细胞可通过吞噬、溶酶体融合,提呈结核分枝杆菌抗原,产生多种细胞因子、反应氧中间产物和反应氮中间产物,以及细胞凋亡等多种途径来杀灭结核分枝杆菌;同时,结核分枝杆菌也可采取各种方式来逃逸巨噬细胞的免疫作用.本文就巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展作一综述.     

巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展

巨噬细胞是结核分枝杆菌在机体内的主要宿主细胞.细胞介导的免疫反应是机体抗结核分枝杆菌的主要免疫保护机制,巨噬细胞可通过吞噬、溶酶体融合,提呈结核分枝杆菌抗原,产生多种细胞因子、反应氧中间产物和反应氮中间产物,以及细胞凋亡等多种途径来杀灭结核分枝杆菌;同时,结核分枝杆菌也可采取各种方式来逃逸巨噬细胞的免疫作用.本文就巨噬细胞与结核分枝杆菌的免疫反应的研究进展作一综述.     

Hepatitis C Virus and Innate Immunity: Taking a Fresh Look into an Old Issue

The innate immune response represents the first line of defense against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The response is an early, coordinated effort orchestrated by host interferon (IFN) production, natural killer cell activation, and dendritic cell maturation, which, when effective, primes a successful adaptive immune response, leading to resolution of infection. Numerous mechanisms allow subversion of innate immunity, often establishing chronicity and resistance to conventional antiviral therapy. Recent groundbreaking studies examining viral evasion of host defenses and genetic host determinants of response to IFN have advanced our understanding of the innate immune response to HCV. This has provided the framework for individualized treatment approaches and the development of novel therapeutics aimed at restoring innate immune signaling during chronic infection. The objective of this report is to review advances in our understanding of HCV and host innate immune defenses, and to highlight their clinical translation.     

B细胞免疫应答与抗结核分枝杆菌感染的研究进展

已有大量的研究阐释了细胞免疫机制在抵御结核分枝杆菌方面的重要性。然而,最近的研究表明,B淋巴细胞通过与细胞免疫应答产生多种相互作用扮演了一个曾被低估的角色,形成宿主防御结核分枝杆菌的一个重要方面。因此,作者提倡在结核病免疫学中应有一种进步性的视角,即细胞免疫和体液免疫并不是相互排斥的。本文对最近支持B细胞在结核分枝杆菌感染方面的重要作用进行了综述。     

Recent advances in tuberculosis immunity

Primary tuberculosis infection is acquired by the inhalation of droplets containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacilli. Only 5-10% of those individuals infected by MTB develop clinical diseases, and disease presentation itself is heterogeneous, suggesting that host factors play a large role in disease susceptibility. Protective immunity in the lung against MTB consist of the innate immunity in which alveolar macrophages play an central role, and the acquired immunity including various type of effector T cells. Recent studies show that the important roles of the receptors which recognize MTB for the development of protective immunity, the difference in the anti-MTB activity of macrophages between human and mice, the macrophage-heterogeneity that affects the anti-MTB activity, the role of IL-10 in the activation of anti-MTB activity of human macrophages, and the role of Th17/IL-17, Th22/ IL-22 and TNF in the protective immunity against human tuberculosis. In this review, these recent advances in tuberculosis immunity will be described.     

Oxygen tensions and infections: modulation of microbial growth, activity of antimicrobial agents, and immunologic responses.

Oxygen tensions play an important role in the outcome of infections. Oxygen is cidal or static for microorganisms that lack defenses against oxidants. Hyperoxia and hyperbaric oxygen exert antimicrobial effects by increasing the intracellular flux of reactive oxygen species. In bacteria, such species cause DNA strand breaks, degradation of RNA, inhibition of amino acid biosynthesis, and inactivation of membrane transport proteins. Oxygen tensions also affect the activity of antimicrobial agents. In general, hyperoxia potentiates while anaerobiosis decreases the activity of many antimicrobial drugs. With regard to host defenses, hyperoxia elevates oxygen tensions in infected tissues to levels that facilitate oxygen-dependent killing by leukocytes. Prolonged hyperoxia inhibits DNA synthesis in lymphocytes and impairs chemotactic activity, adherence, phagocytic capacity, and generation of the oxidative burst in polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages.     

Peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase from Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis protects bacteria against oxidative damage from reactive nitrogen intermediates

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) plays an important role in host defense. Macrophages expressing iNOS release the reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) nitrite and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), which are bactericidal in vitro at a pH characteristic of the phagosome of activated macrophages. We sought to characterize the active intrabacterial forms of these RNI and their molecular targets. Peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase (MsrA; EC ) catalyzes the reduction of methionine sulfoxide (Met-O) in proteins to methionine (Met). E. coli lacking MsrA were hypersensitive to killing not only by hydrogen peroxide, but also by nitrite and GSNO. The wild-type phenotype was restored by transformation with plasmids encoding msrA from E. coli or M. tuberculosis, but not by an enzymatically inactive mutant msrA, indicating that Met oxidation was involved in the death of these cells. It seemed paradoxical that nitrite and GSNO kill bacteria by oxidizing Met residues when these RNI cannot themselves oxidize Met. However, under anaerobic conditions, neither nitrite nor GSNO was bactericidal. Nitrite and GSNO can both give rise to NO, which may react with superoxide produced by bacteria during aerobic metabolism, forming peroxynitrite, a known oxidant of Met to Met-O. Thus, the findings are consistent with the hypotheses that nitrite and GSNO kill E. coli by intracellular conversion to peroxynitrite, that intracellular Met residues in proteins constitute a critical target for peroxynitrite, and that MsrA can be essential for the repair of peroxynitrite-mediated intracellular damage.     

Transforming growth factor-beta suppresses interferon-gamma-induced toxoplasmastatic activity in murine macrophages by inhibition of tumour necrosis factor-alpha production

Activation of macrophages plays an important role in the host resistance against intracellular pathogens. Various mechanisms are employed to control the activation processes and limit tissue damage by factors produced by activated macrophages. One of these mechanisms is the production of macrophage-deactivating cytokines, such as tumour growth factor (TGF)-beta. The present study concerns the effects of TGF-beta on interferon (IFN)-gamma-induced activation of murine macrophages with respect to induction of toxoplasmastatic activity, and production of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI). IFN-gamma activation of macrophages resulted in inhibition of T. gondii proliferation [mean fold increase (FI) = 1.8, control mean FI = 7.0]; polymyxin B had no effect on this activation. The IFN-gamma-induced toxoplasmastatic activity of macrophages was inhibited by TGF-beta (mean FI = 6.3), which was also found for the IFN-gamma-induced production of TNF-alpha, RNI and PGE2 by macrophages. We found that PGE2, which has macrophage deactivating properties, was not involved in the inhibition of macrophage activation by TGF-beta. The deactivating activities of TGF-beta on the IFN-gamma-induced toxoplasmastatic activity and production of RNI are mediated by inhibition of production of TNF-alpha. Addition of exogenous TNF-alpha during the incubation of macrophages with IFN-gamma and TGF-beta abrogated the deactivating activity of TGF-beta. In sum, the results demonstrate that inhibition of TNF-alpha production is a key factor in the TGF-beta-induced suppression of macrophage activation with respect to toxoplasmastatic activity and RNI production.     

Vaginal candidiasis: review and role of local mucosal immunity

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a common mucosal fungal infection in women of child-bearing ages. Despite the role for cell-mediated immunity and T cells in host protection against the majority of mucosal Candida albicans infections, there is controversy as to whether immunosuppression by HIV infection enhances susceptibility to vaginal candidiasis. To date, host defense against C. albicans vaginitis has been studied in women with recurrent vaginitis, in HIV-infected women, and in animal models of experimental vaginitis. Together, data suggest that local immunity is more important than that in the systemic circulation for host defense against vaginitis. Thus, current investigations have been focused specifically on innate and acquired immune responses against C. albicans at the vaginal mucosa. This review will discuss the current knowledge of host defenses against C. albicans vaginitis, both systemically and locally, and try to shed some light on several issues surrounding the efficiency of this seemingly compartmentalized immune response.     

结核病黏膜疫苗的研究进展北大核心CSCD

呼吸道黏膜免疫是机体抵御结核分枝杆菌(Mycobacterium tuberculosis,MTB)感染的第一道防线,是重要的抗MTB感染的保护性免疫,如何通过黏膜免疫,诱导黏膜免疫系统产生抗MTB感染的特异性免疫,是目前结核病疫苗研究的新方向。本文基于近年来结核病黏膜疫苗的研究,总结了不同类型疫苗的特点、黏膜免疫后的免疫学特性和免疫保护效果,展望了未来结核病黏膜疫苗的研究方向,希望能够对研发更加高效的结核病黏膜疫苗有所启示。     

Nitric oxide and reactive nitrogen intermediates during lethal and nonlethal strains of murine malaria

The virulence of Plasmodia depends partly on the strain of parasite and partly on the host. In this study, Plasmodium berghei N/13/1A/4/203 caused the death of mice, whereas Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS was not lethal. Current opinion is that nitric oxide (NO) and other reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) are produced in several host organs during malaria to resist infection or produce tissue damage. NO and RNI production in blood or plasma, brain, liver and spleen in MF1 mice was investigated during P. berghei and P. c. chabaudi infection, in order to help determine whether changes in NO production are beneficial or detrimental to the host in vivo. NO production was measured both directly and indirectly as nitrites and nitrates, to represent RNI. No changes in blood NO were detected in P. berghei infected mice, but increases were observed in brain, liver and spleen. In P. c. chabaudi infected mice, rises in NO concentration were observed in blood and spleen, whereas a decline in liver NO was seen, but there were no changes in brain. Liver contained the highest concentration of RNI, but increasing concentrations were seen in both plasma and spleen in both P. berghei and P. c. chabaudi infected mice. These results show that NO and RNI production alters during murine malaria. The changes depend upon the tissue, the day of infection, the degree of parasitaemia, the strain of Plasmodia and the method of measuring NO biosynthesis. Lethal P. berghei induced NO production in the mid and late stages of infection in mice when parasitaemia was high, whereas in nonlethal P. c. chabaudi infection, NO production was increased in the early and late stages when parasitaemia was low. These data are consistent with a role for NO in the protection of the MF1 mouse against Plasmodia. Failure to clear the parasite is associated with evidence of increased NO production in brain and liver, which may contribute to the pathology of malaria, but this hypothesis requires confirmation from other experimental approaches.     

Biological and gerontological significance of oxygen

The phylogenetic "discovery" of oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor of respiration may be regarded as a prerequisite of the development to higher forms of life. The rationale for this assumption is based on the considerable higher energy gain associated with aerobic respiration which allowed to go new pathways in metabolism. However, oxygen constitutes both a benefit and a threat to living things because aerobic respiration involves the formation of dangerously reactive intermediates. These intermediates have been recognized to play a key role in many pathogenetic events and postulated to contribute to the biological process of aging. Organisms which have availed themselves of the benefit of aerobic respiration, developed a series of synergistic defenses against its danger. Perturbation of oxygen homeostasis occurs when formation of toxic oxygen intermediates exceeds the capacity of protective mechanisms. A sudden event which leads to such an imbalance may cause the manifestation of different types of maladies. Our own investigations on rat-heart mitochondria have indicated that aging is associated with a progressive loss in the capacity to balance the formation of toxic oxygen metabolites. Despite a clear induction, activities of protecting enzymes seem to be "swamped" by an age-dependent raise of steady state levels of dangerous oxygen intermediates. The resulting structural damage and functional impairment of mitochondria are discussed as the primary cause of cellular aging.     

Mycobacterial interaction with innate receptors: TLRs, C-type lectins, and NLRs

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The recent discovery of novel classes of receptors, including toll-like receptors and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors is challenging the crucial role of the innate immune system in the recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The present review is to focus on the roles and mechanisms of specific pattern-recognition receptor-microbial interaction for the host defense against mycobacterial infections. RECENT FINDINGS: Toll-like receptors, key players in innate immunity, are now known to be important for the initiation and coordination of host responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with toll-like receptors triggers intracellular signaling cascades that culminate in a proinflammatory response, but can also trigger signals that dampen the innate immune response. Other membrane-bound pattern-recognition receptors, including the mannose receptor, DC-SIGN, and Dectin-1, contribute to the propagation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inflammatory signals, and Nod-like receptors (cytosolic pattern-recognition receptors) also act in modulating host recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Interactions between toll-like receptors and other pattern-recognition receptors are also evident in responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as are possible mechanisms for coordination of innate and adaptive immunity. SUMMARY: The complexity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-pattern-recognition receptor interactions and their effects on host cell responses suggest key roles for innate immunity in controlling Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the possibility of developing novel therapeutics for tuberculosis that target Mycobacterium tuberculosis-regulated innate immunity pathways.     

Protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a facultative intracellular pathogen with which over a billion people have been infected and 3 million people die annually. The bacterium induces vigorous immune responses, yet evades host immunity, persisting within phagosomes of the infected macrophages. Thus, it is necessary to delineate that the virulence-related intracellular survival mechanism and the host immune responses to eradicate M. tuberculosis on the molecular basis. In this regard, recent findings clearly indicated that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an essential role in the recognition of MTB components by macrophages and dendritic cells, resulting in not only activation of innate immunity but also development of antigen-specific adaptive immunity. It has been also reported that induction of early death of the infected cells may be one of the strategy of host defense against MTB because macrophages go into apoptosis upon infection with MTB, resulting in suppression of the intracellular replication. Furthermore, recent report has shown that autophagy is induced by IFN-gamma and suppress intracellular survival of mycobacteria, suggesting that activation of autophagy pathway is required to overcome phagosome maturation arrest induced by MTB. In addition, it is known that IFN-gamma plays an important role in protection. The cytokine that is produced from NK cells and dendritic cells at the early period of infection strongly induces not only macrophage activation but also development of antigen-specific IFN-gamma-producing CD4+T cells. Since antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and CD1-restricted T cells are also reported to contribute to the protective immunity, cooperation of these T cells is essential for the host resistance. In this paper, I am going to summarize the recent progress of the understanding of protective immunity against MTB.     

Macrophages in innate and acquired immunity

Alveolar macrophages play a central role in pulmonary host defense. When foreign particles or pathogens enter the respiratory tract, constitutively present innate host defenses attempt to clear the challenge. Alveolar macrophage phagocytosis of foreign material is a critical component of this response, as is secretion of inflammatory mediators designed to combat invading pathogens. If the pathogenic burden is too large and overwhelms innate immunity, then acquired immune responses are initiated resulting in the generation of antigen-specific cellular and humoral immunity. In response to evolutionary pressures to minimize unnecessary inflammation in the lower respiratory tract, alveolar macrophages are generally poor accessory cells in the initiation of specific immunity. However, in many circumstances, especially those associated with cellular activation, alveolar macrophages can play an important role in the generation and expansion of pulmonary immune responses. This review discusses the role of alveolar macrophages in innate and acquired pulmonary host defense.     

The role of antibody-mediated immunity in defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis: advances toward a novel vaccine strategy

Antibody-mediated immunity has been historically considered to have no role in host-defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In recent years, studies from our group as well as others have challenged this traditional thinking. Using monoclonal antibodies, researchers demonstrated that antibodies can modify various aspects of mycobacterial infection to the benefit of the host. A review of recent experimental evidence in support of a role for antibodies in host-defense against mycobacterial infections is presented. Challenges to the field and an outline of future directions with particular attention to research leading to the development of a novel vaccine strategy, are emphasized.