Pseudorabies Virus ICP0 Abolishes Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Induced NF-κB Activation by Degrading P65

Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is involved in a wide range of innate immune activities in host cells and serves as an important component of a host’s immunity system. To survive in infected cells, viruses have evolved intricate strategies to evade the host immune response. Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a member of the alpha herpesvirus family and is capable of causing reproductive and neurological dysfunction in pigs. PRV has a large DNA genome and therefore has the ability to encode numerous proteins that modulate host innate immune responses. In the present study, we demonstrated that the PRV-encoded immediate early protein ICP0 inhibits the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway. An in-depth study showed that ICP0 protein was able to limit NF-κB activation and decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8). In addition, ICP0 blocked the activation of NF-κB through interacting with p65, degrading its protein expression and limiting its phosphorylation. PRV protein ICP0 is shown for the first time to enable escape from innate immune response through the regulation of NF-κB during PRV infection. These results illustrate that PRV ICP0 is able to block NF-κB activation. This mechanism may represent a critical role in the early events leading to PRV infection.     

Evidence that AKT and GSK-3β pathway are involved in acute hyperhomocysteinemia

Homocysteine is a neurotoxic amino acid that accumulates in several disorders including homocystinuria, neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. In the present study we evaluated the effect of acute and chronic hyperhomocysteinemia on Akt, NF-κB/p65, GSK-3β, as well as Tau protein in hippocampus of rats. For acute treatment, rats received a single injection of homocysteine (0.6 μmol/g body weight) or saline (control). For chronic treatment, rats received daily subcutaneous injections of homocysteine (0.3-0.6 μmol/g body weight) or saline (control) from the 6th to the 28th days-of-age. One or 12h after the last injection, rats were euthanized, the hippocampus was removed and samples were submitted to electrophoresis followed by Western blotting. Results showed that acute hyperhomocysteinemia increases Akt phosphorylation, cytosolic and nuclear immunocontent of NF-κB/p65 subunit and Tau protein phosphorylation, but reduces GSK-3β phosphorylation at 1h after homocysteine injection. However, 12h after acute hyperhomocysteinemia there is no effect on Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation. Furthermore, chronic hyperhomocysteinemia did not alter Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation at 1h and 12h after the last administration of this amino acid. Our data showed that Akt, NF-κB/p65, GSK-3β and Tau protein are activated in hippocampus of rats subjected to acute hyperhomocysteinemia, suggesting that these signaling pathways may be, at least in part, important contributors to the neuroinflammation and/or brain dysfunction observed in some hyperhomocystinuric patients.     

丁基苯酞对血管性痴呆大鼠核因子-κB p65和细胞间黏附分子-1的影响

目的探讨丁基苯酞对血管性痴呆(VD)大鼠海马CA1区神经元核因子-κB p65(NF-κB p65)、细胞间黏附分子-1(ICAM-1)表达的影响。方法 60只大鼠应用水迷宫筛选出54只,随机分为对照组(14只)、模型组(20只)和治疗组(20只)。采用双侧颈总动脉持久性结扎(2-VO)制备VD模型,每组大鼠均在术前及术后2、3个月行水迷宫检测大鼠记忆能力和空间辨别力;采用光学显微镜观察大鼠海马CA1区组织形态学变化;采用免疫组织化学法检测NF-κB p65和ICAM-1表达。结果与对照组比较,模型组大鼠学习、记忆能力明显下降(P<0.05),海马CA1区NF-κB p65、ICAM-1阳性细胞表达明显增多(P<0.01);治疗组大鼠学习、记忆能力较模型组提高(P<0.05),海马区形态学明显改善,海马CA1区NF-κB p65、ICAM-1阳性细胞表达明显减少(P<0.01)。结论丁基苯酞可显著改善VD大鼠学习和认知功能,减少NF-κB p65、ICAM-1在海马CA1区神经元中的表达。     

降糖方对糖耐量异常大鼠糖脂代谢及骨骼肌组织IκB-α和NF-κBp65的影响

目的:探讨降糖方对糖耐量异常大鼠糖脂代谢及骨骼肌组织κB抑制蛋白α(IκB-α)、核转录因子肽p65(NF-κBp65)的影响。方法:SD大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、盐酸二甲双胍组、降糖方低、高剂量组,采用高脂饮食喂养4周,链脲佐菌素(STZ)腹膜内注射建立糖耐量异常大鼠模型,治疗8周后,观察骨骼肌组织病理变化,测定空腹血糖(FPG)、血清胰岛素(FINS)、胰岛素抵抗指数(HOMA-IR)、甘油三酯(TG)、总胆固醇(TC)、低密度脂蛋白(LDL-C)、骨骼肌组织IκB-α mRNA、NF-κBp65 mRNA水平、骨骼肌组织白细胞介素-4(IL-4)、白细胞介素-12(IL-12)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)蛋白水平。结果:正常组大鼠骨骼肌组织结构正常,模型组骨骼肌排列紊乱、肌纤维断裂、可见明显炎症细胞浸润;盐酸二甲双胍及降糖方干预后,骨骼肌炎症细胞浸润减少,肌纤维排列趋于整齐。模型组大鼠FPG、FINS、HOMA-IR水平、血清TG、TC、LDL-C水平、骨骼肌IκB-α mRNA、NF-κBp65 mRNA和蛋白水平、骨骼肌组织IL-4、IL-12、TNF-α蛋白水平高于对...     

Modulation of antigen presentation by autoreactive B cell clones specific for GAD65 from a type I diabetic patient

We used a GAD65-specific human B-T cell line cognate system in vitro to investigate the modulation of GAD65 presentation by autoantibody, assessed in a proliferation assay. Generally, if the T cell determinant overlaps or resides within the antibody epitope, effects of presentation are blunted while if they are distant can lead to potent presentation. For three different autoreactive B-T cell line cognate pairs, the modulation of GAD65 presentation followed the mode of overlapping or distant epitopes with resultant potent or undetectable presentation. However, other cognate pairs elicited variability in this pattern of presentation. Notably, one B cell line, DPC, whose antibody epitope did not overlap with the T cell determinants, was consistently poor in presenting GAD65. Using the fluorescent dye Alexa Fluor 647 conjugated to GAD65 to study receptor-mediated antigen endocytosis showed that all the antigen-specific B cell clones were efficient in intracellular accumulation of the antigen. Additionally, multicolour immunofluorescence microscopy showed that the internalized GAD65/surface IgG complexes were rapidly targeted to a perinuclear compartment in all GAD-specific B cell clones. This analysis also demonstrated that HLA-DM expression was reduced strongly in DPC compared to the stimulatory B cell clones. Thus the capability of antigen-specific B cells to capture and present antigen to human T cell lines is dependent on the spatial relationship of B and T cell epitopes as well other factors which contribute to the efficiency of presentation.     

Assessment of CMV load in solid organ transplant recipients by pp65 antigenemia and real-time quantitative DNA PCR assay: correlation with pp67 RNA detection

After bone marrow (BM) or solid-organ (SO) transplantation viremic Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is observed frequently. Quantitative assay of CMV in blood helps the management of this clinical condition. In the present report, 83 samples from 39 solid organ recipients, three CMV assays were compared simultaneously for the first time: the Nuclisens CMV pp67 assay (nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, NASBA), an "in-house" quantitative real-time PCR assay (TaqMan) for CMV DNA, and pp65 antigenemia. The relation between CMV DNA and pp65 antigenemia, the quantitative assays, was evaluated on a larger group including 251 blood samples from 118 solid organ recipients. Real-time PCR provided the best results; > or =130 CMV DNA copies/2 x 10(5) peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) predicted > or =1 pp65 antigen positive (Ag+) cell/2 x 10(5) PBLs. By taking pp65 antigenemia as the "gold standard," the sensitivity of CMV DNA quantitation and of the pp67 RNA assay were 0.95 and 0.20, respectively, while the corresponding specificity values were 0.50 and 0.93. When real-time PCR was considered as the "gold standard," the sensitivity and specificity of the pp65 antigenemia were 0.65 and 0.91, respectively. Among the three tests examined, the sensitivity of the pp67 RNA assay was the lowest. On the other hand, the pp67 RNA assay was highly specific and effective in pinpointing high viremia patients. The present report, by providing predictive values for all three diagnostic profiles, DNA load, antigenemia, and pp67RNA, is a contribution for validation of real-time PCR as a new standard for quantitative assessment of CMV viremia in clinical settings.