published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Microbiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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No description available.

Periodontal disease is one of the most common human diseases. Bacteria trigger the onset and progression of the disease and among them Porphyromonas gingivalis has been demonstrated to be a major etiologic agent. Although the interaction of the bacterium with the host is of major importance for the understanding of the disease mechanisms, both the host as well as the pathogen components involved in the interaction remain poorly understood. One of the bacterial components capable of eliciting a host response is unmethylated CpG DNA motifs found in bacteria. Thus, the first aim was to determine the response of oral epithelial cell line, HN4, to challenge with genomic DNA derived from P. gingivalis. Microarray analysis revealed that at a level of 2-fold or more, 95 genes were regulated after 6 hrs, and 33 genes were regulated after 24 hrs post infection with P. gingivalis DNA when compared to unchallenged HN4 cells. Furthermore, since the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) was demonstrated to be critical in generating the innate immune response to both bacterial and viral unmethylated CpG DNA in immune cells as well as some epithelial cell lines, investigation of the expression and localization of this receptor in HN4 cells was examined. In addition, changes in TLR9 expression and localization in response to HN4 cells challenged with P. gingivalis DNA was also investigated. Our flow cytometry results indicated that the receptor is present intracellularly but interestingly, is also detected on the cell surface. Last, shRNA technology was employed to down-regulate TLR9 expression in HN4 cells. This would provide a useful tool for future studies examining the role of TLR9 in mediating the host response to genomic DNA derived from P. gingivalis and other periodontopathogens.

The thymus is the major site for T-cell generation and thus is important for the adaptive immune system. Development of a properly selected, functional T-cell repertoire relies on interactions between developing T cells and a series of functionally distinct thymic stroma cell types including the cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (TECs). The thymus is one of the first organs to degenerate in normal healthy ageing. Related to this, there is strong interest in developing protocols for improving thymus function in patients by cell replacement or regenerative therapies. Thymic epithelial progenitor cells (TEPCs) represent a potential source of cells for thymus transplantation. However, the only source of these cells for transplantation is currently fetal thymus tissue. If TEPCs could be generated from pluripotent cells, this could provide an alternative source of cells for transplantation. The work described in this thesis therefore had two central aims (i) to test the stability of thymic epithelial progenitor cells in vivo and (ii) to investigate the possibility of generating TEPCs or TECs from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. The forkhead transcription factor, Foxn1, is essential for the development of a functionally mature thymic epithelium, but is not necessary for formation of the thymic primordium or for medullary thymic epithelial sub-lineage specification. By reactivating Foxn1 expression postnatally in mice carrying a revertible hypomorphic allele of Foxn1, Foxn1R, I herein demonstrate that TEPCs that can express only low levels of Foxn1 mRNA can persist postnatally in the thymic rudiment in mice until at least 6 months of age, and retain the potential to give rise to both cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (cTECs and mTECs). These data demonstrate that the TEPC-state is remarkably stable in vivo under conditions of low Foxn1 expression. In parallel with this work, I confirmed the possibility of generating Foxn1-expressing cells from mouse ES cells by using a Foxn1 reporter cell line. As the thymic epithelium has a single origin in the third pharyngeal pouch (3pp) endoderm, I then tested whether or not TEPCs and /or TECs were generated during ES cell differentiation via existing protocols for generating anterior definitive endoderm differentiation cells from mouse ES cells. From this work, I showed that genes expressed in the 3pp and/or TEPC,-including Plet-1, Tbx1, Hoxa3 and Pax9, were induced by differentiation of ES cells using these protocols. I further showed that cells expressing both Plet-1, a marker of foregut endoderm and 3pp, and EpCAM, a marker of proliferating epithelial cells, were induced using a novel protocol (2i ADE) for generating ES cells from ADE. However, gene expression analysis and functional testing suggested that the majority of these cells were non-thymus lineage. I subsequently developed a novel protocol which combined this 2i ADE protocol with co-culturing of the differentiating ES cells with fetal thymic lobes, and demonstrated that this further induced 3pp and TEPC related genes. Finally, I modified the culture conditions in this protocol to conditions predicted to better support TEPC/TEC, and showed that in these conditions, the TEPC-specific markers Foxn1 and IL-7 were induced more strongly than in any other conditions tested. The data presented in this thesis therefore represent an advance towards an optimized protocol for successfully generating TEPCs from ES cells in vitro.

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the human stomach, where it causes gastritis that may develop into peptic ulcer disease or cancer when left untreated. Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonizes the urogenital tract and causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. In contrast, Lactobacillus species are part of the human microbiota, which is the resident microbial community, and are considered to be beneficial for health. The first host cell types that bacteria encounter when they enter the body are epithelial cells, which form the border between the inside and the outside, and macrophages, which are immune cells that engulf unwanted material.       The focus of this thesis has been the interaction between the host and bacteria, aiming to increase our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the host responses and their effects on bacterial pathogenicity. Understanding the interactions between bacteria and the host will hopefully enable the development of new strategies for the treatment of infectious disease. In paper I, we investigated the effect of N. gonorrhoeae on the growth factor amphiregulin in cervical epithelial cells and found that the processing and release of amphiregulin changes upon infection. In paper II, we examined the expression of the transcription factor early growth response-1 (EGR1) in epithelial cells during bacterial colonization. We demonstrated that EGR1 is rapidly upregulated by many different bacteria. This upregulation is independent of the pathogenicity, Gram-staining type and level of adherence of the bacteria, but generally requires viable bacteria and contact with the host cell. The induction of EGR1 is mediated primarily by signaling through EGFR, ERK1/2 and β1-integrins. In paper III, we described the interactions of the uncharacterized protein JHP0290, which is secreted by H. pylori, with host cells. JHP0290 is able to bind to several cell types and induces apoptosis and TNF release in macrophages. For both of these responses, signaling through Src family kinases and ERK is essential. Apoptosis is partially mediated by TNF release. Finally, in paper IV, we showed that certain Lactobacillus strains can reduce the colonization of H. pylori on gastric epithelial cells. Lactobacilli decrease the gene expression of SabA and thereby inhibit the binding mediated by this adhesin. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The human gut harbors a vast number of microbes. These microbes are not passive bystanders. They are important in modulating the immune system. We have previously shown that early colonization with lactobacilli and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus differentially associates with allergy development and/or immune profile at early ages. Here we focus on understanding how these microbes modulate the response of intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells in vitro. In paper I, we investigated the impact of UV-killed and/or cell free supernatant (CFS) of different Lactobacillus (L.) species and S. aureus strains on cytokine production from intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) and immune cells. Enterotoxin-expressng S. aureus 161:2-CFS triggered CXCL-1/GRO-α and CXCL-8/IL-8 production by IEC. S. aureus-induced CXCL-8/IL-8 production was hampered by MyD88 gene silencing of IEC, indicating the importance of TLR signaling. Further, lactobacilli-CFS and S. aureus-CFS were able to induce the production of a number of cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors, but only S. aureus triggered T-cell associated cytokines: IL-2, IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α; which were dampened by the co-treatment with S. aureus and any of the different Lactobacillus strains. Flow cytometry of the stimulated PBMC further verified IFN-γ and IL-17 production by T cells upon treatment with S. aureus-CFS, which also induced CTLA-4 expression and IL-10 production by Treg cells. In paper II, we investigated the influence of CFS of L. reuteri and S. aureus on the differentiation of monocyte to DC and subsequently how the generated DC influence T cell response. DC generated in the presence of L. reuteri exhibited an increase in expression of surface markers (HL-DR, CD86, CD83, CCR7) and cytokine production (IL-6, IL-10 and IL-23), but had a decreased phagocytic capacity compared with conventional Mo-DC, showing a more mature phenotype. However, upon LPS stimulation, DC generated in the presence of L. reuteri-CFS displayed a more regulatory phenotype, with a reduced cytokine response both at mRNA and protein levels. On the contrary, DC generated in the presence of S. aureus-CFS resembled the control Mo-DC both at mRNA and protein expression, but SA-DC was more efficient in inducing cytokine production in autologous T cells. In paper III, we studied the influence of L. reuteri-CFS on the retinoic acid (RA)-driven mucosal-like DCs’ phenotype and function to modulate T regulatory cells (Treg) in vitro. DC generated in the presence of RA showed a mucosal-like regulatory-DC phenotype with its CD103 expression, high IL10 production and decreased expression of genes associated with inflammation (NFκB1, RELB and TNF). Further, treatment with L. reuteri-CFS enhanced the regulatory phenotype of RA-DC by increasing the production of several chemokines, such as CXCL1, CXCL5, CCL3, CCL15 and CCL20, which are involved in gut homeostasis, while dampening the expression of most chemokine receptor genes. L. reuteri-CFS also increased CCR7 expression on RA-DC.  RA-DC co-cultured with T cell increased IL10 and FOXP3 expression in Treg. However L. reuteri-CFS pre-conditioning of the RA-DC did not improve the Treg phenotype. In conclusion, bacteria-CFS can have an impact on the response of IEC, differentiation and function of DC and, subsequently the T cell response, when taken together in the context of gut; these can have an impact on the health and disease of the host. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted.</p>

In this study, we sought to define an underlying molecular mechanism of how inflammation induces cancer initiation. Cancer-associated inflammation is marked by the presence of inflammatory cells and mediators including cytokines, chemokines, and reactive oxygen species. There is a growing body of evidence establishing the link between chronic inflammation and cancer. Twenty percent of cancers have been linked to chronic infections. For instance, bacterial and viral infections induce inflammation which is a known risk factor for cancer. During inflammation, Ml macrophages' production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS) drives their function as anti-microbial. Likewise, the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-KB) is known to induce a variety of stimulators, including ROS, to contribute to the inflammatory process. Therefore, we sought to explore the relationship between Ml macrophages and NF-KB, suggesting that Ml macrophage mediates cancer initiation via a NF-KB-dependent pathway, which collectively contributes to a metastatic phenotype.

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