Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Viruses have evolved a multitude of mechanisms, which allow immune evasion in both initial and persistent infection. Understanding the intricacies of these pathways is essential to our future ability to combat primary and reactive viral infections. The murine gamma-2 herpesvirus 68 (γHV68) encodes a protein mK3, which targets Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I heavy chains for ubiquitin-dependent proteasome degradation. MK3 is able to target and ubiquitinate MHC class I by binding to Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) resident proteins tapasin, Transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) 1 and TAP2 that are subunits in the complex known as the peptide-loading complex (PLC). The aforementioned characteristics of mK3 make this novel protein an excellent vehicle to study MHC class I assembly, immune evasion, and ER associated degradation (ERAD). Deepening our understanding of class I assembly and viral immune evasion will impact both the fields of immunology and virology. The homology between γHV68 and many of the human γ-herpesviruses makes this an indispensable model to clarify mechanisms that can then be applied to a broader spectrum of viruses. ERAD, an emerging field of study, is known to play a key role in numerous cellular housekeeping pathways as well as a number of disease states. Illuminating the mechanisms implicated in the mK3-mediated ubiquitination of MHC class I, specifically requirements for substrate recognition and degradation, will yield an increased understanding of cellular pathways involved in ERAD. The studies in this dissertation aim to expand our understanding of the relationship between mK3 and adapter proteins TAP/tapasin as well as mK3 and mK3-targeted substrates. The results show that TAP/tapasin act as adapter proteins by recruiting substrates for mK3. Further, mK3 ubiquitinates TAP/tapasin-associated substrates as long as the substrates have a tail greater than 6aa in length and the tail possesses an ubiquitin acceptor residue (lysine, serine or threonine). These studies also confirm that location of a protein within the PLC will determine the substrate’s susceptibility to mK3-mediated degradation. In the field of ubiquitin ligases and ERAD, these studies lend support to the concept of adapter mediated substrate recruitment.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1996. / "December 1996." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [128]-155). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1999. / "May 1999." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-250). Also available on the Internet.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi buscar genes MHC classe I em bovinos expressos durante o desenvolvimento embrionário e gestação que apresentassem similaridade ao gene Ped murino. Para tanto, embriões de PIV e placentas de fetos produzidos por monta natural ou clonados tiveram seu RNA extraído. A partir do RNA extraído foi realizada a produção de cDNA para tentar o isolamento de fragmentos com similaridade ao gene descrito em murinos. Uma vez isolados, os fragmentos foram purificados ou clonados em plasmídeo. As amostras foram seqüenciadas e as seqüências obtidas foram avaliadas, editadas e comparadas a outras seqüências pelo programa BLAST. A expressão de proteína MHC-Ib foi verificada em embriões (D7) e nas amostras de placenta utilizando anticorpo monoclonal de camundongo anti-Qa-2 marcado com FITC. A seqüência consenso obtida produziu alinhamentos significantes com os genes do complexo Bola que faz parte do MHC classe I bovino. O alinhamento entre a seqüência consenso e as seqüências de Q7 (Ped) e HLA-G publicados anteriormente demonstrou poucas variações de nucleotídeos entre as seqüências. As amplificações de cDNA de embriões que atingiram o quarto ciclo celular em até 48 hpi (R8) e em 48-90 hpi (L8) e de embriões que atingiram o estádio de blastocisto expandido em 7 dias de cultivo (RR) e em 9 dias de cultivo (RL) mostraram que o fragmento cuja seqüência apresenta alta similaridade ao gene Ped, está presente em embriões RR e RL, mas não em embriões no estádio de 8 células. Em placentas, o resultado da PCR mostrou a amplificação de oito fragmentos em diferentes fases da gestação. O sequenciamento dos fragmentos gerou nove seqüências consenso similares ao gene Ped e também a seqüências obtidas a partir de embriões bovinos. O alinhamento das seqüências mostrou a existência de duas isoformas contendo edição alternativa no exon 2 ou no exon 3. O resultado indicou a existência de polimorfismo ou mais de um gene com alta similaridade ao gene Q7 sendo transcritos durante o período gestacional. A expressão de proteína MHC-Ib foi verificada na membrana de células do trofoblasto e da MCI de embriões e na porção materno fetal de placentas, com uma maior expressão na porção fetal. Placentas oriundas de fetos clonados apresentam maior fluorescência comparada àquelas oriundas de monta natural. Este trabalho identificou, em embriões bovinos, um possível gene homólogo ao Ped murino e a expressão de proteína semelhante àquela codificada por este gene e conclui que existem vários transcritos com similaridade ao gene Q7 sendo expressos na região materno-fetal da placenta, durante a gestação em bovinos, assim como nos embriões / The aim of the present work was to identify bovine MHC class I genes similar to the murine Ped gene expressing during embryonic development and pregnancy. Bovine in vitro produced embryos and placentas obtained from natural mating or cloning-derived fetuses had their RNA extracted. cDNA was synthesized to isolate fragments showing similarity with the gene described in mice. Once isolated the fragments were purified or cloned into plasmids. The samples were sequenced and obtained sequences edited and compared to other sequences by means of the BLAST software. The expression of MHC-Ib protein was evaluated in embryos (D7) and in placentas using a FITC conjugated mouse monoclonal antibody anti-Qa-2. The consensus sequence amplified from blastocyst cDNA produced significant alignments with genes of the Bola complex, which is part of the bovine MHC class I. The alignment between the consensus sequence and the previously published Q7 and HLA-G sequences demonstrated little nucleotide variations among the sequences. The cDNA amplifications of embryos at the fourth cellular cicle in 48hpi (F8); 48-90hpi (S8) and embryos that reached blastocyst expanded stage in 7 days (FF); in 9 days (FS) showed that the Ped candidate gene is present in FF and FS but not in 8-cell embryos. In placentas, the PCR resulted in amplification of eight fragments at different pregnancy stages. Sequencing of the fragments generated nine consensus sequences, similar to the Ped gene and also to sequences obtained from bovine embryos. The alignment of the sequences showed the existence of two isoforms containing an alternative splicing on exon 2 or 3. This result indicates the existence of polymorphisms or that more than one gene with high similarity to the Q7 gene are transcribed during pregnancy. Expression of MHC-Ib protein was verified in trophoblast membrane and embryos inner cell mass cells and in the maternal-fetal portion in placentas, with a greater expression in the fetal portion. Cloned fetuses placentas presented grater fluorescence compared to natural mated. Overall this work identified in bovine embryos a possible gene homologous to the murine Ped and the expression of protein similar to that coded by this gene and concluded that there are many transcripts similar to the Q7 gene being expressed in the maternal-fetal region of the placenta during pregnancy in bovine and such as in embryos

O objetivo deste trabalho foi buscar genes MHC classe I em bovinos expressos durante o desenvolvimento embrionário e gestação que apresentassem similaridade ao gene Ped murino. Para tanto, embriões de PIV e placentas de fetos produzidos por monta natural ou clonados tiveram seu RNA extraído. A partir do RNA extraído foi realizada a produção de cDNA para tentar o isolamento de fragmentos com similaridade ao gene descrito em murinos. Uma vez isolados, os fragmentos foram purificados ou clonados em plasmídeo. As amostras foram seqüenciadas e as seqüências obtidas foram avaliadas, editadas e comparadas a outras seqüências pelo programa BLAST. A expressão de proteína MHC-Ib foi verificada em embriões (D7) e nas amostras de placenta utilizando anticorpo monoclonal de camundongo anti-Qa-2 marcado com FITC. A seqüência consenso obtida produziu alinhamentos significantes com os genes do complexo Bola que faz parte do MHC classe I bovino. O alinhamento entre a seqüência consenso e as seqüências de Q7 (Ped) e HLA-G publicados anteriormente demonstrou poucas variações de nucleotídeos entre as seqüências. As amplificações de cDNA de embriões que atingiram o quarto ciclo celular em até 48 hpi (R8) e em 48-90 hpi (L8) e de embriões que atingiram o estádio de blastocisto expandido em 7 dias de cultivo (RR) e em 9 dias de cultivo (RL) mostraram que o fragmento cuja seqüência apresenta alta similaridade ao gene Ped, está presente em embriões RR e RL, mas não em embriões no estádio de 8 células. Em placentas, o resultado da PCR mostrou a amplificação de oito fragmentos em diferentes fases da gestação. O sequenciamento dos fragmentos gerou nove seqüências consenso similares ao gene Ped e também a seqüências obtidas a partir de embriões bovinos. O alinhamento das seqüências mostrou a existência de duas isoformas contendo edição alternativa no exon 2 ou no exon 3. O resultado indicou a existência de polimorfismo ou mais de um gene com alta similaridade ao gene Q7 sendo transcritos durante o período gestacional. A expressão de proteína MHC-Ib foi verificada na membrana de células do trofoblasto e da MCI de embriões e na porção materno fetal de placentas, com uma maior expressão na porção fetal. Placentas oriundas de fetos clonados apresentam maior fluorescência comparada àquelas oriundas de monta natural. Este trabalho identificou, em embriões bovinos, um possível gene homólogo ao Ped murino e a expressão de proteína semelhante àquela codificada por este gene e conclui que existem vários transcritos com similaridade ao gene Q7 sendo expressos na região materno-fetal da placenta, durante a gestação em bovinos, assim como nos embriões / The aim of the present work was to identify bovine MHC class I genes similar to the murine Ped gene expressing during embryonic development and pregnancy. Bovine in vitro produced embryos and placentas obtained from natural mating or cloning-derived fetuses had their RNA extracted. cDNA was synthesized to isolate fragments showing similarity with the gene described in mice. Once isolated the fragments were purified or cloned into plasmids. The samples were sequenced and obtained sequences edited and compared to other sequences by means of the BLAST software. The expression of MHC-Ib protein was evaluated in embryos (D7) and in placentas using a FITC conjugated mouse monoclonal antibody anti-Qa-2. The consensus sequence amplified from blastocyst cDNA produced significant alignments with genes of the Bola complex, which is part of the bovine MHC class I. The alignment between the consensus sequence and the previously published Q7 and HLA-G sequences demonstrated little nucleotide variations among the sequences. The cDNA amplifications of embryos at the fourth cellular cicle in 48hpi (F8); 48-90hpi (S8) and embryos that reached blastocyst expanded stage in 7 days (FF); in 9 days (FS) showed that the Ped candidate gene is present in FF and FS but not in 8-cell embryos. In placentas, the PCR resulted in amplification of eight fragments at different pregnancy stages. Sequencing of the fragments generated nine consensus sequences, similar to the Ped gene and also to sequences obtained from bovine embryos. The alignment of the sequences showed the existence of two isoforms containing an alternative splicing on exon 2 or 3. This result indicates the existence of polymorphisms or that more than one gene with high similarity to the Q7 gene are transcribed during pregnancy. Expression of MHC-Ib protein was verified in trophoblast membrane and embryos inner cell mass cells and in the maternal-fetal portion in placentas, with a greater expression in the fetal portion. Cloned fetuses placentas presented grater fluorescence compared to natural mated. Overall this work identified in bovine embryos a possible gene homologous to the murine Ped and the expression of protein similar to that coded by this gene and concluded that there are many transcripts similar to the Q7 gene being expressed in the maternal-fetal region of the placenta during pregnancy in bovine and such as in embryos

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2009.

A major objective in Theileria parva subunit vaccine development is to induce a vaccine antigen specific response mediated by cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CTL). Therefore it is essential to be able to measure the frequency of the responding CD8+ T cells after vaccination and correlate it with a clinical outcome on challenge. Recently concluded immunogenicity and efficacy studies of T. parva specific CTL antigens showed successful induction of CTL responses in some animals, which correlated with reduced disease severity after challenge. To provide correlates of immunity antigen-specific CD8+ T cell mediated IFN-γ responses and CTL lytic responses were measured over the course of the experiments. Several challenges presented in these trials aimed at optimising vaccine efficacy. While the IFN-γ ELISPOT is a sensitive and reliable assay widely used in vaccine research, the use of chromium/indium release assay remains to be the only assay in use that measures T. parva-specific CTL activity. Hence the overall goal of the study was to develop novel reagents and novel assays to identify parasite-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes with lytic potential. To address this objective, bovine perforin, granzymes A and B, as specific effector proteins expressed in activated CTL were cloned and expressed using a baculovirus expression system. Sequence analysis of the cloned cDNAs showed the isolated cDNA belonged to the perforin and granzyme sub-families respectively. Perforin cDNA demonstrated 85% homology to human perforin with presence of conserved regions resembling calcium binding motif, membrane attack complex component as well complement protein. The sequences encoded by the cloned granzyme A and B cDNAs have the features of a trypsin like serine protease and demonstrates over 70% homology to the human cDNA over the active enzyme region as well catalytic residues characteristic of serine proteases. The expressed polypeptides of all three proteins were used to produce specific antibodies for use as reagents in immunoassays including ELISpot and intracellular staining for flow cytometric analysis. While the antibodies showed reactivity to the recombinant proteins, these reagents displayed different functionality in the recognition of the native protein. Peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) class I tetrameric complexes (tetramers) are proving invaluable as fluorescent reagents for enumeration, characterisation and isolation of peptide-specific CD8+ T cells and have afforded advantages to phenotype antigen-specific T cells with minimal in vitro manipulation. Fluorescent bovine tetramers were shown to specifically stain antigen-specific CTL by directly binding the T cell receptor (TCR). Analyses of CD8 T-cell responses in live-vaccine immunised cattle also showed that this method is robust and demonstrates changes in the kinetics and specificity of the CD8+ T cell response in primary and secondary infections with T. parva. On average, results of functional assays and tetramer staining followed parallel trends, measured roughly the same populations and allowed for surface and intracellular staining for CD8 T cell marker and perforin, respectively, demonstrating a method that reliably quantifies the frequency, phenotype and function of specific CD8+ T cells. The technical simplicity, rapidity and ability of the flow cytometric technique described in this thesis to measure low frequency antigen-specific responses suggests that tetramer staining, combined with functional assays could be broadly applicable to the valuation of vaccination efficacy to determine which protocols are most successful in inducing CTL responses.

Natural killer (NK) cells can kill virus-infected cells without prior antigenic exposure, and are therefore important for controlling viral replication prior to the onset of adaptive immune responses. Primate NK cells express activating and inhibitory killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) that bind to specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. The importance of KIR interactions with MHC class I in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pathogenesis is demonstrated by the association of select KIR and MHC class I genotypes with delayed progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).