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Epithelial cells are the first line of defense against invading pathogens and external threats in the environment. Keratinocytes, often not perceived of as immune cells, release cytokines in response to infection or injury to signal danger to neighboring cells and recruit effector leukocytes to prevent further damage to the host. IL-1 and IL-36 cytokines are a group of closely related proteins that share similarities in structure and function and have been shown to play key roles in inflammatory responses of epithelial tissues. While IL-1, consisting of IL-1α and IL-1β, have been widely studied and recognized as pinnacle cytokines in a variety of inflammatory responses, relatively little is understood about IL-36 cytokines since their discovery more than 15 years ago, and how they differ from their better-known IL-1 relatives. IL-36 cytokines, consisting of IL-36α, IL-36β, and IL-36γ, signal through the same receptor, IL-36R, which is expressed most abundantly on epithelial cells. IL-36 proteins garnered attention when it was discovered that a missense mutation in the gene encoding the naturally occurring receptor antagonist, IL-36Ra, was associated with the deadly form of psoriasis, generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP). This disease is characterized by episodic flares of keratinocyte hyperproliferation leading to red scaly lesions all over the body, excessive neutrophil recruitment to the epidermis resulting in pustule formation, and severe fever. Our data presented here demonstrate that IL-36α, but not IL-36β or IL-36γ is critical for the psoriatic phenotype, including epidermal thickening and neutrophil recruitment, generated during a murine model of psoriasis induced by the drug Imiquimod. Furthermore, IL-36α was found to induce IL-1α expression and vice versa through a signaling feedback loop which perpetuated disease. These data provide insight into mechanisms whereby IL-36 signaling can lead to excessive inflammatory effects in patients with pre-existing regulation deficiencies, which can lead to acute flares of disease. Beyond their association with disease, IL-1 has been shown to contribute to anti-bacterial and anti-viral responses of the immune system by upregulating inflammatory signals and chemoattractants. Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) is a human pathogen that has developed several strategies to manipulate elements of the immune system to avoid detection by the host. One such mechanism is the prevention of activation and release of IL-1β from infected cells thereby blocking its pro-inflammatory responses. Our data show that keratinocytes infected with HSV-1 actively release IL-1α to alert danger to neighboring cells to circumvent this blockage of IL-1β signaling. This release of IL-1α initiates recruitment of leukocytes to early HSV-1 microinfection sites resulting in increased protection against disease, as evident by the increased mortality rate of mice deficient in the IL-1 receptor, IL-1R1. This study, for the first time in vivo, demonstrates the ability of IL-1α to act as an alarmin to initiate an immune response to combat infection. The role of IL-36 cytokines during viral infections has been less defined than that of IL-1. Several studies have shown the upregulation of IL-36 expression during viral infections in epithelial tissues, such as HSV-1 and Influenza, yet a direct link has not been established between these proteins and anti-viral responses. Our research presented within this thesis show that IL-36β, but not IL-36α nor IL-36γ, provides protection against the lethal outcome of cutaneous HSV-1 infection, as demonstrated by IL-36β knockout mice dying earlier and more often than wild type mice. Surprisingly, while previous reports have found IL-36 cytokines to be capable of activating the adaptive immune system, our results found no significant differences in development of HSV-1 specific antibodies or CD8+ T cell development between wild type and IL-36β knockout mice. Furthermore, we found no significant differences in viral copy numbers at infection sites between the two groups. Although our data show that IL-36β clearly plays a critical role in controlling the outcome of HSV-1 infection, further studies are necessary to define the mechanisms behind this protection. The final section of this thesis focuses on the endogenous nature of IL-36 cytokines, specifically IL-36γ, and their potential processing. IL-36 cytokines were originally believed to be synthesized as full-length fully active proteins; however, large concentrations of the recombinant proteins were required to elicit cellular responses in vitro. Since then, studies have shown that IL-36 cytokines gained up to 1000-fold increases in reactivity following processing at very specific N-terminal locations of each individual cytokine, however this processing has never been shown to occur in vivo. These studies were recently expanded when neutrophil proteases were found to be responsible for processing of these proteins in vitro. Data presented here show, for the first time, that IL-36γ may be endogenously processed by neutrophils in wounded murine skin in vivo, yet, the amino acid processing site appears to be different from that predicted. Although further studies are required to fully characterize the nature of this processing, these data provide valuable insight into the natural mechanisms involved in the potential activation of these cytokines. Taken together, the research presented within this thesis sheds light on the mechanisms whereby IL-1 and IL-36 cytokines enhance immunological defenses against potential threats, and yet, can contribute to disease if unregulated. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate the evolutionary advantage of producing multiple cytokines that appear to have redundant roles within the body, yet can provide multiple levels of protection to the host. This knowledge contributes to our overall understanding of these proteins and their contribution to immunological systems within the body. / Microbiology and Immunology

The Gadd45 family of proteins is known to play a central role as cellular stress sensors that modulate the response of mammalian cells to different stressors, including oncogenic stress. Gadd45a expression is regulated during myeloid cell differentiation, and is also induced in response to acute stimulation with cytokines, myeloablation and inflammation. The proto-oncogene C-myc plays a pivotal role in growth control, differentiation and apoptosis in hematopoietic cells. Deregulated Myc in hematopoietic cells blocks the differentiation program and prevents normal homeostatic cellular apoptosis, which alters the balance of cell populations, often participating in leukemogenesis. The status of Gadd45a expression has been shown to impact on different cancers, including breast cancer and leukemia. How the stress response gene Gadd45a modulates oncogenic stress imparted by deregulated c-Myc in myeloid cells has not been investigated. We hypothesized that Gadd45a and its interacting partner proteins can modulate specific pro-survival or pro-apoptotic signaling pathways, altering the cellular response to oncogenic myc in myeloid cells. Gadd45a may play different roles in proliferating and differentiating cells, and myeloid cells in vivo are at all stages of myeloid development. Therefore, to understand how Gadd45a status impacts on proliferating and differentiating myeloid cells, we decided to study the effect of loss of Gadd45a in myc-expressing cells that are either proliferating or stimulated to undergo differentiation. Therefore, to address this issue we utilized bone marrow from wild-type (wt) and Gadd45a null mice, and retrovirally infected these cells to express constitutive Myc or empty vector control. Using these cells we have shown that bone marrow deficient in Gadd45a and expressing constitutive Myc, display decreased apoptosis under proliferating conditions, yet increased apoptosis in media containing the differentiation inducing cytokine GM-CSF. We show that in expansion media loss of Gadd45a in the presence of Myc elicits its function through the activation of p38, with evidence supporting a role for PU.1 and Mcl-1 expression, which are downstream of p-p38. In contrast, deregulated C-Myc and loss of Gadd45a does not signal through p-38 in GM-CSF, but surprisingly there is a decrease in cytokine receptor expression. This data demonstrates that Gadd45a may be required for optimal cytokine receptor expression in myeloid cells, which can impact on survival of the cells. Although in primary bone marrow Gadd45a status had no effect on differentiation of Myc expressing cells, the loss of Gadd45a in Hoxb8 generated cell lines shifted differentiation towards increased neutrophils. Determining the role of Gadd45a on the biological outcome of myeloid cells in response to deregulated c-Myc will provide vital information in understanding the function of Gadd45a in the development and progression of Myc expressing myeloid leukemia. / Molecular Biology and Genetics

The objectives of these studies were to investigate the effects of two special proteins, spray-dried plasma protein (SDPP), a high quality protein source, and Peptiva®, a mixture of peptides manufactured from marine products, on growth performance, nitrogen balance and enzyme and nutrient transporter mRNA expression in the brushborder membrane in weanling pigs. The results indicated that 6 % SDPP increased ADG and ADFI in the first 10 d after weaning (P < 0.05) without carry-over benefits in subsequent phases. There were potential additive effects of SDPP and Cu on growth promotion. Trends for interaction of diet and pen sanitation were observed for G:F with more pronounced response to SDPP (P = 0.07) and Cu (P = 0.11) supplementation in the sub-sanitary pens. In the duodenum, reduced crypt depth with Cu supplementation (P < 0.01) and a trend for greater villous length with SDPP supplementation (P = 0.09) were observed. Pigs reared in the sub-sanitary pens had lower ADG (P < 0.05) as well as shorter villous length and less crypt depth (P < 0.05) than those from sanitary pens. To investigate the potential impact of dietary proteins on gene expression in the intestine, 54 weanling pigs were fed either 6 % SDPP, 0.5 % Peptiva®, or soy control diets, and were killed 3 or 10 d after weaning. Northern blot results revealed significant diet by intestinal segment interactions (P < 0.05) for aminopeptidase A and aminopeptidase N. Aminopeptidase A was evenly distributed along the small intestine in the Peptiva® group, but decreased dramatically in the ileum in other groups. Aminopeptidase N increased from the proximal to the distal intestine in the soy protein and SDPP groups, whereas in the Peptiva® group, relative abundance was highest in the jejunum and lowest in the duodenum. Most of the enzyme and nutrient transporter mRNA abundance was observed in the distal segements of the small intestine and changed as the animals matured. Due to the low abundance of cytokine mRNA expression in the intestine, mRNA levels of cytokine were quantified by Real-Time PCR. The results indicated that the pigs fed the SDPP diet tended to have lower pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1-β and TNF-α compared to other treatments. Tumor necrosis factor--α and IL-10 mRNA abundance increased from the proximal to the distal intestine, and was higher (P < 0.05) in the ileum than in the duodenum and jejunum. The mRNA abundance of IL-1-β, IL-10, and TNF-α also increased as the animals matured (P < 0.01). In summary, SDPP increased growth performance of weanling pigs, which were associated with changes in intestinal morphology and function. Peptiva® influenced aminopeptidases distribution along the small intestine. The mRNA abundance for digestive enzymes, nutrient transporters, and cytokines were differentially regulated along the small intestine as pigs matured. / Ph. D.

Influenza epidemics and pandemics remain a significant burden to world health and economy. Low efficacy of current inactivated influenza vaccines in the elderly and immunocompromized and the inability to protect against antigenically drifted or shifted strains of influenza virus are the two major problems in influenza vaccine research. To overcome these hurdles, we have utilized an in vitro cell culture vaccine platform, which results in whole inactivated influenza vaccine (WIV) bearing bioactive membrane-anchored immunomodulatory proteins such as cytokines on the virion surface, collectively known as CYT-IVACs (Cytokine bearing-Inactivated Vaccine). In addition, we tested whether a multimeric M2e peptide presented on WIV can serve to enhance immunogenicity and augment protective efficacy of whole virus vaccines. Our panel of cytokines includes IL-2, IL-4, IL-12, IL-23, and Flt3L as well as the multimeric M2e peptide, all fused to the membrane anchoring regions of influenza virus hemagglutinin protein and constitutively expressed in virus permissive MDCK cell line. Subsequent infection with influenza virus results in incorporation of fusion constructs directly into budding progeny virions that are harvested, purified and inactivated to generate distinct CYT-IVAC formulations. Following validation of immunomodulator incorporation, vaccines were tested for in vivo efficacy in either "young adult" or "aged" female Balb/c mice. Our results demonstrate that our CYT-IVAC~IL-12/HA and CYT-IVAC~IL-23/HA serve as potent mucosal adjuvants in young adult mice elicited significantly high levels of mucosal IgA antibodies and afford superior protection against lethal virus challenge. Our Flt3L/HA formulation was the most effective stimulator of systemic anti-viral antibody levels. In "aged" mice a single dose formulation of IL-12 bearing CYTIVAC was superior at affording protection against lethal homotypic virus challenge. Finally, administration of multimeric M2e molecule co-presented on WIV elicited prolonged antibody responses in "young adult mice" and provided cross-protection from challenge with the heterologous influenza A pandemic strain 2009 H1N1. In conclusion, the CYT-IVAC approach represents a novel tailored advancement to current WIV approaches that has the potential to elicit both potent mucosal and systemic immune responses in young and old. / Ph. D.

Yes / Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing worldwide, and it is associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). For T2DM patients, the main surgical intervention for CAD is autologous saphenous vein grafting. However, T2DM patients have increased risk of saphenous vein graft failure (SVGF). While the mechanisms underlying increased risk of vascular disease in T2DM are not fully understood, hyperglycaemia, insulin resistance, and hyperinsulinaemia have been shown to contribute to microvascular damage, whereas clinical trials have reported limited effects of intensive glycaemic control in the management of macrovascular complications. This suggests that factors other than glucose exposure may be responsible for the macrovascular complications observed in T2DM. SVGF is characterised by neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) arising from endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction and uncontrolled migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). This is driven in part by proinflammatory cytokines released from the activated ECs and SMCs, particularly interleukin 6 (IL-6). IL-6 stimulation of the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT) pathway is a key mechanism through which EC inflammation, SMC migration, and proliferation are controlled and whose activation might therefore be enhanced in patients with T2DM. In this review, we investigate how proinflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-6, contribute to vascular damage resulting in SVGF and how suppression of proinflammatory cytokine responses via targeting the JAK/STAT pathway could be exploited as a potential therapeutic strategy. These include the targeting of suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS3), which appears to play a key role in suppressing unwanted vascular inflammation, SMC migration, and proliferation. / FTM is supported by a University of Botswana PhD scholarship.

The immune system is responsible for the preservation of homeostasis whenever a given organism is exposed to distinct kinds of perturbations. Given the complexity of certain organisms like mammals, and the diverse types of challenges that they encounter (e.g. infection or disease), the immune system evolved to harbor a great variety of distinct immune cell populations with specialized functions. For instance, the family of T cells is sub-divided into conventional (Tconv) and unconventional T cells (UTCs). Tconv form part of the adaptive arm of the immune system and are comprised of αβ CD4+ or CD8+ cells that differentiate from naïve to effector and memory populations upon activation and are essential during infection and cancer. Furthermore, UTCs, which include γδ T cells, NKT and MAIT, are involved in innate and adaptive immune responses, due to their dual mode of activation, through cytokines (innate-like) or TCR (adaptive), and function. Despite our understanding of the basic functions of T cells in several contexts, a great number of open questions related to their basic biology remain. For instance, the mechanism behind the differentiation of naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells into effector and memory populations is not fully understood. Moreover, the exact function and relevance of distinct UTC subpopulations in a physiological context have not been fully clarified. Here, we investigated the factors mediating naïve CD8+ T cell differentiation into effector and memory cells. By using flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, enzymatic assays, and transgenic mouse models, we found that the membrane bound enzyme sphingomyelin-phosphodiesterase acid-like 3b (Smpdl3b) is crucial for the maintenance of memory CD8+ T cells. Our data show that the absence of Smpdl3b leads to diminished CD8+ T cell memory, and a loss of stem-like memory populations due to an aggravated contraction. Our scRNA-seq data suggest that Smpdl3b could be involved in clathrinmediated endocytosis through modulation of Huntingtin interacting protein 1 (Hip1) levels, likely regulating TCR-independent signaling events. Furthermore, in this study we explored the role of UTCs in lymph node-specific immune responses. By using transgenic mouse models for photolabeling, lymph node transplantation models, infection models and flow cytometry, we demonstrate that S1P regulates the migration of tissue-derived UTC from tissues to draining lymph nodes, resulting in heterogeneous immune responses mounted by lymph nodes draining different tissues. Moreover, our unbiased scRNAseq and single lineage-deficient mouse models analysis revealed that all UTC lineages (γδ T cells, NKT and MAIT) are organized in functional units, based on transcriptional homogeneity, shared microanatomical location and migratory behavior, and numerical and functional redundancy. Taken together, our studies describe additional cell intrinsic (Smpdl3b) and extrinsic (S1Pmediated migration) functions of sphingolipid metabolism modulating T cell biology. We propose the S1P/S1PR1/5 signaling axis as the potential survival pathway for Smpdl3b+ memory CD8+ T cells and UTCs, mainly in lymph nodes. Possibly, Smpdl3b regulates S1P/S1PR signaling by balancing ligandreceptor endocytosis, while UTCs migrate to lymph nodes during homeostasis to be exposed to specific levels of S1P that assure their maintenance. Our results are clinically relevant, since several drugs modulating the S1P/S1PR signaling axis or the levels of Smpdl3b are currently used to treat human diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and B cell-mediated diseases. We hope that our discoveries will inspire future studies focusing on sphingolipid metabolism in immune cell biology. / Das Immunsystem ist für die Aufrechterhaltung der Homöostase verantwortlich, wenn ein bestimmter Organismus verschiedenen Arten von Störungen ausgesetzt ist. In Anbetracht der Komplexität bestimmter Organismen wie Säugetiere und der verschiedenen Arten von Störungen, denen sie ausgesetzt sein können (z. B. Infektionen oder Krankheiten), hat sich das Immunsystem so entwickelt, dass es eine große Vielfalt verschiedener Immunzellpopulationen mit spezialisierten Funktionen beherbergt. So wird beispielsweise die Familie der T-Zellen in konventionelle (Tconv) und unkonventionelle T-Zellen (UTC) unterteilt. Tconv sind Teil des adaptiven Arms des Immunsystems und bestehen aus αβ-CD4+- oder CD8+-Zellen, die sich bei der Aktivierung von naiven zu Effektor- und Gedächtnispopulationen differenzieren und bei Infektionen und Krebs eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Darüber hinaus sind UTCs, zu denen γδ-T-Zellen, NKT und MAIT gehören, aufgrund ihrer dualen Aktivierungsweise durch Zytokine (angeboren) oder TCR (adaptiv) und ihrer Funktion an angeborenen und adaptiven Immunantworten beteiligt. Trotz unseres Verständnisses der grundlegenden Funktionen von T-Zellen in verschiedenen Zusammenhängen gibt es nach wie vor eine große Anzahl offener Fragen im Zusammenhang mit ihrer grundlegenden Biologie. So ist beispielsweise der Mechanismus der Differenzierung naiver CD4+ und CD8+ T-Zellen in Effektor- und Gedächtnispopulationen noch nicht ausreichend verstanden. Auch die genaue Funktion und Bedeutung der verschiedenen UTCSubpopulationen im physiologischen Kontext sind noch nicht vollständig geklärt. Wir haben die Faktoren untersucht, die die Differenzierung naiver CD8+ T-Zellen in Effektorund Gedächtniszellen vermitteln. Mithilfe von Durchflusszytometrie, Massenspektrometrie, enzymatischen Assays und transgenen Mausmodellen konnten wir feststellen, dass das membrangebundene Enzym Sphingomyelin-Phosphodiesterase acid-like 3b (Smpdl3b) für die Aufrechterhaltung der CD8+ T-Zell-Gedächtnisfunktion entscheidend ist. Unsere Daten zeigen, dass das Fehlen von Smpdl3b zu einer verminderten Anzahl and CD8+ T Gedächtniszellen durch eine verstärke Kontraktion sowie einem Verlust von stammzellartigen Gedächtnispopulationen führt. Unsere scRNAseq- Daten deuten jedoch darauf hin, dass Smpdl3b an der Clathrin-vermittelten Endozytose beteiligt sein könnte, indem es die Spiegel des Huntingtin interacting protein 1 (Hip1) moduliert und wahrscheinlich TCR-unabhängige Signalereignisse reguliert. Darüber hinaus untersuchten wir in dieser Studie die Rolle von UTCs bei lymphknotenspezifischen Immunantworten. Mit Hilfe von transgenen Mausmodellen für Photolabeling, Lymphknotentransplantationsmodellen, Infektionsmodellen und Durchflusszytometrie konnten wir zeigen, dass S1P die Migration von UTCs aus dem Gewebe in die drainierenden Lymphknoten reguliert, was zu heterogenen Immunantworten in den Lymphknoten führt, die verschiedene Gewebe drainieren. Ausserdem ergab unsere Analyse von scRNA-seq-Daten, sowie Mausmodelle mit einer genetischen Defizienz einzelner UTC-Linien (γδ-T-Zellen, NKT und MAIT), dass diese zusammen in funktionellen Einheiten organisiert sind, die auf transkriptioneller Homogenität, gemeinsamer mikroanatomischer Lage und Migrationsverhalten sowie numerischer und funktioneller Redundanz basieren. Zusammengenommen beschreiben unsere Studien zusätzliche zellinterne (Smpdl3b) und - externe (S1P-vermittelte Migration) Funktionen des Sphingolipid-Stoffwechsels, welche die T-Zell- Biologie modulieren. Wir schlagen die S1P/S1PR1/5-Signalachse als potenziellen Überlebensweg für Smpdl3b+ Gedächtnis-CD8+-T-Zellen und UTCs ausschließlich in Lymphknoten vor. Möglicherweise reguliert Smpdl3b die S1P/S1PR-Signalübertragung, indem es die Endozytose des Liganden-Rezeptors reguliert. Dadurch könnte deren Exposition zu bestimmten S1P-Mengen in der Homöostase im Lymphknoten reguliert werden, die wiederum das Überleben der UTC steuern. Unsere Ergebnisse sind klinisch relevant, da mehrere Medikamente, die die S1P/S1PR-Signalachse oder die Smpdl3b- Konzentration modulieren, derzeit zur Behandlung menschlicher Krankheiten eingesetzt werden, z. B. bei Multipler Sklerose und B-Zell-vermittelten Krankheiten. Wir hoffen, dass unsere Entdeckungen zukünftige Studien anregen werden, die sich auf den Sphingolipid-Stoffwechsel in der Immunzellbiologie konzentrieren.

Monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment for B-cell lymphoma, with Rituximab (RTX) IgG1 targeting the CD20 surface protein showing significant clinical success in combination with chemotherapy (Bello &amp; Sotomayor 2007). However, not all patients respond to RTX, whereby further studies are warranted to improve RTX efficacy. In this study, an in-house ELISA method was optimized to analyze cytokines from supernatants from human B cell lymphoma cell lines and monocytic cell cultures. Basal levels of the pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and the immunosuppressive interleukin 10(IL-10) cytokines were investigated. The study shows several factors that can affect cytokine measurements in cell lines, such as time of culture, cell passage numbers, and incubation times of standards and samples in the ELISA. Furthermore, the correlation between IL-10 secretion of cell lines and phagocytosis was investigated using supernatant samples from phagocytosis assays of B-cell lymphoma cells treated with RTX and anti-CD47 mAbs. Notably, the pattern of IL-10 production from the samples varied depending on the treated antibodies and not by the intensity of the phagocytosis induced by the mAbs.In summary, this study shows that ELISA methods need to be tailored for analysis of cytokines in cell cultures, and highlights that cytokine levels not necessarily correspond to phagocytosis intensity induced by therapeutic mAbs.