No / Dendritic cells (DCs) are central players in coordinating immune responses, both innate and adaptive. While the role of lipid mediators in the immune response has been the subject of many investigations, the precise role of prostaglandins has often been plagued by contradictory studies. In this study, we examined the role of PGE2 on human DC function. Although studies have suggested that PGE2 specifically plays a role in DC motility and cytokine release profile, the precise receptor usage and signaling pathways involved remain unclear. In this report we found that irrespective of the human donor, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) express three of the four PGE2 receptor subtypes (EP2–4), although only EP2 and EP4 were active with respect to cytokine production. Using selective EP receptor antagonists and agonists, we demonstrate that PGE2 coordinates control of IL-23 release (a promoter of Th17, an autoimmune associated T cell subset) in a dose-dependent manner by differential use of EP2 and EP4 receptors in LPS-activated MoDCs. This is in contrast to IL-12, which is dose dependently inhibited by PGE2 through both receptor subtypes. Low concentrations (∼1–10 nM) of PGE2 promoted IL-23 production via EP4 receptors, while at higher (>50 nM), but still physiologically relevant concentrations, IL-23 is suppressed by an EP2 dependent mechanism. These results can be explained by differential regulation of the common subunit, IL-12p40, and IL-23p19, by EP2 and EP4. By these means, PGE2 can act as a regulatory switch of immune responses depending on its concentration in the microenvironment. In addition, we believe these results may also explain why seemingly conflicting biological functions assigned to PGE2 have been reported in the literature, as the concentration of ligand (PGE2) fundamentally alters the nature of the response. This finding also highlights the potential of designing therapeutics which differentially target these receptors.

Yes / The association of the arene ruthenium metallacycle [Ru4(p-cymene)4(bpe)2(donq)2][DOS]4 (bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene, donq = 5,8-dioxydo-1,4-naphtoquinonato, DOS = dodecyl sulfate) with pyrenyl-functionalized poly(arylester) dendrimers bearing cyanobiphenyl end-groups is reported. The supramolecular dendritic systems display mesomorphic properties as revealed by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements. The multicomponent nature of the dendrimers and of the corresponding host–guest supramolecules (i.e., end-group mesogens, dendritic core, pyrene unit, aliphatic spacers, and metallacycle) leads to the formation of highly segregated mesophases with a complex multilayered structure due to the tendency of the various constitutive building-blocks to separate in different organized zones. The pyrenyl dendrimers exhibit a multilayered smectic A-like phase, thereafter referred to as LamSmA phase to emphasize this unaccustomed morphology. As for the corresponding Ru4–metallacycle adducts, they self-organize into a multicontinuous thermotropic cubic phase with the Im3̅m space group symmetry. This represents a unique example of liquid-crystalline behavior observed for such large and complex supramolecular host–guest assemblies. Models of their supramolecular organizations within both mesophases are proposed. / R.D. thanks the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No 200020-140298) for financial support.

Exposure to spores and hyphae of Alternaria alternata, an airborne ubiquitous fungus, is clinically associated with allergic airway disorders including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and chronic rhinosinusitis. Dendritic cells are known as the type of antigen presenting cells most often associated with allergic inflammation. In this study, we used mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) as a model to study the ability of A. alternata spores and different components of the spore cell wall to stimulate innate immune responses. We found that BMDCs were highly sensitive to A. alternata spores, chitin and the major allergen Alt a 1. Following stimulation with these molecules, the expression of MHC II and other co-stimulators, like CD40, CD86, and OX40L, were highly up regulated. In order to determine how different cell wall components affect the T cells, we conducted co-culture experiments of BMDCs and lymphocytes in this study. Both spores and Alt a1 did not induce IL-4 in mixed lymphocytes reactions. Interestingly, we found that Alt a 1 induced the switching of the CD4+ T cell population to the Th17 type, with a major increase in IL-17A secretion. This study reveals that A. alternata components may balance the innate immune responses between Th2 and Th17 pathways, and/or contributes to the development and exacerbation of more serve neutrophilic forms of asthma. / Master of Science / Alternaria alternata, is an airborne ubiquitous fungus, which is associated with allergic airway disorders including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and chronic rhinosinusitis. While dendritic cells, which are known as the classical antigen presenting cells, play an important function in antigen recognition at the early stage of immune response and then pass the signal to other immune cells. In this study, we used mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) as a model to study the ability of A. alternata spores and different components of the spore cell wall to stimulate innate immune responses. As the results in this study, we found that BMDCs were highly sensitive to A. alternata spores and their cell wall components. Following stimulation with these molecules, the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and other co-stimulators, were highly up regulated. In order to determine how different cell wall components affect other immune cells through BMDCs, we conducted co-culture experiments of BMDCs and different T cells population in this study. Both spores and cell wall component did not induce IL-4, a featured Th2 cytokine, in those co-culture studies. Interestingly, we found that cell wall component induced the switching of the T helper cell population to the Th17 type. This study reveals that A. alternata components may balance the innate immune responses between Th2 and Th17 pathways.

Norovirus and rotavirus are the most common viral causes of acute gastroenteritis among all age groups and in children under 5 years of age, respectively. Understanding the pathogenesis of the virus and correlates of protective immunity is fundamental to developing effective prevention and treatment strategies. Gnotobiotic (Gn) pigs are an attractive animal model for studying enteric viruses due to their similarities to humans, particularly in regards to the immune system and gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology. Here, to establish a reliable Gn pig model of human norovirus (HuNoV) infection and disease, we determined the median infectious dose (ID50) of a GII.4 2006b variant in pigs. We also evaluated the effects of age and administration of the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin on susceptibility to NoV infection. In neonatal pigs (4-5 days of age, the ID50 was determined to be 2.74 x 103 viral RNA copies. The ID50 was increased in 33-34 day old pigs (6.43 x 104), but decreased to <2.74 x 103 following simvastatin treatment in the same age group. Overall, the development of diarrhea, fecal virus shedding and small intestinal cytopathological changes confirmed the usefulness of the Gn pig as an appropriate animal model for studying HuNoVs. We also utilized the well-established Gn pig model of human rotavirus (HRV) infection and disease to evaluate adjunctive treatment options for HRV-induced diarrhea. We demonstrated that the anti-secretory drug racecadotril was capable of diminishing clinical signs of HRV infection and shortening duration of illness. Reduced dehydration in the racecadotril-treated pigs was evident by the significant gain in body weight compared to controls during the course of the study. We also determined that a high dose of the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (LA) was able to reduce RV diarrhea severity and duration compared to a low dose. The difference in therapeutic potential was attributed to divergent effects in innate immunity pre- and post-challenge. High dose of LA (HiLA) induced an anti-inflammatory dendritic cell (DC) profile, characterized primarily by upregulation of TLR2 expression and production of cytokine IL-10. Conversely, low dose of LA (LoLA) upregulated TLR3 and TLR9 and increased secretion of cytokine IL-6. Additionally, HiLA induced both IFN-alpha and TNF-alpha responses in DCs, but LoLA was only able to increase the frequency of TNF-alpha-producing DCs. These results provide further support of Gn pigs as a highly applicable animal model for studying pathogenesis, innate immunity and therapeutics of human enteric viruses. / Ph. D. / Norovirus and rotavirus are the most common viral causes of acute gastroenteritis among all age groups and in children under 5 years of age, respectively. Understanding the pathogenesis of the virus and correlates of protective immunity is fundamental to developing effective prevention and treatment strategies. Gnotobiotic (Gn) pigs are an attractive animal model for studying enteric viruses due to their similarities to humans, particularly in regards to the immune system and gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology. Here, we established a reliable Gn pig model of human norovirus (HuNoV) infection and disease. Overall, the development of diarrhea, fecal virus shedding and small intestinal cytopathological changes confirmed the usefulness of the Gn pig as an appropriate animal model for studying HuNoVs. We also utilized the well-established Gn pig model of human rotavirus (HRV) infection and disease to evaluate adjunctive treatment options for HRV-induced diarrhea. We demonstrated that the anti-secretory drug racecadotril was capable of diminishing clinical signs of HRV infection and shortening duration of illness. We also determined that a high dose of the probiotic <i>Lactobacillus acidophilus</i> NCFM (LA) was able to reduce RV diarrhea severity and duration compared to a low dose. These results provide further support of Gn pigs as a highly applicable animal model for studying pathogenesis, innate immunity and therapeutics of human enteric viruses.

Dendritic cells (DC) play a key role in immunity and represent a great target for modulation, because of their ability to prime T cells and direct their polarisation into effector subsets. Ticks release immunomodulatory compounds in their saliva, possibly in order to evade host immune responses during feeding. We have recently reported that Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks produce ‘Japanin’, a secretory lipocalin that arrests differentiation of monocytes into DC and reprogrammes maturation of DC in response to various stimuli towards a tolerogenic phenotype . Japanin was cloned and recombinantly expressed in a baculovirus system for subsequent immunological and biochemical analysis. This study was set out to further investigate the immunomodulatory activity of Japanin as well as the underlying mechanism of action. We have discovered that Japanin prevents DC-mediated proliferation and polarisation of allogeneic T cells. Experiments with labelled Japanin have demonstrated that it binds predominantly to ex vivo generated human monocyte-derived DC (moDC) and to a reduced degree to monocyte and DC populations in peripheral blood, yet to no other blood leucocytes. We have identified CD206, also known as the mannose receptor, as a Japanin-binding receptor on moDC. This identification has been achieved by crosslinking and subsequent pull-down of Japanin-receptor complexes from moDC. Affinity studies with recombinant CD206 constructs have confirmed the binding to Japanin. Moreover, the binding has been verified by specific siRNA knock-down of CD206 in moDC, which resulted in significantly decreased binding of Japanin. Unexpectedly, CD206 has appeared to be dispensable for at least most of the DC-modulatory activity of Japanin. Therefore, attempts were made to determine other factors in the mode of action of Japanin, through which we have found that IL-10 is not essentially involved. Further results have suggested that the activity of Japanin demands cell contact. Collectively, we have come to the conclusion that the mechanism of action of Japanin might require internalisation by DC, potentially enabling modulation of intracellular pathways involved in the regulation of DC maturation.

Aus hämatopoetischen Stammzellen (HSCs) können sich neben allen anderen Zellen des Immunsystems auch dendritische Zellen (DCs) entwickeln. DCs spielen eine zentrale Rolle sowohl bei der Induktion von Immunantworten als auch bei der Aufrechterhaltung peripherer Toleranz. Eine Beeinflussung von DCs zur therapeutischen Nutzung wäre wünschenswert, erfordert aber ein noch tieferes Verständnis über deren Entwicklung im humanen Organismus. Das erste Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Charakterisierung potentieller DC-Vorläuferzellen in humanen lymphatischen Geweben. In Immunfluoreszenzaufnahmen von Thymus, Milz und Tonsillen mit Stammzell-charakterisierenden Markern konnten sowohl die in der Literatur als „Hämatopoetisches Stammzellkompartiment“ beschriebene Zellpopulation als auch weitere Zwischenstufen der Entwicklungsreihe der HSCs detektiert werden. Als Nächstes wurde untersucht, ob die im Gewebe identifizierten CD34+ Zellen in der in vitro Kultur zu DCs differenziert werden konnten. Hierzu wurden zunächst Protokolle etabliert und weiterentwickelt, in denen CD34+ Stammzellen des Nabelschnurbluts zu DCs gereift wurden. In einem anschließenden Schritt wurde das Protokoll mit den besten Ausbeuten an DCs auf Thymuszellen angewendet. Somit gelang es, aus Thymusstammzellen eine DCSubpopulation zu generieren, die aufgrund ihrer Markerexpression den Langerhanszellen ähnelt. Auf ihnen konnten außer Langerin auch andere C-Typ Lektinrezeptoren (Clec9a, DCIR und CD205) detektiert werden. Diese Zellen sind daher interessante Ziele für Untersuchungen zur Antigenbeladung von DCs und deren Präsentation an das adaptive Immunsystem. Zur effektiven Antigenbeladung von DCs werden Antikörper gegen endozytotisch wirksame Oberflächenmoleküle benötigt. Für deren Produktion wurden im weiteren Verlauf der Arbeit His-tragende und Ig-Fusionsproteine von Clec9a, Langerin, Dectin-1 und Dectin-2 produziert, um diese zur Immunisierung und Antikörperproduktion einzusetzen. In Zukunft können diese Antikörper zur Charakterisierung verschiedenster DC-Subpopulationen und außerdem zur Antigenbeladung von DCs herangezogen werden.

Functional Dendritic Structures from Bile Acids: Supramolelcular Hosts, Light Harvesters and Drug Carriers Chapter 1. An Overview of Functional Dendrimers. Dendrimers are welldefined, hyperbranched macromolecules that are prepared by highly controlled iterative methodologies. The ability to modulate the size, molecular weight, chemical functionalities and the position and number of functional groups in dendrimers make them promising candidates for a wide variety of applications. In this chapter, three areas 1) hostguest chemistry 2) light harvesting and 3) drug delivery, where dendrimers are increasingly finding applications, are discussed with selected examples. Chapter 2. Hydroxyl Terminated Dendritic Oligomers from Bile Acids: Synthesis and Properties. Bile acids are excellent building blocks for dendritic construction because of their many interesting features. They are readily available, chiral, facial amphiphiles with complementary functionalities. Moreover, due to the large size of the bile acid units, a dendritic structure consisting of only a few such repeat units can have an extended structure with multiple functionalizable groups. (figure 1) The high reactivity of the chloroacetyl group has been exploited for the synthesis of bile acid based first and second-generation dendrons with glycolate linkers and multiple hydroxyl groups. The synthesis involves only a few steps and avoids the use of protecting groups for the terminal hydroxyl groups. The synthesis of a bile acid tetramer is shown here as an example (Figure 1). Carboxyl protected cholic acid was reacted with chloroacetylchloride to generate the trischloroacetylated derivative. This compound on reaction with excess of sodium cholate generated the tetramer with nine hydroxyl groups via displacement of the chlorides. In order to synthesize higher generation dendritic structures, perchloroacetylated firstgeneration dendrons were first synthesized. These were subsequently reacted with excess of sodium deoxcholate to generated secondgeneration dendrons with multiple hydroxyl groups (Figure 2). All the compounds were characterized by H NMR, C NMR, IR, ESIMS/MALDI-TOF, HPLC and elemental analysis(wherever possible) Figure 2. Structure of tridecamer. These dendritic structures with facially amphiphilic bile acid backbones on the periphery were able to solubilize cresol red, a hydrophilic dye, in a nonpolar solvent, thus exhibiting reverse micellar characteristics. Chapter 3. Multiple Naproxen Appended Bile Acid Dendrimers as Light Harvesters and Drug Carriers. Part I. Synthesis and Characterization. Using the same synthetic strategy as in Chapter 2, bile acid based dendritic structures appended with multiple bioactive (S)naproxens were generated as potential drug carriers. The construction of these dendrimers was accomplished using per(chloroacetylated) bile acid dendrons and conveniently displacing all the chlorides with naproxen units. Since naproxen is photoactive with a high fluorescence quantum Figure 3. Structures of secondgeneration dendrimers and a monomer with multiple naproxens. yield, the photophysical properties of these multichromophoric dendrimers could be further explored (Figure 3). By functionalizing the carboxyl group on the side chain with an anthracenyl moiety the energy transfer properties of these dendrimers could be studied. In this section the synthesis of first and secondgeneration dendritic structures with multiple naproxen units at the periphery and benzyl/anthracenyl moiety on the side chain are described (Figure 3). Model compounds using monomeric bile acid units were synthesized for comparison with the dendritic structures. All the compounds were characterized by H NMR, C NMR, IR, ESIMS/MALDITOF, HPLC and elemental analysis (wherever possible). Part II: Absorption, Fluorescence and Intramolelcular Energy Tranfer Studies. Absorption studies showed that the molar extinction coefficients increase linearly with increasing number of naproxen units and the absorption spectra of anthracenyl moiety remain unchanged in all the dendritic systems. These indicated the absence of ground state interaction between the chromophores. In the 275-290 nm absorption region, the molar extinction coefficient of naproxen is much greater than that of the 9-anthracenylmethyl chromophore. Hence excitation in this region would mainly excite the naphthalene chromophore. Upon excitation at 275 nm, there was predominant emission from the anthracenyl moiety in the dendritic structures (containing both chromophores) and the fluorescence intensity increased with increasing number of naproxens(Figure4). This indicated that the dendrimers act as efficient light harvesters with energy transfer from naproxen to anthracene (intramolecular nature of the energy transfer was confirmed through control experiments). (Figure 4: Refer PDF File) The fluorescence and energy-transfer properties were further investigated by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The presence of fast decay component(s) in the naproxen decay in dendritic structures (containing both chromophores) indicates that its fluorescence is quenched in the presence of anthracene due to energy transfer ((λex 275 nm, λem 350 nm (Figure 5). This was further confirmed by monitoring the fluorescence of the sensitized anthracenyl chromophore (λex 275 nm, λem 436 nm) which exhibited a fast rise comparable to he quenched naproxen lifetime(s). The efficiency of energy transfer was estimated by donor quenching by both steadystate and timeresolved techniques. The dendritic structures exhibited high energy transfer efficiencies (~ 70 – 90 %) with the net efficiency decreasing from the first to second-generation. Part III. In vitro Study of Hydrolysis of Naproxen Appended Bile Acid Prodrugs by Chemical and Enzymatic Methods. The naproxen appended bile acid dendrimers consist of hydrolyzable ester and glycolate linkers. Hence the chemical stability and enzymatic degradation with possible release of naproxen was studied. Two compounds, monomer appended with two naproxens and trimer with four naproxens have been used for the initial investigations (Figure 6). The compounds were found to be highly stable towards chemical hydrolysis and did not show any hydrolysis in phosphate buffer, pH = 7.4 even after 7 days. Since the compounds were not soluble in water, Arabic gum and TritonX were used for emulsification. Figure 6. Structures of monomer and trimer. (Refer PDF File) The enzymatic hydrolysis of the compounds was then studied using Candida Rugosa Lipase. In both cases, there was slow hydrolysis of the substrate and intermediates were formed (with release of free naproxen) which were detected by HPLC (reverse phase column with a UV detector). The trimer underwent much slower hydrolysis compared to the monomer. The intermediates were characterized by absorption and mass (ESIMSQTOF) spectrometry.

Dendritic cells (DCs), a hematopoietic cell type belonging to the sub-group of cells called antigen presenting cells (APCs), inhabit a central role in innate and adaptive immunity. Although the DC family is very heterogeneous, all members share unique features. Most importantly, DCs can stimulate an immune response. This is due to the cells’ ability to capture and process antigens and to maturate in the presence of danger signals presented by pathogens. Maturation in turn results in the migration of DCs from the tissue they reside in to the draining lymph nodes, as well as in the subsequent presentation of the acquired antigens to T cells. In the skin, which is one of the most immunogeneic organs, DCs are present in sizable numbers in both the epidermis and the dermis. This study focused on two types of DCs: epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) and dermal DCs (DDCs). While much is understood about LCs, far less is known about the role that DDCs play in skin immunity. Therefore one purpose of this study was to characterize DDCs and to compare their phenotype and functions to that of LCs. This study used two different methods to characterize human skin resident immune cells with regard to their number and distribution. First, a stable analytical immunohistochemistry-based method was developed and applied to a substantial number of healthy skin donors. This enabled a quantitative analysis of skin DC types and skin resident T cells at different anatomical locations in situ. A novel method to count dermal cell populations in situ was developed that resulted in the first published quantification of APCs, DDCs, as well as T cells in human dermis. Second, the traditional form of the emigration assay, which selectively enriches vital cells capable of ex vivo emigration from the skin, was upgraded toward a stable analytical method to separate epidermal LCs from DDCs. In this way, both skin DC types became accessible in sufficient numbers to allow for a comparison of phenotypes and functions in vitro. The resulting phenotypic observations clearly showed that both, LCs and DDCs are not fully mature after their emigration ex vivo and that both can be transformed into a phenotypically more mature state by treating them with inflammatory cytokines. What’s more, LCs are also functionally in an immature state after their emigration. They efficiently took up antigen, showed a low capacity to trans-migrate in response to chemokines, and demonstrated a low capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells in a mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR). For the first time this study observed all these main APC functions not only for LCs but additionally for DDCs. As these observations were made in relation to LCs of the same donor, it could be concluded that DDCs are functionally more mature than LCs after emigration. DDCs showed a lower antigen uptake capacity than LCs but were superior in terms of their migratory and stimulatory capacity. However, treatment with cytokines could skew LC functions toward functional capacities observed for DDCs, i.e., it decreased LCs’ Ag uptake and increased their migratory and stimulatory capacity, whereas the cytokine treatment did not alter DDCs’ functional capacities. After improving immuno-histochemistry and the emigration assay using healthy skin samples, these newly developed techniques were implemented in clinical trials to observe the number, distribution and migratory capacity of skin DCs and T cells in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (aHSCT). Such a study is of importance because the turnover of DCs and T cells is closely associated with the occurrence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD), the major cause of morbidity and mortality after aHSCT. Due to the study design used, this study concisely demonstrate that at the onset of aGvHD, different DC types accumulate along with effector T cells in skin lesions of aGvHD but not in uninvolved skin of the same patient. These results suggest that in addition to donor T cells LCs and DDCs play a role during the early phase of cutaneous aGvHD directly within the site of inflammation. The view of many authors that DC depletion in the transplant recipient, especially in target organs, is a promising approach for aGvHD prophylaxis and therapy is further underscored by these results. One targeting strategy to inhibit GvHD by eliminating recipient DCs may be the use of DC specific monoclonal antibodies. Alemtuzumab (anti-CD52) is a monoclonal antibody and has proven effective in preventing aGvHD after aHSCT. It may, despite depleting donor T cells, also work by targeting recipient DCs. To determine whether the last mechanism of action is significant, a second clinical study investigated the effects of intravenous alemtuzumab on DCs by comparing the number of these cells in skin and blood of patients before and after a 4-week course of alemtuzumab treatment. The result was that although skin DCs weakly express the target antigen CD52 the number of these cells was not consistently reduced by alemtuzumab. In contrast, circulating blood DCs have a stronger CD52 expression and were significantly reduced by the treatment. In conclusion, this work provides new insights into the phenotypical and functional characteristics of human skin DCs, as well as into the fate of these cell types during aHSCT. The investigation of the APC system during aGvHD as carried out here will help to understand the process of aGvHD in more detail. All these efforts may hopefully support the development of new approaches for therapy and prevention of this major limitation of aHSCT and may help to improve this only curative therapy for several life-threatening diseases.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on April 1, 2010). Vita. Thesis advisor: Habib Zaghouani. "May 2008" Includes bibliographical references.