A capacidade dos vírus em inibir a resposta imune inata é uma condição que os permite manterem-se na natureza. O vírus parainfluenza 5 (PIV5), por exemplo, expressa a proteína V, a qual é descrita como uma inibidora da sinalização de interferon (IFN), assim antagonizando seu efeito antiviral. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar os efeitos do bloqueio do receptor de IFN-I no crescimento de herpesvírus bovino tipos 1 (BoHV-1) e 5 (BoHV-5) in vitro e elucidar as relações entre a replicação viral e a resposta de IFN-I pela célula infectada. Para isso, foi modificada uma linhagem celular de bovinos (CRIB) que expressa de forma permanente a proteína V do PIV5. Esta linhagem celular foi denominada CRIB/V. Foram, então, realizados ensaios de penetração, tamanhos de placas virais e curvas de crescimento usando as amostras de BoHV-1 e BoHV-5 em células CRIB e CRIB/V. A análise com BoHV-1 não mostrou diferenças significativas nas cinéticas de penetração e crescimento. Entretanto os tamanhos de placa foram maiores em CRIB/V do que em CRIB. Para o BoHV-5, a penetração foi um pouco mais rápida em CRIB/V. Mesmo que os títulos finais não tenham sido diferentes nas duas células, o BoHV-5 alcançou títulos mais altos em CRIB/V do que em CRIB em períodos iniciais da curva de crescimento em CRIB/V em comparação a CRIB. Além disso, a média do tamanho de placa para BoHV-5 foi maior em CRIB/V do que nas células CRIB. Diferentemente das observações com BoHV-1, nossos resultados sugerem que o bloqueio do receptor de IFN-I pela proteína V facilitou a penetração, liberação e disseminação célula-célula do BoHV-5 nas células bovinas, suprimindo uma resposta antiviral, pelo menos, durante os estágios iniciais da infecção. / The ability of viruses to inhibit innate immune responses dictates a possibility to maintain in nature. For instance, Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) expresses the V protein, which is described to inhibit type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling , then, antagonizing its antiviral effects. The aim of this work was to study the effect of blocking the IFN-I receptor signaling by this V protein on the growth properties of bovine herpesviruses types 1 (BoHV-1) and 5 (BoHV-5) in vitro. A plasmid expressing the V protein of PIV5 was transfected into CRIB cells. We performed penetration kinetics, measured viral plaque sizes and determined one step growth curves using BoHV-1 and BoHV-5 strains in both CRIB and CRIB/V cells. The analysis on BoHV-1 showed no significant difference in penetration and growth kinetics. However the BoHV-5 viral plaques were bigger in CRIB/V than CRIB. The penetration of BoHV-5 in CRIB/V cells was slightly faster than in CRIB cells. Even though the final titers did not differ in both cells, BoHV-5 reached higher titers in CRIB/V than in CRIB at earlier time points of its growth. Moreover, the mean plaque size caused by BoHV-5 in CRIB/V cells was spectacularly bigger in CRIB/V than in CRIB cells. Unlike the observations with BoHV-1, our results suggest that blocking the signaling via the IFN-I receptor by the V protein facilitated penetration, release and cell-to-cell spread of BoHV-5 in bovine cells, counteracting an antiviral response, at least, during the early stages of infection.

Orientadores: Iscia Teresinha Lopes-Cendes, Rovilson Gilioli / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T01:47:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Grippo_MariangelaCarnivalli_D.pdf: 1241429 bytes, checksum: 5f05623ad1e884a0014d2eca9109fb9a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: A interferência do RNA (RNAi) pode ser usada como uma ferramenta eficaz no silenciamento gênico específico mediado por moléculas de dupla fita de RNA (dsRNAs). Nesse contexto possui uma variedade de aplicações biológicas, incluindo o combate a patógenos infecciosos de importância biomédica. O objetivo do estudo foi determinar a eficiência e a especificidade da técnica de RNAi em eliminar o vírus da hepatite murina tipo 3 (MIN-3) in vitro. MHVs são vírus envelopados, cujo genoma é formado por uma cadeia de RNA fita simples (+) pertecentes a família Coronaviridae. Seu genoma codifica quatro proteínas estruturais: S (proteína da espícula); M (glicoproteína da transmembrana), N (proteína do nucleocapsídeo) e E (proteína associada à membrana) . Neste trabalho foi escolhido como alvo para o silenciamento gênico a proteína N, tendo sido produzidas moléculas de dsRNA complementares a sua seqüência genômica (GenBank AF 201929). Foram obtidas duas moléculas siRNAs transcritas por T7 RNA polimerase e uma terceira molécula interferente sintetizada comercialmente. Foi observado que os siRNAs produzidos pela transcrição in vitro, induziram uma resposta antiviral não específica. Além disso demonstrou-se que este efeito foi mediado através de substâncias secretadas no meio de cultura celular, provavelmente interferons (IFNs). Este efeito foi eficientemente eliminado após tratamento dos siRNAs com fosfatase alcalina. Observou-se também que a técnica de RNAi in vitro, tendo como alvo a proteína N de MHV-3, foi um tratamento eficaz e específico na infecção viral, confirmados através de estudos fenotípicos e moleculares. Desse modo, concluímos que experiências que utilizam RNAi contra alvos virais devem ser cuidadosamente monitoradas devido aos efeitos não específicos que podem ser induzidos por moléculas de dsRNA / Abstract: RNA Interference (RNAi) can be used as a powerful tool for post transcriptional gene-silencing mediated by double stranded RNA (dsRNAs) molecules. RNAi has a variety of biological applications including the combat against pathogens of biomedical importance. The objective of our study was to determine the efficiency and specificity of this new technique in eliminating mouse hepatitis virus type 3 (MIN-3) in vitro. MIN-3 is a subtype of enveloped viroses with a large plus-stranded RNA genome belonging to the Coronavirus family. Its genome codifies four structural proteins: S (spike protein); M (membrane protein); E (transmembrane glycoprotein); N (nucleocapsid protein). In the present study we target protein N by designing and producing dsRNA molecules complementary to its genomic sequence (GenBank AF 201929). We obtained three small interfering RNAs (siRNA) by in house T7 polymerase in vitro transcription and a fourth siRNA molecule that was commercially synthetized. We identified that siRNAs produced by in vitro transcription triggered a potent and sequence-unspecificied antiviral response. In addition, we demonstrated that this antiviral effect was mediated through molecules that were secreted in medium culture, probably interferons (IFNs). This unspecific effect was efficient1y suppressed when siRNAs were treated with aIkaline phosphatase prior to in vitro experiments. We also observed that RNAi targeting the N protein ofMIN-3 was a potent and specific treatment against in vitro infection, showing significant phenotypic protection and molecular evidence of specific gene-silencing. We concluded that experiments using RNAi against viral targets, although efficient, must be carefully controlled and monitored against possible sequence-unspecific effects triggered by dsRNA molecules / Doutorado / Genetica Animal e Evolução / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular

A produção noturna de melatonina pela glândula pineal é fundamental no controle do sistema oscilatório endógeno de mamíferos. Sua síntese é iniciada pela ativação de receptores adrenérgicos em resposta à liberação noturna de noradrenalina (NA) por terminais simpáticos. A ativação adrenérgica induz, em roedores, a transcrição do gene e a ativação da enzima arilalquil-N-acetiltransferase (AA-NAT) que converte a serotonina em N-acetilserotonina (NAS). A NAS é então convertida em melatonina pela ação da enzima hidroxiindol-O-metiltransferase (HIOMT). Além das funções cronobiológicas, a pineal apresenta comunicação bidirecional com o sistema imunológico, descrita pelo conceito do eixo imune-pineal. Nosso grupo de pesquisa tem demonstrado que mediadores imunológicos, como o lipopolissacarídeo (LPS) de bactérias gram-negativas e o fator de necrose tumoral (TNF), inibem a síntese de melatonina pela pineal por um mecanismo dependente da ativação do fator nuclear de transcrição kappa B (NF-κB). Por outro lado, fatores que inibem esta via (glicocorticoides) aumentam a produção de melatonina pela glândula pineal. Outros mediadores imunológicos que sinalizam por vias distintas à do NF-κB também são capazes de atingir e modular a produção de melatonina. A citocina inteferon-gama (IFN-γ) classicamente sinaliza pela via do STAT1 (do inglês Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription) e é capaz de aumentar a produção de melatonina em pineais. Contudo, não existem relatos do papel desta via de sinalização sobre a síntese hormonal da glândula pineal. Sabendo-se que o IFN-γ também é capaz de sinalizar pela ativação do NF-κB, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi caracterizar e avaliar o papel destas duas vias de sinalização ativadas pelo IFN-γ sobre as produções de NAS e melatonina, induzidas por NA, em pineais em cultura. Nossos dados mostram que o aumento da síntese de NAS e melatonina induzida pelo IFN-γ está associado ao aumento da expressão dos genes Aanat e Hiomt. A incubação das glândulas com IFN-γ aumenta a translocação nuclear de STAT1 e de dímeros de NF-κB ativadores da transcrição gênica. Além disso, a incubação de pineais com IFN-γ aumenta a transcrição de 27 genes relacionados com a via das STATs. IFN-γ tende a aumentar a ligação da STAT1 com uma região do promotor do gene Aanat e a utilização de uma droga que potencia a ativação da STAT1 também aumenta a produção de NAS e melatonina. Por fim, o bloqueio da via do NF-κB inibe o aumento na produção de NAS e melatonina e da expressão de Aanat e Hiomt induzido pelo IFN-γ. Nossos dados demonstram, pela primeira vez, a importância da via da STAT1 em associação com a via NF-κB sobre a produção hormonal da glândula pineal / The nocturnal production of melatonin by the pineal gland is crucial in the control of the mammalian endogenous oscillatory system. Melatonin synthesis is initiated by the activation of adrenergic receptors in response to nocturnal release of noradrenaline (NA) by sympathetic terminals. The adrenergic activation induces, in rodents, gene transcription and activation of the arylalkyl-N-acetyltransferase enzyme (AA-NAT) that converts serotonin into N-acetilserotonin (NAS). NAS is then converted to melatonin by the action of the enzyme hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT). In addition to the chronobiological functions, the pineal has a bidirectional communication with the immune system as described by the concept of the immune-pineal axis. Our research group has demonstrated that immunological mediators as the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of gram-negative bacteria and the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibit the synthesis of melatonin by the pineal in a mechanism dependent on the activation of the nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-κB). Moreover, factors that inhibit NF-κB pathway (glucocorticoids) increase the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Other immunological mediators that signalize by distinct signaling pathways are also able to target and modulate the melatonin production. The cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) classically signals trough STAT1 (Signal transducer and Activator of Transcription) and is able to increase the production of melatonin by the pineal. However, there are no reports of the role of STAT1 pathway on the hormonal synthesis of the pineal gland. Considering that IFN-γ is also able to signalize through NF-κB, the aim of this study was to characterize and evaluate the role of these two signaling pathways activated by IFN-γ on the production of NAS and melatonin induced by NA in cultured pineals. Our data show that the increase in NAS and melatonin synthesis induced by IFN-γ is associated with increased expression of the genes Aanat and Hiomt. Incubation of the glands with IFN-γ increases the nuclear translocation of STAT1 and of p50:RelA NF-κB dimers. In addition, pineal incubation with IFN-γ increases the transcription of 27 related to STAT pathway. IFN-γ tends to increase the binding of STAT1 to a promoter region and the Aanat gene and the use of a STAT1-enhancer also increased the production of NAS and melatonin. Finally, the blockade of NF-κB pathway inhibits the increase in melatonin and NAS productions and also of Aanat and Hiomt genes expression induced by IFN-γ. Our data demonstrate, for the first time, the importance of the STAT1 pathway in association with NF-κB pathway on the hormonal production of the pineal gland

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T23:13:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1463_1.pdf: 1455591 bytes, checksum: bf2a747cb7a90cbe76baa0eee15dd9df (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Introdução O diagnóstico da alergia à proteína do leite de vaca através de sintomas é bastante falível, representa mais ou menos a metade dos casos suspeitos. A produção e as concentrações do Interferon-&#947; e Interleucina-4 têm sido estudadas como sinalizadores das reações inflamatórias na alergia à proteína do leite de vaca em atividade e na tolerância oral com ações contrarreguladoras. Objetivos. 1- Determinar a frequência de alergia em crianças com sintomas de intolerância ao leite de vaca. 2 - Determinar as concentrações séricas do interferon-gama e da interleucina-4 em crianças com sintomas suspeitos de alergia à proteína do leite de vaca. Método. Foram estudada 65 crianças (2-84 meses), com intolerância ao leite de vaca, foram estudadas. Informações da história clínica, níveis e IgE total e específicas, Interferon-&#947;, Interleucina-4 e teste do desencadeamento alimentar oral, realizado para determinação das crianças com e sem alergia à proteína do leite de vaca foram registrados em formulário estruturado.Os sintomas entre os dois grupos foram analisados. As idades e citocinas foram sumarizadas como medianas e comparadas pelo teste de Mann-Whitney. As diferenças entre as variáveis categóricas foram determinadas pelo teste qui-quadrado. Os testes estatísticos foram considerados significantes com p< 0,05. Resultados. A mediana de idade foi 5 meses (P25=2- P75=9 meses) no grupo caso e 7 meses (P25=4-P75=11 meses) no grupo comparação (p=0,05). O teste de desencadeamento alimentar oral não confirmou alergia à proteína do leite de vaca em 46,8% dos pacientes com sintomas atribuídos à ingestão de leite de vaca. Reação tardia ocorreu em 77,1% (27/35) dos casos com teste positivo, sendo 18/27 na primeira, 3/27 na segunda e 6/27 na terceira semana de observação. Encontrou-se associação estatística significante entre manifestações cutâneas e teste positivo (p=0,04), mas não com sintomas digestivos e respiratórios. Nas crianças acima de seis meses de idade, o nível de Interleucina-4 foi 3,49 (0,32-36,40pg/mL) e, nas abaixo de seis meses, 2,14pg/mL(0,33-8,12pg./mL), p = 0, 006. As concentrações de Interferon-&#947; foram de 115,96 pg/mL (69,27-150,60 pg./mL) nos pacientes com alergia e 97,88 pg/mL (75,30-174,69 pg/mL) nos sem alergia (p=0,86). A idade maior de 6 meses foi fator contribuinte para o aumento de Interleucina-4 e explicou 7% da sua variação (r2 ajustado = 0,07; p < 0,05), mas não contribuiu para o aumento de Interferon-&#947;. Conclusões: o diagnóstico da alergia à proteína do leite de vaca, baseado apenas em sintomas, é bastante falível. O estudo corrobora a necessidade do teste de desencadeamento alimentar oral para o diagnóstico da alergia à proteína do leite de vaca em crianças As concentrações de Iinterleucina-4 e Interferon-&#947; no sangue periférico, não diferiram entre os pacientes com e sem alergia. Descritores Hipersensibilidade a leite, lactente, pré-escolar, sinais, sintomas, Interferon-&#947;, Interleucina-4

Flaviviruses are important emerging and re-emerging arthropod-borne pathogens that cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans. It consists of globally distributed human pathogens such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), yellow fever virus (YFV), dengue virus (DENV), and Zika virus (ZIKV). Depending on type, flaviviruses can cause a variety of symptoms ranging from haemorrhage to neurological disorders. Virus infection is detected by host pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), and through downstream signalling it leads to the production of interferons (IFNs). These IFNs then act in an autocrine or paracrine manner on the cells to induce various IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), which have antiviral roles. However, the amount of IFN produced depends on the nature of the PRRs used by host cells to detect a particular virus. Although there are many PRRs present in the host cells, their relative contribution in different cell types and against a specific virus may vary. In the first study, we determined the importance of IPS-1 signalling in immunity and pathogenicity of tick-borne flaviviruses. This is an adaptor protein for cytoplasmic RIG-I-like receptors. Using IPS-1-deficient mice, we showed its importance against TBEV and Langat virus (LGTV) infection (the LGTV model virus belongs to the TBEV serogroup). Absence of IPS-1 leads to uncontrolled virus replication in the central nervous system (CNS), but it has only a minor role in shaping the humoral immune response at the periphery. LGTV-infected IPS-1-deficient mice showed apoptosis, activation of microglia and astrocytes, an elevated proinflammatory response, and recruitment of immune cells to the CNS. Interestingly, we also found that IFN-b upregulation after viral infection was dependent on IPS-1 in the olfactory bulb of the brain.  Thus, our results suggest that local immune microenvironment of distinct brain regions is critical for determination of virus permissiveness. Interferons can upregulate several ISGs. Viperin is one such ISG that has a broad-spectrum antiviral action against many viruses. However, the importance of cell type and the significance of viperin in controlling many flavivirus infections in vivo is not known. Using viperin-deficient mice, we found that viperin was necessary for restriction of LGTV replication in the olfactory bulb and cerebrum, but not in the cerebellum. This finding was also confirmed with primary neurons derived from these brain regions. Furthermore, we could also show the particular importance of viperin in cortical neurons against TBEV, WNV, and ZIKV infection. The results suggested that a single ISG can shape the susceptibility and immune response to a flavivirus in different regions of the brain. Although viperin is such an important ISG against flaviviruses, the exact molecular mechanism of action is not known. To understand the mechanism, we performed co-immunoprecipitation screening to identify TBEV proteins that could interact with viperin. While viperin interacted with the prM, E, NS2A, NS2B, and NS3 proteins of TBEV, its interaction with NS3 led to its degradation through the proteosomal pathway. Furthermore, viperin could reduce the stability of other viperin-binding TBEV proteins in an NS3-dependent manner. We screened for viperin activity regarding interaction with NS3 proteins of other flaviviruses. Viperin interacted with NS3 of JEV, ZIKV, and YFV, but selectively degraded NS3 proteins of TBEV and ZIKV, and this activity correlated with its antiviral activity against these viruses. The last study was based on in vivo characterization of the newly isolated MucAr HB 171/11 strain of TBEV which caused unusual gastrointestinal and constitutional symptoms. This strain was compared with another strain, Torö-2003, of the same European subtype of TBEV but isolated from the different focus. Here we found unique differences in their neuroinvasiveness and neurovirulence, and in the immune response to these two strains. In summary, my work shed some light on the interplay between tick-borne flavivirus and the innate immune system. I have shown two examples of CNS region-specific differences in innate immune response regarding both in IFN induction pathways and antiviral effectors. Furthermore, we have investigated the in vivo pathogenesis of a strain of TBEV that caused unusual gastrointestinal and constitutional symptoms. / Flavivirus finns spridda över hela världen och orsakar miljontals infektioner varje år. Några av de medicinsk mest viktiga flavivirusen är fästingburen encefalit virus (TBEV), West Nile virus (WNV), Japansk encefalit virus (JEV), gula febern (YFV) och Zika virus (ZIKV). Dessa virus kan orsaka olika komplikationer till exempel blödarfeber och hjärninflammation. Vid en infektion så upptäcker värdcellen virusinfektionen med hjälp av speciella receptorer, så kallade PRRs. Dessa finns i alla celler och känner igen viruskomponenter som normalt inte finns i en oinfekterad cell. När PRRs detekterar en virusinfektion svarar cellen med att tillverka ett signal protein interferon (IFN). IFN skickas ut ur cellen och hämmar virusinfektioner genom att sätta igång ett försvarsprogram i andra celler bestående av hundratals försvarsproteiner som kan motverka virusinfektionen. Vilka PRRs som behövs för att detektera ett virus är olika vid olika virusinfektioner. I första studien fann vi att IPS-1 är av yttersta vikt för skydda mot fästingburna flavivirus. IPS-1 är ett så kallat adapter protein som behövs för att två PRRs, RIG-I och MDA-5, ska kunna förmedla signaler som leder till IFN tillverkning. Med hjälp av möss som saknar IPS-1 fann vi att IPS-1 behövs för att tillverka IFN protein och skydda mot fästingburna flavivirus. IPS-1 var särskilt viktigt för interferon produktion inom luktloben i hjärnan. Därför kunde vi dra slutsatsen att immunresponsen regleras olika inom olika delar av hjärnan. Ett försvarsprotein som visat sig vara särskilt viktig vid virusinfektion är viperin. Viperin har visat sig kunna hämma en rad olika virus men den specifika rollen av viperin in vivo vid flavivirus infektion var inte fullt känd. Vi fann att viperin behövs för att hämma LGTV i lukloben och storhjärnan men inte i lillhjärnan. Vi kunde bekräfta detta med hjälp av primära nervceller isolerade från dessa hjärnregioner. Vi fann även att viperin var av yttersta vikt för att kontrollera TBEV, WNV och ZIKV infektion i nervceller från hjärnbarken (del av storhjärnan). Därför kunde vi dra slutsatsen att ett enskilt försvarsprotein kan avgöra mottagligheten mot flavivirus inom olika hjärnregioner. Trots att viperin är så viktig för att skydda mot flavivirus så vet vi inte hur viperin åstadkommer detta. Därför ville vi undersöka hur viperin kan förmedla sin antivirala effekt. Vi fann att viperin kan binda till flera TBEV proteiner, men att viperin specifikt kan bryta ner ett virusprotein som heter NS3. NS3 är väldigt viktigt för att flavivirus ska kunna etablera en infektion och kunna föröka sig. Eftersom vi visste att viperin kan hämma andra flavivirus ville vi veta om viperin även förstör NS3 från JEV, ZIKV och YFV. Vi upptäckte att viperin kunde binda till NS3 hos alla dessa flavivirus men att viperin specifikt förstörde TBEV och ZIKV NS3, intressant nog så kunde viperin endast hämma dessa virus infektioner men inte JEV och YFV. I den sista studien ville vi karaktärisera en ny TBEV stam som bara orsakar magoch tarmbesvär men inga neurologiska symptom. TBEV har aldrig tidigare visat sig kunna orsaka detta och därför ville vi undersöka saken vidare. Vi fann att denna TBEV stam skiljde sig mot en närbesläktad stam genom att orsaka en starkare immunrespons men mildare sjukdomsförlopp. Sammanfattningsvis har jag undersökt samspelet mellan fästingburna flavivirus och det medfödda immunförsvaret. Jag har även visat att immunresponsen regleras olika inom olika hjärnregioner, både beträffande IFN inducering och antivirala proteiner. Vidare har jag hittat mekanismen för hur viperin proteinet hämmar TBEV och ZIKV, vilket var genom att förstöra NS3. Dessutom har jag karaktäriserat sjukdomsförloppet hos möss efter infektion med en ovanlig TBEV stam som orsakar mag och tarm besvär.

No description available.

Sterols play many important roles in physiology, including maintaining cell membrane integrity, and producing vitamin D and steroid hormones. Recent studies implicate sterol metabolism in the host innate immune response. Previous work, based on transcriptional profiling studies of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection of primary bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM, MΦ), uncovered a previously uncharacterized role of interferon in regulating the cholesterol pathway. Notably, Toll-like receptor (TLR) induced interferon modulates the suppression of SREBP2 (Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Protein 2) activation, the master transcription factor for sterol biosynthesis. This finding resulted in the downregulation of the sterol biosynthesis pathway. However, how interferon is molecularly linked to sterol metabolism, and what part of the pathway mediates the antiviral effect remains unknown. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that the antiviral effect of interferon is in part mediated by secondary sterol metabolites and the dependency of viral replication on the host mevalonate branch of the sterol biosynthesis pathway. To test this hypothesis, my studies have examined the components of the host sterol pathway and their respective roles in influencing viral replication. Paradigmatically, I used MCMV and BMDM to explore the host- metabolic-virus interactions. Specifically, my findings address the question of how MCMV replication depends on the sterol biosynthesis pathway, and how the pathway is modulated by interferon as an antiviral response. In Chapter 2, the importance of the sterol biosynthesis pathway for viral replication was investigated using a combination of gene silencing and pharmacological inhibitors. These studies demonstrated that resistance to viral infection through suppressing the cholesterol pathway is not due to a requirement of the virus for cholesterol itself, but instead involves the mevalonate-isoprenoid arm of the pathway. This branch of the pathway chemically links lipids to specific host proteins (protein prenylation). These results suggest a new role for the mevalonate arm during viral infection. In Chapter 3, I examined what part of the sterol pathway mediates the antiviral effects. Oxysterols are natural modulators of sterol biosynthesis, and are produced by the oxidation of cholesterol by the enzyme cholesterol hydroxylase. Oxysterol suppression of SREBP2 activation leads to transcriptional repression of the sterol biosynthesis pathway. Additionally, oxysterols also modulate cholesterol homeostasis through cholesterol efflux. My studies led to identifing cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (Ch25h) as an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG). CH25H oxidizes cholesterol to produce a soluble oxysterol metabolite, 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC). Treatment of cells with 25-HC resulted in antiviral effects against MCMV and MHV-68. 25-HC was found to have no effects on MCMV entry into the host cell, but rather mediated inhibition of viral gene transcription. In addition, 25-HC-specific antiviral effect partially involved the suppression of the isoprenoid pathway, rather than cholesterol efflux. This work uncovered a physiological role for 25-HC as a sterol-lipid effector of an innate immune pathway. The antiviral activity of 25-HC in a lipid replete condition was found to occur at a concentration higher than the concentration required to inhibit SREBP2 activation. This implies that the antiviral effects of 25-HC is independent of SREBP2 in sterol replete conditions. Conversely, the antiviral action of 25-HC was signifi enhanced in cells under sterol-depleted conditions, suggesting that the antiviral effect of 25- HC is likely mediated through multiple processes involving SREBP2 dependent and independent mechanisms. These sterol dependent and independent mechanisms are examined in Chapter 4, using pathway expression profiling and pharmacological synergy studies. These studies showed that 25-HC suppression of the isoprenoid synthetic pathway is crucial in controlling infection, but also highlighted that other 25-HC dependent antiviral mechanisms are likely to exist. The inhibition of the mevalonate-isoprenoid arm by statins and 25-HC clearly demonstrated that MCMV replication dependents on protein prenylation. Chapter 5 investigation showed that either chemical inhibition of geranylgeranylation of host proteins or limiting mevalonate production led to restriction of MCMV replication. Importantly, through a series of systematic loss of function siRNA screenings demonstrated that specific host RabGTPases mediating vesicular transport pathways play vital roles in the replication and the assembly of the virus. This finding provides new mechanistic insights in to the dependency of cytomegalovirus replication on the host cell trafficking pathways and lays the groundwork for further definition of this important aspect of host-viral interactions. In summary, the overall findings of this research support the original hypothesis, by highlighting the importance of the host mevalonate-isoprenoid pathway, and provide further definition of the mechanisms and components linking sterol metabolism with interferon mediated antiviral effect.

HIV infection represents a major health and socioeconomic challenge worldwide. Despite significant advances in therapy, a cure for HIV continues to be elusive. The design of novel curative strategies will require targeting and elimination of cells that constitute the latent HIV-1 reservoir. However, such an approach is impeded by the inability to distinguish latently HIV-infected cells from uninfected cells. The type-I interferon (IFN-I) response is an integral antiviral defense mechanism, but is impaired at multiple levels during productive HIV infection. Interestingly, similar global impairments in IFN-I signaling have been observed in various human cancers. This led to the development of IFN-sensitive oncolytic viruses, including the recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV 51) and Maraba virus (MG1), as virotherapy designed to treat various cancers. Based on this, it was hypothesized that IFN-I signaling is impaired in latently HIV-infected cells (as observed in productively infected cells) and that VSV 51 and MG1 may be able to exploit such intracellular defects to target and eliminate latently HIV-infected cells, while sparing healthy cells. First, using cell line models of HIV-1 latency, intracellular defects in IFN-I responses, including impaired IFN / production and expression of IFNAR1, MHC-I, ISG15, and PKR, were demonstrated to represent an important feature of latently HIV-infected cells. Consistent with this, the latently HIV-infected cell lines were observed to have a greater sensitivity to VSV 51 and MG1 infection, and MG1-mediated killing, than the HIV-uninfected parental cells. Next, the ability of oncolytic viruses to kill latently HIV-infected human primary cells was demonstrated using an in vitro resting CD4+ T cell model of latency. Interestingly, while both VSV 51 and MG1 infection resulted in a significant reduction in inducible p24 expression, a dose-dependent decrease in integrated HIV-1 DNA was only observed following MG1 infection. In keeping with this, MG1 infection of memory CD4+ T cells from HIV-1 infected individuals on HAART also resulted in a significant decrease in inducible HIV-1 gag RNA expression. By targeting an intracellular pathway that is impaired in latently HIV-infected cells, the findings presented in this dissertation highlight a novel, proof-of-concept approach to eliminate the latent HIV-1 reservoir. Given that VSV 51 and MG1 are currently being studied in cancer clinical trials, there is significant potential to translate this work to in vivo studies.

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a double helix formed by two antiparallel complementary RNA strands, is a unique structure with a variety of biological effects. dsRNA can be introduced into the cell from exogenous sources or it can be produced endogenously. There are four basic mechanisms producing dsRNA: inverted repeat transcription, convergent transcription, pairing of sense and antisense RNAs produced in trans, and RNA dependent RNA polymerase-mediated synthesis dsRNA. Different mechanisms of production determine additional structural features of dsRNA, such as dsRNA termini, mismatches etc. These features may affect cellular response to dsRNA. Recognition of dsRNA can trigger several responses that act in sequence-specific or sequence-independent manners. The main sequence- specific response triggered by dsRNA is RNA interference (RNAi) is. Our laboratory has been studying mechanism of induction of RNAi in mammalian cells using one specific type of long dsRNA expression system. The dsRNA used in these experiments formed hairpin structure with long 5' and 3' single-strand RNA overhangs. We hypothesized that other dsRNA substrates might be more efficient than the one used in mammalian RNAi experiments since 2002. Accordingly, the main aim of my thesis was to compare efficiency of different dsRNA...

Le virus influenza a (via) est responsable d'epidemies annuelles et de pandemies sporadiques. un element clef, impactant a la fois la replication du virus et les symptomes de l'hote, est la reponse immunitaire innee. le via perturbe les voies metaboliques des cellules infectees, notamment la macroautophagie. la macroautophagie, par la suite appelee simplement autophagie, est une voie du catabolisme cellulaire. l'autophagie est constitutive dans les cellules nucleees et participe au maintien de l'homeostasie cellulaire. en reponse a un stress cellulaire, l'autophagie peut etre stimulee. un grand nombre de virus perturbe l'autophagie, soit en la stimulant, soit en l'inhibant. le via induit l'autophagie mais inhibe sa phase finale, un mecanisme impliquant sa proteine de matrice 2 (m2). les impacts de cette perturbation de l'autophagie sur la replication virale et sur la reponse de la cellule hote sont encore peu compris. au cours de ma these, j'ai developpe des modeles cellulaires dans lesquels la capacite d'autophagie peut etre specifiquement restauree dans des lignees cellulaires autrement incapables d'autophagie. l'utilisation de ces modeles m'a permis de montrer que l'autophagie ne change ni l'infectiosite du virus ni si capacite de replication intracellulaire mais inhibe l'induction de l'interferon-β et des genes induits par celui-ci. j'ai mis en evidence que m2 n'inhibe la phase finale de l'autophagie que dans le cadre de l'infection et de l'activation de l'apoptose. une meilleure comprehension des perturbations de l'autophagie pourrait permettre de developper des molecules antivirales et de nouveau virus attenues induisant une plus forte reponse immunitaire. / Influenza a virus (iav) is responsible for yearly epidemics and sporadic pandemics. understanding the mechanism by which the inflammatory response is mounted and controlled is key to manage the disease. iav perturbs a variety of metabolic pathways including macroautophagy. macroautophagy, hereafter referred to as autophagy, is a catabolic pathway that is active in all nucleated cells. in stress condition, autophagic activity can be increased. a variety of viruses perturb autophagy. iav has been described to both induce autophagy and block its completion mainly through its matrix protein 2 (m2). however, the impact of such perturbation on viral replication and host cell response to infection is still unknown. i developed cellular models in which autophagy capacity can be specifically restored in cell lines that are otherwise autophagy-incompetent. using these models, i showed that autophagy does not impact iav infection and replication but inhibits interferon-β induction at early stages post infection, leading to dampened induction of interferon-stimulated genes. i showed that m2 does not prevent autophagy completion by itself but only in the context of iav in a caspase-activation dependent fashion. in summary, my thesis work, using these novel autophagy models, revealed that early autophagy induction post-iav infection inhibits ifn-β, leading to a global decrease in interferon stimulated gene expression. indeed, sustained autophagy perturbation through m2 may allow iav to limit the ifn-β response throughout its life cycle. preventing m2-mediated autophagy perturbation may allow us to develop new antiviral strategies as well as new live attenuated iav vaccines.