Blunting immunopathology without abolishing host defense is the foundation for safe and effective modulation of infectious and autoimmune diseases. Sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1) agonists are effective in treating infectious and multiple autoimmune pathologies; however, mechanisms underlying their clinical efficacy are yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we uncover an unexpected mechanism of convergence between S1PR1 and interferon alpha receptor 1 (IFNAR1) signaling pathways. Activation of S1PR1 signaling by pharmacological tools or endogenous ligand sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P) inhibits type 1 IFN responses that exacerbate numerous pathogenic conditions. Mechanistically, S1PR1 selectively suppresses the type I IFN autoamplification loop in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), a specialized DC subset, for robust type I IFN release. S1PR1 agonist suppression is pertussis toxin-resistant, but inhibited by an S1PR1 C-terminal–derived transactivating transcriptional activator (Tat)-fusion peptide that blocks receptor internalization. S1PR1 agonist treatment accelerates turnover of IFNAR1, suppresses signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) phosphorylation, and down-modulates total STAT1 levels, thereby inactivating the autoamplification loop. Inhibition of S1P-S1PR1 signaling in vivo using the selective antagonist Ex26 significantly elevates IFN-α production in response to CpG-A. Thus, multiple lines of evidence demonstrate that S1PR1 signaling sets the sensitivity of pDC amplification of IFN responses, thereby blunting pathogenic immune responses. These data illustrate a lipid G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-IFNAR1 regulatory loop that balances effective and detrimental immune responses and elevated endogenous S1PR1 signaling. This mechanism will likely be advantageous in individuals subject to a range of inflammatory conditions.

The outcome of a viral infection reflects the balance between virus virulence and host susceptibility. The clone 13 (Cl13) variant of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus—a prototype of Old World arenaviruses closely related to Lassa fever virus—elicits in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice abundant negative immunoregulatory molecules, associated with T-cell exhaustion, negligible T-cell–mediated injury, and high virus titers that persist. Conversely, here we report that in NZB mice, despite the efficient induction of immunoregulatory molecules and high viremia, Cl13 generated a robust cytotoxic T-cell response, resulting in thrombocytopenia, pulmonary endothelial cell loss, vascular leakage, and death within 6–8 d. These pathogenic events required type I IFN (IFN-I) signaling on nonhematopoietic cells and were completely abrogated by IFN-I receptor blockade. Thus, IFN-I may play a prominent role in hemorrhagic fevers and other acute virus infections associated with severe vascular pathology, and targeting IFN-I or downstream effector molecules may be an effective therapeutic approach.

During pathogenic influenza virus infection, robust cytokine production (cytokine storm), excessive inflammatory infiltrates, and virus-induced tissue destruction all contribute to morbidity and mortality. Earlier we reported that modulation of sphingosine-1-phosphate-1 receptor (S1P1R) signaling provided a chemically tractable approach for the effective blunting of cytokine storm, leading to the improvement of clinical and survival outcomes. Here, we show that S1P1R agonist treatment suppresses global cytokine amplification. Importantly, S1P1R agonist treatment was able to blunt cytokine/chemokine production and innate immune cell recruitment in the lung independently of endosomal and cytosolic innate sensing pathways. S1P1R signaling suppression of cytokine amplification was independent of multiple innate signaling adaptor pathways for myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) and IFN-β promoter stimulator-1 signaling, indicating a common pathway inhibition of cytokine storm. We identify the MyD88 adaptor molecule as responsible for the majority of cytokine amplification observed following influenza virus challenge.

Viruses have unique lifestyles. To describe the pathogenesis and significance of viral infection in terms of host responses, resultant injury, and therapy, we focused on two RNA viruses: lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) and influenza (Flu). Many of the currently established concepts and consequences about viruses and immunologic tolerance, virus-induced immunosuppression, virus-induced autoimmunity, immune complex disease, and virus–lymphocyte and virus–dendritic cell interactions evolved through studies of LCMV in its natural murine host. Similarly, the mechanisms, aftermath, and treatment of persistent RNA viruses emerged, in large part, from research on LCMV. Analysis of acute influenza virus infections uncovered the prominent direct role that cytokine storm plays in the pathogenesis, morbidity, and mortality from this disease. Cytokine storm of influenza virus infection is initiated via a pulmonary endothelial cell amplification loop involving IFN-producing cells and virus-infected pulmonary epithelial cells. Importantly, the cytokine storm is chemically treatable with specific agonist therapy directed to the sphingosphine 1 phosphate receptor 1, which is located on pulmonary endothelial cells, pointing to the endothelial cells as the gatekeepers of this hyperaggressive host immune response.

A major discovery of the last half century is that, in addition to the well-defined acute diseases viruses produce such as measles, poliomyelitis, yellow fever, flu, smallpox, and so on, viruses can also cause persistent infections in humans. Indeed, the many millions of humans who have lifelong viral infections represent both a major health issue for the 21st century, but also a unique opportunity for investigative virologists, the virological detectives of this era.Persistent viral infections come in two flavors. First is the expected proof that chronic inflammation and associated tissue injury follow infection as with Hepatitis C virus. The second and unexpected evidence came from an experimental model in the early 1980s of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection in its natural murine host that, without causing noticeable tissue damage, viruses can disrupt normal homeostatic functions like growth, cognitive learning and immune regulation by interfering with production of hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines and the formation of antibody- or cell-mediated T cell responses.1, 2, 3 This latter phenomenon consists of minimal or negligible structural damage to the infected cells and enables those cells to escape immune detection. For this type of a persistent infection to endure, two ingredients are required. For the first, viruses engage in a unique strategy of replication; instead of killing the cells they infect the pathogens cause little-to-no damage, yet set up lifelong residency inside such cells. This often occurs in cells specialized to perform specific physiological functions. The continuous replication of viruses' foreign genes then alters the differentiated function of the specialized cells, where they reside without disturbing the cells' housekeeping or vital genes required for survival.3 With the second ingredient, the persisting viruses abort or modulate the immune response so it does not recognize and/or react to infected cells, thereby also allowing the viruses to survive undetected. Overall, these findings illuminate the possibility that a multitude of biochemical alterations, chemical aberrancies and cognitive dysfunctions, currently of unknown etiology, enable infecting viruses to escape the hallmarks, for example, fever, inflammation, tissue injury, usually in place to warn the physician, pathologist or epidemiologist of a viral infection.3To evaluate whether such hormonal, immunological or neuropsychiatric disorders were associated with a persistent viral infection(s) required an armamentarium of novel and sophisticated approaches and techniques to uncover viral genes and/or viral gene products, and discriminate those findings from normal host genes and their products. This issue's paper from Ian Lipkin's laboratory, ‘Absence of evidence for bornavirus infection in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder,’ by Hornig et al.4 displays the usage of such an approach and the controls required to critically define or refute that a pathogen is the cause of a chronic psychiatric disorder.Borna disease was first described as episodes in Germany in the Saxony town of Borna during the late 1800s when horses behaved erratically. Not until the 1920s, however, did transmission experiments show that the infectious agent from infected horses passed to multiple species of animals. The experimental tactic was testing material from the infected horses for passage through filters too narrow to retain bacteria, but sufficient for collecting virus. Identification of the collected viruses thereby indicated that Borna disease was caused by a virus (Borna disease virus (BDV)). However, it was 50–60 years later that heightened interest in BDV infection developed following reports that BDV infection in tree shrews and in rats was accompanied by inappropriate grooming and nursing behavior (tree shrews), and by a biphasic phenomenon of hypermotility and excitability followed by depressed locomotion (rats). The odd behaviors suggested schizophrenic disorders in the former animals and a biphasic disease with similarities to bipolar disorder in the latter. These actions mimicked human neuropsychiatric disorders and led to a plethora of investigations to evaluate the possibility that BDV infection of humans was associated with human psychiatric diseases.5, 6, 7, 8But what was one to make of the morass of results supporting or rejecting the BDV/human neuropsychiatric finding and the controversies that followed (reviewed in ref. 9). As the philosopher Sherlock Holmes stated, ‘It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.’,from the unequivocal data collected and reported in this issue by Hornig et al.4 using careful, controlled and extensive studies of blinded serological and molecular analyses coupled with standardized methods for clinical assessment, one finds little evidence to support a correlation between BDV and human psychiatric illness.The senior author of this report,4 Lipkin, pioneered the use of purely genetic methods of subtraction hybridization as a probe for pathogen discovery, which allowed a detailed description of the BDV genome and analysis of its gene order.10 This was accomplished by obtaining virus-specific complementary DNAs from diseased brain tissue and using subtractive hybridization against the background of uninfected brain tissue. He then looked for a relationship between the viral genes and the disease by in situ hybridization. Others also obtained the BDV genome at this time and showed a connection with human behavioral diseases.8 With the viral gene on hand, Lipkin et al.9, 10 definitively located BDV in cells and determined its transcription, replication and genomic sequence. The result was to establish BDV as the first member of a new family, Bornaviridae, in the order of Mononegavirales. Temporally, the uncovering of the BDV sequence occurred with the development of PCR. Both complimentary techniques, along with serology, now made it possible to critically evaluate the association of BDV within human tissue in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases.In the current report, Hornig et al.4 addresses the controversial issue of a possible association of BDV infection with psychiatric illness using samples from multiple centers involving a well-defined patient population and carefully matched control cases, coupled with strict protocols for sample collection and experimental procedures to detect BDV markers (antibodies and RNA). The experimental design and its execution are excellent and represent a true milestone among the other less controlled studies. The results obtained provide strong evidence that markers (antibodies and RNA) of BDV exposure were absent from the peripheral blood of all subjects (patients and controls) examined, thus strongly questioning any role for BDV in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, mood disorders and other neuropsychiatric illnesses.4The authors present reasonable arguments to account for the differences they report in this issue,4 with other previously published reports that suggested an association of BDV infection with psychiatric illness. One could argue that a variety of reasons, including subject recruitment and sampling procedures, may have contributed to the inability to detect BDV markers in the individuals examined in this study. For clarity, there is a need for a better exchange of samples from multiple laboratories. Nevertheless, the design and experimental procedures carried out in the Hornig4 study provide a gold standard for future investigations of the suspected association between persisting viral infection and human disease. With caution, the authors correctly acknowledge that, although their study did not provide evidence of an association of BDV infection with neuropsychiatric disease, it may still be feasible that certain psychiatric disorders could be attributed to a virus(es). Such associations, if they occur, between viruses and neuropsychiatric diseases await future, carefully controlled studies.The author declares no conflict of interest.

Fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) are lymphoid stromal cells essential to T-cell migration and survival. Although FRCs are targets of multiple viral infections, little is known about their role during infection due to the cells’ scarcity and difficulty in isolating in vivo. To initiate studies of interactions among FRCs, viruses, and immune cells, we isolated and immortalized CD45−gp38+CD35−CD31−CD44+VCAM1+ cell lines from C57BL/6 mice designated as immortalized FRC. Using these cloned cell lines, we have established that FRCs express the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II molecule, a factor necessary for stimulation of CD4+ T cells thought to be expressed primarily by antigen-presenting cells, along with other T-cell stimulatory ligands in an IFN-γ–dependent manner. In this environment, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)-infected iFRCs activated naive LCMV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells while limiting expansion of effector LCMV-specific T cells. Thus, FRCs effectively presented antigen along with activating signals during viral infection using both MHC I and MHC II molecules, illustrating a previously undescribed interaction with CD4+ T cells and indicating a unique role for FRCs.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an important factor involved in T-cell dysfunction during persistent viral infection. Although several factors can negatively regulate T-cell activity, targeting of the IL-10 pathway alone is sufficient to regenerate T-cell activity and increase viral control. How IL-10 mediates these effects is unclear. Here, we investigated the cellular source of IL-10 necessary for establishing T-cell exhaustion and viral persistence, using IL-10 reporter mice (VertX), cell-type–specific IL-10 and IL-10 receptor deletion mice, and bone marrow chimeric mice. During establishment of viral persistence, the cellular subset with the most prevalent expression of IL-10 was CD8α−CD4+ dendritic cells (DCs), which produced IL-10 with increasing kinetics until 9 d postinfection. After this time point, DCs exhibited a modest decline in percentage of IL-10+ cells whereas B cells and CD4+ T cells increased minimally. Further analysis of the DC population demonstrated that IL-10 was primarily expressed in infected DCs. These DCs were a notable source of IL-10 as mutant mice with a DC-specific deletion of IL-10 had significantly decreased serum levels. Interestingly, viral infection was not directly causative of IL-10 expression; rather, IL-10 production appeared to be linked to type I IFN signaling. Our findings further illuminate the contribution of DCs to the production of IL-10 and to viral persistence.

Initial and early tissue injury associated with severe influenza virus infection is the result of both virus-mediated lysis of infected pulmonary cells coupled with an exuberant immune response generated against the virus. The excessive host immune response associated with influenza virus infection has been termed “cytokine storm.” Therapies that target virus replication are available; however, the selective pressure by such antiviral drugs on the virus often results in mutation and the escape of virus progeny now resistant to the antiviral regimen, thereby rendering such treatments ineffective. This event highlights the necessity for developing novel methods to combat morbidity and mortality caused by influenza virus infection. One potential method is restricting the host’s immune response. However, prior treatment regimens employing drugs like corticosteroids that globally suppress the host’s immune response were found unsatisfactory in large part because they disrupted the host’s ability to control virus replication. Here, we discuss a novel therapy that utilizes sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor signaling that has the ability to significantly limit immunopathologic injury caused by the host’s innate and adaptive immune response, thereby significantly aborting morbidity and mortality associated with influenza virus infection. Moreover, S1P analog therapy allows for sufficient anti-influenza T cell and antibody formation to control infection. We review the anti-inflammatory effects of S1P signaling pathways and how modulation of these pathways during influenza virus infection restricts immunopathology. Finally, we discuss that combinatorial administration of S1P simultaneously with a current antiviral enhances the treatment efficacy for virulent influenza virus infections above that of either drug treatment alone. Interestingly, the scope of S1P receptor therapy reported here is likely to extend beyond influenza virus infection and could prove useful for the treatment of multiple maladies like other viral infections and autoimmune diseases where the host’s inflammatory response is a major component in the disease process.

Arenaviruses are a major cause of hemorrhagic fevers endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, and thus a major public health and medical concern. The prototypic arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is widely used as a model system for studying persistent and acute infections, as well as for gaining an understanding of mammalian immune function. When originally characterized three decades ago, the LCMV isolate, Armstrong, which causes an acute infection in adult mice, was found to differ from the LCMV Clone 13 strain that causes a persistent infection by two amino acid changes, one within the virus surface glycoprotein (GP1: F260L) and the other within the virus L polymerase (K1076Q). Mutation F260L was considered solely responsible for the exceptionally strong binding affinity of Clone 13 (L at GP1 260) to its cellular receptor, α-dystroglycan, which among cells of the immune system is preferentially expressed on dendritic cells, and consequently, alters dendritic cell function leading to viral persistence. Recently, we noted a previously overlooked nucleotide difference between these two strains that results in an additional amino acid change in GP1, N176D. To investigate the potential contribution of this newly identified mutation to the Clone 13 phenotype, we used reverse-genetics approaches to generate recombinant LCM viruses with each of these individual mutations. Phenotypic characterization of these rLCMV showed that mutation F260L, but not N176D, in the GP1 of LCMV is essential for mediating the long-term persistence of Clone 13 infections. This work emphasizes the importance of subtle differences in viral strains that determine disease outcomes.

Human pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza virus rapidly infected millions worldwide and was associated with significant mortality. Antiviral drugs that inhibit influenza virus replication are the primary therapy used to diminish disease; however, there are two significant limitations to their effective use: (i) antiviral drugs exert selective pressure on the virus, resulting in the generation of more fit viral progeny that are resistant to treatment; and (ii) antiviral drugs do not directly inhibit immune-mediated pulmonary injury that is a significant component of disease. Here we show that dampening the host's immune response against influenza virus using an immunomodulatory drug, AAL-R, provides significant protection from mortality (82%) over that of the neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir alone (50%). AAL-R combined with oseltamivir provided maximum protection against a lethal challenge of influenza virus (96%). Mechanistically, AAL-R inhibits cellular and cytokine/chemokine responses to limit immunopathologic damage, while maintaining host control of virus replication. With cytokine storm playing a role in the pathogenesis of a wide assortment of viral, bacterial, and immunologic diseases, a therapeutic approach using sphingosine analogs is of particular interest.

Measles virus (MV), a member of the family Paramyxoviridae and an exclusively human pathogen, is among the most infectious viruses. A progressive fatal neurodegenerative complication, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), occurs during persistent MV infection of the CNS and is associated with biased hypermutations of the viral genome. The observed hypermutations of A-to-G are consistent with conversions catalyzed by the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR1). To evaluate the role of ADAR1 in MV infection, we selectively disrupted expression of the IFN-inducible p150 ADAR1 isoform and found it caused embryonic lethality at embryo day (E) 11–E12. We therefore generated p150-deficient and WT mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF) cells stably expressing the MV receptor signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM or CD150). The p150−/− but not WT MEF cells displayed extensive syncytium formation and cytopathic effect (CPE) following infection with MV, consistent with an anti-MV role of the p150 isoform of ADAR1. MV titers were 3 to 4 log higher in p150−/− cells compared with WT cells at 21 h postinfection, and restoration of ADAR1 in p150−/− cells prevented MV cytopathology. In contrast to infection with MV, p150 disruption had no effect on vesicular stomatitis virus, reovirus, or lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus replication but protected against CPE resulting from infection with Newcastle disease virus, Sendai virus, canine distemper virus, and influenza A virus. Thus, ADAR1 is a restriction factor in the replication of paramyxoviruses and orthomyxoviruses.

Mounting effective T cell responses is critical for eliciting long-lasting immunity following viral infection and vaccination. A multitude of inhibitory and stimulatory factors are induced following infection, and it is the compilation of these signals that quantitatively and qualitatively program the ensuing effector and memory T cell response. In response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10 is rapidly up-regulated; however, how IL-10 is regulating what is often considered an “optimal” immune response is unclear. We demonstrate that IL-10 directly inhibits effector and memory CD4 T cell responses following an acutely resolved viral infection. Blockade of IL-10 enhanced the magnitude and the functional capacity of effector CD4 T cells that translated into increased and more effective memory responses. On the other hand, lack of IL-10 signaling did not impact memory CD8 T cell development. We propose that blockade of IL-10 may be an effective adjuvant to specifically enhance CD4 T cell immunity and protection following vaccination.

To mimic events and molecules involved in type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (T1D), we previously designed a transgenic (tg) mouse model where the viral nucleoprotein (NP) gene of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) was expressed in the thymus to delete high affinity antiself (virus) T cells and in insulin-producing β cells of the islets of Langerhans. Such tg mice, termed RIP-LCMV, fail to spontaneously develop diabetes. In contrast, when these mice are challenged with LCMV, they develop diabetes as they display hyperglycemia, low to absent levels of pancreatic insulin, and abundant mononuclear cell infiltrates in the islets. However, expressing the adenovirus early region (E3) gene in β cells along with the LCMV transgene aborted the T1D. The present study utilizes this combined tg model (RIP LCMV × RIP E3) to define the requirement(s) of either pro-apoptotic TNF and Fas pathways or MHC class I up-regulation on β cells for virus-induced T1D. Inhibitors to either pathway (TNF/Fas or MHC class I) are encoded in the E3 gene complex. To accomplish this task either the E3 region encoding the inhibitors of TNF and Fas pathways or the region encoding gp-19, a protein that inhibits transport of MHC class I molecules out of the endoplasmic reticulum were deleted in the RIP LCMV × RIP E3 model. Thus only the gp-19 is required to abort the virus-induced T1D. In contrast, removal of TNF- and Fas-pathway inhibitory genes had no effect on E3-mediated prevention of T1D.

Pulmonary tissue damage resulting from influenza virus infection is caused by both the cytolytic activity of the virus and the host immune response. Immune-mediated injury results from T cell-mediated destruction of virus-infected cells and by release of cytokines and chemokines that attract polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PML) and macrophages to the infected site. The cytokines/chemokines potentiate dendritic cell (DC) activation and T cell expansion, which further enhances local damage. Here we report that immune modulation by local administration to the respiratory tract of sphingosine analog AAL-R significantly dampens the release of cytokines and chemokines while maintaining protective neutralizing antibody and cytotoxic T cell responses. As a result there was a marked reduction of infiltrating PML and macrophages into the lung and resultant pulmonary tissue injury. DC maturation was suppressed, which limited proliferation of specific antiviral T cells in the lung and draining lymph nodes. Further, AAL-R was effective in controlling CD8+ T cell accumulation in the lungs even when given 4 days after initiation of influenza virus infection. These data indicate that sphingosine analogs display useful potential for controlling the immunopathology caused by influenza virus.

Suppression of T-cell responses by host-derived regulatory factors is a key event leading to viral persistence. Antibody blockade of either IL-10 or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) during viral persistence enhances T-cell function and reduces viral titers. Because blockade of these immunoregulatory networks represents a powerful approach to establish immune control during persistent infection, it is important to determine whether these immunoinhibitory factors act independently or jointly and if combined blockade of these factors further enhances T-cell immunity and viral clearance. Herein, we demonstrate that the IL-10 and PD-L1 immunosuppressive pathways are mechanistically distinct. As a result, simultaneous blockade of IL-10 and PD-L1 was significantly more effective in restoring antiviral T-cell responses than blockade of either alone, and led to substantially enhanced control of an established persistent viral infection. Thus, combinatorial blockade of multiple immune-regulatory molecules may ultimately restore the T-cell responses required to tip the balance from viral persistence to immune-mediated control or elimination of persistent infection.

Abstract

We investigated extraneural manifestations in scrapie-infected transgenic mice expressing prion protein lacking the glycophosphatydylinositol membrane anchor. In the brain, blood, and heart, both abnormal protease-resistant prion protein (PrPres) and prion infectivity were readily detected by immunoblot and by inoculation into nontransgenic recipients. The titer of infectious scrapie in blood plasma exceeded 10⁷ 50% infectious doses per milliliter. The hearts of these transgenic mice contained PrPres-positive amyloid deposits that led to myocardial stiffness and cardiac disease.

The cytokine storm is an aggressive immune response characterized by the recruitment of inflammatory leukocytes and exaggerated levels of cytokines and chemokines at the site of infection. Here we review evidence that cytokine storm directly contributes to the morbidity and mortality resulting from influenza virus infection and that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonists can abort cytokine storms providing significant protection against pathogenic human influenza viral infections. In experiments using murine models and the human pathogenic 2009 influenza viruses, S1P1 receptor agonist alone reduced deaths from influenza virus by over 80% as compared to lesser protection (50%) offered by the antiviral neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir. Optimal protection of 96% was achieved by combined therapy with the S1P1 receptor agonist and oseltamivir. The functional mechanism of S1P receptor agonist(s) action and the predominant role played by pulmonary endothelial cells as amplifiers of cytokine storm during influenza infection are described.Highlights► Cytokine storm plays a direct role in causation of injury due to influenza. ► Signaling via S1P1 receptor on pulmonary endothelial cells initiates lung pathology. ► S1P1 receptor agonist blocks the influenza-induced cytokine storm. ► S1P1 receptor agonist does not block host immune control over influenza. ► Pulmonary endothelial cells are the central regulators of cytokine storm.

Virus-specific CD4+ T cells contribute to effective virus control through a multiplicity of mechanisms including direct effector functions as well as “help” for B cell and CD8+ T cell responses. Here, we have used the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) system to assess the minimal constraints of a dominant antiviral CD4+ T cell response. We report that the core epitope derived from the LCMV glycoprotein (GP) is 11 amino acids in length and provides optimal recognition by epitope-specific CD4+ T cells. Surprisingly, this epitope is also recognized by LCMV-specific CD8+ T cells and thus constitutes a unique viral determinant with dual MHC class I- and II-restriction.

There is no known antiviral drug treatment that routinely terminates persistent virus infections. A recent provocative report indicated that low dosage of the sphingosine analog FTY720 caused lymphopenia in mice persistently infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)-clone 13 (Cl 13) and induced viral clearance within 30 days post-treatment (Premenko-Lanier et al., 2008). However, we find that low dosage of FTY720 fails to purge LCMV-Cl 13 infection and does not induce lymphopenia in LCMV-Cl 13-infected mice. In fact, infection with non-persistent LCMV-Arm53b or with persistent LCMV-Cl 13 induces an equivalent lymphopenia, demonstrating that the quantity of circulating cells has little bearing on viral persistence. In addition, treatment with FTY720 or the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P1)-specific agonist, AUY954, does not alleviate T cell exhaustion and exacerbates disruption of the CD8+ T cells response following LCMV-Cl 13 infection. Therefore, treatment with a sphingosine analog does not ameliorate persistent LCMV-Cl 13 infection.

Pathogenesis following a virus infection results from interactions between the virus and its host. The outcome is determined by tipping the balance between virulence of the virus or susceptibility/resistance of the host to favor one or the other. This review focuses on two important members of the Old World arenavirus family: Lassa fever virus (LFV), a robust human pathogen that causes a severe acute hemorrhagic disease; and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), also a human pathogen but better known in the context of its rodent model. Research with this model has uncovered and illuminated many of our current concepts in immunobiology and viral pathogenesis. Presented here are recent advances that form the framework for a better understanding of how viruses induce and maintain persistent infection as well as for the pathogenesis associated with acute LFV infection. A major component for understanding the pathogenesis of these arenaviruses revolves around study of the interaction of virus with its receptor, alpha-dystroglycan (α-DG).

To study the pathogenesis of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk, transgenic (tg) mice were generated that expressed the prion protein (PrP) of deer containing a glycine at amino acid (aa) 96 and a serine at aa 225 under transcriptional control of the murine PrP promoter. This construct was introduced into murine PrP-deficient mice. As anticipated, neither non-tg mice nor PrP ko mice were susceptible when inoculated intracerebrally (i.c.) or orally with CWD brain material (scrapie pool from six mule deer) and followed for 600+ days (dpi). Deer PrP tg mice were not susceptible to i.c. inoculation with murine scrapie. In contrast, a fatal neurologic disease occurred accompanied by conversion of deer PrPsen to PrPres by western blot and immunohistochemistry after either i.c. inoculation with CWD brain into two lines of tg mice studied (312 + 32 dpi [mean + 2 standard errors] for the heterozygous tg line 33, 275 + 46 dpi for the heterozygous tg line 39 and 210 dpi for the homozygous tg line 33) or after oral inoculation (381 + 55 dpi for the homozygous tg line 33 and 370 + 26 dpi for the homozygous tg line 39). Kinetically, following oral inoculation of CWD brain, PrPres was observed by day 200 when mice were clinically healthy in the posterior surface of the dorsum of the tongue primarily in serous and mucous glands, in the intestines, in large cells at the splenic marginal zone that anatomically resembled follicular dendritic cells and macrophages and in the olfactory bulb and brain stem but did not occur in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex or hippocampus or in hearts, lungs and livers of infected mice. After 350 days when mice become clinically ill the cerebellum, cerebral cortex and hippocampus became positive for PrPres and displayed massive spongiosis, neuronal drop out, gliosis and florid plaques.

Earlier studies indicated that transgenic (tg) mice engineered to express prion protein (PrP) lacking the glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI−/−) membrane anchor formed abnormal proteinase-resistant prion (PrPsc) amyloid deposits in their brains and hearts when infected with the RML strain of murine scrapie. In contrast, RML scrapie infection of normal mice with a GPI-anchored PrP did not deposit amyloid with PrPsc in the brain or the heart. Here we report that scrapie-infected GPI−/− PrP tg mice also deposit PrP and transmissible infectious material in the gut, kidneys, and islets of Langerhans. Similar to previously reported amyloid deposits in the brain and heart, amyloid deposits were found in the gut; however, no amyloid deposited in the islets. By high-resolution electron microscopy, we show PrP is located primarily in α cells and also β cells. Islets contain abundant insulin and there is no abnormality in glucose metabolism in infected GPI−/− PrP tg mice.

DNAM-1 gene-deficient (−/−) mice take significantly longer to clear an acute and persistent LCMV infection in vivo than DNAM-1 +/+ mice. During acute LCMV priming, at the single cell level, DNAM-1 −/− mice made significantly less cytoplasmic CD8 TNF-α and IL-2 but not IFN-γ than their DNAM-1 +/+ counterparts. Restimulated immune memory CD8 T cells from DNAM-1 −/− and DNAM-1 +/+ mice were equivalent in cytolytic activity against LCMV-infected target cells but DNAM-1 −/− CD8 T cells had significant reductions in TNF-α and IL-2 that were associated on adoptive transfer with the inability to terminate the persistent viral infection.