NAAA-regulated lipid signaling in monocytes controls the induction of hyperalgesic priming in mice.

Circulating monocytes participate in pain chronification but the molecular events that cause their deployment are unclear. Using a mouse model of hyperalgesic priming (HP), we show that monocytes enable progression to pain chronicity through a mechanism that requires transient activation of the hydrolase, N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA), and the consequent suppression of NAAA-regulated lipid signaling at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α). Inhibiting NAAA in the 72 hours following administration of a priming stimulus prevented HP. This effect was phenocopied by NAAA deletion and depended on PPAR-α recruitment. Mice lacking NAAA in CD11b+ cells - monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils - were resistant to HP induction. Conversely, mice overexpressing NAAA or lacking PPAR-α in the same cells were constitutively primed. Depletion of monocytes, but not resident macrophages, generated mice that were refractory to HP. The results identify NAAA-regulated signaling in monocytes as a control node in the induction of HP and, potentially, the transition to pain chronicity.

Graft conditioning with fluticasone propionate reduces graft-versus-host disease upon allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in mice.

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) treats many blood conditions but remains underused due to complications such as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). In GvHD, donor immune cells attack the patient, requiring powerful immunosuppressive drugs like glucocorticoids (GCs) to prevent death. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that donor cell conditioning with the glucocorticoid fluticasone propionate (FLU) prior to transplantation could increase hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engraftment and reduce GvHD. Murine HSCs treated with FLU had increased HSC engraftment and reduced severity and incidence of GvHD after transplantation into allogeneic hosts. While most T cells died upon FLU treatment, donor T cells repopulated in the hosts and appeared less inflammatory and alloreactive. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are immunomodulatory and survived FLU treatment, resulting in an increased ratio of Tregs to conventional T cells. Our results implicate an important role for Tregs in maintaining allogeneic tolerance in FLU-treated grafts and suggest a therapeutic strategy of pre-treating donor cells (and not the patients directly) with GCs to simultaneously enhance engraftment and reduce GvHD upon allogeneic HCT.

Ablation of microglia following infection of the central nervous system with a neurotropic murine coronavirus infection leads to increased demyelination and impaired remyelination.

Intracranial inoculation of susceptible mice with a glial-tropic strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV), a murine coronavirus, results in an acute encephalomyelitis followed by viral persistence in white matter tracts accompanied by chronic neuroinflammation and demyelination. Microglia are the resident immune cell of the central nervous system (CNS) and are considered important in regulating events associated with neuroinflammation as well as influencing both white matter damage and remyelination. To better understand mechanisms by which microglia contribute to these immune-mediated events, JHMV-infected mice with established demyelination were treated with the small molecular inhibitor of colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), PLX5622, to deplete microglia. Treatment with PLX5622 did not affect viral replication within the CNS yet the severity of demyelination was increased and remyelination impaired compared to control mice. Gene expression analysis revealed that targeting microglia resulted in altered expression of genes associated with immune cell activation and phagocytosis of myelin debris. These findings indicate that microglia are not critical in viral surveillance in persistently JHMV-infected mice yet restrict white matter damage and remyelination, in part, by influencing phagocytosis of myelin debris.

Signalling by senescent melanocytes hyperactivates hair growth.

Niche signals maintain stem cells in a prolonged quiescence or transiently activate them for proper regeneration1. Altering balanced niche signalling can lead to regenerative disorders. Melanocytic skin nevi in human often display excessive hair growth, suggesting hair stem cell hyperactivity. Here, using genetic mouse models of nevi2,3, we show that dermal clusters of senescent melanocytes drive epithelial hair stem cells to exit quiescence and change their transcriptome and composition, potently enhancing hair renewal. Nevus melanocytes activate a distinct secretome, enriched for signalling factors. Osteopontin, the leading nevus signalling factor, is both necessary and sufficient to induce hair growth. Injection of osteopontin or its genetic overexpression is sufficient to induce robust hair growth in mice, whereas germline and conditional deletions of either osteopontin or CD44, its cognate receptor on epithelial hair cells, rescue enhanced hair growth induced by dermal nevus melanocytes. Osteopontin is overexpressed in human hairy nevi, and it stimulates new growth of human hair follicles. Although broad accumulation of senescent cells, such as upon ageing or genotoxic stress, is detrimental for the regenerative capacity of tissue4, we show that signalling by senescent cell clusters can potently enhance the activity of adjacent intact stem cells and stimulate tissue renewal. This finding identifies senescent cells and their secretome as an attractive therapeutic target in regenerative disorders.

Frequent Low-Dose Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Adolescence Disrupts Microglia Homeostasis and Disables Responses to Microbial Infection and Social Stress in Young Adulthood.

BACKGROUND: During adolescence, microglia are actively involved in neocortical maturation while concomitantly undergoing profound phenotypic changes. Because the teenage years are also a time of experimentation with cannabis, we evaluated whether adolescent exposure to the drug's psychotropic constituent, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), might persistently alter microglia function. METHODS: We administered THC (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) once daily to male and female mice from postnatal day (PND) 30 to PND44 and examined the transcriptome of purified microglia in adult animals (PND70 and PND120) under baseline conditions or following either of two interventions known to recruit microglia: lipopolysaccharide injection and repeated social defeat. We used high-dimensional mass cytometry by time-of-flight to map brain immune cell populations after lipopolysaccharide challenge. RESULTS: Adolescent THC exposure produced in mice of both sexes a state of microglial dyshomeostasis that persisted until young adulthood (PND70) but receded with further aging (PND120). Key features of this state included broad alterations in genes involved in microglia homeostasis and innate immunity along with marked impairments in the responses to lipopolysaccharide- and repeated social defeat-induced psychosocial stress. The endocannabinoid system was also dysfunctional. The effects of THC were prevented by coadministration of either a global CB1 receptor inverse agonist or a peripheral CB1 neutral antagonist and were not replicated when THC was administered in young adulthood (PND70-84). CONCLUSIONS: Daily low-intensity CB1 receptor activation by THC during adolescence may disable critical functions served by microglia until young adulthood with potentially wide-ranging consequences for brain and mental health.

Absence of CD11a Expression Identifies Embryonic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Precursors via Competitive Neonatal Transplantation Assay.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are defined by their self-renewal, multipotency, and bone marrow (BM) engraftment abilities. How HSCs emerge during embryonic development remains unclear, but are thought to arise from hemogenic endothelium through an intermediate precursor called "pre-HSCs." Pre-HSCs have self-renewal and multipotent activity, but lack BM engraftability. They can be identified functionally by transplantation into neonatal recipients, or by in vitro co-culture with cytokines and stroma followed by transplantation into adult recipients. While pre-HSCs express markers such as Kit and CD144, a precise surface marker identity for pre-HSCs has remained elusive due to the fluctuating expression of common HSC markers during embryonic development. We have previously determined that the lack of CD11a expression distinguishes HSCs in adults as well as multipotent progenitors in the embryo. Here, we use a neonatal transplantation assay to identify pre-HSC populations in the mouse embryo. We establish CD11a as a critical marker for the identification and enrichment of pre-HSCs in day 10.5 and 11.5 mouse embryos. Our proposed pre-HSC population, termed "11a- eKLS" (CD11a- Ter119- CD43+ Kit+ Sca1+ CD144+), contains all in vivo long-term engrafting embryonic progenitors. This population also displays a cell-cycle status expected of embryonic HSC precursors. Furthermore, we identify the neonatal liver as the likely source of signals that can mature pre-HSCs into BM-engraftable HSCs.

Epigenetic regulation of immediate-early gene Nr4a2/Nurr1 in the medial habenula during reinstatement of cocaine-associated behavior.

Propensity to relapse following long periods of abstinence is a key feature of substance use disorder. Drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, cause long-term changes in the neural circuitry regulating reward, motivation, and memory processes through dysregulation of various molecular mechanisms, including epigenetic regulation of activity-dependent gene expression. Underlying drug-induced changes to neural circuit function are the molecular mechanisms regulating activity-dependent gene expression. Of note, histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases (HDACs), powerful epigenetic regulators of gene expression, are dysregulated following both acute and chronic cocaine exposure and are linked to cocaine-induced changes in neural circuit function. To better understand the effect of drug-induced changes on epigenetic function and behavior, we investigated HDAC3-mediated regulation of Nr4a2/Nurr1 in the medial habenula, an understudied pathway in cocaine-associated behaviors. Nr4a2, a transcription factor critical in cocaine-associated behaviors and necessary for MHb development, is enriched in the cholinergic cell-population of the MHb; yet, the role of NR4A2 within the MHb in the adult brain remains elusive. Here, we evaluated whether epigenetic regulation of Nr4a2 in the MHb has a role in reinstatement of cocaine-associated behaviors. We found that HDAC3 disengages from Nr4a2 in the MHb in response to cocaine-primed reinstatement. Whereas enhancing HDAC3 function in the MHb had no effect on reinstatement, we found, using a dominant-negative splice variant (NURR2C), that loss of NR4A2 function in the MHb blocked reinstatement behaviors. These results show for the first time that regulation of NR4A2 function in the MHb is critical in relapse-like behaviors.

Induction of Mesoderm and Neural Crest-Derived Pericytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells to Study Blood-Brain Barrier Interactions.

In the CNS, perivascular cells ("pericytes") associate with endothelial cells to mediate the formation of tight junctions essential to the function of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB protects the CNS by regulating the flow of nutrients and toxins into and out of the brain. BBB dysfunction has been implicated in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the role of pericytes in BBB dysfunction in AD is not well understood. In the developing embryo, CNS pericytes originate from two sources: mesoderm and neural crest. In this study, we report two protocols using mesoderm or neural crest intermediates, to generate brain-specific pericyte-like cells from induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines created from healthy and AD patients. iPSC-derived pericytes display stable expression of pericyte surface markers and brain-specific genes and are functionally capable of increasing vascular tube formation and endothelial barrier properties.

Transcriptional Profiling of Age-Associated Gene Expression Changes in Human Circulatory CD1c+ Myeloid Dendritic Cell Subset.

Immune dysfunction is a hallmark of aging and is thought to be responsible for the age-associated diseases. Dendritic cells (DCs) of the immune system function as initiators and regulators of the immune responses. Recent studies have highlighted the division of labor between various DC subsets. CD1c+ DC subset has emerged as a major inducer of CD4 T cell response. There is a scarcity of information regarding the age-associated changes in the functions of DC subsets in the elderly. Here, we investigated the changes in transcriptional profile of CD1c+ DC subset from healthy aged and young individuals using RNA sequencing. Our results suggest that majority of the genes in DCs are upregulated with age. Glucose transport, GPCR, and potassium channel genes are all upregulated in DCs from aged as compared to young indicating an enhanced activation state of DCs from aged individuals. The expression of histones, small nucleolar RNA H/ACA box (SNORA) and small nucleolar RNA C/D/box (SNORD), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is also substantially upregulated in the DCs from aged. In contrast, the antigen-presenting and energy generating pathways are downregulated. In summary, DCs from aged subjects display an activated state coupled with reduced antigen presentation which may be responsible for age-associate immune dysfunction.

The CD11a and Endothelial Protein C Receptor Marker Combination Simplifies and Improves the Purification of Mouse Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the self-renewing multipotent progenitors to all blood cell types. Identification and isolation of HSCs for study has depended on the expression of combinations of surface markers on HSCs that reliably distinguish them from other cell types. However, the increasing number of markers required to isolate HSCs has made it tedious, expensive, and difficult for newcomers, suggesting the need for a simpler panel of HSC markers. We previously showed that phenotypic HSCs could be separated based on expression of CD11a and that only the CD11a negative fraction contained true HSCs. Here, we show that CD11a and another HSC marker, endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR), can be used to effectively identify and purify HSCs. We introduce a new two-color HSC sorting method that can highly enrich for HSCs with efficiencies comparable to the gold standard combination of CD150 and CD48. Our results demonstrate that adding CD11a and EPCR to the HSC biologist's toolkit improves the purity of and simplifies isolation of HSCs. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2018;7:468-476.

iPSC-Derived Human Microglia-like Cells to Study Neurological Diseases.

Microglia play critical roles in brain development, homeostasis, and neurological disorders. Here, we report that human microglial-like cells (iMGLs) can be differentiated from iPSCs to study their function in neurological diseases, like Alzheimer's disease (AD). We find that iMGLs develop in vitro similarly to microglia in vivo, and whole-transcriptome analysis demonstrates that they are highly similar to cultured adult and fetal human microglia. Functional assessment of iMGLs reveals that they secrete cytokines in response to inflammatory stimuli, migrate and undergo calcium transients, and robustly phagocytose CNS substrates. iMGLs were used to examine the effects of Aß fibrils and brain-derived tau oligomers on AD-related gene expression and to interrogate mechanisms involved in synaptic pruning. Furthermore, iMGLs transplanted into transgenic mice and human brain organoids resemble microglia in vivo. Together, these findings demonstrate that iMGLs can be used to study microglial function, providing important new insight into human neurological disease.

HLA-A02:01-restricted epitopes identified from the herpes simplex virus tegument protein VP11/12 preferentially recall polyfunctional effector memory CD8+ T cells from seropositive asymptomatic individuals and protect humanized HLA-A*02:01 transgenic mice against ocular herpes.

The HSV type 1 tegument virion phosphoprotein (VP) 11/12 (VP11/12) is a major Ag targeted by CD8(+) T cells from HSV-seropositive individuals. However, whether and which VP11/12 epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells play a role in the "natural" protection seen in seropositive healthy asymptomatic (ASYMP) individuals (who have never had clinical herpes disease) remain to be determined. In this study, we used multiple prediction computer-assisted algorithms to identify 10 potential HLA-A*02:01-restricted CD8(+) T cell epitopes from the 718-aa sequence of VP11/12. Three of 10 epitopes exhibited high-to-moderate binding affinity to HLA-A*02:01 molecules. In 10 sequentially studied HLA-A*02:01-positive and HSV-1-seropositive ASYMP individuals, the most frequent, robust, and polyfunctional effector CD8(+) T cell responses, as assessed by a combination of tetramer frequency, granzyme B, granzyme K, perforin, CD107(a/b) cytotoxic degranulation, IFN-γ, and multiplex cytokines assays, were predominantly directed against three epitopes: VP11/1266-74, VP11/12220-228, and VP11/12702-710. Interestingly, ASYMP individuals had a significantly higher proportion of CD45RA(low)CCR7(low)CD44(high)CD62L(low)CD27(low)CD28(low)CD8(+) effector memory CD8(+) T cells (TEMs) specific to the three epitopes, compared with symptomatic individuals (with a history of numerous episodes of recurrent ocular herpetic disease). Moreover, immunization of HLA-A*02:01 transgenic mice with the three ASYMP CD8(+) TEM cell epitopes induced robust and polyfunctional epitope-specific CD8(+) TEM cells that were associated with a strong protective immunity against ocular herpes infection and disease. Our findings outline phenotypic and functional features of protective HSV-specific CD8(+) T cells that should guide the development of an effective T cell-based herpes vaccine.

Phenotypic and functional characterization of herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B epitope-specific effector and memory CD8+ T cells from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with ocular herpes.

UNLABELLED: Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein B (gB)-specific CD8(+) T cells protect mice from herpes infection and disease. However, whether and which HSV-1 gB-specific CD8(+) T cells play a key role in the "natural" protection seen in HSV-1-seropositive healthy asymptomatic (ASYMP) individuals (who have never had clinical herpes disease) remain to be determined. In this study, we have dissected the phenotypes and the functions of HSV-1 gB-specific CD8(+) T cells from HLA-A*02:01 positive, HSV-1 seropositive ASYMP and symptomatic (SYMP) individuals (with a history of numerous episodes of recurrent ocular herpes disease). We found the following. (i) Healthy ASYMP individuals maintained a significantly higher proportion of differentiated HSV-1 gB-specific effector memory CD8(+) T cells (TEM cells) (CD45RA(low) CCR7(low) CD44(high) CD62L(low)). In contrast, SYMP patients had frequent less-differentiated central memory CD8(+) T cells (TCM cells) (CD45RA(low) CCR7(high) CD44(low) CD62L(high)). (ii) ASYMP individuals had significantly higher proportions of multifunctional effector CD8(+) T cells which responded mainly to gB342-350 and gB561-569 "ASYMP" epitopes, and simultaneously produced IFN-γ, CD107(a/b), granzyme B, and perforin. In contrast, effector CD8(+) T cells from SYMP individuals were mostly monofunctional and were directed mainly against nonoverlapping gB17-25 and gB183-191 "SYMP" epitopes. (iii) Immunization of an HLA-A*02:01 transgenic mouse model of ocular herpes with "ASYMP" CD8(+) TEM cell epitopes, but not with "SYMP" CD8(+) TCM cell epitopes, induced a strong CD8(+) T cell-dependent protective immunity against ocular herpes infection and disease. Our findings provide insights into the role of HSV-specific CD8(+) TEM cells in protection against herpes and should be considered in the development of an effective vaccine. IMPORTANCE: A significantly higher proportion of differentiated and multifunctional HSV-1 gB-specific effector memory CD8(+) T cells (TEM cells) (CD45RA(low) CCR7(low) CD44(high) CD62L(low)) were found in healthy ASYMP individuals who are seropositive for HSV-1 but never had any recurrent herpetic disease, while there were frequent less-differentiated and monofunctional central memory CD8(+) T cells (TCM cells) (CD45RA(low) CCR7(high) CD44(low) CD62L(high)) in SYMP patients. Immunization with "ASYMP" CD8(+) TEM cell epitopes, but not with "SYMP" CD8(+) TCM cell epitopes, induced a strong protective HSV-specific CD8(+) T cell response in HLA-A*02:01 transgenic mice. These findings are important for the development of a safe and effective T cell-based herpes vaccine.

Upregulation of CD11A on hematopoietic stem cells denotes the loss of long-term reconstitution potential.

Small numbers of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) generate large numbers of mature effector cells through the successive amplification of transiently proliferating progenitor cells. HSCs and their downstream progenitors have been extensively characterized based on their cell-surface phenotype and functional activities during transplantation assays. These cells dynamically lose and acquire specific sets of surface markers during differentiation, leading to the identification of markers that allow for more refined separation of HSCs from early hematopoietic progenitors. Here, we describe a marker, CD11A, which allows for the enhanced purification of mouse HSCs. We show through in vivo transplantations that upregulation of CD11A on HSCs denotes the loss of their long-term reconstitution potential. Surprisingly, nearly half of phenotypic HSCs (defined as Lin-KIT(+)SCA-1(+)CD150(+)CD34-) are CD11A(+) and lack long-term self-renewal potential. We propose that CD11A(+)Lin-KIT(+)SCA-1(+)CD150(+)CD34- cells are multipotent progenitors and CD11A-Lin-KIT(+)SCA-1(+)CD150(+)CD34- cells are true HSCs.

Asymptomatic HLA-A*02:01-restricted epitopes from herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B preferentially recall polyfunctional CD8+ T cells from seropositive asymptomatic individuals and protect HLA transgenic mice against ocular herpes.

Evidence from C57BL/6 mice suggests that CD8(+) T cells, specific to the immunodominant HSV-1 glycoprotein B (gB) H-2(b)-restricted epitope (gB498-505), protect against ocular herpes infection and disease. However, the possible role of CD8(+) T cells, specific to HLA-restricted gB epitopes, in protective immunity seen in HSV-1-seropositive asymptomatic (ASYMP) healthy individuals (who have never had clinical herpes) remains to be determined. In this study, we used multiple prediction algorithms to identify 10 potential HLA-A*02:01-restricted CD8(+) T cell epitopes from the HSV-1 gB amino acid sequence. Six of these epitopes exhibited high-affinity binding to HLA-A*02:01 molecules. In 10 sequentially studied HLA-A*02:01-positive, HSV-1-seropositive ASYMP individuals, the most frequent, robust, and polyfunctional CD8(+) T cell responses, as assessed by a combination of tetramer, IFN-γ-ELISPOT, CFSE proliferation, CD107a/b cytotoxic degranulation, and multiplex cytokine assays, were directed mainly against epitopes gB342-350 and gB561-569. In contrast, in 10 HLA-A*02:01-positive, HSV-1-seropositive symptomatic (SYMP) individuals (with a history of numerous episodes of recurrent clinical herpes disease) frequent, but less robust, CD8(+) T cell responses were directed mainly against nonoverlapping epitopes (gB183-191 and gB441-449). ASYMP individuals had a significantly higher proportion of HSV-gB-specific CD8(+) T cells expressing CD107a/b degranulation marker and producing effector cytokines IL-2, IFN-γ, and TNF-α than did SYMP individuals. Moreover, immunization of a novel herpes-susceptible HLA-A*02:01 transgenic mouse model with ASYMP epitopes, but not with SYMP epitopes, induced strong CD8(+) T cell-dependent protective immunity against ocular herpes infection and disease. These findings should guide the development of a safe and effective T cell-based herpes vaccine.

Ablation of PI3K blocks BCR-ABL leukemogenesis in mice, and a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor prevents expansion of human BCR-ABL+ leukemia cells.

Some cases of pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B-ALL) are caused by the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-encoded BCR-ABL oncogene, and these tend to have a poor prognosis. Inhibitors of the PI3K/AKT pathway reduce BCR-ABL-mediated transformation in vitro; however, the specific PI3K isoforms involved are poorly defined. Using a murine model of Ph+ pre-B-ALL, we found that deletion of both Pik3r1 and Pik3r2, genes encoding class IA PI3K regulatory isoforms, severely impaired transformation. BCR-ABL-dependent pre/pro-B cell lines could be established at low frequency from progenitors that lacked these genes, but the cells were smaller, proliferated more slowly, and failed to cause leukemia in vivo. These cell lines displayed nearly undetectable PI3K signaling function and were resistant to the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin. However, they maintained activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and were more sensitive to rapamycin. Treatment with rapamycin caused feedback activation of AKT in WT cell lines but not PI3K-deficient lines. A dual inhibitor of PI3K and mTOR, PI-103, was more effective than rapamycin at suppressing proliferation of mouse pre-B-ALL and human CD19+CD34+)Ph+ ALL leukemia cells treated with the ABL kinase inhibitor imatinib. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into PI3K dependency in oncogenic networks and provide a rationale for targeting class IA PI3K, alone or together with mTOR, in the treatment of Ph+ ALL.

KLF4 suppresses transformation of pre-B cells by ABL oncogenes.

Genes that are strongly repressed after B-cell activation are candidates for being inactivated, mutated, or repressed in B-cell malignancies. Krüppel-like factor 4 (Klf4), a gene down-regulated in activated murine B cells, is expressed at low levels in several types of human B-cell lineage lymphomas and leukemias. The human KLF4 gene has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene in colon and gastric cancer; in concordance with this, overexpression of KLF4 can suppress proliferation in several epithelial cell types. Here we investigate the effects of KLF4 on pro/pre-B-cell transformation by v-Abl and BCR-ABL, oncogenes that cause leukemia in mice and humans. We show that overexpression of KLF4 induces arrest and apoptosis in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. KLF4-mediated death, but not cell-cycle arrest, can be rescued by Bcl-XL overexpression. Transformed pro/pre-B cells expressing KLF4 display increased expression of p21CIP and decreased expression of c-Myc and cyclin D2. Tetracycline-inducible expression of KLF4 in B-cell progenitors of transgenic mice blocks transformation by BCR-ABL and depletes leukemic pre-B cells in vivo. Collectively, our work identifies KLF4 as a putative tumor suppressor in B-cell malignancies.