Protein S Regulates Neural Stem Cell Quiescence and Neurogenesis.

Neurons are continuously produced in brains of adult mammalian organisms throughout life-a process tightly regulated to ensure a balanced homeostasis. In the adult brain, quiescent Neural Stem Cells (NSCs) residing in distinct niches engage in proliferation, to self-renew and to give rise to differentiated neurons and astrocytes. The mechanisms governing the intricate regulation of NSC quiescence and neuronal differentiation are not completely understood. Here, we report the expression of Protein S (PROS1) in adult NSCs, and show that genetic ablation of Pros1 in neural progenitors increased hippocampal NSC proliferation by 47%. We show that PROS1 regulates the balance of NSC quiescence and proliferation, also affecting daughter cell fate. We identified the PROS1-dependent downregulation of Notch1 signaling to correlate with NSC exit from quiescence. Notch1 and Hes5 mRNA levels were rescued by reintroducing Pros1 into NCS or by supplementation with purified PROS1, suggesting the regulation of Notch pathway by PROS1. Although Pros1-ablated NSCs show multilineage differentiation, we observed a 36% decrease in neurogenesis, coupled with a similar increase in astrogenesis, suggesting PROS1 is instructive for neurogenesis, and plays a role in fate determination, also seen in aged mice. Rescue experiments indicate PROS1 is secreted by NSCs and functions by a NSC-endogenous mechanism. Our study identifies a duple role for PROS1 in stem-cell quiescence and as a pro-neurogenic factor, and highlights a unique segregation of increased stem cell proliferation from enhanced neuronal differentiation, providing important insight into the regulation and control of NSC quiescence and differentiation. Stem Cells 2017;35:679-693.

Distinct Murine Mucosal Langerhans Cell Subsets Develop from Pre-dendritic Cells and Monocytes.

Langerhans cells (LCs) populate the mucosal epithelium, a major entry portal for pathogens, yet their ontogeny remains unclear. We found that, in contrast to skin LCs originating from self-renewing radioresistant embryonic precursors, oral mucosal LCs derive from circulating radiosensitive precursors. Mucosal LCs can be segregated into CD103(+)CD11b(lo) (CD103(+)) and CD11b(+)CD103(-) (CD11b(+)) subsets. We further demonstrated that similar to non-lymphoid dendritic cells (DCs), CD103(+) LCs originate from pre-DCs, whereas CD11b(+) LCs differentiate from both pre-DCs and monocytic precursors. Despite this ontogenetic discrepancy between skin and mucosal LCs, the transcriptomic signature and immunological function of oral LCs highly resemble those of skin LCs but not DCs. These findings, along with the epithelial position, morphology, and expression of the LC-associated phenotype strongly suggest that oral mucosal LCs are genuine LCs. Collectively, in a tissue-dependent manner, murine LCs differentiate from at least three distinct precursors (embryonic, pre-DC, and monocytic) in steady state.

Actin enables the antimicrobial action of LL-37 peptide in the presence of microbial proteases.

Host defense peptides play an important host-protective role by their microcidal action, immunomodulatory functions, and tissue repair activities. Proteolysis is a common strategy of pathogens used to neutralize host defense peptides. Here, we show that actin, the most abundant structural protein in eukaryotes, binds the LL-37 host defense peptide, protects it from degradation by the proteases of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Porphyromonas gingivalis, and enables its antimicrobial activity despite the presence of the proteases. Co-localization of LL-37 with extracellular actin was observed in necrotized regions of samples from oral lesions. Competition assays, cross-linking experiments, limited proteolysis, and mass spectrometry revealed that LL-37 binds by specific hydrophobic interactions to the His-40-Lys-50 segment of actin, located in the DNase I binding loop. The integrity of the binding site of both LL-37 and actin is a prerequisite to the binding. Our results demonstrate that actin, presumably released by dead cells and abundant in infected sites, might be utilized by the immune system to enhance spatio-temporal immunity in an attempt to arrest infection and control inflammation.

Second-generation Langerhans cells originating from epidermal precursors are essential for CD8+ T cell priming.

In vivo studies questioned the ability of Langerhans cells (LCs) to mediate CD8(+) T cell priming. To address this issue, we used intradermal immunization with plasmid DNA, a system in which activation of CD8(+) T cells depends on delayed kinetics of Ag presentation. We found that dendritic cells (DCs) located in the skin at the time of immunization have limited ability to activate CD8(+) T cells. This activity was mediated by a second generation of DCs that differentiated in the skin several days after immunization, as well as by lymph node-resident DCs. Intriguingly, CD8(+) T cell responses were not affected following treatment with clodronate liposomes, immunization of CCR2(-/-) mice, or local neutralization of CCL20. This suggests that local, rather than blood-derived, DC precursors mediate CD8(+) T cell priming. Analysis of DC differentiation in the immunized skin revealed a gradual increase in the number of CD11c(+) cells, which reached their maximum 2 wk after immunization. A similar differentiation kinetics was observed for LCs, with the majority of differentiating LCs proliferating in situ from epidermal precursors. By using B6/Langerin-diphtheria toxin receptor chimeric mice and LC ablation, we demonstrated that epidermal LCs were crucial for the elicitation of CD8(+) T cell responses in vivo. Furthermore, LCs isolated from lymph nodes 2 wk after immunization contained the immunization plasmid and directly activated Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells ex vivo. Thus, these results indicate that second-generation Ag-expressing LCs differentiating from epidermal precursors directly prime CD8(+) T cells and are essential for optimal cellular immune responses following immunization with plasmid DNA.