Effects of Atrazine exposure on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells assessed by combinatorial assay matrix

IntroductionMesenchymal Stromal/Stem cells (MSCs) are an essential component of the regenerative and immunoregulatory stem cell compartment of the human body and thus of major importance in human physiology. The MSCs elicit their beneficial properties through a multitude of complementary mechanisms, which makes it challenging to assess their phenotype and function in environmental toxicity screening. We here employed the novel combinatorial assays matrix approach/technology to profile the MSC response to the herbicide Atrazine, which is a common environmental xenobiotic, that is in widespread agricultural use in the US and other countries, but banned in the EU. Our here presented approach is representative for screening the impact of environmental xenobiotics and toxins on MSCs as an essential representative component of human physiology and well-being.MethodsWe here employed the combinatorial assay matrix approach, including a panel of well standardized assays, such as flow cytometry, multiplex secretome analysis, and metabolic assays, to define the phenotype and functionality of human-donor-derived primary MSCs exposed to the representative xenobiotic Atrazine. This assay matrix approach is now also endorsed for characterization of cell therapies by leading regulatory agencies, such as FDA and EMA.ResultsOur results show that the exposure to Atrazine modulates the metabolic activity, size, and granularity of MSCs in a dose and time dependent manner. Intriguingly, Atrazine exposure leads to a broad modulation of the MSCs secretome (both upregulation and downmodulation of certain factors) with the identification of Interleukin-8 as the topmost upregulated representative secretory molecule. Interestingly, Atrazine attenuates IFNγ-induced upregulation of MHC-class-II, but not MHC-class-I, and early phosphorylation signals on MSCs. Furthermore, Atrazine exposure attenuates IFNγ responsive secretome of MSCs. Mechanistic knockdown analysis identified that the Atrazine-induced effector molecule Interleukin-8 affects only certain but not all the related angiogenic secretome of MSCs.DiscussionThe here described Combinatorial Assay Matrix Technology identified that Atrazine affects both the innate/resting and cytokine-induced/stimulated assay matrix functionality of human MSCs, as identified through the modulation of selective, but not all effector molecules, thus vouching for the great usefulness of this approach to study the impact of xenobiotics on this important human cellular subset involved in the regenerative healing responses in humans

Semen-Derived Amyloid Fibrils Drastically Enhance HIV Infection

SummarySexual intercourse is the major route of HIV transmission. To identify endogenous factors that affect the efficiency of sexual viral transmission, we screened a complex peptide/protein library derived from human semen. We show that naturally occurring fragments of the abundant semen marker prostatic acidic phosphatase (PAP) form amyloid fibrils. These fibrils, termed Semen-derived Enhancer of Virus Infection (SEVI), capture HIV virions and promote their attachment to target cells, thereby enhancing the infectious virus titer by several orders of magnitude. Physiological concentrations of SEVI amplified HIV infection of T cells, macrophages, ex vivo human tonsillar tissues, and transgenic rats in vivo, as well as trans-HIV infection of T cells by dendritic or epithelial cells. Amyloidogenic PAP fragments are abundant in seminal fluid and boost semen-mediated enhancement of HIV infection. Thus, they may play an important role in sexual transmission of HIV and could represent new targets for its prevention

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3.1 HIV and AIDS-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 3.2 AIDS therapy and HIV-1 drug resistance------------------------------------------- 7 3.3 Multiple drug targets in HIV-1 entry------------------------------------------------ 8 3.4 T-20, a first generation fusion inhibitor---------------------------------------------

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Variants Resistant to First- and Second-Version Fusion Inhibitors and Cytopathic in Ex Vivo Human Lymphoid Tissue▿

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) fusion inhibitors blocking viral entry by binding the gp41 heptad repeat 1 (HR1) region offer great promise for antiretroviral therapy, and the first of these inhibitors, T20 (Fuzeon; enfuvirtide), is successfully used in the clinic. It has been reported previously that changes in the 3-amino-acid GIV motif at positions 36 to 38 of gp41 HR1 mediate resistance to T20 but usually not to second-version fusion inhibitors, such as T1249, which target an overlapping but distinct region in HR1 including a conserved hydrophobic pocket (HP). Based on the common lack of cross-resistance and the difficulty of selecting T1249-resistant HIV-1 variants, it has been suggested that the determinants of resistance to first- and second-version fusion inhibitors may be different. To further assess HIV-1 resistance to fusion inhibitors and to analyze where changes in HR1 are tolerated, we randomized 16 codons in the HR1 region, including those making contact with HR2 codons and/or encoding residues in the GIV motif and the HP. We found that changes only at positions 37I, 38V, and 40Q near the N terminus of HR1 were tolerated. The propagation of randomly gp41-mutated HIV-1 variants in the presence of T1249 allowed the effective selection of highly resistant forms, all containing changes in the IV residues. Overall, the extent of T1249 resistance was inversely correlated to viral fitness and cytopathicity. Notably, one HIV-1 mutant showing ∼10-fold-reduced susceptibility to T1249 inhibition replicated with wild type-like kinetics and caused substantial CD4+-T-cell depletion in ex vivo-infected human lymphoid tissue in the presence and absence of an inhibitor. Taken together, our results show that the GIV motif also plays a key role in resistance to second-version fusion inhibitors and suggest that some resistant HIV-1 variants may be pathogenic in vivo

From Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms to Constant Immunosuppression: Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Autoimmune Diseases

The regenerative abilities and the immunosuppressive properties of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) make them potentially the ideal cellular product of choice for treatment of autoimmune and other immune mediated disorders. Although the usefulness of MSCs for therapeutic applications is in early phases, their potential clinical use remains of great interest. Current clinical evidence of use of MSCs from both autologous and allogeneic sources to treat autoimmune disorders confers conflicting clinical benefit outcomes. These varied results may possibly be due to MSC use across wide range of autoimmune disorders with clinical heterogeneity or due to variability of the cellular product. In the light of recent genome wide association studies (GWAS), linking predisposition of autoimmune diseases to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the susceptible genetic loci, the clinical relevance of MSCs possessing SNPs in the critical effector molecules of immunosuppression is largely undiscussed. It is of further interest in the allogeneic setting, where SNPs in the target pathway of MSC's intervention may also modulate clinical outcome. In the present review, we have discussed the known critical SNPs predisposing to disease susceptibility in various autoimmune diseases and their significance in the immunomodulatory properties of MSCs