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The role of Toll-like receptors and related receptors of the innate immune system in asthma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The biology of the innate immunity receptors is of central importance in the host response to the environment. Identifying genetic variants that alter the innate immune response is highly relevant to understanding asthma pathogenesis. This review summarizes recent studies of the role of innate immunity receptors, including Toll-like receptors and CD14, in the pathogenesis of asthma. RECENT FINDINGS: The majority of studies published since 2004 have been genetic association studies in various clinical settings, which have found positive associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in TLR2, TLR4, TLR6 and TLR10 with asthma or atopy, although the number of studies is small and the results not yet replicated. The designs for CD14 genetic studies have been more sophisticated and have included gene-environment interaction. The results of CD14 gene associations with asthma and atopy are suggestive but have not been fully replicated. Potential reasons for non-replication of TLR and CD14 association studies include insufficient power, type I error, population heterogeneity and different phenotypes studied. In addition, there may be differences in CD14 genetic effects between childhood and adulthood, and between levels of endotoxin exposure. SUMMARY: The evidence is still being accumulated for the role of Toll-like receptor polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of asthma. There is emerging evidence for the role of CD14 polymorphisms in the development of asthma and atopy. Further studies of innate immunity in asthma and allergy are required, using rigorous study design, measurement of environmental exposure and intermediate phenotypes to demonstrate single nucleotide polymorphism functionality.

Asthma↗

Iron-withholding strategy in innate immunity.

The knowledge of how organisms fight infections has largely been built upon the ability of host innate immune molecules to recognize microbial determinants. Although of overwhelming importance, pathogen recognition is but only one of the facets of innate immunity. A primitive yet effective antimicrobial mechanism which operates by depriving microbial organisms of their nutrients has been brought into the forefront of innate immunity once again. Such a tactic is commonly referred to as the iron-withholding strategy of innate immunity. In this review, we introduce various vertebrate iron-binding proteins and their invertebrate homologues, so as to impress upon readers an obscured arm of innate immune defense. An excellent comprehension of the mechanics of innate immunity paves the way for the possibility that novel antimicrobial therapeutics may emerge one day to overcome the prevalent antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

Animals↗

A genome-wide survey reveals a diverse array of enhancers coordinate the Drosophila innate immune response.

To defend against microbes, animals regulate a complex immune response. The Drosophila innate immune system deploys a large transcriptional induction of signaling proteins, antimicrobial effectors, and other critical immune factors. This transcriptional response is encoded in enhancers, cis-regulatory sequences that modulate gene expression by binding transcription factors (TFs). While enhancers and transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) have been identified for several immune responsive genes in Drosophila, most enhancers that regulate immune-induced genes are unknown. By identifying enhancers, we can understand how their composition controls expression and contributes to infection outcome. We employed STARR-seq (Self Transcribing Active Regulatory-Region sequencing) in a hemocyte-like cell line to identify immune-specific enhancers across the D. melanogaster genome and performed ATAC-seq in hemocytes extracted from adult flies to assess the chromatin state of these enhancers before and after immune stimulus. We identified thousands of enhancers responsive to IMD stimulation, one of the two primary immune signaling pathways in Drosophila. As expected, immune enhancers are enriched for motifs of Relish, an NF-κB factor, and Kay/Jra, a bZip heterodimer pair, involved in the Imd and JNK pathways respectively, compared to enhancers active in unstimulated cells. However, when grouping enhancers by their target gene's expression timing or functional role or by the enhancers' chromatin accessibility pre- or post-stimulus, different groups of TFBS motifs are enriched, suggesting distinct regulatory logic for different parts of the immune response. Identification and characterization of the diverse array of enhancers that regulate the innate immune response expands our understanding of how animals fight infections.

Drosophila immunity↗

Innate immune molecular landscape following controlled human influenza virus infection.

Viral infections can induce prolonged changes in innate immunity. Here, we use blood samples from a human influenza H3N2 challenge study (NCT03883113) to perform comprehensive multi-omics analyses. We detect remodeling of immune programs in circulating innate immune cells that persist after resolution of the infection. We find changes associated with suppressed inflammation, including decreased cytokine and AP-1 gene expression as well as decreased accessibility at AP-1 targets and interleukin-related gene promoter regions. We also find decreased histone deacetylase gene expression, increased MAP kinase gene expression, and increased accessibility at interferon-related gene promoter regions. Genes involved in inflammation and methylation remodeling show modulation of gene-chromatin site regulatory circuit activity. These results reveal a coordinated rewiring of the molecular landscape in innate immune cells induced by mild influenza virus infection.

Humans↗

Protection of innate immunity by C5aR antagonist in septic mice.

Innate immune functions are known to be compromised during sepsis, often with lethal consequences. There is also evidence in rats that sepsis is associated with excessive complement activation and generation of the potent anaphylatoxin C5a. In the presence of a cyclic peptide antagonist (C5aRa) to the C5a receptor (C5aR), the binding of murine 125I-C5a to murine neutrophils was reduced, the in vitro chemotactic responses of mouse neutrophils to mouse C5a were markedly diminished, the acquired defect in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production of C5a-exposed neutrophils was reversed, and the lung permeability index (extravascular leakage of albumin) in mice after intrapulmonary deposition of IgG immune complexes was markedly diminished. Mice that developed sepsis after cecal ligation/puncture (CLP) and were treated with C5aRa had greatly improved survival rates. These data suggest that C5aRa interferes with neutrophil responses to C5a, preventing C5a-induced compromise of innate immunity during sepsis, with greatly improved survival rates after CLP.

Animals↗

Current and future drugs targeting one class of innate immunity receptors: the Toll-like receptors.

Innate immunity receptors are germline-encoded receptors that can sense molecular signatures of pathogens and cancer cells. Recent advances in immunology demonstrate the key role of these receptors in inflammation and initiation of subsequent immune responses, including adaptive immunity. Pharmaceutical interest in this field has grown with the retrospective demonstration that some marketed drugs targeting cancer or infectious diseases act via those receptors. In this review, I present an update on the scientific rationale for targeting one class of innate immunity receptor, the Toll-like receptors, and an update on the development status of corresponding drug candidates in infectious diseases, cancer, allergy and vaccines.

Animals↗

Nod1 participates in the innate immune response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The mammalian innate immune system recognizes pathogen-associated molecular patterns through pathogen recognition receptors. Nod1 has been described recently as a cytosolic receptor that detects specifically diaminopimelate-containing muropeptides from Gram-negative bacteria peptidoglycan. In the present study we investigated the potential role of Nod1 in the innate immune response against the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We demonstrate that Nod1 detects the P. aeruginosa peptidoglycan leading to NF-kappaB activation and that this activity is diminished in epithelial cells expressing a dominant-negative Nod1 construct or in mouse embryonic fibroblasts from Nod1 knock-out mice infected with P. aeruginosa. Finally, we demonstrate that the cytokine secretion kinetics and bacterial killing are altered in Nod1-deficient cells infected with P. aeruginosa in the early stages of infection.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Expression patterns and action analysis of genes associated with physiological responses during rat liver regeneration: Innate immune response.

AIM: To study the relationship between innate immune response and liver regeneration (LR) at transcriptional level. METHODS: Genes associated with innate immunity response were obtained by collecting the data from databases and retrieving articles. Gene expression changes in rat regenerating liver were detected by rat genome 230 2.0 array. RESULTS: A total of 85 genes were found to be associated with LR. The initially and totally expressed number of genes at the phases of initiation [0.5-4 h after partial hepatectomy (PH)], transition from G0 to G1 (4-6 h after PH), cell proliferation (6-66 h after PH), cell differentiation and structure-function reconstruction (66-168 h after PH) was 36, 9, 47, 4 and 36, 26, 78, 50, respectively, illustrating that the associated genes were mainly triggered at the initial phase of LR and worked at different phases. According to their expression similarity, these genes were classified into 5 types: 41 up-regulated, 4 predominantly up-regulated, 26 down-regulated, 6 predominantly down-regulated, and 8 approximately up/down-regulated genes, respectively. The expression of these genes was up-regulated 350 times and down-regulated 129 times respectively, demonstrating that the expression of most genes was enhanced while the expression of a small number of genes was decreased during LR. Their time relevance was classified into 14 groups, showing that the cellular physiological and biochemical activities during LR were staggered. According to the gene expression patterns, they were classified into 28 types, indicating that the cellular physiological and biochemical activities were diverse and complicated during LR. CONCLUSION: Congenital cellular immunity is enhanced mainly in the forepart, prophase and anaphase of LR while congenital molecular immunity is increased dominantly in the forepart and anaphase of LR. A total of 85 genes associated with LR play an important role in innate immunity.

Animals↗

Innate immunity and its role against infections.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This article reviews current concepts of the innate immune system that offers protection against infections. It offers an overview for the readers to understand how innate immunity, consisting of different receptors, cells, and mediators recognizes pathogens and exerts protective function against pathogens. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: MEDLINE-search articles including original research papers, review articles, textbooks, and references identified from bibliographies of relevant articles. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The innate immune system is nonspecific immunity present since birth not requiring repeated exposure to pathogens. It is capable of differentiation between self and nonself. Because of its nonspecificity, it has a broad spectrum of resistance to infection. Further, it is thought to play an important role in the control of adaptive immunity by regulating co-stimulatory molecules and effector cytokines. Innate immunity includes pattern recognition molecules/receptors, antimicrobial peptides, the complement system, inflammatory mediators, and cytokines produced by immune cells. Pattern recognition molecules/receptors recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns that are essential for microorganisms' survival and pathogenicity. Although innate immunity has recently gained increasing importance, further studies are necessary for a better understanding of its role.

Animals↗

Aging of the innate immune response in Drosophila melanogaster.

Increased activation of the innate immune system is a common feature of aging animals, including mammals and Drosophila melanogaster. With age, D. melanogaster progressively express higher levels of many antimicrobial peptides. It is unknown, however, whether this pattern reflects age-dependent changes in the function of the immune system itself or arises simply because aged adults have greater cumulative exposure to pathogens. Here we demonstrate that aged D. melanogaster transcribe more antimicrobial diptericin when experimentally exposed to septic bacterial infections. This strong net response in older females is the result of persistent diptericin transcription upon septic exposure, whereas young females rapidly terminate this induction. In contrast to their response to septic exposure, when exposed to killed bacteria aged females have less capacity to induce diptericin. Because this functional capacity of innate immunity declines with age, we conclude that female Drosophila undergo immune senescence. Furthermore, we show that fecundity is reduced by induction of innate immunity via the immune deficiency pathway. Consequently, maximum reproduction will occur when the immune response is tightly controlled in young females, even if this increases infection risk at later ages.

Aging↗

Comparison of select innate immune mechanisms of fish and mammals.

The study of innate immunity has become increasingly popular since the discovery of homologs of many of the innate immune system components and pathways in lower organisms including invertebrates. As fish occupy a key position in the evolution of the innate and adaptive immune responses, there has been a great deal of interest regarding similarities and differences between their defense mechanisms and those of higher vertebrates. This review focuses on describing select mechanisms of the innate immune responses of fish and the implications for evolution of immunity in higher vertebrates.

Animals↗

Pulmonary surfactant in innate immunity and the pathogenesis of tuberculosis.

Components of the innate immune system serve to protect the host from invading pathogens prior to the generation of a directed immune response, and influence the manner in which the directed immune response develops. The pulmonary surfactant system consists of a complex array of proteins and lipids that reduce surface tension of the alveoli, and appears to play an essential role in innate immunity. Investigators have recently gained insight into the interactions between components of the surfactant system and the respiratory pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is likely that pulmonary surfactant and other innate immune determinants play significant roles in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis.

Animals↗

Innate immune relationship between commensal flora and the mammalian intestinal epithelium.

Commensal bacteria in the lumen of the intestine exist in a mutually advantageous relationship with the mammalian host, providing benefits such as increased metabolic/digestive capabilities and exclusion of harmful microbes, and in turn receiving a nutrient-rich environment. However, in the context of a dysfunctional intestinal epithelial barrier, commensal bacteria may elicit an immune inflammatory response similar to what occurs during infection by a pathogen. Recent work has established that most eukaryotic cells possess families of receptors that can detect the structural signatures of prokaryotic life. Cells may respond to the perception of microbes by activating distinct cytoplasmic signaling cascades that ultimately result in the transcriptional activation of genes needed for proinflammatory and anti-apoptotic functions, as well as for a pro-apoptotic response. Collectively, these responses generally suffice to eliminate microbial threats and may be integral to normal intestinal homeostasis. An understanding of these mechanisms, as well as those by which microbes themselves influence intestinal epithelial responses, may help provide a new perspective on the pathogenesis of intestinal diseases.

Animals↗

Bacterial modulation of mucosal innate immunity.

The human gut harbours a diverse population of non-pathogenic, commensal bacteria whose contribution to gastrointestinal health and disease is now recognised. This microflora plays an important role in the development and expansion of lymphoid tissues and in the maintenance and regulation of gut immunity. A critical feature of the mucosal immune system is the ability to discriminate between harmful pathogens and the harmless members of the commensal flora. This is achieved in part, by an evolutionary-conserved family of cell surface and cytosolic receptors, referred to as toll-like receptors (TLRs), which function in microbial recognition. Appropriate activation of TLRs has been demonstrated as an essential component of host immunity against pathogens but is also vital for immune homeostasis. The ability of TLRs to discriminate between pathogens and commensals is not clear cut, however, and hence complex regulatory systems, derived both from host and bacterial origin, appear to reinforce and support this system. Host factors that modulate and alter TLR-mediated signaling have recently been defined and are thought to control the level of immune activation. Similarly, certain gut bacteria are also recognised to suppress unnecessary inflammatory responses, thereby helping to maintain immune homeostasis. Their relative contribution to these regulatory processes is currently unknown. The host transcription factor, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) has been consistently identified as an important target molecule for bacterial regulation. NF-kappaB, which is also essential for immune activation, is an important therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Hence, the possibility exists that bacterially derived effector molecules, with defined modes of action, may have clinical relevance and application.

Animals↗

The oligopeptide transporter hPepT1: gateway to the innate immune response.

Bacterial products that are normally present in the lumen of the colon, such as N-formylated peptides and muramyl-dipeptide, are important for inducing the development of mucosal inflammation. The intestinal dipeptide transporter, hPepT1, which is expressed in inflamed but not in noninflamed colonic epithelial cells, mediates the transport of these bacterial products into the cytosol of colonic epithelial cells. The small bacterial peptides subsequently induce an inflammatory response, including the induction of MHC class I molecules expression and cytokines secretion, via the activation of nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins, for example NOD2, and activation of NF-kappaB. Subsequent secretion of chemoattractants by colonic epithelial cells induces the movement of neutrophils through the underlying matrix, as well as across the epithelium. These bacterial products can also reach the lamina propria through the paracellular pathway and across the basolateral membrane of epithelial cells. As a consequence, small formylated peptides can interact directly with immune cells through specific membrane receptors. Since immune cells, including macrophages, also express hPepT1, they can transport small bacterial peptides into the cytosol where these may interact with the NBS-LRR family of intracellular receptors. As in intestinal epithelial cells, the presence of these small bacterial peptides in immune cells may trigger immune response activation.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Lipid-containing mimetics of natural triggers of innate immunity as CTL-inducing influenza vaccines.

Anti-viral CD8(+) T cell responses can be induced using synthetic lipopeptides and a range of different lipid moieties have been examined in a variety of model systems and in man for this purpose. Nevertheless, only limited data exist on comparative efficacy of different lipopeptides in a single model of protection so that the optimal composition for vaccination purposes remains unknown. In this study, we examined different lipid structures from bacterial or non-bacterial sources coupled to peptides representing influenza viral epitopes recognized by CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells. These were assessed in the context of intra-nasal (i.n.) immunization in the absence of added adjuvant. The strongest immunogens were those containing bacterially derived lipids that induced dendritic cell (DC) maturation via Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) binding. The number of DCs induced to mature in vitro was directly associated with the strength of the CD8(+) T cell-mediated viral clearing responses in primed mice. Mice immunized with the TLR2-binding lipopeptides showed greatly enhanced numbers of specific IFN-gamma-secreting CD8(+) T cells at the site of infection after i.n. exposure to virus, which resulted in enhanced protection of the pneumonic lung. Importantly, lipopeptide-pulsed DCs were able to induce the appropriate T cells, indicating that the self-adjuvanting effects could occur in the absence of free lipopeptide interacting with additional TLR2-bearing cells in vivo. This study defines a hierarchy of lipopeptide constructs that can program DC to prime memory CD8(+) T cells that on recall function to clear influenza virus from the infected lung.

Amino Acid Sequence↗