Coxsackievirus B exits the host cell in shed microvesicles displaying autophagosomal markers

This old heart: Cardiac aging and autophagy

Autophagy, a cellular housekeeping process, is essential to maintain tissue homeostasis, particularly in long-lived cells such as cardiomyocytes. Autophagic activity declines with age and may explain many features of age-related cardiac dysfunction. In this review we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding age-related changes in autophagy in the heart. Recent findings from studies in human hearts are presented, including evidence that the autophagic response is intact in the aged human heart. Impaired autophagic clearance of protein aggregates or deteriorating mitochondria will have multiple consequences including increased arrhythmia risk, decreased contractile function, reduced tolerance to ischemic stress, and increased inflammation; thus autophagy represents a potentially important therapeutic target to mitigate the cardiac consequences of aging. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled CV Aging.

BPIFB3 regulates autophagy and coxsackievirus B replication through a noncanonical pathway independent of the core initiation machinery

Enteroviruses require autophagy to facilitate the formation of autophagosome (AP)-like double-membrane vesicles that provide the scaffolding for RNA replication. Here, we identify bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 3 (BPIFB3) as a gene whose silencing greatly enhances coxsackievirus B (CVB) replication and induces dramatic alterations in the morphology of CVB-induced replication organelles. We show that BPIFB3 is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and its silencing by RNA interference enhances basal levels of autophagy and promotes increased autophagy during CVB replication. Conversely, overexpression of BPIFB3 inhibits CVB replication, dramatically alters the morphology of LC3B-positive vesicles, and suppresses autophagy in response to rapamaycin. In addition, we found that, whereas silencing of core autophagy components associated with the initiation of APs in control cells suppressed CVB replication, silencing of these same components had no effect on CVB-induced autophagy or viral replication in cells transfected with BPIFB3 small interfering RNA. Based on these results, taken together, this study reports on a previously uncharacterized regulator of enterovirus infection that controls replication through a noncanonical pathway independent from the core autophagy initiation machinery.

Coxsackievirus B (CVB) infections are commonly associated with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that accounts for nearly half of all heart transplants annually. During infection, CVB co-opts a cellular pathway, termed autophagy, to provide the membranes necessary for its replication. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process by which cells ingest damaged organelles as a means of maintaining cell homeostasis. Here, we report on a novel regulator of autophagy, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) fold-containing family B, member 3 (BPIFB3), whose expression functions to restrict CVB replication by suppressing key steps in the authophagic process. We show that loss of BPIFB3 expression greatly enhances CVB replication while having no effect on replication of poliovirus, a closely related virus. Our results thus identify a novel host cell therapeutic target whose function could be targeted to alter CVB replication.

Exosomes and other extracellular vesicles in host-pathogen interactions

An effective immune response requires the engagement of host receptors by pathogen-derived molecules and the stimulation of an appropriate cellular response. Therefore, a crucial factor in our ability to control an infection is the accessibility of our immune cells to the foreign material. Exosomes-which are extracellular vesicles that function in intercellular communication-may play a key role in the dissemination of pathogen- as well as host-derived molecules during infection. In this review, we highlight the composition and function of exosomes and other extracellular vesicles produced during viral, parasitic, fungal and bacterial infections and describe how these vesicles could function to either promote or inhibit host immunity.

MitoTimer: a novel protein for monitoring mitochondrial turnover in the heart

Mitochondrial quality control refers to the coordinated cellular systems involved in maintaining a population of healthy mitochondria. In addition to mitochondrial protein chaperones (Hsp10, Hsp60, and others) and proteases (Lon, AAA proteases) needed for refolding or degrading individual proteins, mitochondrial integrity is maintained through the regulation of protein import via the TOM/TIM complex and protein redistribution across the network via fusion and fission and through mitophagy and biogenesis, key determinants of mitochondrial turnover. A growing number of studies point to the importance of mitochondrial dynamics (fusion/fission) and mitochondrial autophagy in the heart. Mitochondrial biogenesis must keep pace with mitophagy in order to maintain a stable number of mitochondria. In this review, we will discuss the use of MitoTimer as a tool to monitor mitochondrial turnover.

Autophagy, viruses, and intestinal immunity

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To highlight recent findings that identify an essential role for the cellular degradative pathway of autophagy in governing a balanced response to intestinal pathogens and commensals.

RECENT FINDINGS

Following the genetic association of autophagy with inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility, increasing evidence indicates that this pathway functions in various epithelial lineages to support the intestinal barrier. New studies are also revealing that autophagy proteins dictate the quality and magnitude of immune responses. Mouse models, in particular, suggest that autophagy and inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility genes regulate inflammatory responses to viruses, a finding that coincides with an increasing appreciation that viruses have intricate interactions with the host and the microbiota beyond the obvious host-pathogen relationship.

SUMMARY

Autophagy and other immunological or stress response pathways intersect in mucosal immunity to dictate the response to pathogenic and commensal agents. The development of novel treatment strategies, as well as prognostic and diagnostic tools for gastrointestinal disorders, will be greatly facilitated by a deeper understanding of these interactions at the cell type and microbe-specific manner, which includes less appreciated components of the microbiota, such as eukaryotic and prokaryotic viruses.

A time to reap, a time to sow: mitophagy and biogenesis in cardiac pathophysiology

Balancing mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis is essential for maintaining a healthy population of mitochondria and cellular homeostasis. Coordinated interplay between these two forces that govern mitochondrial turnover plays an important role as an adaptive response against various cellular stresses that can compromise cell survival. Failure to maintain the critical balance between mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis or homeostatic turnover of mitochondria results in a population of dysfunctional mitochondria that contribute to various disease processes. In this review we outline the mechanics and relationships between mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis, and discuss the implications of a disrupted balance between these two forces, with an emphasis on cardiac physiology. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Mitochondria: From Basic Mitochondrial Biology to Cardiovascular Disease".

Poliovirus-induced changes in cellular membranes throughout infection

The membrane landscape of a cell often changes drastically upon infection by a virus. In the case of the well-studied positive strand RNA virus poliovirus, the short infection cycle induces vesicles and tubular structures early in infection, and double-membraned vesicles late in infection. In this review, the current understanding of membrane changes in a PV-infected cell, the host and viral factors that facilitate these changes, and how these changes may promote virus replication will be discussed. Host factors involved in membrane rearrangement during infection include components of the COPI and COPII secretory pathways, lipid kinases, and the autophagy pathway. The roles of cellular membranes include acting as a scaffold for the RNA replication complex and roles in exit of mature virus. Finally, recent studies suggesting that not all picornaviruses are truly 'non-enveloped' are discussed in the context of the field, raising the possibility that cell-derived membranes play a role in delivering poliovirus particles to the extracellular space.

Death waits for no man--does it wait for a virus? How enteroviruses induce and control cell death

Enteroviruses (EVs) are the most common human viral pathogens. They cause a variety of pathologies, including myocarditis and meningoencephalopathies, and have been linked to the onset of type I diabetes. These pathologies result from the death of cells in the myocardium, central nervous system, and pancreas, respectively. Understanding the role of EVs in inducing cell death is crucial to understanding the etiologies of these diverse pathologies. EVs both induce and delay host cell death, and their exquisite control of this balance is crucial for their success as human viral pathogens. Thus, EVs are tightly involved with cell death signaling pathways and interact with host cell signaling at multiple points. Here, we review the literature detailing the mechanisms of EV-induced cell death. We discuss the mechanisms by which EVs induce cell death, the signaling pathways involved in these pathways, and the strategies by which EVs antagonize cell death pathways. We also discuss the role of cell death in both the resulting pathology in the host and in the facilitation of viral spread.

The impact of juvenile coxsackievirus infection on cardiac progenitor cells and postnatal heart development

Coxsackievirus B (CVB) is an enterovirus that most commonly causes a self-limited febrile illness in infants, but cases of severe infection can manifest in acute myocarditis. Chronic consequences of mild CVB infection are unknown, though there is an epidemiologic association between early subclinical infections and late heart failure, raising the possibility of subtle damage leading to late-onset dysfunction, or chronic ongoing injury due to inflammatory reactions during latent infection. Here we describe a mouse model of juvenile infection with a subclinical dose of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) which showed no evident symptoms, either immediately following infection or in adult mice. However following physiological or pharmacologically-induced cardiac stress, juvenile-infected adult mice underwent cardiac hypertrophy and dilation indicative of progression to heart failure. Evaluation of the vasculature in the hearts of adult mice subjected to cardiac stress showed a compensatory increase in CD31⁺ blood vessel formation, although this effect was suppressed in juvenile-infected mice. Moreover, CVB3 efficiently infected juvenile c-kit⁺ cells, and cardiac progenitor cell numbers were reduced in the hearts of juvenile-infected adult mice. These results suggest that the exhausted cardiac progenitor cell pool following juvenile CVB3 infection may impair the heart's ability to increase capillary density to adapt to increased load.

Coxsackievirus B (CVB) is a significant human pathogen, causing myocarditis, aseptic meningitis and encephalitis. The lasting consequences of juvenile CVB infection on the developing host have yet to be adequately inspected. Here, we show that CVB efficiently infected juvenile cardiac progenitor cells both in culture and the young heart. Furthermore, we describe a mouse model of juvenile infection with a subclinical dose of CVB which showed no symptoms of disease into adulthood. However following physiological or pharmacologically-induced cardiac stress, juvenile-infected mice underwent cardiac hypertrophy and dilation indicative of progression to heart failure. These results suggest that mild CVB infection in the young host may impair the ability of the heart to adapt to increased load leading to pathological remodeling later in adult life.