T cells in the brain enhance neonatal mortality during peripheral LCMV infection

Immaturity of immune cells around the dural venous sinuses contributes to viral meningoencephalitis in neonates

High neonatal susceptibility to meningitis has been attributed to the anatomical barriers that act to protect the central nervous system (CNS) from infection being immature and not fully developed. However, the mechanisms by which pathogens breach CNS barriers are poorly understood. Using the Armstrong strain of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) to study virus propagation into the CNS during systemic infection, we demonstrate that mortality in neonatal, but not adult, mice is high after infection. Virus propagated extensively from the perivenous sinus region of the dura mater to the leptomeninges, choroid plexus, and cerebral cortex. Although the structural barrier of CNS border tissues is comparable between neonates and adults, immunofluorescence staining and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses revealed that the neonatal dural immune cells are immature and predominantly composed of CD206hi macrophages, with major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII)hi macrophages being rare. In adults, however, perivenous sinus immune cells were enriched in MHCIIhi macrophages that are specialized for producing antiviral molecules and chemokines compared with CD206hi macrophages and protected the CNS against systemic virus invasion. Our findings clarify how systemic pathogens enter the CNS through its border tissues and how the immune barrier at the perivenous sinus region of the dura blocks pathogen access to the CNS.

RIG-I and MDA5 Protect Mice From Pichinde Virus Infection by Controlling Viral Replication and Regulating Immune Responses to the Infection

RIG-I and MDA5 are major cytoplasmic innate-immune sensor proteins that recognize aberrant double-stranded RNAs generated during virus infection to activate type 1 interferon (IFN-I) and IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) expressions to control virus infection. The roles of RIG-I and MDA5 in controlling replication of Pichinde virus (PICV), a mammarenavirus, in mice have not been examined. Here, we showed that MDA5 single knockout (SKO) and RIG-I/MDA5 double knockout (DKO) mice are highly susceptible to PICV infection as evidenced by their significant reduction in body weights during the course of the infection, validating the important roles of these innate-immune sensor proteins in controlling PICV infection. Compared to the wildtype mice, SKO and DKO mice infected with PICV had significantly higher virus titers and lower IFN-I expressions early in the infection but appeared to exhibit a late and heightened level of adaptive immune responses to clear the infection. When a recombinant rPICV mutant virus (rPICV-NPmut) that lacks the ability to suppress IFN-I was used to infect mice, as expected, there were heightened levels of IFN-I and ISG expressions in the wild-type mice, whereas infected SKO and DKO mice showed delayed mouse growth kinetics and relatively low, delayed, and transient levels of innate and adaptive immune responses to this viral infection. Taken together, our data suggest that PICV infection triggers activation of immune sensors that include but might not be necessarily limited to RIG-I and MDA5 to stimulate effective innate and adaptive immune responses to control virus infection in mice.