A Multi-Omics Approach Reveals Features That Permit Robust and Widespread Regulation of IFN-Inducible Antiviral Effectors

The antiviral state, an initial line of defense against viral infection, is established by a set of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) encoding antiviral effector proteins. The effector ISGs are transcriptionally regulated by type I IFNs mainly via activation of IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3). In this study, the regulatory elements of effector ISGs were characterized to determine the (epi)genetic features that enable their robust induction by type I IFNs in multiple cell types. We determined the location of regulatory elements, the DNA motifs, the occupancy of ISGF3 subunits (IRF9, STAT1, and STAT2) and other transcription factors, and the chromatin accessibility of 37 effector ISGs in murine dendritic cells. The IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) and its tripartite version occurred most frequently in the regulatory elements of effector ISGs than in any other tested ISG subsets. Chromatin accessibility at their promoter regions was similar to most other ISGs but higher than at the promoters of inflammation-related cytokines, which were used as a reference gene set. Most effector ISGs (81.1%) had at least one ISGF3 binding region proximal to the transcription start site (TSS), and only a subset of effector ISGs (24.3%) was associated with three or more ISGF3 binding regions. The IRF9 signals were typically higher, and ISRE motifs were "stronger" (more similar to the canonical sequence) in TSS-proximal versus TSS-distal regulatory regions. Moreover, most TSS-proximal regulatory regions were accessible before stimulation in multiple cell types. Our results indicate that "strong" ISRE motifs and universally accessible promoter regions that permit robust, widespread induction are characteristic features of effector ISGs.

The USR domain of USF1 mediates NF-Y interactions and cooperative DNA binding

The trimeric CCAAT-binding NF-Y is a "pioneer" Transcription Factor -TF- known to cooperate with neighboring TFs to regulate gene expression. Genome-wide analyses detected a precise stereo-alignment -10/12 bp- of CCAAT with E-box elements and corresponding colocalization of NF-Y with basic-Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) TFs. We dissected here NF-Y interactions with USF1 and MAX. USF1, but not MAX, cooperates in DNA binding with NF-Y. NF-Y and USF1 synergize to activate target promoters. Reconstruction of complexes by structural means shows independent DNA binding of MAX, whereas USF1 has extended contacts with NF-Y, involving the USR, a USF-specific amino acid sequence stretch required for trans-activation. The USR is an intrinsically disordered domain and adopts different conformations based on E-box-CCAAT distances. Deletion of the USR abolishes cooperative DNA binding with NF-Y. Our data indicate that the functionality of certain unstructured domains involves adapting to small variation in stereo-alignments of the multimeric TFs sites.

IL10- and IL35-Secreting MutuDC Lines Act in Cooperation to Inhibit Memory T Cell Activation Through LAG-3 Expression

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells involved in the initiation of immune responses. We generated a tolerogenic DC (tolDC) line that constitutively secretes interleukin-10 (IL10-DCs), expressed lower levels of co-stimulatory and MHCII molecules upon stimulation, and induced antigen-specific proliferation of T cells. Vaccination with IL10-DCs combined with another tolDC line that secretes IL-35, reduced antigen-specific local inflammation in a delayed-type hypersensitivity assay independently on regulatory T cell differentiation. In an autoimmune model of rheumatoid arthritis, vaccination with the combined tolDCs after the onset of the disease impaired disease development and promoted recovery of mice. After stable memory was established, the tolDCs promoted CD4 downregulation and induced lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG-3) expression in reactivated memory T cells, reducing T cell activation. Taken together, our findings indicate the benefits of combining anti-inflammatory cytokines in an antigen-specific context to treat excessive inflammation when memory is already established.

Establishment and Characterization of a Functionally Competent Type 2 Conventional Dendritic Cell Line

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen presenting cells and possess an incomparable ability to activate and instruct T cells, which makes them one of the cornerstones in the regulation of the cross-talk between innate and adaptive immunity. Therefore, a deep understanding of DC biology lays the foundations to describe and to harness the mechanisms that regulate the development of the adaptive response, with clear implications in a vast array of fields such as the study of autoimmune diseases and the development of new vaccines. However, the great difficulty to obtain large quantities of viable non-activated DCs for experimentation have considerably hindered the progress of DC research. Several strategies have been proposed to overcome these limitations by promoting an increase of DC abundance in vivo, by inducing DC development from DC progenitors in vitro and by generating stable DC lines. In the past years, we have described a method to derive immortalized stable DC lines, named MutuDCs, from the spleens of Mushi1 mice, a transgenic mouse strain that express the simian virus 40 Large T-oncogene in the DCs. The comparison of these DC lines with the vast variety of DC subsets described in vivo has shown that all the MutuDC lines that we have generated so far have phenotypic and functional features of type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1s). With the purpose of deriving DC lines with characteristics of type 2 conventional DCs (cDC2s), we bred a new Batf3-/- Mushi1 murine line in which the development of the cDC1 subset is severely defective. The new MutuDC line that we generated from Batf3-/- Mushi1 mice was phenotypically and functionally characterized in this work. Our results demonstrated that all the tested characteristics of this new cell line, including the expression of subset-determining transcription factors, the profile of cytokine production and the ability to present antigens, are comparable with the features of splenic CD4- cDC2s. Therefore, we concluded that our new cell line, that we named CD4- MutuDC2 line, represents a valuable model for the CD4- cDC2 subset.

CD11b regulates the Treg/Th17 balance in murine arthritis via IL-6

Th17 cells are often associated with autoimmunity and been shown to be increased in CD11b^-/- mice. Here, we examined the role of CD11b in murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). C57BL/6 and CD11b^-/- resistant mice were immunized with type II collagen. CD11b^-/- mice developed arthritis with early onset, high incidence, and sustained severity compared with C57BL/6 mice. We observed a marked leukocyte infiltration, and histological examinations of the arthritic paws from CD11b^-/- mice revealed that the cartilage was destroyed in association with strong lymphocytic infiltration. The CD11b deficiency led to enhanced Th17-cell differentiation. CD11b^-/- dendritic cells (DCs) induced much stronger IL-6 production and hence Th17-cell differentiation than wild-type DCs. Treatment of CD11b^-/- mice after establishment of the Treg/Th17 balance with an anti-IL-6 receptor mAb significantly suppressed the induction of Th17 cells and reduced arthritis severity. Finally, the severe phenotype of arthritis in CD11b^-/- mice was rescued by adoptive transfer of CD11b⁺ DCs. Taken together, our results indicate that the resistance to CIA in C57BL/6 mice is regulated by CD11b via suppression of IL-6 production leading to reduced Th17-cell differentiation. Therefore, CD11b may represent a susceptibility factor for autoimmunity and could be a target for future therapy.

Derivation and Utilization of Functional CD8(+) Dendritic Cell Lines

It is notoriously difficult to obtain large quantities of non-activated dendritic cells ex vivo. For this reason, we produced and characterized a mouse model expressing the large T oncogene under the CD11c promoter (Mushi mice), in which CD8α(+) dendritic cells transform after 4 months. We derived a variety of stable cell lines from these primary lines. These cell lines reproducibly share with freshly isolated dendritic cells most surface markers, mRNA and protein expression, and all tested biological functions. Cell lines can be derived from various strains and knockout mice and can be easily transduced with lentiviruses. In this article, we describe the derivation, culture, and lentiviral transduction of these dendritic cell lines.