Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00124-z
Adomas Liugaila, Agnes Stefansdottir, Norah Spears
{"title":"Can we manipulate the ovary's own metabolism to protect it from chemotherapy-induced damage?","authors":"Adomas Liugaila, Agnes Stefansdottir, Norah Spears","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00124-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00124-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2274-2275"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473692/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142125157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-08-23DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00112-3
Maj-Britt Buchholz, Demi I Scheerman, Riccardo Levato, Ellen J Wehrens, Anne C Rios
The human mammary gland represents a highly organized and dynamic tissue, uniquely characterized by postnatal developmental cycles. During pregnancy and lactation, it undergoes extensive hormone-stimulated architectural remodeling, culminating in the formation of specialized structures for milk production to nourish offspring. Moreover, it carries significant health implications, due to the high prevalence of breast cancer. Therefore, gaining insight into the unique biology of the mammary gland can have implications for managing breast cancer and promoting the well-being of both women and infants. Tissue engineering techniques hold promise to narrow the translational gap between existing breast models and clinical outcomes. Here, we provide an overview of the current landscape of breast tissue engineering, outline key requirements, and the challenges to overcome for achieving more predictive human breast models. We propose methods to validate breast function and highlight preclinical applications for improved understanding and targeting of breast cancer. Beyond mammary gland physiology, representative human breast models can offer new insight into stem cell biology and developmental processes that could extend to other organs and clinical contexts.
{"title":"Human breast tissue engineering in health and disease.","authors":"Maj-Britt Buchholz, Demi I Scheerman, Riccardo Levato, Ellen J Wehrens, Anne C Rios","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00112-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00112-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The human mammary gland represents a highly organized and dynamic tissue, uniquely characterized by postnatal developmental cycles. During pregnancy and lactation, it undergoes extensive hormone-stimulated architectural remodeling, culminating in the formation of specialized structures for milk production to nourish offspring. Moreover, it carries significant health implications, due to the high prevalence of breast cancer. Therefore, gaining insight into the unique biology of the mammary gland can have implications for managing breast cancer and promoting the well-being of both women and infants. Tissue engineering techniques hold promise to narrow the translational gap between existing breast models and clinical outcomes. Here, we provide an overview of the current landscape of breast tissue engineering, outline key requirements, and the challenges to overcome for achieving more predictive human breast models. We propose methods to validate breast function and highlight preclinical applications for improved understanding and targeting of breast cancer. Beyond mammary gland physiology, representative human breast models can offer new insight into stem cell biology and developmental processes that could extend to other organs and clinical contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2299-2321"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142046516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-16DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00127-w
Carolina M Andrade, Manuela Carrasquilla, Usama Dabbas, Jessica Briggs, Hannah van Dijk, Nikolay Sergeev, Awa Sissoko, Moussa Niangaly, Christina Ntalla, Emily LaVerriere, Jeff Skinner, Klara Golob, Jeremy Richter, Hamidou Cisse, Shanping Li, Jason A Hendry, Muhammad Asghar, Didier Doumtabe, Anna Farnert, Thomas Ruppert, Daniel E Neafsey, Kassoum Kayentao, Safiatou Doumbo, Aissata Ongoiba, Peter D Crompton, Boubacar Traore, Bryan Greenhouse, Silvia Portugal
Persistence of malaria parasites in asymptomatic hosts is crucial in areas of seasonally-interrupted transmission, where P. falciparum bridges wet seasons months apart. During the dry season, infected erythrocytes exhibit extended circulation with reduced cytoadherence, increasing the risk of splenic clearance of infected cells and hindering parasitaemia increase. However, what determines parasite persistence for long periods of time remains unknown. Here, we investigated whether seasonality affects plasma composition so that P. falciparum can detect and adjust to changing serological cues; or if alternatively, parasite infection length dictates clinical presentation and persistency. Data from Malian children exposed to alternating ~6-month wet and dry seasons show that plasma composition is unrelated to time of year in non-infected children, and that carrying P. falciparum only minimally affects plasma constitution in asymptomatic hosts. Parasites persisting in the blood of asymptomatic children from the dry into the ensuing wet season rarely if ever appeared to cause malaria in their hosts as seasons changed. In vitro culture in the presence of plasma collected in the dry or the wet seasons did not affect parasite development, replication or host-cell remodelling. The absence of a parasite-encoded sensing mechanism was further supported by the observation of similar features in P. falciparum persisting asymptomatically in the dry season and parasites in age- and sex-matched asymptomatic children in the wet season. Conversely, we show that P. falciparum clones transmitted early in the wet season had lower chance of surviving until the end of the following dry season, contrasting with a higher likelihood of survival of clones transmitted towards the end of the wet season, allowing for the re-initiation of transmission. We propose that the decreased virulence observed in persisting parasites during the dry season is not due to the parasites sensing ability, nor is it linked to a decreased capacity for parasite replication but rather a consequence decreased cytoadhesion associated with infection length.
{"title":"Infection length and host environment influence on Plasmodium falciparum dry season reservoir.","authors":"Carolina M Andrade, Manuela Carrasquilla, Usama Dabbas, Jessica Briggs, Hannah van Dijk, Nikolay Sergeev, Awa Sissoko, Moussa Niangaly, Christina Ntalla, Emily LaVerriere, Jeff Skinner, Klara Golob, Jeremy Richter, Hamidou Cisse, Shanping Li, Jason A Hendry, Muhammad Asghar, Didier Doumtabe, Anna Farnert, Thomas Ruppert, Daniel E Neafsey, Kassoum Kayentao, Safiatou Doumbo, Aissata Ongoiba, Peter D Crompton, Boubacar Traore, Bryan Greenhouse, Silvia Portugal","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00127-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00127-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Persistence of malaria parasites in asymptomatic hosts is crucial in areas of seasonally-interrupted transmission, where P. falciparum bridges wet seasons months apart. During the dry season, infected erythrocytes exhibit extended circulation with reduced cytoadherence, increasing the risk of splenic clearance of infected cells and hindering parasitaemia increase. However, what determines parasite persistence for long periods of time remains unknown. Here, we investigated whether seasonality affects plasma composition so that P. falciparum can detect and adjust to changing serological cues; or if alternatively, parasite infection length dictates clinical presentation and persistency. Data from Malian children exposed to alternating ~6-month wet and dry seasons show that plasma composition is unrelated to time of year in non-infected children, and that carrying P. falciparum only minimally affects plasma constitution in asymptomatic hosts. Parasites persisting in the blood of asymptomatic children from the dry into the ensuing wet season rarely if ever appeared to cause malaria in their hosts as seasons changed. In vitro culture in the presence of plasma collected in the dry or the wet seasons did not affect parasite development, replication or host-cell remodelling. The absence of a parasite-encoded sensing mechanism was further supported by the observation of similar features in P. falciparum persisting asymptomatically in the dry season and parasites in age- and sex-matched asymptomatic children in the wet season. Conversely, we show that P. falciparum clones transmitted early in the wet season had lower chance of surviving until the end of the following dry season, contrasting with a higher likelihood of survival of clones transmitted towards the end of the wet season, allowing for the re-initiation of transmission. We propose that the decreased virulence observed in persisting parasites during the dry season is not due to the parasites sensing ability, nor is it linked to a decreased capacity for parasite replication but rather a consequence decreased cytoadhesion associated with infection length.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2349-2375"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473648/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00123-0
Thomas E Harrison, Nawsad Alam, Brendan Farrell, Doris Quinkert, Amelia M Lias, Lloyd D W King, Lea K Barfod, Simon J Draper, Ivan Campeotto, Matthew K Higgins
There is an urgent need for improved malaria vaccine immunogens. Invasion of erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum is essential for its life cycle, preceding symptoms of disease and parasite transmission. Antibodies which target PfRH5 are highly effective at preventing erythrocyte invasion and the most potent growth-inhibitory antibodies bind a single epitope. Here we use structure-guided approaches to design a small synthetic immunogen, RH5-34EM which recapitulates this epitope. Structural biology and biophysics demonstrate that RH5-34EM is correctly folded and binds neutralising monoclonal antibodies with nanomolar affinity. In immunised rats, RH5-34EM induces PfRH5-targeting antibodies that inhibit parasite growth. While PfRH5-specific antibodies were induced at a lower concentration by RH5-34EM than by PfRH5, RH5-34EM induced antibodies that were a thousand-fold more growth-inhibitory as a factor of PfRH5-specific antibody concentration. Finally, we show that priming with RH5-34EM and boosting with PfRH5 achieves the best balance between antibody quality and quantity and induces the most effective growth-inhibitory response. This rationally designed vaccine immunogen is now available for use as part of future malaria vaccines, alone or in combination with other immunogens.
{"title":"Rational structure-guided design of a blood stage malaria vaccine immunogen presenting a single epitope from PfRH5.","authors":"Thomas E Harrison, Nawsad Alam, Brendan Farrell, Doris Quinkert, Amelia M Lias, Lloyd D W King, Lea K Barfod, Simon J Draper, Ivan Campeotto, Matthew K Higgins","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00123-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00123-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is an urgent need for improved malaria vaccine immunogens. Invasion of erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum is essential for its life cycle, preceding symptoms of disease and parasite transmission. Antibodies which target PfRH5 are highly effective at preventing erythrocyte invasion and the most potent growth-inhibitory antibodies bind a single epitope. Here we use structure-guided approaches to design a small synthetic immunogen, RH5-34EM which recapitulates this epitope. Structural biology and biophysics demonstrate that RH5-34EM is correctly folded and binds neutralising monoclonal antibodies with nanomolar affinity. In immunised rats, RH5-34EM induces PfRH5-targeting antibodies that inhibit parasite growth. While PfRH5-specific antibodies were induced at a lower concentration by RH5-34EM than by PfRH5, RH5-34EM induced antibodies that were a thousand-fold more growth-inhibitory as a factor of PfRH5-specific antibody concentration. Finally, we show that priming with RH5-34EM and boosting with PfRH5 achieves the best balance between antibody quality and quantity and induces the most effective growth-inhibitory response. This rationally designed vaccine immunogen is now available for use as part of future malaria vaccines, alone or in combination with other immunogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2539-2559"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473951/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142119267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-06DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00135-w
Brigitta Stockinger, Oscar E Diaz, Emma Wincent
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is a ligand dependent transcription factor which functions as an environmental sensor. Originally discovered as the sensor for man made pollutants such as 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) it has recently gained prominence as an important mediator for environmental triggers via the diet or microbiota which influences many physiological functions in different cell types and tissues across the body. Notably AHR activity contributes to prevent excessive inflammation following tissue damage in barrier organs such as skin, lung or gut which has received wide attention in the past decade. In this review we will focus on emerging common AHR functions across cell types and tissues and discuss ongoing issues that confound the understanding of AHR physiology. Furthermore, we will discuss the need for deeper molecular understanding of the functional activity of AHR in different contexts with respect to development of potential therapeutic applications.
{"title":"The influence of AHR on immune and tissue biology.","authors":"Brigitta Stockinger, Oscar E Diaz, Emma Wincent","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00135-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00135-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is a ligand dependent transcription factor which functions as an environmental sensor. Originally discovered as the sensor for man made pollutants such as 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) it has recently gained prominence as an important mediator for environmental triggers via the diet or microbiota which influences many physiological functions in different cell types and tissues across the body. Notably AHR activity contributes to prevent excessive inflammation following tissue damage in barrier organs such as skin, lung or gut which has received wide attention in the past decade. In this review we will focus on emerging common AHR functions across cell types and tissues and discuss ongoing issues that confound the understanding of AHR physiology. Furthermore, we will discuss the need for deeper molecular understanding of the functional activity of AHR in different contexts with respect to development of potential therapeutic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2290-2298"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473696/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142145402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00125-y
Mihyun Bae, Junyeop Daniel Roh, Youjoung Kim, Seong Soon Kim, Hye Min Han, Esther Yang, Hyojin Kang, Suho Lee, Jin Yong Kim, Ryeonghwa Kang, Hwajin Jung, Taesun Yoo, Hyosang Kim, Doyoun Kim, Heejeong Oh, Sungwook Han, Dayeon Kim, Jinju Han, Yong Chul Bae, Hyun Kim, Sunjoo Ahn, Andrew M Chan, Daeyoup Lee, Jin Woo Kim, Eunjoon Kim
{"title":"Author Correction: SLC6A20 transporter: a novel regulator of brain glycine homeostasis and NMDAR function.","authors":"Mihyun Bae, Junyeop Daniel Roh, Youjoung Kim, Seong Soon Kim, Hye Min Han, Esther Yang, Hyojin Kang, Suho Lee, Jin Yong Kim, Ryeonghwa Kang, Hwajin Jung, Taesun Yoo, Hyosang Kim, Doyoun Kim, Heejeong Oh, Sungwook Han, Dayeon Kim, Jinju Han, Yong Chul Bae, Hyun Kim, Sunjoo Ahn, Andrew M Chan, Daeyoup Lee, Jin Woo Kim, Eunjoon Kim","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00125-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00125-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2653"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473947/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142145400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-08-28DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00118-x
Hemanth Tummala, Amanda J Walne, Mohsin Badat, Manthan Patel, Abigail M Walne, Jenna Alnajar, Chi Ching Chow, Ibtehal Albursan, Jennifer M Frost, David Ballard, Sally Killick, Peter Szitányi, Anne M Kelly, Manoj Raghavan, Corrina Powell, Reinier Raymakers, Tony Todd, Elpis Mantadakis, Sophia Polychronopoulou, Nikolas Pontikos, Tianyi Liao, Pradeep Madapura, Upal Hossain, Tom Vulliamy, Inderjeet Dokal
Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a rare inherited bone marrow failure syndrome, caused by genetic mutations that principally affect telomere biology. Approximately 35% of cases remain uncharacterised at the genetic level. To explore the genetic landscape, we conducted genetic studies on a large collection of clinically diagnosed cases of DC as well as cases exhibiting features resembling DC, referred to as 'DC-like' (DCL). This led us to identify several novel pathogenic variants within known genetic loci and in the novel X-linked gene, POLA1. In addition, we have also identified several novel variants in POT1 and ZCCHC8 in multiple cases from different families expanding the allelic series of DC and DCL phenotypes. Functional characterisation of novel POLA1 and POT1 variants, revealed pathogenic effects on protein-protein interactions with primase, CTC1-STN1-TEN1 (CST) and shelterin subunit complexes, that are critical for telomere maintenance. ZCCHC8 variants demonstrated ZCCHC8 deficiency and signs of pervasive transcription, triggering inflammation in patients' blood. In conclusion, our studies expand the current genetic architecture and broaden our understanding of disease mechanisms underlying DC and DCL disorders.
先天性角化不良症(DC)是一种罕见的遗传性骨髓衰竭综合征,由主要影响端粒生物学的基因突变引起。大约 35% 的病例在基因水平上仍未定性。为了探索遗传特征,我们对大量临床诊断的DC病例以及表现出类似DC特征的病例(被称为 "类DC"(DCL))进行了遗传研究。这使我们在已知基因位点和新型 X 连锁基因 POLA1 中发现了几个新的致病变体。此外,我们还在不同家族的多个病例中发现了 POT1 和 ZCCHC8 的几个新型变体,从而扩大了 DC 和 DCL 表型的等位基因系列。对新型 POLA1 和 POT1 变体的功能特性分析表明,这些变体对与引物酶、CTC1-STN1-TEN1(CST)和庇护素亚基复合物的蛋白-蛋白相互作用有致病作用,而蛋白-蛋白相互作用对端粒的维持至关重要。ZCCHC8变体显示了ZCCHC8缺乏和普遍转录的迹象,引发了患者血液中的炎症。总之,我们的研究扩展了当前的遗传结构,并拓宽了我们对DC和DCL疾病机制的理解。
{"title":"The evolving genetic landscape of telomere biology disorder dyskeratosis congenita.","authors":"Hemanth Tummala, Amanda J Walne, Mohsin Badat, Manthan Patel, Abigail M Walne, Jenna Alnajar, Chi Ching Chow, Ibtehal Albursan, Jennifer M Frost, David Ballard, Sally Killick, Peter Szitányi, Anne M Kelly, Manoj Raghavan, Corrina Powell, Reinier Raymakers, Tony Todd, Elpis Mantadakis, Sophia Polychronopoulou, Nikolas Pontikos, Tianyi Liao, Pradeep Madapura, Upal Hossain, Tom Vulliamy, Inderjeet Dokal","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00118-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00118-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a rare inherited bone marrow failure syndrome, caused by genetic mutations that principally affect telomere biology. Approximately 35% of cases remain uncharacterised at the genetic level. To explore the genetic landscape, we conducted genetic studies on a large collection of clinically diagnosed cases of DC as well as cases exhibiting features resembling DC, referred to as 'DC-like' (DCL). This led us to identify several novel pathogenic variants within known genetic loci and in the novel X-linked gene, POLA1. In addition, we have also identified several novel variants in POT1 and ZCCHC8 in multiple cases from different families expanding the allelic series of DC and DCL phenotypes. Functional characterisation of novel POLA1 and POT1 variants, revealed pathogenic effects on protein-protein interactions with primase, CTC1-STN1-TEN1 (CST) and shelterin subunit complexes, that are critical for telomere maintenance. ZCCHC8 variants demonstrated ZCCHC8 deficiency and signs of pervasive transcription, triggering inflammation in patients' blood. In conclusion, our studies expand the current genetic architecture and broaden our understanding of disease mechanisms underlying DC and DCL disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2560-2582"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473520/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142092505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There are a limited number of effective vaccines against dengue virus (DENV) and significant efforts are being made to develop potent anti-virals. Previously, we described that platelet-chemokine CXCL4 negatively regulates interferon (IFN)-α/β synthesis and promotes DENV2 replication. An antagonist to CXCR3 (CXCL4 receptor) reversed it and inhibited viral replication. In a concurrent search, we identified CXCR3-antagonist from our compound library, namely 7D, which inhibited all serotypes of DENV in vitro. With a half-life of ~2.85 h in plasma and no significant toxicity, 7D supplementation (8 mg/kg-body-weight) to DENV2-infected IFNα/β/γR-/-AG129 or wild-type C57BL6 mice increased synthesis of IFN-α/β and IFN-λ, and rescued disease symptoms like thrombocytopenia, leukopenia and vascular-leakage, with improved survival. 7D, having the property to inhibit Sirt-1 deacetylase, promoted acetylation and phosphorylation of STAT3, which in-turn increased plasmablast proliferation, germinal-center maturation and synthesis of neutralizing-antibodies against DENV2 in mice. A STAT3-inhibitor successfully inhibited these effects of 7D. Together, these observations identify compound 7D as a stimulator of IFN-α/β/λ synthesis via CXCL4:CXCR3:p38:IRF3 signaling, and a booster for neutralizing-antibody generation by promoting STAT3-acetylation in plasmablasts, capable of protecting dengue infection.
{"title":"7D, a small molecule inhibits dengue infection by increasing interferons and neutralizing-antibodies via CXCL4:CXCR3:p38:IRF3 and Sirt1:STAT3 axes respectively.","authors":"Kishan Kumar Gaur, Tejeswara Rao Asuru, Mitul Srivastava, Nitu Singh, Nikil Purushotham, Boja Poojary, Bhabatosh Das, Sankar Bhattacharyya, Shailendra Asthana, Prasenjit Guchhait","doi":"10.1038/s44321-024-00137-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44321-024-00137-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are a limited number of effective vaccines against dengue virus (DENV) and significant efforts are being made to develop potent anti-virals. Previously, we described that platelet-chemokine CXCL4 negatively regulates interferon (IFN)-α/β synthesis and promotes DENV2 replication. An antagonist to CXCR3 (CXCL4 receptor) reversed it and inhibited viral replication. In a concurrent search, we identified CXCR3-antagonist from our compound library, namely 7D, which inhibited all serotypes of DENV in vitro. With a half-life of ~2.85 h in plasma and no significant toxicity, 7D supplementation (8 mg/kg-body-weight) to DENV2-infected IFNα/β/γR<sup>-/-</sup>AG129 or wild-type C57BL6 mice increased synthesis of IFN-α/β and IFN-λ, and rescued disease symptoms like thrombocytopenia, leukopenia and vascular-leakage, with improved survival. 7D, having the property to inhibit Sirt-1 deacetylase, promoted acetylation and phosphorylation of STAT3, which in-turn increased plasmablast proliferation, germinal-center maturation and synthesis of neutralizing-antibodies against DENV2 in mice. A STAT3-inhibitor successfully inhibited these effects of 7D. Together, these observations identify compound 7D as a stimulator of IFN-α/β/λ synthesis via CXCL4:CXCR3:p38:IRF3 signaling, and a booster for neutralizing-antibody generation by promoting STAT3-acetylation in plasmablasts, capable of protecting dengue infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":11597,"journal":{"name":"EMBO Molecular Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2376-2401"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473809/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142282187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}