Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, May 2000, p. 3941-3947, Vol. 74, No. 9
Department of Medicine, University of
Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada,1 and
Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts2
Received 25 October 1999/Accepted 28 January 2000
The use of adenovirus vectors for gene therapy has been limited by
well-defined cellular and humoral immune responses. We have previously
shown that adenovirus vectors rapidly induce the expression of the
C-X-C chemokine, interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), in vivo.
Various first-generation, type 5 adenovirus vectors, including
adCMV Recombinant adenoviruses continue to
be used extensively experimentally and clinically due to their safety
and their ability to infect a wide range of cells and tissues. Success
with adenovirus vectors, however, has been limited by potent host
immune responses against viral proteins and the capsid that result in
transient gene expression and an inability to readminister vectors of
the same serotype to previously immunized subjects (8).
Within 1 week of administration, first-generation adenovirus vectors are known to induce major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) directed against
adenoviral proteins, a Th1 dominant immune response dependent on gamma
interferon (IFN- The chemokines are a superfamily of inducible, proinflammatory proteins
(<20 kDa) that contain between two and four highly conserved
NH2-terminal cysteine amino acid residues. Chemokines are
involved in the recruitment and activation of neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages, and lymphocytes to sites of injury and infection. They are divided into two major subgroups, C-X-C and C-C,
based on the presence or absence of an intervening amino acid between
the first two conserved NH2-terminal cysteine residues (25). Chemokines exert the majority of their effects through seven transmembrane-spanning, pertussis toxin-sensitive,
G-protein-coupled receptors. T lymphocytes express most of the known
chemokine receptors and, as a result, T cells, based on their state of
differentiation or activation, undergo chemotaxis to many of the known
chemokines (25). Recently, there has been significant
interest in determining the pattern of chemokine receptor expression on
T lymphocytes as markers of their state of differentiation or
activation (21, 25). The C-X-C chemokine IP-10
(IFN-inducible protein 10) and its receptor CXCR3 have been associated
with Th1 immune responses. CXCR3 is expressed primarily on T
lymphocytes of the Th1 phenotype, a finding consistent with the
preferential chemotaxis of activated Th1 lymphocytes by IP-10 (1,
4, 25). The association of IP-10 and its receptor CXCR3 with
Th1-dependent immunity has been observed in several models of disease,
including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (20,
22). These observations raise the possibility that CXCR3 and its
ligands, including IP-10, are important mediators of Th1 dominant
immune responses.
We have previously demonstrated in an animal model of adenoviral gene
therapy, capsid-dependent induction of multiple chemokines occurring
within 24 h of infection (15). Of the chemokines
identified, IP-10 was found to be highly and rapidly induced in mice as
early as 1 h following infection with first-generation and
transcription-defective adenovirus vectors. Given the association of
IP-10 and its receptor CXCR3 to Th1-dependent immune responses, it is
possible that the induction of IP-10 by recombinant adenoviruses
represents an important early step in the development of host immunity
against these vectors. Therefore, understanding the biology of
adenovirus vector-induced expression of IP-10 as a precursor to host
Th1 immune responses will have an impact on the development of future
generations of adenovirus vectors and identify new targets to reduce
the immunogenicity of these vectors. We characterize here the mechanism
of adenovirus vector-induced expression of the C-X-C chemokine IP-10
and identify a novel mechanism for the transcriptional activation of
this gene.
Adenovirus vectors.
The type 5, E1-deleted, E3-defective
adenoviruses expressing Escherichia coli
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Adenovirus Vector-Induced Expression of the C-X-C Chemokine IP-10
Is Mediated through Capsid-Dependent Activation of NF-
B
![]()
ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
gal and UV-psoralen-inactivated adenovirus, equally induced the
expression of IP-10 mRNA as early as 3 h following infection in
mouse renal epithelial cells (REC). Luciferase reporter experiments
using deletional mutants of the murine IP-10 5'-flanking region
revealed that transcriptional activation of the IP-10 promoter by
adCMV
gal was dependent on the
161- to
96-bp region upstream of
the transcription start site. In electrophoretic mobility shift assays,
adCMV
gal, adCMV-GFP, FG140, and transcription-defective adenovirus
induced protein binding to oligonucleotides containing a consensus
sequence for NF-
B at position
113 of the IP-10 promoter. Supershift assays confirmed an increase in binding activity of NF-
B
p65 but not p50 or cRel in REC cells infected with various replication-deficient adenoviruses. Coinfection of REC cells with adCMV
gal and an adenoviral vector expressing I
B
resulted in suppression of adCMV
gal-induced expression of IP-10 at 6 and 16 h, further strengthening the conclusion that adenovirus-induced activation of IP-10 is dependent on NF-
B. The induction of IP-10 appeared to be direct because infection with adenovirus vectors failed
to induce the expression of the potent IP-10 stimulators, interferon
gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Together, these findings
demonstrate that adenovirus vectors directly induce the expression of
IP-10 through capsid dependent activation of NF-
B.
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
) (28, 29). Ongoing expression of
adenoviral proteins has been shown to be a significant factor in the
development of the immune response against adenovirus vectors
(23). For this reason, newer generations of adenovirus
vectors are being developed that drastically reduce the amount of viral
DNA packaged within the viral capsid, eliminating the genes encoding
viral proteins (19). Unfortunately, the adenoviral capsid is
also immunogenic, capable of inducing adenovirus-specific CTLs in the
absence of all viral transcription (11). Understanding the
biology of the host immune response against replication-deficient
adenoviruses is of paramount importance in bringing these very useful
vectors closer to effective clinical use.
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
-galactosidase
(adCMV
gal) (2, 10), green fluorescent protein (GFP)
(adCMV-GFP; Quantum, Montreal, Canada), and porcine I
B
(adCMV-I
B
; a generous gift of C. Ferran) (26), all
under the control of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, were propagated in 293 cells and purified as previously described
(3). FG140 (Microbix, Toronto, Canada), an E1, E3-defective
type 5 adenovirus containing pMX2 plasmid sequences
(amp-ori) at 3.8 map units (9) was grown and
purified as above. AdCMV
gal was rendered transcription defective
based on the protocol by Cotten et al. (7). Briefly, 1 ml of
AdCMV
gal was mixed with 1 ml of psoralen (0.50 mg/ml) (Sigma, St.
Louis, Mo.) in glycerol and exposed to UV light (365 nm) for 1 h
at 4°C. Inactive virus was then dialyzed against 2 liters of 10 mM
Tris-1 mM Mg+2-10% glycerol buffer (pH 7.4) for 12 h two times at 4°C and stored at
70°C. Transcriptional activity
was tested by plaque assay and determined to be <10
2
PFU/ml. Control vehicle was made by dialyzing 2-ml aliquots of CsCl
(1.34 g/ml) without virus against the same dialysis buffer used for the
viral preparations (10 mM Tris-1 mM Mg+2-10% glycerol
buffer [pH 7.4], 1 liter for 1 h four times at 4°C) and stored
at
70°C.
Animal studies.
DBA/2 (H-2d) mice
were obtained from Charles River Laboratories (Wilmington, Mass.) and
housed under standard conditions. All animals were used at 10 to 14 weeks of age (28 to 35 g). Under methoxyfluorane general
anesthesia, 1011 OPU of adCMV
gal was injected via the
femoral vein using a total final volume of 100 µl (virus plus normal
saline). Animals were allowed to recover and then were sacrificed at
predetermined time points with the livers harvested for analysis. All
animal studies were performed in accordance with the Animal Care
Committee guidelines at The University of Calgary.
Cell culture.
Primary renal epithelial cells from DBA/2 mice
were isolated and grown as previously described (27). An
immortalized, nontransformed cell line was derived from these cells
through passaging and maintained in Dulbecco modified Eagle medium
(DMEM) containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) and
penicillin-streptomycin (Gibco BRL, Rockville, Md.). Cells were
cultured in DMEM containing 1% FCS for 12 h prior to all
experiments to slow their proliferation. This maneuver did not affect
IP-10 gene expression. Adenoviral infections (except luciferase
assays), stimulation with IFN-
and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were
performed in 60-mm plates with cells at ~80% confluency (106 cells/plate). For adenoviral infections, media were
removed from the plate and replaced with 2 ml of medium containing
5 × 1010 OPU of adenovirus vectors per ml followed by
incubation at 37°C in 5% CO2. Adenovirus incubation was
terminated at 90 min by removing the medium and replacing it with fresh
prewarmed medium followed by incubation at 37°C in 5%
CO2. For IFN-
and LPS stimulation, the medium was
removed and replaced with 2 ml of medium containing 0.1, 1, 10, or 100 U of IFN-
(Pharmingen, San Diego, Calif.) per ml or 0.1, 1, 10, or
100 endotoxin units (EU) of LPS O111:B4 (Sigma) per ml followed by
incubation for 6 h at 37°C in 5% CO2. Depending on
the experiment, cells were harvested at predetermined time points by
scraping or direct lysis.
Endotoxin testing. Low-endotoxin H2O, buffers, and tissue culture reagents were used for all experiments. Plasmids were grown and purified using the EndoFree Plasmid Kit (Qiagen, Chatsworth, Calif.). Adenovirus vectors and vehicle were routinely tested for the presence of endotoxin using the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Kit (BioWhittaker, Walkersville, Md.). In the dilutions used, all reagents contained <0.1 EU of endotoxin per ml.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Supernatants from
renal epithelial cells (REC) cells were harvested 16 h after
infection with 5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV
gal per ml or
an equivalent volume of vehicle. Then, 100 µl of supernatant was
incubated in 96-well plates at 4°C overnight. Wells were washed with
phosphate-buffered saline-Tween, followed by the addition of 1 µg of
polyclonal goat anti-mouse IP-10 antibody (R&D Systems, Minneapolis,
Minn.) per ml, and incubated for 2 h at room temperature. Wells
were again washed and incubated for 1 h at room temperature with 1 µg of biotinylated anti-goat immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody
(Santa-Cruz) per ml. After another round of washing, a 1:1,000 dilution
of avidin-horseradish peroxidase (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) was added
to each well and incubated for 30 min at room temperature. Wells were
washed and incubated with 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (Sigma) for 8 to 10 min. Samples were analyzed at 600 nm using a microplate reader
and Softmax software (Molecular Devices, Menlo Park, Calif.). The
protein concentration was measured against a recombinant mouse IP-10
standard (R&D Systems).
RNase protection assays. Liver tissue and cells were processed for total RNA using RNeasy (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's protocol. RNase protection assays were performed using the RiboQuant Multi-Probe RNase Protection Assay System (Pharmingen). Briefly, using the multiprobe template set mCK5-mCK3 and a single probe set for IP-10 (Pharmingen), a [32P]UTP-labeled RNA probe was transcribed using T7 polymerase followed by phenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. The concentration of the probe was adjusted to 3 × 105 cpm/µl. Then, 5 to 10 µg of RNA per sample was hybridized to 6 × 105 cpm of total probe overnight at 56°C. Samples were then digested with RNase, followed by proteinase K treatment and phenol-chloroform extraction. After ethanol precipitation with 4 M ammonium acetate, protected samples were resuspended in 1× loading buffer and separated on 5.7% acrylamide-bisacrylamide urea gels. After drying, the gels were visualized by autoradiography. Autorads were analyzed by densitometry using Quantity One software (Bio-Rad). Fold induction was determined as the mRNA density ratio of IP-10 to GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) within the same sample.
IP-10 promoter constructs.
The 533-bp sequence upstream of
the transcription start site of the mouse IP-10 gene (GenBank accession
no. L07417) was cloned from genomic DNA derived from the REC cell line
using PCR. The PCR product was cloned into pCR 2.1 (Invitrogen) and
transformed into competent E. coli. Positive clones were
isolated by miniplasmid preparation (Qiagen) and sequenced. The correct
533-bp fragment of the IP-10 promoter was identified, cut with
EcoRI, and blunted with large fragment DNA polymerase 1. The
resulting DNA fragment was then ligated into the SmaI site
of the pGL3-basic vector (Promega, Madison, Wis.) and designated
pGL3-IP-10(
533). Deletional mutants at position
161 of the
IP-10 5'-flanking region were constructed from pGL3-IP-10(
533)
using the unique restriction site BstXI in the promoter.
Deletional mutants at positions
237,
190, and
96 of the IP-10
promoter were constructed with PCR using pGL3-IP-10(
533) as a
template, sense oligonucleotides containing a HindIII
linker corresponding to the desired position, and an antisense
oligonucleotide, including the HindIII site of the pGL3
polylinker. PCR products were cloned into pGEM-TEasy vector
(Promega) and screened using miniplasmid preparations and restriction
enzyme analysis. Positive clones were digested with
HindIII, and the DNA fragments were cloned into the
HindIII site of pGL3-basic. All pGL3-IP-10 deletional mutants were screened by restriction enzyme digestion.
Luciferase assays.
REC cells were plated in six-well plates
at 4 × 105 cells/well and incubated overnight. Then,
2 µg of plasmid DNA was transfected into each well using 6 µl of
Lipofectamine reagent (Gibco BRL), followed by incubation for 5 h
in serum-free DMEM at 37°C. Fetal bovine serum was added to each well
to give a final concentration of 1%, and the cells were incubated for
16 h at 37°C. A 1-ml portion of medium containing 2.5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV
gal or an equivalent volume of vehicle
was added to the cells and incubated at 37°C for 90 min. The medium
was removed and replaced with fresh prewarmed DMEM containing 1% FBS, and the cells were incubated for 24 h. Cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline, harvested by scraping, and centrifuged into
a pellet, followed by resuspension in lysis buffer (1% Triton X-100;
25 mM glycylglycine, pH 7.8; 15 mM MgSO4; 4 mM EGTA; 1 mM
dithiothreitol [DTT]). Samples were centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 10 min, and 150 µl of supernatant was added to 300 µl of assay buffer
(25 mM glycylglycine, pH 7.8; 15 mM K2PO4, pH
7.8; 15 mM MgSO4; 4 mM EGTA; 1 mM DTT; 2 mM ATP) in
polystyrene tubes. The luciferase activity of each sample was measured
in a luminometer following the addition of 100 µl of luciferin (0.3 mg/ml) (Promega).
Nuclear extracts.
REC cells were grown to 80% confluency in
60-mm plates. A total of 5 × 1010 OPU of adenovirus
vector per ml or an equivalent volume of vehicle in 2 ml of DMEM
containing 1% FBS was added to the plates and then incubated for 6 or
12 h. Medium was removed and replaced with lysis buffer (10 mM
HEPES [1 ml], 10 mM KCl, 0.1 M EDTA, 0.5% NP-40, 3 mM DTT, 1 mM
phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride [PMSF], and 2 µg of leupeptin and 20 µg of aprotinin per ml) and then incubated on ice for 15 min. Nuclei
were scraped and briefly centrifuged at 14,000 rpm. Supernatant was
removed, and cells were resuspended in extraction buffer (20 mM HEPES,
420 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 10% glycerol, 5 mM DTT, 1 mM PMSF) and gently
rocked for 30 min at 4°C. Samples were centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for
10 min at 4°C, and the supernatant was removed and stored at
70°C. The protein concentration was determined by Bradford assay
(Bio-Rad).
Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs).
Oligonucleotides were synthesized and annealed to obtain
double-stranded DNA fragments. The oligonucleotide sequences were as
follows: IP-10(
124/
94),
5'-TCGGTTTACAGGGGACTTCCCTCGGGTTGCG-3'; Oligo 1, 5'-CACTTATGATACCGGCCAATGCTTGGT-3'; and Oligo 2, 5'-ACTAACCTTAGGGGATGCCCCTCAACTGGC-3'.
B proteins cRel, p50, and p65 (Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz,
Calif.) was also added. For competitor EMSA, 0.001, 0.005, or 0.01 pmol
of unlabeled oligonucleotides was added 10 min into the first
incubation, prior to the addition of labeled probe. After 20 min, 0.5 ng of 32P-labeled IP-10(
124/
94) (30,000 cpm) was
added to the samples and incubated for 20 min at room temperature.
Samples were loaded and run on 4% polyacrylamide gels with 1× TGE
buffer (25 mM Tris, pH 8.3; 190 mM glycine; 1 mM EDTA). Gels were dried
and visualized using autoradiography.
Statistical analysis. All experiments were performed at least three times. Values are expressed as the mean ± the standard deviation (SD) and compared using the Student's t test.
| |
RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Adenovirus vector-induced expression of IP-10.
We have
previously demonstrated that various adenovirus vectors induce the
expression of IP-10 in DBA/2 mice in vivo (15). Using
REC cells derived from DBA/2 mice, we tested the ability of
adenovirus vectors to induce the expression of IP-10 in vitro. REC cells were found to constitutively express low levels of
IP-10. Infection of REC cells with 5 × 1010 OPU
of adCMV
gal per ml resulted in significant production of IP-10
protein at 16 h compared to vehicle-treated cells as detected by
ELISA using an anti-mouse IP-10 antibody (50.3 ± 5.7 versus 6.1 + 1.1 ng/ml, P < 0.0002) (Fig.
1). AdCMV
gal also increased the
expression of IP-10 mRNA in REC cells as early as 3 h and continued 6 and 16 h postinfection (Fig. 1). Expression of IP-10 mRNA was not increased following treatment with vehicle. The induction of IP-10 in REC cells by 5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV
gal
per ml was comparable to stimulation using moderate doses of IFN-
(Fig. 1). At 6 h, adCMV
gal induced the expression of IP-10 mRNA
more than stimulation with 1 U/ml, but the level was approximately 50%
less than stimulation with 10 or 100 U of IFN-
per ml. In contrast,
LPS did not induce the expression of IP-10 in these cells (data not
shown).
|
gal was rendered transcription defective by UV-psoralen
inactivation as described by Cotten et al. (7). These
adenovirus particles maintain the ability to bind to and be
internalized by a host cell. The presence of active virus following
inactivation was <10
2 PFU/ml by standard plaque assay in
293 cells. In addition, infection of REC cells with 5 × 1010 OPU of psoralen-UV-inactivated adCMV
gal per ml
yielded no
-galactosidase activity at 24 h, whereas a similar
titer of adCMV
gal resulted in nearly 75% of cells expressing
-galactosidase (data not shown). At 6 and 16 h,
UV-psoralen-inactivated adenovirus also induced IP-10 mRNA expression
comparable to the other adenovirus vectors (Fig. 1). The ability of
UV-psoralen-inactivated adenovirus to induce the expression of IP-10
confirmed that this response occurs independent of viral transcription
and is likely dependent on the viral capsid.
Adenovirus vector activation of the IP-10 promoter.
The rapid
and large induction of IP-10 mRNA by various adenovirus vectors
suggested that this process was mediated by transcription. This
suggestion is supported by previous studies demonstrating that the
expression of IP-10 in response to various stimuli also occurs through
increased transcription (16-18). Therefore, we employed luciferase reporter assays to examine the transcriptional activation of
the IP-10 promoter in response to infection with adenovirus vectors.
The 533-bp region upstream of the transcription start site of the
murine IP-10 gene was cloned from DBA/2 genomic DNA using PCR and
inserted into the luciferase reporter vector pGL3 to give
pGL3-IP-10(
533) (Fig. 2).
|
gal per ml resulted in
low-level induction of luciferase activity relative to vehicle
(1,583 ± 165 versus 842 ± 332 relative light units [RLU];
P was not significant) likely due to nonspecific vector-protein interactions. In REC cells transfected with
pGL3-IP-10(
533), infection with 2.5 × 1010 OPU
of adCMV
gal per ml induced >10-fold expression of luciferase compared to vehicle-treated cells (79,295 ± 17,758 versus
5,246 ± 5,192 RLU; P < 0.02) (Fig. 2).
Deletional mutants of the IP-10 promoter were constructed to further
identify the cis elements involved in adenovirus
vector-induced transcription of IP-10. The fold induction of luciferase
activity by adCMV
gal diminished substantially in REC cells
transfected with the deletional mutant pGL3-IP-10(
237) but was
still threefold higher than in vehicle-treated cells. (19,411 ± 1,538 versus 5,064 ± 452 RLU; P < 0.01).
Compared to vehicle, adCMV
gal also significantly induced the
expression of luciferase in REC cells transfected with the
deletional mutants pGL3-IP-10(
190) and
pGL3-IP-10(
161). AdCMV
gal-induced luciferase activity
returned to baseline in REC cells transfected with the deletional
mutant pGL3-IP-10(
96) (8,576 ± 12,487 versus 5,089 ± 495 RLU; P was not significant) (Fig. 2). These results
demonstrated that the minimal elements required for activation of the
IP-10 promoter by adCMV
gal are contained within positions
161 to
96 of the IP-10 5'-flanking region.
Adenovirus vector activation of NF-
B.
To determine the
nuclear factors responsible for the expression of IP-10 by adenovirus
vectors, EMSAs were employed. Nuclear extracts were prepared from
untreated, vehicle-treated, or adenovirus vector-infected REC cells at
6 and 12 h, time points at which IP-10 mRNA is highly expressed
following infection with adenovirus vectors. The IP-10 promoter
fragment at positions
161 to
96 contains a consensus sequence for
NF-
B, GGGACTTCC, at position
113, an element which has
been demonstrated to be instrumental in the transcriptional activation
of IP-10 (16-18). Therefore, a DNA probe spanning positions
124 to
94 of the IP-10 5'-flanking region, IP-10(
124/
94),
was synthesized and used in the EMSA. Nuclear extracts from untreated
REC cells display constitutive binding to radiolabeled
IP-10(
124/
90) probe in two complexes (designated C1 and C2)
(Fig. 3). At 6 and 12 h, infection
with 5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV
gal per ml increased the
level of C1 complex in EMSA but had minimal effect on the C2 complex
(Fig. 3). Nuclear extracts from vehicle-treated REC cells demonstrate
no increase in DNA-protein interactions compared to untreated cells.
|
gal and occurs
independent of viral transcription (Fig. 3). Again, as with
adCMV
gal, the C2 complex was minimally or not significantly induced
over the baseline level. Competitor studies confirm the specificity of
binding to IP-10(
124/
90). C1 complex is unaffected by
increasing concentrations of cold nonspecific sequence oligonucleotide
(Oligo 1). Competition with an oligonucleotide encoding an alternate
NF-
B consensus motif GGGATGCCC (Oligo 2) also had little
effect on the C1 complex; however, the protein-DNA interaction was
competed for successfully by unlabeled IP-10(
124/
90) (Fig.
4).
|
gal-infected REC cells at 6 h to further characterize the DNA-protein complexes. Anti-NF-
B p65 supershifted the C1 complex, whereas anti-NF-
B p50 supershifted C2. Anti-cRel and control IgG had
no effect on the complexes (Fig. 5).
These results demonstrated that adenovirus vectors primarily activate
NF-
B p65 following infection in REC cells, a process that occurs
independent of viral or transgene transcription.
|
B site for IP-10 promoter activation, this observation does not
confirm the functional importance of NF-
B in the adenovirus vector-induced transcription of IP-10. Therefore, we employed an
adenovirus expressing the NF-
B inhibitor, I
B
(26),
to confirm that NF-
B was involved in the adenovirus-induced
transcription of IP-10. Infection of REC cells with 5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV-I
B
per ml resulted in
reduced or absent expression of IP-10 mRNA at 6 and 16 h
compared to the same titer of adCMV
gal. Furthermore,
adCMV-I
B
was able to suppress the expression of IP-10 by
adCMV
gal when coinfected in REC cells at 6 and 16 h; however,
the suppression of IP-10 mRNA at 16 h was greater than at 6 h
(Fig. 5). The latter finding is likely due to a delay in I
B
expression by adCMV-I
B
, which is expected to be much
higher at 16 h versus 6 h. Therefore, based on the above
findings, nuclear translocation of NF-
B is a necessary component of
the adenovirus vector-induced transcription of IP-10.
Adenovirus vector-induced expression of IP-10 occurs in the absence
of TNF-
.
The activation of the IP-10 promoter and
transcriptional regulation of IP-10 has been studied in response to
LPS, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
), IFN-
, and measles virus
(16-18). In the case of IFN-
and TNF-
, synergistic
induction of IP-10 was seen with IFN-
acting through the ISRE at
position
224 and with TNF-
acting on either of the two proximal
NF-
B sites on the promoter through the activation of p65-p50
heterodimers (17). The transcription of IP-10 induced by our
adenovirus vectors depends primarily on p65, a pattern different than
those previously described, suggesting a mechanism independent of
TNF-
and IFN-
. Furthermore, in the promoter studies, the
expression of IP-10 was not shown to be dependent on the ISRE. However,
since TNF-
and IFN-
are both induced by adenovirus vectors in
vivo (Fig. 6), we screened the REC cells
for the presence of these cytokines. Infection of REC cells with 5 × 1010 OPU of adCMV
gal per ml did not induce the
expression of mRNA for IFN-
or TNF-
at 1, 3, or 6 h, whereas
the expression of IP-10 has increased as early as 3 h following
infection (Fig. 6). Cells were also tested for IFN-
and TNF-
mRNA, both of which were not induced by adCMV
gal (data not shown).
These results support the hypothesis that adenovirus vectors are
capable of directly inducing the expression of IP-10 independent of
cytokines such as IFN-
and TNF-
.
|
| |
DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
We have previously demonstrated significant expression of
IP-10 and other chemokines in an in vivo model of gene therapy
(15). Up to this point, the molecular mechanisms underlying
the expression of IP-10 and other chemokines by adenovirus vectors were
unknown. In the present study, we demonstrate that adenovirus vectors
induce the expression of IP-10 independent of viral and transgene
transcription. Furthermore, we show that adenovirus vector-induced
transcription of IP-10 is mediated by NF-
B and occurs in the absence
of TNF-
and IFN-
. Adenovirus vectors for gene therapy elicit
potent Th1 immune responses consisting of CD8+-restricted
CTLs directed against adenoviral proteins that continue to be expressed
at low levels despite the absence of E1 (28, 29). Kafri et
al. have also demonstrated that replication-deficient adenoviruses are
capable of inducing adenovirus-specific CTLs in the absence of viral
gene transcription, confirming the immunogenic properties of the
adenoviral capsid (11). The induction of IP-10 by adenovirus
vectors, including transcription-defective adenoviruses, is consistent
with the Th1 dominant host immune response described above. IP-10 is a
potent chemoattractant for activated T lymphocytes of the Th1 phenotype
and shares the receptor CXCR3 with related chemokines, Mig and I-TAC
(6, 13, 24). IP-10 and its receptor CXCR3 have been
implicated as important players in the development of host Th1 immune
responses in experimental and clinical models of disease, including
models of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (21,
22). Thus, the induction of IP-10 by adenovirus vectors may
represent a critical step in the development of host antiadenoviral immunity.
The activation of NF-
B by adenovirus vectors in our studies is
consistent with the in vivo findings by Lieber et al. who demonstrated
NF-
B activation in the livers of mice infected with adenovirus
vectors (12). Our results show that NF-
B is necessary for
the transcription of IP-10 induced by adenoviral vectors, since the
expression of IP-10 mRNA was effectively suppressed by I
B
. Based
on our promoter studies, the proximal NF-
B site at position
113 is
the minimal element required for transcriptional activation of IP-10 by
adenovirus vectors. However, optimal transcriptional activation of the
IP-10 gene also involves elements located upstream of the NF-
B sites
identified. The region of the IP-10 promoter from positions
533 to
237 includes, among others, two AP-1 sites, an ets binding
domain, and a c/EBP motif. Loss of this region of the promoter leads to
a reduction in the fold induction of luciferase activity by adCMV
gal
in our reporter experiments. The exact role of this promoter region in
the transcriptional activation of IP-10 by adenovirus vectors is not
known and will be the focus of future studies.
Numerous groups have studied the transcriptional regulation of IP-10. A
variety of hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cell types, including
macrophages, epithelial cells, and neutrophils, can be induced to
express IP-10 in response to IFN-
, TNF-
, or LPS. Induction of
IP-10 in response to these stimuli is dependent primarily on
transcription (5, 17, 18). In response to IFN-
or
TNF-
, Ohimori and Hamilton have demonstrated that optimal IP-10
promoter activation in NIH 3T3 cells requires the synergistic action of
both cytokines acting on the ISRE plus one or both of the two
downstream NF-
B sites on the promoter (17). Activation of
the IP-10 promoter by IFN-
occurred through STAT-1, while TNF-
acted through the nuclear translocation of NF-
B p65 and p50
heterodimers. Interestingly, activation of the IP-10 promoter by
measles virus, a negative-strand RNA paramyxovirus, was also found to
be dependent on the ISRE plus a downstream NF-
B site, events
mediated by viral gene transcription in human glioma cell lines
(16). The transcriptional regulation of IP-10 following infection with adenovirus vectors differs significantly from the transcriptional mechanisms activated in response to TNF-
and IFN-
. Adenovirus vectors are capable of inducing IP-10 gene
transcription independent of the ISRE element located upstream on the
promoter. These findings plus the activation of p65 in excess of p50
following infection with adenovirus vectors is consistent with the
absence of TNF-
and IFN-
in our system and represent a novel
mechanism for the activation and expression of IP-10. We are not,
however, suggesting that the direct induction of IP-10 by adenovirus
vectors is the only mechanism driving the expression of this chemokine in vivo. Rather, this process represents another mechanism by which
adenovirus vectors can activate this gene. TNF-
and IFN-
are
known to be upregulated early following infection with
replication-deficient adenoviral vectors (12) and almost
certainly contribute to the expression of IP-10 in vivo.
The mechanisms by which the adenoviral capsid is capable of inducing the transcription of IP-10 and the signaling pathways involved are unknown. Several possibilities exist, including the interaction of the adenoviral fiber protein with the coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor, interactions between the penton base and surface integrins required for viral internalization, or a relationship to endosome formation following internalization. Future studies will clarify the role of virus-cell interactions and viral entry in the biology of adenovirus-induced inflammation.
The implications of the findings described here are numerous. First, these data increase our understanding of the host immune response to replication-deficient adenoviruses, the biggest obstacle to successful implementation of these vectors in humans. Identifying and characterizing the molecular mechanism of adenovirus vector-induced expression of IP-10, a potentially critical immunoregulatory chemokine, will permit the development of strategies to target the expression of this chemokine and/or its receptor to modulate antiadenoviral host immunity at a very early stage. These results also have implications for newer generations of adenovirus vectors, particularly third-generation vectors that have the majority of the adenovirus genome deleted. Although these modifications reduce the host immune response stemming from low-level adenoviral gene expression, they do not address the immunogenic properties of the adenoviral capsid. Understanding the mechanism by which the adenoviral capsid triggers host antiviral immunity will allow modifications or interventions to further reduce the immunogenicity of these potentially useful third-generation adenovirus vectors. Targeting IP-10, its receptor CXCR3, or events leading to their expression may prove to be an effective approach to overcome the major obstacle for the application of adenoviral gene therapy in humans.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
This study was funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Banting Research Foundation.
We thank B. Winston and M. Hollenberg for advice and reviews of the manuscript.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
|---|
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr., NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada. Phone: (403) 220-8867. Fax: (403) 270-0979. E-mail: dmuruve{at}ucalgary.ca.
| |
REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| 1. | Annunziato, F., L. Cosmi, G. Galli, C. Beltrame, P. Romagnani, R. Manetti, S. Romagnani, and E. Maggi. 1999. Assessment of chemokine receptor expression by human Th1 and Th2 cells in vitro and in vivo. J. Leukoc. Biol. 65:691-699[Abstract]. |
| 2. |
Becker, T. C.,
H. BeltrandelRio,
R. J. Noel,
J. H. Johnson, and C. B. Newgard.
1994.
Overexpression of hexokinase I in isolated islets of Langerhans via recombinant adenovirus. Enhancement of glucose metabolism and insulin secretion at basal but not stimulatory glucose levels.
J. Biol. Chem.
269:21234-21238 |
| 3. | Becker, T. C., R. J. Noel, W. S. Coats, A. M. Gomez-Foix, T. Alam, D. R. Gerard, and C. B. Newgard. 1994. Use of recombinant adenovirus for metabolic engineering of mammalian cells. Methods Cell Biol. 43(Pt. A):161-189. |
| 4. |
Bonecchi, R.,
G. Bianchi,
P. P. Bordignon,
D. D'Ambrosio,
R. Lang,
A. Borsatti,
S. Sozzani,
P. Allavena,
P. A. Gray,
A. Mantovani, and F. Sinigaglia.
1998.
Differential expression of chemokine receptors and chemotactic responsiveness of type 1 helper cells (Th1) and Th2s.
J. Exp. Med.
187:129-134 |
| 5. |
Cassatella, M. A.,
S. Gasperini,
F. Calzetti,
A. Bertagnin,
A. Luster, and P. P. McDonald.
1997.
Regulated production of the interferon- -inducible protein-10 (IP-10) chemokine by human neutrophils.
Eur. J. Immunol.
27:111-115[Medline].
|
| 6. |
Cole, K. E.,
C. A. Strick,
T. J. Paradis,
K. T. Ogborne,
M. Loetscher,
R. P. Gladue,
W. Lin,
J. G. Boyd,
B. Moser,
D. E. Wood,
B. G. Sahagan, and K. Neote.
1998.
Interferon-inducible T cell alpha chemoattractant (I-TAC): a novel non-ELR CXC chemokine with potent activity on activated T cells through selective high-affinity binding to CXCR3.
J. Exp. Med.
187:2009-2021 |
| 7. | Cotten, M., M. Saltik, M. Kursa, E. Wagner, G. Maass, and M. L. Birnstiel. 1994. Psoralen treatment of adenovirus particles eliminates virus replication and transcription while maintaining the endosomolytic activity of the virus capsid. Virology 205:254-261[CrossRef][Medline]. |
| 8. |
Crystal, R. G.
1995.
Transfer of genes to humans: early lessons and obstacles to success.
Science
270:404-410 |
| 9. | Graham, F. L. 1984. Covalently closed circles of human adenovirus DNA are infectious. EMBO J. 3:2917-2922[Medline]. |
| 10. |
Herz, J., and R. D. Gerard.
1993.
Adenovirus-mediated transfer of low density lipoprotein receptor gene acutely accelerates cholesterol clearance in normal mice.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
90:2812-2816 |
| 11. |
Kafri, T.,
D. Morgan,
T. Krahl,
N. Sarvetnick, and I. Verma.
1998.
Cellular immune response to adenoviral vector infected cells does not require de novo viral gene expression: implications for gene therapy.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
95:11377-11382 |
| 12. | Lieber, A., C. Y. He, L. Meuse, D. Schowalter, I. Kirillova, B. Winther, and M. A. Kay. 1997. The role of Kupffer cell activation and viral gene expression in early liver toxicity after infusion of recombinant adenovirus vectors. J. Virol. 71:8798-8807[Abstract]. |
| 13. |
Loetscher, M.,
B. Gerber,
P. Loetscher,
S. A. Jones,
L. Piali,
I. Clark-Lewis,
M. Baggiolini, and B. Moser.
1996.
Chemokine receptor specific for IP-10 and Mig: structure, function, and expression in activated T-lymphocytes.
J. Exp. Med.
184:963-969 |
| 14. | Mittereder, N., K. L. March, and B. C. Trapnell. 1996. Evaluation of the concentration and bioactivity of adenovirus vectors for gene therapy. J. Virol. 70:7498-7509[Abstract]. |
| 15. | Muruve, D. A., M. J. Barnes, I. E. Stillman, and T. A. Libermann. 1999. Rapid induction of multiple chemokines by replication-deficient adenoviral vectors results in acute neutrophil-dependent hepatic toxicity in vivo. Hum. Gene Ther. 10:965-976[CrossRef][Medline]. |
| 16. |
Nazar, A. S. M. I.,
G. Cheng,
H. S. Shin,
P. N. Brothers,
S. Dhib-Jalbut,
M. L. Shin, and P. Vanguri.
1997.
Induction of IP-10 chemokine promoter by measles virus: comparison with interferon- shows the use of the same response element but with differential DNA-protein binding profiles.
J. Neuroimmunol.
77:116-127[CrossRef][Medline].
|
| 17. |
Ohimori, Y., and T. A. Hamilton.
1995.
The interferon-stimulated response element and a B site mediate synergistic induction of murine IP-10 gene transcription by IFN- and TNF- .
J. Immunol.
154:5235-5244[Abstract].
|
| 18. |
Ohimori, Y., and T. A. Hamilton.
1993.
Cooperative interaction between interferon stimulus response element and B sequence motifs controls IFN- and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated transcription from the murine IP-10 promoter.
J. Biol. Chem.
268:6677-6688 |
| 19. |
Parks, R. J.,
L. Chen,
M. Anton,
U. Sankar,
M. A. Rudnicki, and F. L. Graham.
1996.
A helper-dependent adenovirus vector system: removal of helper virus by Cre-mediated excision of the viral packaging signal.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
93:13565-13570 |
| 20. | Qin, S., J. B. Rottman, P. Myers, N. Kassam, M. Weinblatt, M. Loetscher, A. E. Koch, B. Moser, and C. R. MacKay. 1998. The chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR5 mark subsets of T cells associated with certain inflammatory reactions. J. Clin. Investig. 101:746-754[Medline]. |
| 21. |
Sallusto, F.,
C. R. MacKay, and A. Lanzavecchia.
1997.
Selective expression of the eotaxin receptor CCR3 by human T-helper cells.
Science
277:2005-2007 |
| 22. | Sorensen, T. L., M. Tani, J. Jensen, V. Pierce, C. Lucchinetti, V. A. Folcik, S. Qin, J. Rottman, F. Sellebjerg, R. M. Streiter, J. L. Frederiksen, and R. M. Ransohoff. 1999. Expression of specific chemokines and chemokine receptors in the central nervous system of multiple sclerosis patients. J. Clin. Investig. 103:807-815[Medline]. |
| 23. |
Spergel, J. M.,
W. Hsu,
S. Akira,
B. Thimmappaya,
T. Kishimoto, and S. Chen-Kiang.
1992.
NF-IL6, a member of the C/EBP family regulates E1A-responsive promoters in the absence of E1A.
J. Virol.
66:1021-1030 |
| 24. |
Taub, D. D.,
A. R. Lloyd,
K. Conlon,
J. M. Wang,
J. R. Ortaldo,
A. Harada,
K. Matsushima,
D. J. Kelvin, and J. J. Oppenheim.
1993.
Recombinant human interferon-inducible protein 10 is a chemoattractant for human monocytes and T lymphocytes and promotes T cell adhesion to endothelial cells.
J. Exp. Med.
177:1809-1814 |
| 25. | Ward, S. G., K. Bacon, and J. Westwick. 1998. Chemokines and T-lymphocytes: more than just an attraction. Immunity 9:1-11[CrossRef][Medline]. |
| 26. |
Wrighton, C. J.,
R. Hofer-Warbinek,
T. Moll,
R. Eytner,
F. H. Bach, and R. de Martin.
1996.
Inhibition of endothelial cell activation by adenovirus-mediated expression of I B , an inhibitor of the transcription factor NF B.
J. Exp. Med.
183:1013-1022 |
| 27. | Wuthrich, R. P., L. H. Glimcher, M. A. Yui, A. M. Jevnikar, S. E. Dumas, and V. E. Kelley. 1990. MHC class II, antigen presentation and tumor necrosis factor in renal tubular epithelial cells. Kidney Int. 37:783-792[Medline]. |
| 28. | Yang, Y., H. C. J. Ertl, and J. M. Wilson. 1994. MHC class 1-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes to viral antigens destroy hepatocytes in mice infected with E1-deleted recombinant adenoviruses. Immunity 1:433-442[CrossRef][Medline]. |
| 29. |
Yang, Y.,
Z. Xiang,
H. C. J. Ertl, and J. M. Wilson.
1995.
Upregulation of class I major histocompatibility complex antigens by interferon- is necessary for T-cell-mediated elimination of recombinant-infected hepatocytes in vivo.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
92:7257-7261 |
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»