Search results for "EFFECTOR"

Repurposing of Drugs Targeting YAP-TEAD Functions

2018

Drug repurposing is a fast and consolidated approach for the research of new active compounds bypassing the long streamline of the drug discovery process. Several drugs in clinical practice have been reported for modulating the major Hippo pathway’s terminal effectors, namely YAP (Yes1-associated protein), TAZ (transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif) and TEAD (transcriptional enhanced associate domains), which are directly involved in the regulation of cell growth and tissue homeostasis. Since this pathway is known to have many cross-talking phenomena with cell signaling pathways, many efforts have been made to understand its importance in oncology. Moreover, this could be rele…

Signalling strength determines proapoptotic functions of STING

2017

Mammalian cells use cytosolic nucleic acid receptors to detect pathogens and other stress signals. In innate immune cells the presence of cytosolic DNA is sensed by the cGAS–STING signalling pathway, which initiates a gene expression programme linked to cellular activation and cytokine production. Whether the outcome of the STING response varies between distinct cell types remains largely unknown. Here we show that T cells exhibit an intensified STING response, which leads to the expression of a distinct set of genes and results in the induction of apoptosis. Of note, this proapoptotic STING response is still functional in cancerous T cells and delivery of small molecule STING agonists prev…

Immune response to tick-borne hemoparasites: Host adaptive immune response mechanisms as potential targets for therapies and vaccines

2020

This article belongs to the Section Molecular Immunology.

The astrocyte LAMP lights a T cell TRAIL of death

2021

In a recent issue of Nature, Sanmarco et al. reveal a novel mechanism by which astrocytes maintain an anti-inflammatory state in the central nervous system (CNS). IFNγ released by gut-licensed meningeal NK cells was found to induce TRAIL expression on astrocytes, causing effector T cell apoptosis.

Regulatory T Cells in an Endogenous Mouse Lymphoma Recognize Specific Antigen Peptides and Contribute to Immune Escape.

2019

Abstract Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) sustain immune homeostasis and may contribute to immune escape in malignant disease. As a prerequisite for developing immunologic approaches in cancer therapy, it is necessary to understand the ontogeny and the antigenic specificities of tumor-infiltrating Tregs. We addressed this question by using a λ-MYC transgenic mouse model of endogenously arising B-cell lymphoma, which mirrors key features of human Burkitt lymphoma. We show that Foxp3+ Tregs suppress antitumor responses in endogenous lymphoma. Ablation of Foxp3+ Tregs significantly delayed tumor development. The ratio of Treg to effector T cells was elevated in growing tumors, which could be …

m6A modulates neuronal functions and sex determination in Drosophila

2016

N6-methyladenosine RNA (m6A) is a prevalent messenger RNA modification in vertebrates. Although its functions in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression are beginning to be unveiled, the precise roles of m6A during development of complex organisms remain unclear. Here we carry out a comprehensive molecular and physiological characterization of the individual components of the methyltransferase complex, as well as of the YTH domain-containing nuclear reader protein in Drosophila melanogaster. We identify the member of the split ends protein family, Spenito, as a novel bona fide subunit of the methyltransferase complex. We further demonstrate important roles of this complex in …

2017

Despite rapid progress, many problems and limitations persist and limit the applicability of gene-editing techniques. Making use of meganucleases, TALENs, or CRISPR/Cas9-based tools requires an initial step of pre-screening to determine the efficiency and specificity of the designed tools. This step remains time consuming and material consuming. Here we propose a simple, cheap, reliable, time-saving, and highly sensitive method to evaluate a given gene-editing tool based on its capacity to induce chromosomal translocations when combined with a reference engineered nuclease. In the proposed technique, designated engineered nuclease-induced translocations (ENIT), a plasmid coding for the DNA-…

Rab33B Controls Hepatitis B Virus Assembly by Regulating Core Membrane Association and Nucleocapsid Processing

2017

Many viruses take advantage of cellular trafficking machineries to assemble and release new infectious particles. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we demonstrate that the Golgi/autophagosome-associated Rab33B is required for hepatitis B virus (HBV) propagation in hepatoma cell lines. While Rab33B is dispensable for the secretion of HBV subviral envelope particles, its knockdown reduced the virus yield to 20% and inhibited nucleocapsid (NC) formation and/or NC trafficking. The overexpression of a GDP-restricted Rab33B mutant phenocopied the effect of deficit Rab33B, indicating that Rab33B-specific effector proteins may be involved. Moreover, we found that HBV replication enhanced Rab33B expres…

Targeting cellular fatty acid synthesis limits T helper and innate lymphoid cell function during intestinal inflammation and infection

2019

CD4+ T cells contribute critically to a protective immune response during intestinal infections, but have also been implicated in the aggravation of intestinal inflammatory pathology. Previous studies suggested that T helper type (Th)1 and Th17 cells depend on de novo fatty acid (FA) synthesis for their development and effector function. Here, we report that T-cell-specific targeting of the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1), a major checkpoint controlling FA synthesis, impaired intestinal Th1 and Th17 responses by limiting CD4+ T-cell expansion and infiltration into the lamina propria in murine models of colitis and infection-associated intestinal inflammation. Importantly, pharmacolog…

NKG2D stimulation of CD8(+) T cells during priming promotes their capacity to produce cytokines in response to viral infection in mice

2017

NKG2D is an activating receptor that is expressed on most cytotoxic cells of the immune system, including NK cells, γδ and CD8+ T cells. It is still a matter of debate whether and how NKG2D mediates priming of CD8+ T cells in vivo, due to a lack of studies where NKG2D is eliminated exclusively in these cells. Here we studied the impact of NKG2D on effector CD8+ T-cell formation. NKG2D-deficiency that is restricted to murine CD8+ T cells did not impair antigen-specific T-cell expansion following mCMV and LCMV infection, but reduced their capacity to produce cytokines. Upon infection, conventional dendritic cells induce NKG2D ligands, which drive cytokine production on CD8+ T cells via the Da…