| 1. |
- Groenheit, Ramona, et al.
(författare)
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High Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infection Despite High Seroprevalence, Sweden, 2022
- 2023
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Ingår i: Emerging Infectious Diseases. - : CENTERS DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION. - 1080-6040 .- 1080-6059. ; 29:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We performed 2 surveys during 2022 to estimate point prevalences of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with overall viral seroprevalence in Sweden. Point prevalence was 1.4% in March and 1.5% in September. Estimated seroprevalence was >80%, including among unvaccinated children. Continued SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is necessary for detecting emerging, possibly more pathogenic variants.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Lienard, Julia, et al.
(författare)
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ESX-1 exploits type I IFN-signalling to promote a regulatory macrophage phenotype refractory to IFNγ-mediated autophagy and growth restriction of intracellular mycobacteria
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cellular Microbiology. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1462-5814. ; 18:10, s. 1471-1485
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Summary: The ability of macrophages to eradicate intracellular pathogens is normally greatly enhanced by IFNγ, a cytokine produced mainly after onset of adaptive immunity. However, adaptive immunity is unable to provide sterilizing immunity against mycobacteria, suggesting that mycobacteria have evolved virulence strategies to inhibit the bactericidal effect of IFNγ-signalling in macrophages. Still, the host-pathogen interactions and cellular mechanisms responsible for this feature have remained elusive. We demonstrate that the ESX-1 type VII secretion systems of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacteriummarinum exploit type I IFN-signalling to promote an IL-12low/IL-10high regulatory macrophage phenotype characterized by secretion of IL-10, IL-27 and IL-6. This mechanism had no impact on intracellular growth in the absence of IFNγ but suppressed IFNγ-mediated autophagy and growth restriction, indicating that the regulatory phenotype extends to function. The IFNγ-refractory phenotype was partly mediated by IL-27-signalling, establishing functional relevance for this downstream cytokine. These findings identify a novel macrophage-modulating function for the ESX-1 secretion system that may contribute to suppress the efficacy of adaptive immunity and provide mechanistic insight into the antagonistic cross talk between type I IFNs and IFNγ in mycobacterial infection.
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| 4. |
- Lienard, Julia, et al.
(författare)
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The Mycobacterium marinum ESX-1 system mediates phagosomal permeabilization and type I interferon production via separable mechanisms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424. ; 117:2, s. 1160-1166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following mycobacterial entry into macrophages the ESX-1 type VII secretion system promotes phagosomal permeabilization and type I IFN production, key features of tuberculosis pathogenesis. The current model states that the secreted substrate ESAT-6 is required for membrane permeabilization and that a subsequent passive leakage of extracellular bacterial DNA into the host cell cytosol is sensed by the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and stimulator of IFN genes (STING) pathway to induce type I IFN production. We employed a collection of Mycobacterium marinum ESX-1 transposon mutants in a macrophage infection model and show that permeabilization of the phagosomal membrane does not require ESAT-6 secretion. Moreover, loss of membrane integrity is insufficient to induce type I IFN production. Instead, type I IFN production requires intact ESX-1 function and correlates with release of mitochondrial and nuclear host DNA into the cytosol, indicating that ESX-1 affects host membrane integrity and DNA release via genetically separable mechanisms. These results suggest a revised model for major aspects of ESX-1-mediated host interactions and put focus on elucidating the mechanisms by which ESX-1 permeabilizes host membranes and induces the type I IFN response, questions of importance for our basic understanding of mycobacterial pathogenesis and innate immune sensing.
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| 5. |
- Movert, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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A Novel Bacterial Resistance Mechanism against Human Group IIA-Secreted Phospholipase A2: Role of Streptococcus pyogenes Sortase A.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 1550-6606 .- 0022-1767. ; 187:12, s. 6437-6446
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human group IIA-secreted phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)-IIA) is a bactericidal molecule important for the innate immune defense against Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we analyzed its role in the host defense against Streptococcus pyogenes, a major human pathogen, and demonstrated that this bacterium has evolved a previously unidentified mechanism to resist killing by sPLA(2)-IIA. Analysis of a set of clinical isolates demonstrated that an ∼500-fold higher concentration of sPLA(2)-IIA was required to kill S. pyogenes compared with strains of the group B Streptococcus, which previously were shown to be sensitive to sPLA(2)-IIA, indicating that S. pyogenes exhibits a high degree of resistance to sPLA(2)-IIA. We found that an S. pyogenes mutant lacking sortase A, a transpeptidase responsible for anchoring LPXTG proteins to the cell wall in Gram-positive bacteria, was significantly more sensitive (∼30-fold) to sPLA(2)-IIA compared with the parental strain, indicating that one or more LPXTG surface proteins protect S. pyogenes against sPLA(2)-IIA. Importantly, using transgenic mice expressing human sPLA(2)-IIA, we showed that the sortase A-mediated sPLA(2)-IIA resistance mechanism in S. pyogenes also occurs in vivo. Moreover, in this mouse model, we also showed that human sPLA(2)-IIA is important for the defense against lethal S. pyogenes infection. Thus, we demonstrated a novel mechanism by which a pathogenic bacterium can evade the bactericidal action of sPLA(2)-IIA and we showed that sPLA(2)-IIA contributes to the host defense against S. pyogenes infection.
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| 6. |
- Movert, Elin
(författare)
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Induction and functional role of type I interferon in bacterial infection of macrophages
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Infection represents an evolutionary arms race between pathogen and host. Thus, scientists find that pathogenic microbes have evolved elegant strategies to manipulate or avoid our immune system, allowing them to persist within the human population. This thesis is largely focused on how bacteria regulate and exploit the type I interferon (IFN) response in infected macrophages – a processes of central importance to cellular immunity and bacterial pathogenesis. More specifically, we have been interested in understanding how Streptococcus pyogenes and mycobacteria – representing evolutionarily distant pathogens causing acute and chronic infections, respectively – interact with macrophages to induce and functionally exploit the type I IFN response. Our studies have identified a specific streptococcal component, the surface M protein, and the mechanisms underlying induction of the type I IFN response in infected macrophages. In the case of mycobacterial infection, we provide new insight into the genetic requirements and mechanisms for ESX-1-mediated type I IFN induction, and describe a macrophage-modulating role for induced type I IFN that can be exploited by the bacteria to avoid being cleared by the immune system.
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| 7. |
- Movert, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Interplay between human STING genotype and bacterial NADase activity regulates inter-individual disease variability
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variability in disease severity caused by a microbial pathogen is impacted by each infection representing a unique combination of host and pathogen genomes. Here, we show that the outcome of invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infection is regulated by an interplay between human STING genotype and bacterial NADase activity. S. pyogenes-derived c-di-AMP diffuses via streptolysin O pores into macrophages where it activates STING and the ensuing type I IFN response. However, the enzymatic activity of the NADase variants expressed by invasive strains suppresses STING-mediated type I IFN production. Analysis of patients with necrotizing S. pyogenes soft tissue infection indicates that a STING genotype associated with reduced c-di-AMP-binding capacity combined with high bacterial NADase activity promotes a ‘perfect storm’ manifested in poor outcome, whereas proficient and uninhibited STING-mediated type I IFN production correlates with protection against host-detrimental inflammation. These results reveal an immune-regulating function for bacterial NADase and provide insight regarding the host-pathogen genotype interplay underlying invasive infection and interindividual disease variability.
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| 8. |
- Movert, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Secreted Group IIA Phospholipase A2 Protects Humans Against the Group B Streptococcus: Experimental and Clinical Evidence.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1537-6613 .- 0022-1899. ; 208:12, s. 2025-2035
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a leading neonatal pathogen and a growing cause of invasive disease in the elderly, with clinical manifestations such as pneumonia and sepsis. Despite its clinical importance, little is known about innate immunity against GBS in humans. Here, we analyze the role of human group IIA secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA), a bactericidal enzyme induced during acute inflammation, in innate immunity against GBS. We show that clinical GBS isolates are highly sensitive to killing by sPLA2-IIA but not by human antimicrobial peptides. Using transgenic mice that express human sPLA2-IIA, we demonstrate that this enzyme is crucial for host protection against systemic infection and lung challenge by GBS. We found that acute sera from humans diagnosed with invasive GBS disease contain increased levels of sPLA2-IIA compared with normal sera from healthy individuals, indicating that GBS induces an sPLA2-IIA response in blood during human infection. We demonstrate that clinically relevant GBS strains are rapidly killed in these acute sera. We also demonstrate that the bactericidal effect is entirely due to sPLA2-IIA, showing that sPLA2-IIA might represent an important component of humoral innate immunity against GBS. Our data provide experimental and clinical evidence that sPLA2-IIA protects humans against GBS infections.
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| 9. |
- Movert, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Streptococcal M protein promotes IL-10 production by cGAS-independent activation of the STING signaling pathway
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLoS Pathogens. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7374 .- 1553-7366. ; 14:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From an evolutionary point of view a pathogen might benefit from regulating the inflammatory response, both in order to facilitate establishment of colonization and to avoid life-threatening host manifestations, such as septic shock. In agreement with this notion Streptococcus pyogenes exploits type I IFN-signaling to limit detrimental inflammation in infected mice, but the host-pathogen interactions and mechanisms responsible for induction of the type I IFN response have remained unknown. Here we used a macrophage infection model and report that S. pyogenes induces anti-inflammatory IL-10 in an M protein-dependent manner, a function that was mapped to the B- and C-repeat regions of the M5 protein. Intriguingly, IL-10 was produced downstream of type I IFN-signaling, and production of type I IFN occurred via M protein-dependent activation of the STING signaling pathway. Activation of STING was independent of the cytosolic double stranded DNA sensor cGAS, and infection did not induce detectable release into the cytosol of either mitochondrial, nuclear or bacterial DNA–indicating DNA-independent activation of the STING pathway in S. pyogenes infected macrophages. These findings provide mechanistic insight concerning how S. pyogenes induces the type I IFN response and identify a previously unrecognized macrophage-modulating role for the streptococcal M protein that may contribute to curb the inflammatory response to infection.
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| 10. |
- Nordström, Therése, et al.
(författare)
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Human Siglec-5 Inhibitory Receptor and Immunoglobulin A (IgA) Have Separate Binding Sites in Streptococcal {beta} Protein.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 286:39, s. 33981-33991
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (Siglecs) are receptors believed to be important for regulation of cellular activation and inflammation. Several pathogenic microbes bind specific Siglecs via sialic acid-containing structures at the microbial surface, interactions that may result in modulation of host responses. Recently, it was shown that the group B Streptococcus (GBS) binds to human Siglec-5 (hSiglec-5), an inhibitory receptor expressed on macrophages and neutrophils, via the IgA-binding surface β protein, providing the first example of a protein/protein interaction between a pathogenic microbe and a Siglec. Here we show that the hSiglec-5-binding part of β resides in the N-terminal half of the protein, which also harbors the previously determined IgA-binding region. We constructed bacterial mutants expressing variants of the β protein with non-overlapping deletions in the N-terminal half of the protein. Using these mutants and recombinant β fragments, we showed that the hSiglec-5-binding site is located in the most N-terminal part of β (B6N region; amino acids 1-152) and that the hSiglec-5- and IgA-binding domains in β are completely separate. We showed with BIAcore(TM) analysis that tandem variants of the hSiglec-5- and IgA-binding domains bind to their respective ligands with high affinity. Finally, we showed that the B6N region, but not the IgA-binding region of β, triggers recruitment of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 to hSiglec-5 in U937 monocytes. Taken together, we have identified and isolated the first microbial non-sialic acid Siglec-binding region that can be used as a tool in studies of the β/hSiglec-5 interaction.
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