| 1. |
- Lindqvist, Richard, 1985-
(författare)
-
The role of the type I interferons and viperin during neurotropic flavivirus infection
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flaviviruses are globally distributed pathogens that cause millions of human infections annually. One of the most detrimental outcomes of flavivirus infection is encephalitis, which is caused by neurotropic flaviviruses such as West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). The type I interferons (IFNs) are powerful cytokines, and they are known as the first line of defense against viral infection. IFNs are expressed at low or undetectable levels at the basal state, but recognition of invading pathogens triggers a robust IFN response. After synthesis, IFN is secreted and acts in an autocrine or paracrine manner by binding to the interferon-α/β receptor (IFNAR) receptor, which is expressed on the surface of all nucleated cells. Binding to IFNAR mediates a downstream cascade that triggers expression of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). Some ISGs express signaling molecules to amplify the response while others are potent antiviral proteins that can efficiently limit viral infection. The impact of the type I IFN response in tick-borne flavivirus infection was not previously known. We found that the type I IFN response was crucial for protection of mice against neurotropic infection with tick-borne flaviviruses such as TBEV and Langat virus (LGTV). The response was needed both in the periphery as well as in the central nervous system (CNS), as transgenic mice lacking either peripherally or CNS-located IFNAR both succumbed to LGTV infection. Although we found that the local IFN response within the CNS is essential for protection against lethal LGTV infection, the cells responsible for the local IFN production were not known.Astrocytes are one of the most abundant cell types within the CNS, but their role in neurotropic flavivirus infection was not fully characterized. In other viral infections, astrocytes are potent IFN producers, thus we were interested in characterizing the role of the type I IFN response in astrocytes during neurotropic flavivirus infection and its contribution to flavivirus pathogenesis. We found that upon flavivirus infection, astrocytes mount a strong type I IFN response that protects neighboring astrocytes from TBEV, JEV, WNV, and ZIKV infection. Furthermore, IFN signaling was found to protect astrocytes from TBEV-induced cytopathic effects. However, the ISGs that mediated these effects were not known.In vitro studies of viperin, which was discovered in 2001 as an ISG with broad antiviral activity, has shown strong antiviral activity against TBEV, but its role in vivo and mode of action in flavivirus infection was not known. Using mice deficient in viperin, we wanted to determine the role of viperin in flavivirus infection. We found that viperin plays a region-specific role in the brain by controlling LGTV replication in the olfactory bulb and cerebrum. Remarkably, viperin was able to inhibit TBEV replication in primary cortical neurons isolated from the cerebrum but not in granule cell neurons isolated from the cerebellum. Furthermore, IFN treatment failed to compensate for loss of viperin in cortical neurons, indicating that viperin might be the most important ISG against TBEV in cortical neurons. Interestingly, we also found that viperin is needed for the IFN-mediated antiviral response against WNV and ZIKV in cortical neurons. Thus, viperin showed broad but region-specific antiviral mechanisms against different flaviviruses.Although viperin has been shown to inhibit many viruses, the molecular antiviral mechanism is not clear and appears to differ between viruses. We performed a co-immunoprecipitation (CoIP) screen to identify TBEV proteins that could interact with viperin, and prM, E, NS2A, NS2B, and NS3 were identified. Interaction of viperin with NS3 resulted in degradation of the viral protein. We screened NS3 of JEV, yellow fever virus (YFV), ZIKV, and TBEV. Interestingly, although all NS3 proteins tested interacted with viperin, only those of ZIKV, and TBEV were significantly degraded by viperin. The degradation of NS3 correlated well with the antiviral activity of viperin, as only TBEV and ZIKV were inhibited.In summary, this work revealed the importance of the local type I IFN response in the brain during neurotropic infections by flaviviruses. We identified astrocytes to be an important IFN producer within the CNS during neurotropic flavivirus infection. Astrocytes release type I IFN quickly after viral infection, and this interferon protects neighboring neurons and astrocytes from infection. Furthermore, viperin, a very potent antiviral ISG, is highly expressed in astrocytes and it is essential for controlling viral replication and mediating viral clearance in both neurons and astrocytes of the cerebrum. We also found that viperin specifically targeted the NS3 proteins of TBEV and ZIKV for degradation.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Ruzek, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
-
Tick-borne encephalitis in Europe and Russia : review of pathogenesis, clinical features, therapy, and vaccines
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Antiviral Research. - : Elsevier. - 0166-3542 .- 1872-9096. ; 164, s. 23-51
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an illness caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infection which is often limited to a febrile illness, but may lead to very aggressive downstream neurological manifestations. The disease is prevalent in forested areas of Europe and northeastern Asia, and is typically caused by infection involving one of three TBEV subtypes, namely the European (TBEV-Eu), the Siberian (TBEV-Sib), or the Far Eastern (TBEV-FE) subtypes. In addition to the three main TBEV subtypes, two other subtypes; i.e., the Baikalian (TBEV-Bkl) and the Himalayan subtype (TBEV-Him), have been described recently. In Europe, TBEV-Eu infection usually results in only mild TBE associated with a mortality rate of < 2%. TBEV-Sib infection also results in a generally mild TBE associated with a non-paralytic febrile form of encephalitis, although there is a tendency towards persistent TBE caused by chronic viral infection. TBE-FE infection is considered to induce the most severe forms of TBE. Importantly though, viral subtype is not the sole determinant of TBE severity; both mild and severe cases of TBE are in fact associated with infection by any of the subtypes. In keeping with this observation, the overall TBE mortality rate in Russia is similar to 2%, in spite of the fact that TBEV-Sib and TBEV-FE subtypes appear to be inducers of more severe TBE than TBEV-Eu. On the other hand, TBEV-Sib and TBEV-FE subtype infections in Russia are associated with essentially unique forms of TBE rarely seen elsewhere if at all, such as the hemorrhagic and chronic (progressive) forms of the disease. For post-exposure prophylaxis and TBE treatment in Russia and Kazakhstan, a specific anti-TBEV immunoglobulin is currently used with well-documented efficacy, but the use of specific TBEV immunoglobulins has been discontinued in Europe due to concerns regarding antibody-enhanced disease in naive individuals. Therefore, new treatments are essential. This review summarizes available data on the pathogenesis and clinical features of TBE, plus different vaccine preparations available in Europe and Russia. In addition, new treatment possibilities, including small molecule drugs and experimental immunotherapies are reviewed. The authors caution that their descriptions of approved or experimental therapies should not be considered to be recommendations for patient care.
|
|
| 4. |
- Saegerman, Claude, et al.
(författare)
-
First Expert Elicitation of Knowledge on Possible Drivers of Observed Increasing Human Cases of Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Europe
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Viruses. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4915. ; 15:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral disease endemic in Eurasia. The virus is mainly transmitted to humans via ticks and occasionally via the consumption of unpasteurized milk products. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported an increase in TBE incidence over the past years in Europe as well as the emergence of the disease in new areas. To better understand this phenomenon, we investigated the drivers of TBE emergence and increase in incidence in humans through an expert knowledge elicitation. We listed 59 possible drivers grouped in eight domains and elicited forty European experts to: (i) allocate a score per driver, (ii) weight this score within each domain, and (iii) weight the different domains and attribute an uncertainty level per domain. An overall weighted score per driver was calculated, and drivers with comparable scores were grouped into three terminal nodes using a regression tree analysis. The drivers with the highest scores were: (i) changes in human behavior/activities; (ii) changes in eating habits or consumer demand; (iii) changes in the landscape; (iv) influence of humidity on the survival and transmission of the pathogen; (v) difficulty to control reservoir(s) and/or vector(s); (vi) influence of temperature on virus survival and transmission; (vii) number of wildlife compartments/groups acting as reservoirs or amplifying hosts; (viii) increase of autochthonous wild mammals; and (ix) number of tick species vectors and their distribution. Our results support researchers in prioritizing studies targeting the most relevant drivers of emergence and increasing TBE incidence.
|
|
| 5. |
- Taylor, C. Barr, et al.
(författare)
-
Using Digital Technology to Reduce the Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders in Populations: Time for a New Approach
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medical Internet Research. - : JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC. - 1438-8871. ; 22:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Digital technology, which includes the collection, analysis, and use of data from a variety of digital devices, has the potential to reduce the prevalence of disorders and improve mental health in populations. Among the many advantages of digital technology is that it allows preventive and clinical interventions, both of which are needed to reduce the prevalence of mental health disorders, to be feasibly integrated into health care and community delivery systems and delivered at scale. However, the use of digital technology also presents several challenges, including how systems can manage and implement interventions in a rapidly changing digital environment and handle critical issues that affect population-wide outcomes, including reaching the targeted population, obtaining meaningful levels of uptake and use of interventions, and achieving significant outcomes. We describe a possible solution, which is to have an outcome optimization team that focuses on the dynamic use of data to adapt interventions for populations, while at the same time, addressing the complex relationships among reach, uptake, use, and outcome. We use the example of eating disorders in young people to illustrate how this solution could be implemented at scale. We also discuss system, practitioner-related, and other issues related to the adaptation of such an approach Digital technology has great potential for facilitating the reduction of mental illness rates in populations. However, achieving this goal will require the implementation of new approaches. As a solution, we argue for the need to create outcome optimization teams, tasked with integrating data from various sources and using advanced data analytics and new designs to develop interventions/strategies to increase reach, uptake, use/engagement, and outcomes for both preventive and treatment interventions.
|
|
