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- Heinz, J. L., et al.
(författare)
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Whole exome sequencing of patients with varicella-zoster virus and herpes simplex virus induced acute retinal necrosis reveals rare disease-associated genetic variants
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. - 1662-5099. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) are neurotropic human alphaherpesviruses endemic worldwide. Upon primary infection, both viruses establish lifelong latency in neurons and reactivate intermittently to cause a variety of mild to severe diseases. Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a rare, sight-threatening eye disease induced by ocular VZV or HSV infection. The virus and host factors involved in ARN pathogenesis remain incompletely described. We hypothesize an underlying genetic defect in at least part of ARN cases.Methods: We collected blood from 17 patients with HSV-or VZV-induced ARN, isolated DNA and performed Whole Exome Sequencing by Illumina followed by analysis in Varseq with criteria of CADD score > 15 and frequency in GnomAD < 0.1% combined with biological filters. Gene modifications relative to healthy control genomes were filtered according to high quality and read-depth, low frequency, high deleteriousness predictions and biological relevance.Results: We identified a total of 50 potentially disease-causing genetic variants, including missense, frameshift and splice site variants and on in-frame deletion in 16 of the 17 patients. The vast majority of these genes are involved in innate immunity, followed by adaptive immunity, autophagy, and apoptosis; in several instances variants within a given gene or pathway was identified in several patients.Discussion: We propose that the identified variants may contribute to insufficient viral control and increased necrosis ocular disease presentation in the patients and serve as a knowledge base and starting point for the development of improved diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic applications.
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- Heinz, Johanna L., et al.
(författare)
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Varicella zoster virus-induced autophagy in human neuronal and hematopoietic cells exerts antiviral activity
- 2024
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY. - 0146-6615 .- 1096-9071. ; 96:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autophagy is a degradational pathway with pivotal roles in cellular homeostasis and survival, including protection of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). The significance of autophagy as antiviral defense mechanism is recognized and some viruses hijack and modulate this process to their advantage in certain cell types. Here, we present data demonstrating that the human neurotropic herpesvirus varicella zoster virus (VZV) induces autophagy in human SH-SY5Y neuronal cells, in which the pathway exerts antiviral activity. Productively VZV-infected SH-SY5Y cells showed increased LC3-I-LC3-II conversion as well as co-localization of the viral glycoprotein E and the autophagy receptor p62. The activation of autophagy was dependent on a functional viral genome. Interestingly, inducers of autophagy reduced viral transcription, whereas inhibition of autophagy increased viral transcript expression. Finally, the genotype of patients with severe ocular and brain VZV infection were analyzed to identify potential autophagy-associated inborn errors of immunity. Two patients expressing genetic variants in the autophagy genes ULK1 and MAP1LC3B2, respectively, were identified. Notably, cells of both patients showed reduced autophagy, alongside enhanced viral replication and death of VZV-infected cells. In conclusion, these results demonstrate a neuro-protective role for autophagy in the context of VZV infection and suggest that failure to mount an autophagy response is a potential predisposing factor for development of severe VZV disease.
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- Ren, Fanghui, et al.
(författare)
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ER stress induces caspase-2-tBID-GSDMEdependent cell death in neurons lytically infected with herpes simplex virus type 2
- 2023
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Ingår i: EMBO JOURNAL. - 0261-4189 .- 1460-2075. ; 42:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neurotropic viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, have the capacity to infect neurons and can cause severe diseases. This is associated with neuronal cell death, which may contribute to morbidity or even mortality if the infection is not controlled. However, the mechanistic details of HSV-induced neuronal cell death remain enigmatic. Here, we report that lytic HSV-2 infection of human neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells and primary human and murine brain cells leads to cell death mediated by gasdermin E (GSDME). HSV-2-induced GSDME-mediated cell death occurs downstream of replication-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress driven by inositol-requiring kinase 1 alpha (IRE1 alpha), leading to activation of caspase-2, cleavage of the pro-apoptotic protein BH3interacting domain death agonist (BID), and mitochondriadependent activation of caspase-3. Finally, necrotic neurons released alarmins, which activated inflammatory responses in human iPSC-derived microglia. In conclusion, lytic HSV infection in neurons activates an ER stress-driven pathway to execute GSDMEmediated cell death and promote inflammation.
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