isolation-transfection-and-culture-of-primary-human-monocytes

Isolation, Transfection, and Culture of Primary Human Monocytes

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major health concern despite the introduction of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) in the mid-1990s. ...

louisiana state university health sciences center

Phosphorylation of sphingosine by sphingosine kinases (SphK1 and SphK2) generates sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive sphingolipid which promotes cancer cell survival and tumor progression in vivo. We have recently reported that targeting SphK2 induces apoptosis for human primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell lines infected by the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), and this occurs in part through inhibition of canonical NF-κB activation. In contrast, pharmacologic inhibition of SphK2 has minimal impact for uninfected B-cell lines or circulating human B cells from healthy donors. Therefore, we designed additional studies employing primary human endothelial cells to explore mechanisms responsible for the selective death observed for KSHV-infected cells during SphK2 targeting. Using RNA interference and a clinically relevant pharmacologic approach, we have found that targeting SphK2 induces apoptosis selectively for KSHV-infected endothelial cells through induction of viral lytic gene expression. Moreover, this effect occurs through repression of KSHV-microRNAs regulating viral latency and signal transduction, including miR-K12-1 which targets IκBα to facilitate activation of NF-κB, and ectopic expression of miR-K12-1 restores NF-κB activation and viability for KSHV-infected endothelial cells during SphK2 inhibition. These data illuminate a novel survival mechanism and potential therapeutic target for KSHV-infected endothelial cells: SphK2-associated maintenance of viral latency. 

Sphingosine kinase-2 maintains viral latency and survival for KSHV-infected endothelial cells.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) causes several cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). PD-1/PD-Ls immune checkpoint molecules play important roles in cancer cell immune escape. The expression of PD-1/PD-Ls and their regulation by oncogenic viruses, in particular KSHV, remain largely undefined. Here we demonstrate strong PD-1/PD-L1/PD-L2 expression in KS tissues from a cohort of HIV + patients. We found that induction of KSHV lytic reactivation significantly upregulates PD-L1 expression on infected tumor cells, potentially through several major cellular signaling pathways and IL-1β, which may represent a novel mechanism for virus-associated tumor cell immune escape.

Karlie Plaisance-Bonstaff

Department of Medicine,
Department of Microbiology,
Immunology,
and Parasitology,
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology

louisiana state university health sciences center

Isolation, Transfection, and Culture of Primary Human Monocytes

Karlie Plaisance-Bonstaff

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Medicine,Department of Microbiology,Immunology,and Parasitology,Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology

louisiana state university health sciences center

Isolation, Transfection, and Culture of Primary Human Monocytes

Department of Medicine,
Department of Microbiology,
Immunology,
and Parasitology,
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology