Contact-Free Co-Culture Model for the Study of Innate Immune Cell Activation During Respiratory Virus Infection

Summary

This protocol details an investigation of the early interactions between virally infected nasal epithelial cells and innate cell activation. Individual subsets of immune cells can be distinguished based on their activation in response to viral infections. They can then be further investigated to determine their effects on early antiviral responses.

Abstract

The early interactions between the nasal epithelial layer and the innate immune cells during viral infections remains an under-explored area. The significance of innate immunity signaling in viral infections has increased substantially as patients with respiratory infections who exhibit high innate T cell activation show a better disease outcome. Hence, dissecting these early innate immune interactions allows the elucidation of the processes that govern them and may facilitate the development of potential therapeutic targets and strategies for dampening or even preventing early progression of viral infections. This protocol details a versatile model that can be used to study early crosstalk, interactions, and activation of innate immune cells from factors secreted by virally infected airway epithelial cells. Using an H3N2 influenza virus (A/Aichi/2/1968) as the representative virus model, innate cell activation of co-cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) has been analyzed using flow cytometry to investigate the subsets of cells that are activated by the soluble factors released from the epithelium in response to the viral infection. The results demonstrate the gating strategy for differentiating the subsets of cells and reveal the clear differences between the activated populations of PBMCs and their crosstalk with the control and infected epithelium. The activated subsets can then be further analyzed to determine their functions as well as molecular changes specific to the cells. Findings from such a crosstalk investigation may uncover factors that are important for the activation of vital innate cell populations, which are beneficial in controlling and suppressing the progression of viral infection. Furthermore, these factors can be universally applied to different viral diseases, especially to newly emerging viruses, to dampen the impact of such viruses when they first circulate in naïve human populations.

Introduction

Respiratory viruses are perhaps amongst the most widespread pathogens causing severe healthcare and economic burden. From the periodic global outbreaks of emerging epidemic strains (e.g., H1N1, H5N1, H3N2, MERS, COVID-19) to the seasonal strains of influenza every year, viruses are a constant threat to public health. Although vaccines form the main bulk of the response to these global public health challenges, it is sobering to note that these countermeasures are merely responsive^1,2. Furthermore, a delay between the emergence of a new infectious strain and the successful development of its vaccine is inevitab....

Protocol

NOTE: Refer to Table 1 for recipes of media used in this protocol.
NOTE: hNECS grown on 12-well transwell have been found to grow into more optimal thickness for soluble factors to reach the basal chamber readily when infected with Influenza virus. Hence use of 12-well sized transwell for co-culture is recommended. 

1. Establishment of the 3T3 feeder layer

1. Establishment from frozen stocks
   1. Thaw a cryovial of NIH/3T3 fibroblasts from frozen sto.......

Discussion

Innate immune responses against viruses are an under-investigated field of study in antiviral management. The airway epithelial cells and innate immune cells work in concert to suppress viral replication during an infection, besides serving as a determinant of overactive adaptive response if the viral load is not kept in check^12,13,17. However, the development of a relevant human model for the study of epithelial-innate immune c.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.5% Trypsin-EDTA	Gibco	15400-054
0.5 M Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), pH 8.0, RNase-free	Thermofisher	AM9260G	0.5M EDTA
1.5 mL SafeLock Tubes	Eppendorf	0030120086	1.5mL Centrifuge Tube
10 mL K3EDTA Vacutainer Tubes	BD	366643	10mL Blood Collection Tubes
10x dPBS	Gibco	14200-075
10x PBS	Vivantis	PC0711
12-well Plate	Corning	3513
12-well Transwell Insert	Corning	3460	membrane insert
1x FACS Lysing Solution	BD	349202
2.0 mL SafeLock Tubes	Eppendorf	0030120094	2 mL centrifuge tube
24-well Plate	Corning	3524
24-well Transwell Insert	Corning	3470
3% Acetic Acid with Methylene Blue	STEMCELL Technologies	07060
3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine	Sigma	T-074
37% Formaldehyde Solution w 15% Methanol as Stabilizer in H2O	Sigma	533998
5810R Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5811000320
5 mL polypropylene tubes (flow tubes)	BD	352058
70 µm Cell Strainer	Corning	431751
A-4-62 Rotor	Eppendorf	5810709008
Accutase	Gibco	A1110501	Cell Dissociation Reagent
Antibiotic-Antimycotic	Gibco	15240-062
Avicel CL-611	FMC Biopolymer	NA	Liquid Overlay
Bio-Plex Manager 6.2 Standard Software	Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc	171STND01	Multiplex Manager Software
Butterfly Needle 21 G	BD	367287
Cholera Toxin	Sigma	C8052
Crystal Violet	Merck	C6158
Cytofix/Cytoperm Solution	BD	554722	Fixation and Permeabilization Solution
Dispase II	Sigma	D4693	Neutral Protease
DMEM/High Glucose	GE Healthcare Life Sciences	SH30243.01
DMEM/Nutrient Mixture F-12	Gibco-Invitrogen	11320033
dNTP Mix	Promega	U1515	dNTP Mix
EMEM (w L-Glutamine)	ATCC	30-2003
EVOM voltohmmeter device	WPI, Sarasota, FL, USA	300523
FACS Lysing Solution	BD	349202	1x Lysing Solution
Falcon tube 15 mL	CellStar	188271	15 mL tube
Falcon tube 50 mL	CellStar	227261	50 mL Tube
Fast Start Essential DNA Probes Master	Roche	6402682001	qPCR Master Mix
Ficoll Paque Premium	Research Instruments	17544203	Density Gradient Media
H3N2 (A/Aichi/2/1968)	ATCC	VR547
H3N2 M1 Forward Primer Sequence	Sigma	5'- ATGGTTCTGGCCAGCACTAC-3'
H3N2 M1 Reverse Primer Sequence	Sigma	5'- ATCTGCACCCCCATTCGTTT-3'
H3N2 NS1 Forward Primer Sequence	Sigma	5'- ACCCGTGTTGGAAAGCAGAT-3'
H3N2 NS1 Reverse Primer Sequence	Sigma	5'- CCTCTTCGGTGAAAGCCCTT-3'
Heat Inactivated Fetal Bovine Serum	Gibco	10500-064
hNESPCs	Human Donors	NA
Human Epithelial Growth Factor	Gibco-Invitrogen	PHG0314
Hydrocortisone	STEMCELL Techonologies	7925	Collected from nasal biopsies during septal deviation surgeries
Insulin	Sigma	I3536
Lightcycler 96	Roche	5815916001	qPCR Instrument
Live/DEAD Blue Cell Stain Kit *for UV Excitation	Thermofisher	L23105	Viability Stain
MILLIPLEX MAP Human Cytokine/Chemokine Magnetic Bead Panel II - Premixed 23 Plex	Merck Pte Ltd	HCP2MAG-62K-PX23	Immunology Multiplex Assay
Mitomycin C	Sigma	M4287
M-MLV 5x Buffer	Promega	M1705	RT-PCR 5x Buffer
M-MLV Reverse Transcriptase	Promega	M1706	Reverse Transcriptase
N-2 supplement	Gibco-Invitrogen	17502-048
NIH/3T3	ATCC	CRL1658
Perm/Wash Buffer	BD	554723	Permeabilization Wash Buffer
PneumaCult-ALI 10x Supplement	STEMCELL Techonologies	5001
PneumaCult-ALI Basal Medium	STEMCELL Techonologies	5001
PneumaCult-ALI Maintenance Supplement (100x)	STEMCELL Techonologies	5001
Random Primers	Promega	C1181	Random Primers
Recombinant Rnasin Rnase Inhibitor	Promega	N2511	RNase Inhibitor
RNA Lysis Buffer	Qiagen	Part of 52904
RPMI 1640 (w L-Glutamine)	ATCC	30-2001
STX2 electrodes	WPI, Sarasota, FL, USA	STX2	Electrode
T25 Flask	Corning	430639
T75 Flask	Corning	430641U
TPCK Trypsin	Sigma	T1426
Trypan Blue	Hyclone	SV30084.01
Viral RNA Extraction Kit	Qiagen	52904	Viral RNA Extraction Kit
V-Shaped 96-well Plate	Corning	3894