Pascaline Fontes

Functional Implication of Cellular Prion Protein in Antigen-Driven Interactions between T Cells and Dendritic Cells

The cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a host-encoded, GPI-anchored cell surface protein, expressed on a wide range of tissues including neuronal and lymphoreticular cells. PrPC may undergo posttranslational conversion, giving rise to scrapie PrP, the pathogenic conformer considered as responsible for prion diseases. Despite intensive studies, the normal function of PrPC is still enigmatic. Starting from microscope observations showing an accumulation of PrPC at the sites of contact between T cells and Ag-loaded dendritic cells (DC), we have studied the contribution of PrPC in alloantigen and peptide-MHC-driven T/DC interactions. Whereas the absence of PrPC on the DC results in a reduced allogeneic T cell response, its absence on the T cell partner has no apparent effect upon this response. Therefore, PrPC seems to fulfill different functions on the two cell partners forming the synapse. In contrast, PrPC mobilization by Ab reduces the stimulatory properties of DC and the proliferative potential of responding T cells. The contrasted consequences, regarding T cell function, between PrPC deletion and PrPC coating by Abs, suggests that the prion protein acts as a signaling molecule on T cells. Furthermore, our results show that the absence of PrPC has consequences in vivo also, upon the ability of APCs to stimulate proliferative T cell responses. Thus, independent of neurological considerations, some of the evolutionary constraints that may have contributed to the conservation of the Prnp gene in mammalians, could be of immunological origin.

Release of LL-37 by Activated Human Vγ9Vδ2 T Cells: A Microbicidal Weapon against Brucella suis

Human Vγ9Vδ2 T cells play a crucial role in early immune response to intracellular pathogens. Moreover, in brucellosis, these cells are drastically increased in the peripheral blood of patients during the acute phase of infection. In vitro, Vγ9Vδ2 T cells are capable of inhibiting Brucella growth and development through a combination of mechanisms: 1) cytotoxicity, 2) macrophage activation and bactericidal activity through cytokine and chemokine secretion, and 3) antibacterial effects. We previously described that antibacterial factors were found in supernatants from activated Vγ9Vδ2 T cells. In this study, we show that Vγ9Vδ2 T cells express the human cathelicidin hCAP18 and its mature form, known as LL-37, is released upon activation of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells. We also show that LL-37 has an antibacterial effect on Brucella suis. Overall, our results demonstrate that LL-37 is a soluble factor responsible for a part of the bactericidal activity of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells.

Absence of Evidence for the Participation of the Macrophage Cellular Prion Protein in Infection with Brucella suis

ABSTRACT Brucella spp. are stealthy bacteria that enter host cells without major perturbation. The molecular mechanism involved is still poorly understood, although numerous studies have been published on this subject. Recently, it was reported that Brucella abortus utilizes cellular prion protein (PrPC) to enter the cells and to reach its replicative niche. The molecular mechanisms involved were not clearly defined, prompting us to analyze this process using blocking antibodies against PrPC. However, the behavior of Brucella during cellular infection under these conditions was not modified. In a next step, the behavior of Brucella in macrophages lacking the prion gene and the infection of mice knocked out for the prion gene were studied. We observed no difference from results obtained with the wild-type control. Although some contacts between PrPC and Brucella were observed on the surface of the cells by using confocal microscopy, we could not show that Brucella specifically bound recombinant PrPC. Therefore, we concluded from our results that prion protein (PrPC) was not involved in Brucella infection.

Dynamics of polymerization shed light on the mechanisms that lead to multiple amyloid structures of the prion protein

It is generally accepted that spongiform encephalopathies result from the aggregation into amyloid of a ubiquitous protein, the so-called prion protein. As a consequence, the dynamics of amyloid formation should explain the characteristics of the prion diseases: infectivity as well as sporadic and genetic occurrence, long incubation time, species barriers and strain specificities. The success of this amyloid hypothesis is due to the good qualitative agreement of this hypothesis with the observations. However, a number of difficulties appeared when comparing quantitatively the in vitro experimental results with the theoretical models, suggesting that some differences should hide important discrepancies. We used well defined quantitative models to analyze the experimental results obtained by in vitro polymerization of the recombinant hamster prion protein. Although the dynamics of polymerization resembles a simple nucleus-dependent fibrillogenesis, neither the initial concentration dependence nor off-pathway hypothesis fit with experimental results. Furthermore, seeded polymerization starts after a long time delay suggesting the existence of a specific mechanism that takes place before nucleus formation. On the other hand, polymerization dynamics reveals a highly stochastic mechanism, the origin of which appears to be caused by nucleation heterogeneity. Moreover, the specific structures generated during nucleation are maintained during successive seeding although a clear improvement of the dynamics parameters (polymerization rate and lag time) is observed. We propose that an additional on-pathway reaction takes place before nucleation and it is responsible for the heterogeneity of structures produced during prion protein polymerization in vitro. These amyloid structures behave like prion strains. A model is proposed to explain the genesis of heterogeneity among prion amyloid.

A Micellar On-Pathway Intermediate Step Explains the Kinetics of Prion Amyloid Formation

In a previous work by Alvarez-Martinez et al. (2011), the authors pointed out some fallacies in the mainstream interpretation of the prion amyloid formation. It appeared necessary to propose an original hypothesis able to reconcile the in vitro data with the predictions of a mathematical model describing the problem. Here, a model is developed accordingly with the hypothesis that an intermediate on-pathway leads to the conformation of the prion protein into an amyloid competent isoform thanks to a structure, called micelles, formed from hydrodynamic interaction. The authors also compare data to the prediction of their model and propose a new hypothesis for the formation of infectious prion amyloids.

Old Gray Mouse Lemur Behavior, Cognition, and Neuropathology

Abstract Nonhuman primate models are required to understand aging and age-related pathologies. The gray mouse lemur Microcebus murinus, a small prosimian primate, develops age-dependent deficits that are comparable to the decline observed during normal and pathological aging in humans. Importantly, not all old gray mouse lemurs are equally affected by age-related behavioral and cognitive problems. Some are profoundly impaired, while others perform as well as younger animals. Moreover, brain atrophy is detected only in some animals and thus appears to be an age-related pathological condition more than an inevitable effect of age. Finally, a subset of aged animals display neuropathological lesions observed also in Alzheimers disease: β-amyloid deposition mainly in diffuse plaques and tau protein aggregation in some pyramidal neurons of the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. Overall, these age-related changes indicate that gray mouse lemurs could be used as a potential translational model to study age-associated deficits and disorders.

Exogenous LRRK2G2019S induces parkinsonian-like pathology in a nonhuman primate

Parkinsons disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease among the elderly. To understand its pathogenesis and to test therapies, animal models that faithfully reproduce key pathological PD hallmarks are needed. As a prelude to developing a model of PD, we tested the tropism, efficacy, biodistribution, and transcriptional effect of canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) vectors in the brain of Microcebus murinus, a nonhuman primate that naturally develops neurodegenerative lesions. We show that introducing helper-dependent (HD) CAV-2 vectors results in long-term, neuron-specific expression at the injection site and in afferent nuclei. Although HD CAV-2 vector injection induced a modest transcriptional response, no significant adaptive immune response was generated. We then generated and tested HD CAV-2 vectors expressing leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) and LRRK2 carrying a G2019S mutation (LRRK2G2019S), which is linked to sporadic and familial autosomal dominant forms of PD. We show that HD-LRRK2G2019S expression induced parkinsonian-like motor symptoms and histological features in less than 4 months.

Tropismes et barrières d’espèces des ATNC (maladies à prions) : quels dangers pour l’homme?

Resume Les encephalopathies spongiformes subaigues transmissibles (ESST), encore appelees maladies a prions, sont des maladies qui touchent exclusivement les mammiferes. Elles evoluent de facons sporadiques ou epidemiques a l’interieur d’une espece ou d’une sous-famille, suggerant l’existence d’une barriere limitant sa propagation. La transmission vers d’autre famille est rare, mais l’episode de l’encephalopathie spongiforme bovine (ESB), encore appelee maladie de la vache folle, a montre que certaines souches de l’agent infectieux prion pouvaient passer la barriere d’espece. L’ESB a infecte l’homme et plusieurs familles d’animaux domestiques (felins) ou en captivites (primates, ongules, felins). Les etudes experimentales ont montre que le passage d’une espece a l’autre est determine par au moins deux parametres : 1/ la similarite des sequences de la proteine prion et 2/ des specificites liees a souche incriminee. L’hypothese de la « proteine seule », qui explique l’infection par la formation de structures amyloides a partir de la proteine prion, rend compte aussi bien des observations de l’infection naturelle que des etudes de la transmission experimentales. Elle suggere que la specificite est encryptee dans la structure de l’amyloide. La question est donc posee de l’apparition de nouvelles pathologies issues de la proteine prion, mais plus largement aussi de l’apparition de maladies infectieuses resultant de la formation d’amyloides par d’autres proteines. Ces risques hypothetiques sont discutes.