@article{ZimniakKirschnerHilpertetal.2021, author = {Zimniak, Melissa and Kirschner, Luisa and Hilpert, Helen and Geiger, Nina and Danov, Olga and Oberwinkler, Heike and Steinke, Maria and Sewald, Katherina and Seibel, J{\"u}rgen and Bodem, Jochen}, title = {The serotonin reuptake inhibitor Fluoxetine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in human lung tissue}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {11}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-85049-0}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259820}, pages = {5890}, year = {2021}, abstract = {To circumvent time-consuming clinical trials, testing whether existing drugs are effective inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2, has led to the discovery of Remdesivir. We decided to follow this path and screened approved medications "off-label" against SARS-CoV-2. Fluoxetine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 at a concentration of 0.8 mu g/ml significantly in these screenings, and the EC50 was determined with 387 ng/ml. Furthermore, Fluoxetine reduced viral infectivity in precision-cut human lung slices showing its activity in relevant human tissue targeted in severe infections. Fluoxetine treatment resulted in a decrease in viral protein expression. Fluoxetine is a racemate consisting of both stereoisomers, while the S-form is the dominant serotonin reuptake inhibitor. We found that both isomers show similar activity on the virus, indicating that the R-form might specifically be used for SARS-CoV-2 treatment. Fluoxetine inhibited neither Rabies virus, human respiratory syncytial virus replication nor the Human Herpesvirus 8 or Herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression, indicating that it acts virus-specific. Moreover, since it is known that Fluoxetine inhibits cytokine release, we see the role of Fluoxetine in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients of risk groups.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Xiao2004, author = {Xiao, Zheng}, title = {Blimp-1 Regulates Terminal Differentiation of T Cells}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-10530}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2004}, abstract = {The transcriptional repressor-Blimp-1 terminates differentiation of B lymphocytes as well as myeloid cells. Our data show that Blimp-1 is highly expressed in freshly isolated murine primary T lymphocytes, particularly its minor splice variant. Ectopic expression of Blimp-1 by retroviral transduction neither dramatically altered secretion of IFN-{\~a} or IL-4 nor did it induce the ability to suppress as regulatory T cells. However, induction of Blimp-1 resulted in not only a significant reduction in the production of IL-2 but also an inability to proliferate as well as in the reduced viability. These results demonstrate that Blimp-1 might mark end stages of lineage differentiation in T cells.}, language = {en} } @article{WylerMenegattiFrankeetal.2017, author = {Wyler, Emanuel and Menegatti, Jennifer and Franke, Vedran and Kocks, Christine and Boltengagen, Anastasiya and Hennig, Thomas and Theil, Kathrin and Rutkowski, Andrzej and Ferrai, Carmelo and Baer, Laura and Kermas, Lisa and Friedel, Caroline and Rajewsky, Nikolaus and Akalin, Altuna and D{\"o}lken, Lars and Gr{\"a}sser, Friedrich and Landthaler, Markus}, title = {Widespread activation of antisense transcription of the host genome during herpes simplex virus 1 infection}, series = {Genome Biology}, volume = {18}, journal = {Genome Biology}, doi = {10.1186/s13059-017-1329-5}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173381}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Background Herpesviruses can infect a wide range of animal species. Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is one of the eight herpesviruses that can infect humans and is prevalent worldwide. Herpesviruses have evolved multiple ways to adapt the infected cells to their needs, but knowledge about these transcriptional and post-transcriptional modifications is sparse. Results Here, we show that HSV-1 induces the expression of about 1000 antisense transcripts from the human host cell genome. A subset of these is also activated by the closely related varicella zoster virus. Antisense transcripts originate either at gene promoters or within the gene body, and they show different susceptibility to the inhibition of early and immediate early viral gene expression. Overexpression of the major viral transcription factor ICP4 is sufficient to turn on a subset of antisense transcripts. Histone marks around transcription start sites of HSV-1-induced and constitutively transcribed antisense transcripts are highly similar, indicating that the genetic loci are already poised to transcribe these novel RNAs. Furthermore, an antisense transcript overlapping with the BBC3 gene (also known as PUMA) transcriptionally silences this potent inducer of apoptosis in cis. Conclusions We show for the first time that a virus induces widespread antisense transcription of the host cell genome. We provide evidence that HSV-1 uses this to downregulate a strong inducer of apoptosis. Our findings open new perspectives on global and specific alterations of host cell transcription by viruses.}, language = {en} } @article{WieseDennstaedtHollmannetal.2021, author = {Wiese, Teresa and Dennst{\"a}dt, Fabio and Hollmann, Claudia and Stonawski, Saskia and Wurst, Catherina and Fink, Julian and Gorte, Erika and Mandasari, Putri and Domschke, Katharina and Hommers, Leif and Vanhove, Bernard and Schumacher, Fabian and Kleuser, Burkard and Seibel, J{\"u}rgen and Rohr, Jan and Buttmann, Mathias and Menke, Andreas and Schneider-Schaulies, J{\"u}rgen and Beyersdorf, Niklas}, title = {Inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase increases regulatory T cells in humans}, series = {Brain Communications}, volume = {3}, journal = {Brain Communications}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcab020}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259868}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Genetic deficiency for acid sphingomyelinase or its pharmacological inhibition has been shown to increase Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T-cell frequencies among CD4\(^+\) T cells in mice. We now investigated whether pharmacological targeting of the acid sphingomyelinase, which catalyzes the cleavage of sphingomyelin to ceramide and phosphorylcholine, also allows to manipulate relative CD4\(^+\) Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T-cell frequencies in humans. Pharmacological acid sphingomyelinase inhibition with antidepressants like sertraline, but not those without an inhibitory effect on acid sphingomyelinase activity like citalopram, increased the frequency of Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T cell among human CD4\(^+\) T cells in vitro. In an observational prospective clinical study with patients suffering from major depression, we observed that acid sphingomyelinase-inhibiting antidepressants induced a stronger relative increase in the frequency of CD4\(^+\) Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T cells in peripheral blood than acid sphingomyelinase-non- or weakly inhibiting antidepressants. This was particularly true for CD45RA\(^-\) CD25\(^{high}\) effector CD4\(^+\) Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T cells. Mechanistically, our data indicate that the positive effect of acid sphingomyelinase inhibition on CD4\(^+\) Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T cells required CD28 co-stimulation, suggesting that enhanced CD28 co-stimulation was the driver of the observed increase in the frequency of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells among human CD4\(^+\) T cells. In summary, the widely induced pharmacological inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase activity in patients leads to an increase in Foxp3+ regulatory T-cell frequencies among CD4\(^+\) T cells in humans both in vivo and in vitro.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wiese2022, author = {Wiese, Teresa}, title = {Pharmacological targeting of acid sphingomyelinase increases CD4\(^+\) Foxp3\(^+\) regulatory T cell subsets in patients with major depression}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-23347}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233471}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Lack of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activity, either through genetic deficiency or through pharmacological inhibition, is linked with increased activity and frequency of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) among cluster of differentiation (CD) 4+ T cells in mice in vivo and in vitro1. Thus, pharmacological blockade of ASM activity, which catalyzes the cleavage of sphingomyelin to ceramide and phosphocholine, might be used as a new therapeutic mechanism to correct numeric and/ or functional Treg de-ficiencies in diseases like multiple sclerosis or major depression. In the present study, the effect of pharmacological inhibition of ASM in humans, in vitro and in vivo, was analyzed. In the in vitro experiments, peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells (PBMC) of healthy human blood donors were treated with two widely prescribed antidepressants with high (sertraline, Ser) or low (citalopram, Cit) capaci-ty to inhibit ASM activity. Similar to the findings in mice an increase in the frequency of Treg among human CD4+ T cells upon inhibition of ASM activity was observed. For the analysis in vivo, a prospective study of the composition of the CD4+ T cell com-partment of patients treated for major depression was done. The data show that pharmacological inhibition of ASM activity was superior to antidepressants with little or no ASM-inhibitory activity in increasing CD45RA- CD25high effector Treg (efTreg) frequencies among CD4+ T cells to normal levels. Independently of ASM inhibition, correlating the data with the clinical response, i.e. improvement of the Hamilton rat-ing scale for depression (HAMD) by at least 50 per cent (\%) after four weeks of treatment, it was found that an increase in efTreg frequencies among CD4+ cells dur-ing the first week of treatment identified patients with a clinical response. Regarding the underlying mechanism, it could be found that the positive effect of ASM inhibition on Treg required CD28 co-stimulation suggesting that enhanced CD28 co-stimulation was the driver of the observed increase in the frequency of Treg among human CD4+ T cells. Inhibition of ASM activity was further associated with changes in the expression and shuttling of CTLA-4, a key inhibitory molecule ex-pressed by Treg, between cellular compartments but the suppressive activity of CTLA-4 through its transendocytosis activity was unaffected by the inhibition of ASM activity. In summary, the frequency of (effector) Treg among CD4+ T cells in mice and in hu-mans is increased after inhibition of ASM activity suggesting that ASM blockade might beneficially modulate autoimmune diseases and depression-promoting in-flammation.}, subject = {Treg}, language = {en} } @article{WhisnantJuergesHennigetal.2020, author = {Whisnant, Adam W. and J{\"u}rges, Christopher S. and Hennig, Thomas and Wyler, Emanuel and Prusty, Bhupesh and Rutkowski, Andrzej J. and L'hernault, Anne and Djakovic, Lara and G{\"o}bel, Margarete and D{\"o}ring, Kristina and Menegatti, Jennifer and Antrobus, Robin and Matheson, Nicholas J. and K{\"u}nzig, Florian W. H. and Mastrobuoni, Guido and Bielow, Chris and Kempa, Stefan and Liang, Chunguang and Dandekar, Thomas and Zimmer, Ralf and Landthaler, Markus and Gr{\"a}sser, Friedrich and Lehner, Paul J. and Friedel, Caroline C. and Erhard, Florian and D{\"o}lken, Lars}, title = {Integrative functional genomics decodes herpes simplex virus 1}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {11}, journal = {Nature Communications}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-15992-5}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229884}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The predicted 80 open reading frames (ORFs) of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) have been intensively studied for decades. Here, we unravel the complete viral transcriptome and translatome during lytic infection with base-pair resolution by computational integration of multi-omics data. We identify a total of 201 transcripts and 284 ORFs including all known and 46 novel large ORFs. This includes a so far unknown ORF in the locus deleted in the FDA-approved oncolytic virus Imlygic. Multiple transcript isoforms expressed from individual gene loci explain translation of the vast majority of ORFs as well as N-terminal extensions (NTEs) and truncations. We show that NTEs with non-canonical start codons govern the subcellular protein localization and packaging of key viral regulators and structural proteins. We extend the current nomenclature to include all viral gene products and provide a genome browser that visualizes all the obtained data from whole genome to single-nucleotide resolution. Here, using computational integration of multi-omics data, the authors provide a detailed transcriptome and translatome of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), including previously unidentified ORFs and N-terminal extensions. The study also provides a HSV-1 genome browser and should be a valuable resource for further research.}, language = {en} } @article{WeissbachHerediaGuerreroBarnsteineretal.2020, author = {Weißbach, Susann and Heredia-Guerrero, Sofia Catalina and Barnsteiner, Stefanie and Großhans, Lukas and Bodem, Jochen and Starz, Hanna and Langer, Christian and Appenzeller, Silke and Knop, Stefan and Steinbrunn, Torsten and Rost, Simone and Einsele, Hermann and Bargou, Ralf Christian and Rosenwald, Andreas and St{\"u}hmer, Thorsten and Leich, Ellen}, title = {Exon-4 Mutations in KRAS Affect MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT Signaling in Human Multiple Myeloma Cell Lines}, series = {Cancers}, volume = {12}, journal = {Cancers}, number = {2}, issn = {2072-6694}, doi = {10.3390/cancers12020455}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200617}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Approximately 20\% of multiple myeloma (MM) cases harbor a point mutation in KRAS. However, there is still no final consent on whether KRAS-mutations are associated with disease outcome. Specifically, no data exist on whether KRAS-mutations have an impact on survival of MM patients at diagnosis in the era of novel agents. Direct blockade of KRAS for therapeutic purposes is mostly impossible, but recently a mutation-specific covalent inhibitor targeting KRAS\(^{p.G12C}\) entered into clinical trials. However, other KRAS hotspot-mutations exist in MM patients, including the less common exon-4 mutations. For the current study, the coding regions of KRAS were deep-sequenced in 80 newly diagnosed MM patients, uniformely treated with three cycles of bortezomib plus dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide (VCD)-induction, followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. Moreover, the functional impact of KRAS\(^{p.G12A}\) and the exon-4 mutations p.A146T and p.A146V on different survival pathways was investigated. Specifically, KRAS\(^{WT}\), KRAS\(^{p.G12A}\), KRAS\(^{p.A146T}\), and KRAS\(^{p.A146V}\) were overexpressed in HEK293 cells and the KRAS\(^{WT}\) MM cell lines JJN3 and OPM2 using lentiviral transduction and the Sleeping Beauty vector system. Even though KRAS-mutations were not correlated with survival, all KRAS-mutants were found capable of potentially activating MEK/ERK- and sustaining PI3K/AKT-signaling in MM cells.}, language = {en} } @article{WeissGruendahlDeckertetal.2023, author = {Weiß, Martin and Gr{\"u}ndahl, Marthe and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Eichner, Felizitas A. and Kohls, Mirjam and St{\"o}rk, Stefan and Heuschmann, Peter U. and Hein, Grit}, title = {Differential network interactions between psychosocial factors, mental health, and health-related quality of life in women and men}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {13}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, organization = {STAAB-COVID Study Group}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-38525-8}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357858}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Psychosocial factors affect mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a complex manner, yet gender differences in these interactions remain poorly understood. We investigated whether psychosocial factors such as social support and personal and work-related concerns impact mental health and HRQL differentially in women and men during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between June and October 2020, the first part of a COVID-19-specific program was conducted within the "Characteristics and Course of Heart Failure Stages A-B and Determinants of Progression (STAAB)" cohort study, a representative age- and gender-stratified sample of the general population of W{\"u}rzburg, Germany. Using psychometric networks, we first established the complex relations between personal social support, personal and work-related concerns, and their interactions with anxiety, depression, and HRQL. Second, we tested for gender differences by comparing expected influence, edge weight differences, and stability of the networks. The network comparison revealed a significant difference in the overall network structure. The male (N = 1370) but not the female network (N = 1520) showed a positive link between work-related concern and anxiety. In both networks, anxiety was the most central variable. These findings provide further evidence that the complex interplay of psychosocial factors with mental health and HRQL decisively depends on gender. Our results are relevant for the development of gender-specific interventions to increase resilience in times of pandemic crisis.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wang2006, author = {Wang, Dapeng}, title = {The mechanism of glucocorticoid induced murine thymocyte and peripheral T cell apoptosis}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-17317}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Glucocordicoide sind kleine lipophile Verbindungen, die viele biologische Effekte verursachen, wenn sie an den intrazellul{\"a}ren Glukokortikoidrezeptor (GR) binden. Dieser wandert wiederum in den Nucleus, um dort direkt oder indirekt die Transkription der Gene zu regulieren. Glukokortikoide sind der Grundstein in der Behandlung f{\"u}r eine Anzahl von h{\"a}matologischen b{\"o}sartigen Erkrankungen, wie Leuk{\"a}mie, Lymphome und Myelome. In der Literatur wird beschrieben, dass Glukokortikoide {\"u}ber die Vermittlung von Apoptose wirken.die Wirkung. Trotz der enormen Fortschritte im Verst{\"a}ndnis des regulierten Zelltodes, ist der genaue Mechanismus, den Glukokortikoide bei der Apoptose vermitteln, unbekannt. Die Daten, die bis jetzt erzielt wurden, deuten stark darauf hin, dass Gentransaktivierung durch den GR f{\"u}r den Beginn der durch Glukokortikoide verursachten Thymozytenapoptose verantwortlich ist. Außerdem wurde gezeigt, dass das multikatalytische Proteasom, einige Mitglieder der BCL2-Familie, {\"A}nderungen im Kalziumfluss sowie Caspasen eine wichtige Rolle in der Durchf{\"u}hrungsphase des durch Glukokortikoide vermittelten Zelltodes spielen Jedoch ist die genaue Reihenfolge dieses Prozesses bisher nicht bekannt. Ein Hauptschwierigkeit der gegenw{\"a}rtigen Diskussion entsteht aus der Tatsache, dass unterschiedliche Zellarten, wie Thymozyten, reife T-Zellen und Lymphomzellen verglichen werden, ohne ihre unterschiedlichen Eigenschaften und Genexpressionsprofile zu beachten. Obwohl angenommen wird, dass Glukokortikoide Apoptose {\"u}ber einen konservierten Mechanismus, wird dies nicht durch irgendwelche Daten unterst{\"u}tzt. In anderen Worten, es ist m{\"o}glich, dass Apoptose in Thymozyten, reifen T-Zellen und Lymphomzellen {\"u}ber unterschiedliche Signalwege vermittelt wid. Wir fragten uns daher, ob ein einzelner durch Glukokoritkoide eingeleiteter Signaltransduktionsweg daf{\"u}r verantwortlich ist, dass Apoptose in allen T-Lamphozytenarten eingeleitet wird, oder ob noch andere Signalwege existieren. Daher verglichen wir die Rolle des Proteasomes, verschiedener Caspasen, des lysosomalen Kompartements und anderer Faktoren in der durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Apoptose in Mausthymozyten und pepripheren T-Zellen sowie T-ALL Lymphomzellen. Unsere Entdeckungen zeigen, dass die Anfangsphase der durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Apoptose unabh{\"a}ngig von der Differenzierungsstadien der Zelle ist. Apoptose wird sowohl in Thymozyten als auch in reifen T-Zellen durch den GR vermittelt und ist von der Gentranskription abh{\"a}ngig. Im Gegensatz dazu unterscheidet sich die Durchf{\"u}hrungsphase erheblich in ihren Anforderungen f{\"u}r eine Anzahl von Signaltransduktionskomponenten zwischen Thymozyten und peripheren T-Zellen. W{\"a}hrend in Thymozyten das Proteasom, die Caspasen 3, 8 und 9 sowie Cathepsin B eine wichtige Rolle in durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Zelltod spielen, sind diese Faktoren f{\"u}r die Induktion des Zell-Todes in peripheren T- Zellen entbehrlich. Im Gegensatz dazu scheinen {\"A}nderungen in der Expression und intrazellul{\"a}ren Lokalisation von Mitgliedern der Bcl-2 Familie nicht zum durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Zellltod beitzutragen, egal um welchen Zelltyp es sich handelt. Wir haben beobachtet, dass eine Behandlung von Thymozyten mit Glukokortikoiden zu einer Aktivierung der lysosomalen Protease Cathepsin B f{\"u}hrt. Dies ist ein essentieller Schritt zur Einleitung von Apoptose durch Glukortikoide und zeigt zum ersten Mal, dass der lysosomale Amplifikationsloop in diesen Prozess involviert ist. Die Analyse des durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Zelltodes in verschiedenen T-ALL Zelllinien deutet darauf hin, dass die durch Glukokortikoide induzierten Signalwege in Thymozyten und allen Lymphonzelllinien aber nicht in peripheren T Zellen {\"u}bereinstimmen. Da die hoch-dosierte Glukokortikoidbehandlung eine wichtige Rolle in der Behandlung von hematologischen b{\"o}sartigen Erkrankungen spielt, k{\"o}nnen unsere Beobachtungen eine Grundlage f{\"u}r eine neue Anti-Krebs-Stragie bilden, die darauf ausgelegt ist, spezifisch Tumorzellen zu eliminieren aber reife T-Zellen unber{\"u}hrt lassen.}, subject = {T-Lymphozyt}, language = {en} } @article{WalterCollenburgJaptoketal.2016, author = {Walter, T. and Collenburg, L. and Japtok, L. and Kleuser, B. and Schneider-Schaulies, S. and M{\"u}ller, N. and Becam, J. and Schubert-Unkmeir, A. and Kong, J. N. and Bieberich, E. and Seibel, J.}, title = {Incorporation and visualization of azido-functionalized N-oleoyl serinol in Jurkat cells, mouse brain astrocytes, 3T3 fibroblasts and human brain microvascular endothelial cells}, series = {Chemical Communications}, volume = {52}, journal = {Chemical Communications}, number = {55}, doi = {10.1039/c6cc02879a}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191263}, pages = {8612-8614}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The synthesis and biological evaluation of azido-N-oleoyl serinol is reported. It mimicks biofunctional lipid ceramides and has shown to be capable of click reactions for cell membrane imaging in Jurkat and human brain microvascular endothelial cells.}, language = {en} }