TY - THES A1 - Ehrhardt, Christina T1 - Untersuchung Influenza Virus-induzierter Signalprozesse und deren Bedeutung in der Wirtszell-Abwehr T1 - Investigation of Influenza virus induced signal-transduction processes and their role in host defense N2 - Eine Influenza A Virus Infektion induziert die Expression zahlreicher Gene, einschließlich der TypI Interferone, die eine erste Abwehrlinie gegen virale Infektionen bilden. Hierbei ist IFNb das wichtigste Zytokin. IFNb wird durch einen multimeren Komplex, das Enhanceosom kontrolliert, das Bindungsstellen für die Transkriptionsfaktoren AP-1, NF-kB und IRF-3 in seiner Promotorsequenz besitzt. In früheren Arbeiten konnten wir zeigen, dass die Influenza Virus-induzierte AP-1 abhängige Genexpression über den JNK/SAPK-Signalweg erfolgt (Ehrhardt, 1999; Ludwig et al., 2001). Unter den, an DNA Elemente bindenden AP-1 Faktoren waren solche, die aufgrund von Phosphorylierung durch die JNKs reguliert werden, wie beispielsweise ATF-2. Weiterhin korrelierte die Induktion der AP-1 abhängigen Genexpression mit der starken Aktivierung von JNK und seiner upstream Regulatoren in permissiven Zellen. Die Virusmengen transfizierter und infizierter Zellen, in denen JNK inhibiert wurde, waren höher im Vergleich zu Virusmengen der Kontrollzellen. Demzufolge kann die Virus-induzierte Aktivierung von JNK und AP-1 nicht der Virusreplikation dienen, sondern gehört vielmehr zu einer antiviralen Immunantwort. Daten aus einem Virus-freien, auf Plasmiden basierenden vRNA Replikations-System deuten darauf hin, dass die JNK Aktivierung aus der Akkumulation viraler RNA resultiert. Entsprechend bewirkte die Infektion von Zellen mit einem Virus, dem das virale NS1 Protein fehlt, welches RNA binden und somit "wegfangen" kann, eine gesteigerte JNK Aktivität im Vergleich zu den Kontroll-Infektionen. Damit konnte das NS1 Protein als erstes virales Protein identifiziert werden, das der Virus- und dsRNA-induzierten Aktivierung des JNK/SAPK-Signalweges entgegen wirkt. Der Transkriptionsfaktor IRF-3 wird spezifisch infolge einer viralen Infektion aktiviert und ist daher ein potenter Kandidat, die schnelle und starke antivirale Genexpression zu regulieren. Infolge einer Influenza Virus Infektion wird IRF-3 phosphoryliert, wandert in den Kern und bindet dort an Promotoren, die die antivirale Genexpression steuern. Bislang sind die IRF-3 Kinase und zelluläre Signalwege, die eine IRF-3 Phosphorylierunge induzieren, unbekannt. Um in unserem Labor Signalmediatoren, die upstream von IRF-3 liegen, zu suchen, wurde ein IRF-3 responsives Promotor-Reportergen-Plasmid, aus dem IFNb Promotor stammend, konstruiert. Die kleine Rho-GTPase Rac1 wurde als erster nicht an RNA bindender, zellulärer Mediator identifiziert, der in die Influenza Virus-induzierte IRF-3 abhängige Genexpression involviert ist. Die Inaktivierung der Rho-GTPasen durch das spezifische Inhibitor Toxin B oder dominant negatives Rac1 resultierten in der Inhibierung der Virus- und dsRNA-induzierten IRF-3 Phosphorylierung und DNA Bindung, sowie der IRF-3 abhängigen Promotoraktivität, beispielsweise des IFNb Promotors. Damit konnten zwei wichtige Komponenten der Virus-induzierten Immunantwort identifiziert und charakterisiert werden. N2 - Infection of cells with Influenza A virus induces the expression of a variety of genes, including the type I interferons which are a first line of defense against viral infections. IFNb, the most important cytokine, is controlled by a higher order complex, the enhanceosom, which contains binding sites for the transcription factors AP-1, NF-kB and IRF-3. We could show that the Influenza Virus induced AP-1 dependent gene expression occurs via the JNK/SAPK pathway (Ehrhardt, 1999; Ludwig et al., 2001). Among the AP-1 factors which were identified to bind their cognate DNA element during viral infection are those, that are regulated via phosphorylation by JNKs, such as ATF-2. Accordingly, the induction of AP-1 dependent gene expression correlates with a strong activation of JNK and its upstream activators MKK4 and 7 in permissive cells. Virus yields from transfected and infected cells in which JNK signaling was inhibited by different approaches were higher compared to the levels from control cells. Therefore we conclude that virus-induced activation of JNK and AP-1 is not exploited by the virus to support its replication but rather is required for the innate antiviral immune response. Data obtained with a virus-free plasmid-based vRNA replication system indicated that JNK activation is a cause of viral RNA accumulation during infection. This was supported by the observation, that infection of cells with a virus lacking viral NS1 protein, which is known to bind and to sequester RNA from cellular signaling intermediates, caused a strongly enhanced JNK activity compared to control infections. Furthermore, the NS1 protein was identified as the first viral protein that antagonizes virus- and dsRNA-induced activation of the stress response signaling pathway mediated through Jun N-terminal kinase. IRF-3 is specificially activated in response to viral infection and is therefore the most potent candidate to regulate the fast and strong antiviral gene expression. After an Influenza virus infection IRF-3 becomes phosphorylated and migrates to the nucleus where it binds to antiviral gene promoters. However, the IRF-3 kinase and the cellular signaling pathways leading to IRF-3 phosphorylation are unknown. To investigate signaling mediators upstream of IRF-3, we have constructed an IRF-3 responsive promoter-reporter gene plasmid derived from the IFNb promoter. The small Rho-GTPase Rac1 was identified as the first non-RNA binding cellular mediator involved in the Influenza virus-induced IRF-3 dependent gene expression. Inactivation of these Rho GTPases by the specific inhibitor toxin B or dominant negative Rac1 resulted in the inhibition of virus- and dsRNA-induced IRF-3 phosphorylation and DNA binding as well as of IRF-3 dependent promoter activity, e.g. of the IFNb promoter. Thus two important components of virus-mediated immune response were identified and characterised. KW - Influenza-A-Virus KW - Interferon KW - Genexpression KW - Influenza A Virus KW - JNK/SAPK KW - IRF3 KW - Rac1 KW - dsRNA KW - Influenza A virus KW - JNK/SAPK KW - IRF3 KW - Rac1 KW - dsRNA Y1 - 2002 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-3870 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bruchhagen, Christin A1 - Jarick, Marcel A1 - Mewis, Carolin A1 - Hertlein, Tobias A1 - Niemann, Silke A1 - Ohlsen, Knut A1 - Peters, Georg A1 - Planz, Oliver A1 - Ludwig, Stephan A1 - Ehrhardt, Christina T1 - Metabolic conversion of CI-1040 turns a cellular MEK-inhibitor into an antibacterial compound JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Influenza virus (IV) infections cause severe respiratory illnesses that can be complicated by bacterial super-infections. Previously, we identified the cellular Raf-MEK-ERK cascade as a promising antiviral target. Inhibitors of MEK, such as CI-1040, showed potent antiviral activity. However, it remained unclear if this inhibitor and its active form, ATR-002, might sensitize host cells to either IV or secondary bacterial infections. To address these questions, we studied the anti-pathogen activity of ATR-002 in comparison to CI-1040, particularly, its impact on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which is a major cause of IV super-infections. We analysed IV and S. aureus titres in vitro during super-infection in the presence and absence of the drugs and characterized the direct impact of ATR-002 on bacterial growth and phenotypic changes. Importantly, neither CI-1040 nor ATR-002 treatment led to increased bacterial titres during super-infection, indicating that the drug does not sensitize cells for bacterial infection. In contrast, we rather observed reduced bacterial titres in presence of ATR-002. Surprisingly, ATR-002 also led to reduced bacterial growth in suspension cultures, reduced stress- and antibiotic tolerance without resistance induction. Our data identified for the first time that a particular MEK-inhibitor metabolite exhibits direct antibacterial activity, which is likely due to interference with the bacterial PknB kinase/Stp phosphatase signalling system. KW - antimicrobials KW - pathogens Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221648 VL - 8 ER -