Nature: Revealing antiviral immune responses outside immune cells!

, July 2, 2020 /prNewswireBiovalleyBIOON / In a paper in the journal Nature, Researchers at CeMM report on epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of structural cellsThey found that immune genes were widely active, suggesting that structural cells were deeply involved in the body's response to pathogensIn addition, the study reveals the potential of an epigeneticgeneticthat pre-programmes cells to participate in immune responses against pathogensThese findings highlight an underappreciated part of the immune system and open up an exciting field for research and future treatmentsimmune system protects our bodies from persistent attacks by viruses,bacteriaand other pathogensMuch of this protection is provided by hematopoietic immune cells, which come from the bone marrow and are specifically resistant to pathogensThey include macrophages that remove pathogens; T-cells that kill infected virus-producing cells; and B-cells that produce antibodies to neutralizing pathogensHowever, immune function is not limited to these "experts", and there are many more types of cells that can sense when they are infected and participate in the immune response against pathogensPhoto Source: Thomas Krausgruber CeMMstructural cells are an essential part of the human body and play an important role in shaping the structure of tissues and organsMost notably, epithelial cells form the surface of the skin and also separate tissues and organs from each other; endothelial cells cover the interior of all blood vessels; and fibroblasts provide connective tissue that keeps tissues and organs in shapeAlthough structural cells play a recognized role inautoimmunediseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease) and cancer, they are often considered simple and uninteresting components of the bodyIn their new study, Thomas Krausgruber, Nikolaus Fortelny of Christoph Bock Laboratory and their colleagues focused on the role of structural cells in immunomodulation through systematic, genome-wide analysis of epigeneticgeneticand transcription regulation of structural cells in the bodyto this end, CeMM researchers used high-throughput sequencing techniques (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIPmentation) to sequence three structural cells (epithelial cells, endothelial cells, fibroblasts) in 12 organs of healthy mice to create a comprehensive catalog of structural cell immune gene activityThis data set reveals widely expressed immune genes in structural cells, as well as gene regulation patterns that are highly cell type specific and organ-specificbioinformaticsanalyzed genes that control the complex networks of interactions between structural cells and hematopoietic immune cells, revealing the potential mechanism by which structural cells are involved in the response to pathogensinterestingly, many immune genes show epigenetic characteristics that are usually associated with high gene expression, while the observed expression in structural cells obtained from healthy mice is lower than expected expression levels based on their epigeneticcharacteristicsAs a result, The CeMM researchers hypothesized that these genes were preprogrammed onepigenetics, and that they would rise quickly when their activity was needed, such as in response to pathogensTo test this hypothesis, they worked with CeMM's Andreas Bergthaler Laboratory to conduct research using their expertise in viral immunology and infection biology when mice are infected with a virus (LCMV) that triggers a widerange immune response, many epigenetic genes that are genetically ready to be activated become upwardand and contribute to the transcriptional changes in the response of structural cells to viral infections These results show that structural cells achieve a "epigenetic genetic potential" and are pre-programmed to participate in rapid immune responses As another validation, the researchers triggered an artificial immune response by injecting cytokines into mice, and they did find that many of the same genes were raised the new study reveals the astonishing complexity of immune gene regulation in structural cells These results show that structural cells are not only a basic component of the body, but also play a wide role in the body's resistance to pathogens In addition, the data provided are an important first step in understanding what "structural immunity" may mean for the immune system, which may help develop innovative treatments for many diseases affecting the immune system (BioValleyBioon.com) references: An antiviral response immune cells
Krausgruber, T., Fortelny, N., Fife-Gernedl, V et al Ris are key swys of the organ-specific immune responses Nature (2020) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2424-4
Smart Structures: Structure cells of the body control immune function