PA Lang, N Shaabani, S Borkens, N Honke, S Scheu, S Booth, D Brenner, A Meryk, C Barthuber, M Recher, TW Mak, PS Ohashi, D Häussinger, GM Griffiths, AJ Thrasher, G Bouma, KS Lang. (2013). " Reduced type I interferon production by dendritic cells and weakened antiviral immunity in patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein deficiency. " J Allergy Clin Immunol. 131, 815-824.e2. PMID: 23141740 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2012.08.050
BACKGROUND: Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a rare X-linked primary immunodeficiency caused by absence of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) expression, resulting in defective function of many immune cell lineages and susceptibility to severe bacterial, viral, and fungal infections. Despite a significant proportion of patients with WAS having recurrent viral infections, surprisingly little is known about the effects of WASP deficiency on antiviral immunity.
OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the antiviral immune response in patients with WASP deficiency in vivo.
METHODS: Viral clearance and associated immunopathology were measured after infection of WASP-deficient (WAS KO) mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Induction of antiviral CD8 T-cell immunity and cytotoxicity was documented in WAS KO mice by means of temporal enumeration of total and antigen-specific T-cell numbers. Type I interferon (IFN-I) production was measured in serum in response to LCMV challenge and characterized in vivo by using IFN-I reporter mice crossed with WAS KO mice.
RESULTS: WAS KO mice showed reduced viral clearance and enhanced immunopathology during LCMV infection. This was attributed to both an intrinsic CD8 T-cell defect and defective priming of CD8 T cells by dendritic cells (DCs). IFN-I production by WAS KO DCs was reduced both in vivo and in vitro.
CONCLUSIONS: These studies use a well-characterized model of persistence-prone viral infection to reveal a critical deficiency of CD8 T-cell responses in murine WASP deficiency, in which abrogated production of IFN-I by DCs might play an important contributory role. These findings might help us to understand the immunodeficiency of WAS