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The fate and functional activity of T lymphocytes depend largely on the precise timing of gene expression and protein production. However, it is clear that post-translational modification of proteins affects their functional properties. Although modifications such as phosphorylation have been intensely studied by immunologists, less attention has been paid to the impact that changes in glycosylation have on protein function. However, there is considerable evidence that glycosylation plays a key role in immune regulation. We will focus here on examples in which differential glycosylation affects the development, survival or reactivity of T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual TCRα-expressing T cells outnumber dual TCRβ-expressing cells by ~10:1. As a result, efforts to understand how dual TCR T cells impact immunity have focused on dual TCRα expression; dual TCRβ expression remains understudied. We recently demonstrated, however, that dual TCRβ expression accelerated disease in a TCR transgenic model of autoimmune arthritis through enhanced positive selection efficiency, indicating that dual TCRβ expression, though rare, can impact thymic selection. Here we generated mice hemizygous for TCRα, TCRβ, or both on the C57BL/6 background to investigate the impact bi-allelic TCR chain recombination has on T cell development, repertoire diversity, and autoimmunity. Lack of bi-allelic TCRα or TCRβ recombination reduced αβ thymocyte development efficiency, and the absence of bi-allelic TCRβ recombination promoted γδ T cell development. However, we observed no differences in the numbers of naïve and expanded antigen-specific T cells between TCRα+/-β+/- and wildtype mice, and TCR repertoire analysis revealed only subtle differences in Vβ gene usage. Finally, the absence of dual TCR T cells did not impact induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis pathogenesis. Thus, despite more stringent allelic exclusion of TCRβ relative to TCRα, bi-allelic TCRβ expression can measurably impact thymocyte development and is necessary for maintaining normal αβ/γδ T cell proportions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we present evidence for previously unappreciated B-cell immune dysregulation during acute Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated infectious mononucleosis (IM). Longitudinal analyses revealed that patients with acute IM have undetectable EBVspecific neutralizing antibodies and gp350-specific B-cell responses, which were associated with a significant reduction in memory B cells and no evidence of circulating antibody-secreting cells. These observations correlate with dysregulation of tumor necrosis factor family members BAFF and APRIL and increased expression of FAS on circulating B cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strength with which complexes of self peptide and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins are recognized by the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) dictates the homeostasis of naive CD8+ T cells, but its effect on reactivity to foreign antigens is controversial. As expression of the negative regulator CD5 correlates with self-recognition, we studied CD5lo and CD5hi naive CD8+ T cells. Gene-expression characteristics suggested CD5hi cells were better poised for reactivity and differentiation than were CD5lo cells, and we found that the CD5hi pool also exhibited more efficient clonal recruitment and expansion, as well as enhanced reactivity to inflammatory cues, during the recognition of foreign antigen. However, the recognition of complexes of foreign peptide and MHC was similar for both subsets. Thus, CD8+ T cells with higher self-reactivity dominate the immune response to foreign antigens, with implications for T cell repertoire diversity and autoimmunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis and establishes lifelong infection associated with cancer and autoimmune disease. To better understand immunity to EBV, we performed a prospective study of natural infection in healthy humans. Transcriptome analysis defined a striking and reproducible expression profile during acute infection but no lasting gene changes were apparent during latent infection. Comparing the EBV response profile to multiple other acute viral infections, including influenza A (influenza), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (HRV), attenuated yellow fever virus (YFV), and Dengue fever virus (DENV), revealed similarity only to DENV. The signature shared by EBV and DENV was also present in patients with hemophagocytic syndromes, suggesting these two viruses cause uncontrolled inflammatory responses. Interestingly, while EBV induced a strong type I interferon response, a subset of interferon induced genes, including MX1, HERC5, and OAS1, were not upregulated, suggesting a mechanism by which viral antagonism of immunity results in a profound inflammatory response. These data provide an important first description of the response to a natural herpesvirus infection in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MHC class ll-expressing thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells can mediate CD4 T-cell selection resulting in functionally distinct thy-mocyte-selected CD4 (T-CD4) and epithelial-selected CD4 (E-CD4) T cells, respectively. However, little is known about how T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling influences the development of these two CD4 T-cell subsets. To study TCR signaling for T-CD4 T-cell development, we used a GFP reporter system of Nur77 in which GFP intensity directly correlates with TCR signaling strength. T-CD4 T cells expressed higher levels of GFP than E-CD4 T cells, suggesting that T-CD4 T cells received stronger TCR signaling than E-CD4 T cells during selection. Elimination of Ras GTPase-activating protein enhanced E-CD4 but decreased T-CD4 T-cell selection efficiency, suggesting a shift to negative selection. Conversely, the absence of IL-2-inducible T-cell kinase that causes poor E-CD4 T-cell selection due to insufficient TCR signaling improved T-CD4 T-cell generation, consistent with rescue from negative selection. Strong TCR signaling during T-CD4 T-cell development correlates with the expression of the transcription factor promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein. However, although modulation of the signaling strength affected the efficiency of T-CD4 T-cell development during positive and negative selection, the signaling strength is not as important for the effector function of T-CD4 T cells. These findings indicate that innate T-CD4 T cells, together with invariant natural killer T cells and y8 T cells, receive strong TCR signals during their development and that signaling requirements for the development and the effector functions are distinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]