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Background: BCG vaccination has beneficial nonspecific (heterologous) effects that protect against nonmycobacterial infections. We have previously reported that BCG vaccination at birth alters in vitro cytokine responses to heterologous stimulants in the neonatal period. This study investigated heterologous responses in 167 infants in the same trial 7 months after randomization.Methods: A whole-blood assay was used to interrogate in vitro cytokine responses to heterologous stimulants (killed pathogens) and Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands.Results: Compared to BCG-naive infants, BCG-vaccinated infants had increased production of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and monokine induced by gamma interferon (MIG) (CXCL9) in response to mycobacterial stimulation and decreased production of IFN-γ in response to heterologous stimulation and TLR ligands. Reduced IFN-γ responses were attributable to a decrease in the proportion of infants who mounted a detectable IFN-γ response. BCG-vaccinated infants also had increased production of MIG (CXCL9) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), and decreased production of IL-10, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), and MIP-1β, the pattern of which varied by stimulant. IL-1Ra responses following TLR1/2 (Pam3CYSK4) stimulation were increased in BCG-vaccinated infants. Both sex and maternal BCG vaccination status influenced the effect of neonatal BCG vaccination.Conclusions: BCG vaccination leads to changes in IFN-γ responsiveness to heterologous stimulation. BCG-induced changes in other cytokine responses to heterologous stimulation vary by pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferons (IFNs) were discovered as cytokines induced during and protecting from viral infection. They have been documented to play essential roles in numerous physiological processes beyond antiviral and antimicrobial defense, including immunomodulation, cell cycle regulation, cell survival, and cell differentiation. Recent data have also uncovered a potentially darker side to IFN, including roles in inflammatory diseases, such as autoimmunity and diabetes. IFN can have effects in the absence of acute infection, highlighting a physiologic role for constitutive IFN. Type I IFNs are constitutively produced at vanishingly low quantities and yet exert profound effects, mediated in part through modulation of signaling intermediates required for responses to diverse cytokines. We review evidence for a yin-yang of IFN function through its role in modulating crosstalk between multiple cytokines by both feedforward and feedback regulation of common signaling intermediates and postulate a homeostatic role for IFN through tonic signaling in the absence of acute infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Autocrine priming of cells by small quantities of constitutively produced type I interferon (IFN) is a well-known phenomenon. In the absence of type I IFN priming, cells display attenuated responses to other cytokines, such as anti-viral protection in response to IFNc. This phenomenon was proposed to be because IFNa/b receptor1 (IFNAR1) is a component of the IFNc receptor (IFNGR), but our new data are more consistent with a previously proposed model indicating that regulated expression of STAT1 may also play a critical role in the priming process. Initially, we noticed that DNA binding activity of STAT1 was attenuated in c-Jun-/- fibroblasts because they expressed lower levels of STAT1 than wild-type cells. However, expression of STAT1 was rescued by culturing c-Jun-/- fibroblasts in media conditioned by wild-type fibroblasts suggesting they secreted a STAT1-inducing factor. The STAT1-inducing factor in fibroblast-conditioned media was IFNb, as it was inhibited by antibodies to IFNAR1, or when IFNb expression was knocked down in wild-type cells. IFNAR1-/- fibroblasts, which cannot respond to this priming, also expressed reduced levels of STAT1, which correlated with their poor responses to IFNc. The lack of priming in IFNAR1-/- fibroblasts was compensated by over-expression of STAT1, which rescued molecular responses to IFNγ and restored the ability of IFNγ to induce protective anti-viral immunity. This study provides a comprehensive description of the molecular events involved in priming by type I IFN. Adding to the previous working model that proposed an interaction between type I and II IFN receptors, our work and that of others demonstrates that type I IFN primes IFNc-mediated immune responses by regulating expression of STAT1. This may also explain how type I IFN can additionally prime cells to respond to a range of other cytokines that use STAT1 (e.g., IL-6, M-CSF, IL-10) and suggests a potential mechanism for the changing levels of STAT1 expression observed during viral infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferons (IFNs) are a family of immunoregulatory cytokines with important roles in anti-viral and anti-tumor responses. Type I and II IFNs bind distinct receptors and are associated with different stages of the immune response. There is however, considerable crosstalk between these two cytokines with enhancement of IFNγ responses following IFNα/β priming and loss of IFNα/β receptor (IFNAR) resulting in diminished IFNγ responses. In this study, we sought to define the mechanism of crosstalk between the type I and II IFNs. Our previous reports demonstrated reduced expression of the canonically activated transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1, in cells lacking the IFNAR α chain (IFNAR1). Therefore, we used microarray analysis to determine whether reconstitution of STAT1 in IFNAR1-deficient cells was sufficient to restore IFNγ responses. We identified several biological pathways, including the MHC class I antigen presentation pathway, in which STAT1 reconstitution was able to significantly rescue IFNγ-mediated gene regulation inIfnar1−/−cells. Notably, we also found that in addition to low basal expression of STAT1, cells lacking the IFNAR1 also had aberrant expression of multiple other transcription factors and signaling intermediaries. The studies described herein demonstrate that basal and regulated expression of signaling intermediaries is a mechanism for crosstalk between cytokines including type I and II IFNs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]