A Dissertation Entitled Role of Bb-Elicited IL-10 in Suppression Of
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A Dissertation entitled Role of Bb-elicited IL-10 in Suppression of Innate Immune Responses within Murine Skin Tissue by Muhammed Saad Abdul Aziz Moledina Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biomedical Science ___________________________________________ Dr. R Mark Wooten, Committee Chair ___________________________________________ Dr. Andrea Kalinoski, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Kevin Pan, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Randall Worth, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Robert Blumenthal, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Cyndee Gruden, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo August 2019 Copyright 2019, Muhammed Saad Moledina This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. An Abstract of Role of Bb-elicited IL-10 in Suppression of Innate Immune Responses within Murine Skin Tissue by Muhammed Saad Abdul Aziz Moledina Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biomedical Science The University of Toledo August 2019 Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) is an extracellular spirochetal bacterium and the causative agent of Lyme disease (LD). In vitro, Bb induces robust immune responses which suggests that Bb could be effectively cleared. However, neither innate nor adaptive immune responses are able to eliminate Bb in vivo resulting in persistent infection. Hence, there is a dysregulation of the immune response occurring in vivo, which cannot be recapitulated in an in vitro system due to the intricacy and complexity of the host tissue milieu. In this study, we utilized intravital microscopy (IVM) along with several transgenic mouse lines, to delineate and identify the immune dysregulation occurring within skin tissues in vivo, which permits this extracellular pathogen to maintain a persistent infection. Our IVM studies identified that Bb undergo a massive proliferation between days 2 to 7 post-infection and peak bacterial numbers are achieved in skin tissues adjacent to the infection site around day 8 post-infection. During this period of acute infection, an activated innate response should be identifying and clearing this extracelluar pathogen, since Bb possess potent agonists. However, host innate responses fail to control the spirochete and Bb numbers undergo almost a 50-fold increase during this period. iii Attainment of peak bacterial numbers is followed by a significant decrease in Bb numbers until day 14 post-infection; subsequently, this low level is maintained for over 2 years. Based on this in vivo persistence data, the two major goals of our study were to 1) delineate whether adaptive immune responses were responsible for the significant decrease in Bb numbers after day 8 post-infection, and 2) determine whether Bb-elicited IL-10 is involved in the dysregulation of innate responses necessary to control Bb numbers during early infection. To test the contribution of the host adaptive responses in reducing Bb numbers, we used several transgenic mice with B cell- and T cell-deficiencies, and compared Bb persistence between these and WT mice using IVM. Our studies revealed that, 1) T cells are necessary to promote an optimal Bb-specific antibody response, 2) both B cells and T cells play a role in controlling the kinetics associated with Bb persistence, but offer minimal contribution in controlling Bb persistence long-term, and 3) Bb-specific antibodies are not responsible for the decrease in Bb number after day 8 post-infection. Previous investigation of Bb-elicited innate immune responses identified a rapid and potent interleukin-10 (IL-10) response that appears to affect Bb clearance. We hypothesized that Bb-elicited IL-10 was a cause of the innate immune dysregulation that promotes Bb persistence in vivo. IVM studies using an IL-10 reporter (tiger) mice indicated that macrophages and dermal dendritic cells are primary producers of IL-10 during active Bb infection in skin. Use of LysM+ and Iaβ+ mice on an IL-10-/- background allowed us to visualize the effect of this Bb-elicited IL-10 on neutrophil and macrophage/dendritic cell (DC) functions, respectively. LysM+ and Iaβ+ mice on a TLR2-/- background were used as negative controls, since TLR2 is essential for recognition of Bb surface lipoproteins. IL- iv 10-/- LysM+ mice display significantly higher neutrophil infiltration and persistence at the site of infection up to day 7 post-infection, however these numbers reach basal levels by day 14 post-infection, indicative of additional IL-10-independent factors contributing to this suppression of neutrophil recruitment. TLR2-/- LysM+ mice had significantly diminished neutrophil infiltration. The resident immune cells in IL-10-/- Iaβ+ mice display significantly larger cell diameter and area within 6 hours post-infection whereas WT Iaβ+ cells take up to 6 days to attain similar levels. Increase in cell diameter and area was completely absent in TLR2-/- macrophages/dendritic cells, suggesting TLR2-/- immune cells are deficient in responding to Bb infection. IL-10-/- macrophages/DCs also achieve higher velocity and confinement ratios faster than WT cells, whereas TLR2-/- cells retained baseline characteristics. Hence, Bb-elicited IL-10 diminishes activation of resident immune cells, whereas loss of TLR2 almost completely abolishes innate immune cell activation in response to Bb infection. Lastly, by using the IL-10-/- mouse as a hyperactive and TLR2-/- mouse as a hypoactive immune response model, we investigated the role of Bb velocity in causing persistent infection. Previous studies from our lab identified that Bb can achieve average velocities of ≥200 μm/min in vivo, which is ≥40x faster than any observed immune cell within the skin. Using a number Bb chemotactic and motility mutants, Bb persistence analyses in IL-10-/- mice and TLR2-/- mice revealed that even reduction of Bb 50%, which is still 20-fold faster than all immune cells in the skin, significantly hampers Bb persistence in vivo, perhaps at levels that are unable to maintain the enzootic cycle. To summarize, these findings suggest that 1) presence of Bb in skin tissue elicits a rapid and potent IL-10 response from skin resident immune cells within 6 hours post- v infection, 2) Bb-elicited IL-10 suppresses host immune activation which allows for enhanced Bb persistence, 3) there are additional mechanisms independent of IL-10 that further suppresses innate immune responses, and 4) it is essential for Bb to maintain this high velocity to achieve maximal long-term persistence. Overall this study provides a snapshot of immune dysregulation occurring during Lyme disease at the site of infection and identifies the factors which allow Bb to evade the host immune response. vi Dedicated to the beautiful memory of my late grandmother, Mrs. Shamsunnia Venjara, and my grandmother, Ms. Zainab Moledina, who always remembered me in their unfeigned prayers. Their unfettered affection, love, and prayers provided me with comfort and security, empowering me to succeed in life. I dedicate my effort and hard work to them both, for helping me reach this milestone. vii Acknowledgements I would like to start by thanking my advisor, Dr. R Mark Wooten for his faith, patience and guidance which was a cornerstone for my success. His mentorship has enabled me to expand my skillset and scientific acumen. His efforts and dedication have allowed me to improve my presentation skills and penmanship. I would like to express my gratitude to John Presloid, a colleague, friend, and guide, who always provided me with support and advice throughout my project. I am grateful to all my committee members, Drs Andrea Kalinoski, Kevin Pan, Randall Worth and Robert Blumenthal for their time, effort, comments and encouragement. They have been an integral part of this project and their reviews helped me steer this project towards success. I would like to extend my gratitude to my past and present lab mates, Irum Syed, Caroline Lambert, Erin Sheehan, Dr. Laura Nejedlik, Dr. Padmapriya Sekar, all members of the MMI track and all my friends for their support and friendship. They are my family away from home. Lastly, I have to acknowledge my parents, who’s unwavering faith, love, support and prayers played a vital contribution in my success. This achievement is equally theirs, as it is mine. My sisters for their wisdom and my wife for her love and patience through this challenging, yet exciting period of life. viii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... viii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiv List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xvi 1 Introduction