Innate immune signaling in placental antiviral defenses

本申请的首要目标是鉴定人胎盘先天免疫途径和因子， 改变母胎对致畸病毒感染的敏感性。病毒的血道传播来自 母体血液循环对胎儿的影响可能会对发育中的胚胎造成破坏性后果， 产妇健康，并危及妊娠结果。胎盘是一个主要的免疫和生理 阻止病毒从母体循环和阴道及宫颈粘膜传播。然而，在这方面， 尽管这种屏障很重要，但关于先天免疫途径的了解相对较少， 胎盘感知病毒感染并作出反应。Coyne和Diamond提出的研究 实验室结合病毒学、免疫学和胎盘生物学的专业知识， 先天免疫途径，以胎盘细胞类型特异性方式支持抗病毒防御。 我们以前已经确定了胎盘滋养层细胞限制病毒感染的途径。这些 包括抗病毒III型干扰素（IFN）的组成性释放，其保护母体和胎儿， 从病毒感染中获得的细胞。这些先前的研究表明，滋养层细胞形成先天性IFN介导的 病毒垂直传播的屏障，与胎儿疾病相关的病毒必须绕过这些屏障， 滋养层内在途径是transplantally传递。在这个应用程序中，我们将定义先天 免疫抗病毒途径，胎儿来源的胎盘成分，包括绒毛膜绒毛和 羊膜和绒毛膜，感知并响应已知的致畸病毒的感染，包括寨卡病毒（ZIKV）， 风疹病毒（RuV）和疱疹病毒-2（HSV-2）。这些研究将利用个人和互补 Coyne和Diamond实验室的专业知识，他们专门从事病毒学（CC和MD），免疫学（CC和MD）， MD）、胎盘生物学（CC）和母体-胎儿传播（MD）的体内建模。此外，我们将定义 不同类型的IFN（I型和III型）影响胎盘抗病毒信号传导和胎盘抗病毒信号传导的机制 损害 在破译构成胎盘源性抗病毒先天免疫途径的潜在机制时， 我们可以阐明胎盘对病毒的敏感性或抵抗力的基础，并鉴定可能 在怀孕期间对病毒感染特别敏感。这些研究可以为发展 设计用于减轻和/或预防病毒感染或炎症诱导的损伤的创新治疗剂， 减少与感染有关的母婴发病率和死亡率。

The overarching goal of this application is to identify human placental innate immune pathways and factors that alter maternal-fetal sensitivity to teratogenic virus infections. The hematogenous spread of viruses from the maternal circulation to the fetus can induce devastating consequences in the developing embryo, compromise maternal health, and jeopardize pregnancy outcome. The placenta is a primary immunological and physical barrier to the spread of viruses from both the maternal circulation and the vaginal and cervical mucosa. However, despite the importance of this barrier, relatively little is known regarding the innate immune pathways by which the placenta senses and responds to viral infections. The proposed research by the Coyne and Diamond laboratories combines expertise in virology, immunology, and placental biology to identify placental-derived innate immune pathways that bolster antiviral defenses in a placental cell-type specific manner. We have previously identified pathways employed by placental trophoblasts to restrict viral infections. These include the constitutive release of antiviral type III interferons (IFNs), which protect both maternal- and fetal- derived cells from viral infections. These previous studies suggest that trophoblasts form an innate IFN-mediated barrier to the vertical transmission of viruses and that viruses associated with fetal disease must bypass these trophoblast intrinsic pathways to be trans-placentally transmitted. In this application, we will define the innate immune antiviral pathways by which fetal-derived components of the placenta, including chorionic villi and the amnion and chorion, sense and respond to infection by known teratogenic viruses, including Zika virus (ZIKV), Rubella virus (RuV), and herpesvirus-2 (HSV-2). These studies will utilize the individual and complementary expertise of the Coyne and Diamond laboratories, who specialize in virology (CC and MD), immunology (CC and MD), placental biology (CC), and in vivo modeling of maternal-fetal transmission (MD). In addition, we will define the mechanism(s) by which disparate IFN types (type I and III) impact placental antiviral signaling and placental damage. In deciphering the underlying mechanisms that constitute placental-derived antiviral innate immune pathways, we may illuminate the basis of placental sensitivity or resistance to viruses and identify cell populations that may be particularly sensitive to viral infections during pregnancy. These studies could inform the development of innovative therapeutics designed to mitigate and/or prevent viral infections or inflammation-induced injury, thus reducing the burden of infection related feto-maternal morbidity and mortality.