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Browsing by Author "Weiss, Mariah"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Enterobacter cloacae inhibits human norovirus infectivity in gnotobiotic pigs
    Lei, Shaohua; Samuel, Helen; Twitchell, Erica; Bui, Tammy; Ramesh, Ashwin; Wen, Ke; Weiss, Mariah; Li, Guohua; Yang, Xingdong; Jiang, Xi; Yuan, Lijuan (2016-04-26)
    Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the leading cause of epidemic gastroenteritis worldwide. Study of HuNoV biology has been hampered by the lack of an efficient cell culture system. Recently, enteric commensal bacteria Enterobacter cloacae has been recognized as a helper in HuNoV infection of B cells in vitro. To test the influences of E. cloacae on HuNoV infectivity and to determine whether HuNoV infects B cells in vivo, we colonized gnotobiotic pigs with E. cloacae and inoculated pigs with 2.74 × 10(4) genome copies of HuNoV. Compared to control pigs, reduced HuNoV shedding was observed in E. cloacae colonized pigs, characterized by significantly shorter duration of shedding in post-inoculation day 10 subgroup and lower cumulative shedding and peak shedding in individual pigs. Colonization of E. cloacae also reduced HuNoV titers in intestinal tissues and in blood. In both control and E. cloacae colonized pigs, HuNoV infection of enterocytes was confirmed, however infection of B cells was not observed in ileum, and the entire lamina propria in sections of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were HuNoV-negative. In summary, E. cloacae inhibited HuNoV infectivity, and B cells were not a target cell type for HuNoV in gnotobiotic pigs, with or without E. cloacae colonization.
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    High Protective Efficacy of Probiotics and Rice Bran against Human Norovirus Infection and Diarrhea in Gnotobiotic Pigs
    Lei, Shaohua; Ramesh, Ashwin; Twitchell, Erica; Wen, Ke; Bui, Tammy; Weiss, Mariah; Yang, Xingdong; Kocher, Jacob; Li, Guohua; Giri-Rachman, Ernawati; Trang, Nguyen Van; Jiang, Xi; Ryan, Elizabeth P.; Yuan, Lijuan (2016)
    Probiotics have been recognized as vaccine adjuvants and therapeutic agents to treat acute gastroenteritis in children. We previously showed that rice bran (RB) reduced human rotavirus diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs. Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the major pathogens causing non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis worldwide. In this study, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) were first screened for their ability to bind HuNoV P particles and virions derived from clinical samples containing HuNoV genotype GII.3 and GII.4, then the effects of LGG+EcN and RB on HuNoV infection and diarrhea were investigated using the gnotobiotic pig model. While LGG+EcN colonization inhibited HuNoV shedding, probiotic cocktail regimens in which RB feeding started 7 days prior to or 1 day after viral inoculation in the LGG+EcN colonized gnotobiotic pigs exhibited high protection against HuNoV diarrhea and shedding, characterized by significantly reduced incidence (89 versus 20%) and shorter mean duration of diarrhea (2.2 versus 0.2 days), as well as shorter mean duration of virus shedding (3.2 versus 1.0 days). In both probiotic cocktail groups, the diarrhea reduction rates were 78% compared with the control group, and diarrhea severity was reduced as demonstrated by the significantly lower cumulative fecal scores. The high protective efficacy of the probiotic cocktail regimens was attributed to stimulation of IFN-γ(+) T cell responses, increased production of intestinal IgA and IgG, and maintenance of healthy intestinal morphology (manifested as longer villi compared with the control group). Therefore, probiotic cocktail regimens containing LGG+EcN and RB may represent highly efficacious strategies to prevent and treat HuNoV gastroenteritis, and potentially other human enteric pathogens.
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    High protective efficacy of rice bran against human rotavirus diarrhea via enhancing probiotic growth, gut barrier function, and innate immunity
    Yang, Xingdong; Twitchell, Erica; Li, Guohua; Wen, Ke; Weiss, Mariah; Kocher, Jacob; Lei, Shaohua; Ramesh, Ashwin; Ryan, Elizabeth P.; Yuan, Lijuan (Nature Publishing Group, 2015-10-13)
    Previously, we showed that rice bran (RB) was able to reduce human rotavirus (HRV) diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs. Here, we investigated its effect on the growth of diarrhea-reducing probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Escherichia coli Nissle (EcN), and the resulting effects on HRV diarrhea, gut epithelial health, permeability and innate immune responses during virulent HRV challenge. On 3, 5, and 7 days of age pigs were inoculated with 2 × 104 colony-formingunits LGG+EcN to initiate colonization. Daily RB supplementation (replacing 10% calorie intake) was started at 5 days of age and continued until euthanasia. A subset of pigs in each group was challenged orally with 105 focus-forming-units of virulent HRV at 33 days of age. RB completely prevented HRV diarrhea in LGG+EcN colonized pigs. RB significantly promoted the growth of both probiotic strains in the gut (~5 logs) and increased the body-weight-gain at 4–5 weeks of age compared to non-RB group. After HRV challenge, RB-fed pigs had significantly lower ileal mitotic index and villus width, and significantly increased intestinal IFN-γ and total IgA levels compared to non-RB group. Therefore, RB plus LGG+EcN colonization may represent a highly effective therapeutic approach against HRV and potentially a variety of other diarrhea-inducing enteric pathogens.
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    Increased and prolonged human norovirus infection in RAG2/IL2RG deficient gnotobiotic pigs with severe combined immunodeficiency
    Lei, Shaohua; Ryu, Junghyun; Wen, Ke; Twitchell, Erica; Bui, Tammy; Ramesh, Ashwin; Weiss, Mariah; Li, Guohua; Samuel, Helen; Clark-Deener, Sherrie; Jiang, Xi; Lee, Kiho; Yuan, Lijuan (Nature Publishing Group, 2016-04-27)
    Application of genetically engineered (GE) large animals carrying multi-allelic modifications has been hampered by low efficiency in production and extended gestation period compared to rodents. Here, we rapidly generated RAG2/IL2RG double knockout pigs using direct injection of CRISPR/Cas9 system into developing embryos. RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs were immunodeficient, characterized by depletion of lymphocytes and either absence of or structurally abnormal immune organs. Pigs were maintained in gnotobiotic facility and evaluated for human norovirus (HuNoV) infection. HuNoV shedding lasted for 16 days in wild type pigs, compared to 27 days (until the end of trials) in RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs. Additionally, higher HuNoV titers were detected in intestinal tissues and contents and in blood, indicating increased and prolonged HuNoV infection in RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs and the importance of lymphocytes in HuNoV clearance. These results suggest that GE immunodeficient gnotobiotic pigs serve as a novel model for biomedical research and will facilitate HuNoV studies.
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    Modeling human enteric dysbiosis and rotavirus immunity in gnotobiotic pigs
    Twitchell, Erica; Tin, Christine; Wen, Ke; Zhang, Husen; Becker-Dreps, Sylvia; Azcarate-Peril, M. Andrea; Vilchez, Samuel; Li, Guohua; Ramesh, Ashwin; Weiss, Mariah; Lei, Shaohua; Bui, Tammy; Yang, Xingdong; Schultz-Cherry, Stacey L.; Yuan, Lijuan (2016)
    BACKGROUND: Rotavirus vaccines have poor efficacy in infants from low- and middle-income countries. Gut microbiota is thought to influence the immune response to oral vaccines. Thus, we developed a gnotobiotic (Gn) pig model of enteric dysbiosis to study the effects of human gut microbiota (HGM) on immune responses to rotavirus vaccination, and the effects of rotavirus challenge on the HGM by colonizing Gn pigs with healthy HGM (HHGM) or unhealthy HGM (UHGM). The UHGM was from a Nicaraguan infant with a high enteropathy score (ES) and no seroconversion following administration of oral rotavirus vaccine, while the converse was characteristic of the HHGM. Pigs were vaccinated, a subset was challenged, and immune responses and gut microbiota were evaluated. RESULTS: Significantly more rotavirus-specific IFN-γ producing T cells were in the ileum, spleen, and blood of HHGM than those in UHGM pigs after three vaccine doses, suggesting HHGM induces stronger cell-mediated immunity than UHGM. There were significant correlations between multiple Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) and frequencies of IFN-γ producing T cells at the time of challenge. There were significant positive correlations between Collinsella and CD8+ T cells in blood and ileum, as well as CD4+ T cells in blood, whereas significant negative correlations between Clostridium and Anaerococcus, and ileal CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Differences in alpha diversity and relative abundances of OTUs were detected between the groups both before and after rotavirus challenge. CONCLUSION: Alterations in microbiome diversity and composition along with correlations between certain microbial taxa and T cell responses warrant further investigation into the role of the gut microbiota and certain microbial species on enteric immunity. Our results support the use of HGM transplanted Gn pigs as a model of human dysbiosis during enteric infection, and oral vaccine responses.
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    Modeling human enteric dysbiosis and rotavirus immunity in gnotobiotic pigs. [poster]
    Twitchell, Erica; Tin, Christine; Wen, Ke; Zhang, Husen; Becker-Dreps, Sylvia; Azcarate-Peril, M. Andrea; Vilchez, Samuel; Li, Guohua; Ramesh, Ashwin; Weiss, Mariah; Lei, Shaohua; Bui, Tammy; Yang, Xingdong; Schultz-Cherry, Stacey L.; Yuan, Lijuan (2016-12)
    Background Oral vaccines, such as those for rotavirus are less efficacious in children from underdeveloped regions, where most severe disease occurs, than in children from more affluent areas. This disparity may be due to altered gut microbiota composition (dysbiosis), environmental enteropathy (EE), high maternal antibody titers, malnutrition, or influence of concurrent enteropathogens. Composition of gut microbiota in children is influenced by method of delivery, environmental hygiene and nutritional status. Studies have shown composition of gut microbiota to be significantly different between African and northern European infants and between malnourished and well-nourished children. A recent study has shown that EE was associated with failure of the oral rotavirus vaccine Rotarix, and underperformance of the oral polio vaccine. An animal model to study the effects of enteric dysbiosis on oral vaccine immunity is needed to evaluate potential treatments to reverse the dysbiosis and/or improve vaccine efficacy. Pigs and humans have similar immune systems, high genomic and protein sequence homology, omnivorous diet, and colonic fermentation, making pigs valuable models in biomedical research. The neonatal gnotobiotic (Gn) pig is a well-established model of human rotavirus disease and immunity.