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Immune responses against gene therapy products limit its therapeutic efficacy and present a safety risk. Identification of agents that blunt immune reactions may aid in developing novel immunomodulatory therapies. Fingolimod (FTY720) is an FDA approved immunomodulatory drug for treating multiple sclerosis that inhibits lymphocyte egress from lymphoid tissues by down regulating sphingosine-1 phosphate receptor (S1PR). Recent studies found that FTY720 inhibits T cell activation (TCA) in a S1PR-independent manner; however, the mechanism is incompletely understood. Here we characterized the effects of FTY720 on human T cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathways. FTY720 inhibited both the TCR-dependent and independent activation of primary human T cells. FTY720 did not affect proximal TCR signaling events as measured by phosphorylation of Lck, ZAP-70 and LAT; however, inhibited PMA/Ionomycin induced distal TCR signaling as measured by IL-2, IFN-γ release and CD25 expression. FTY720 induced aberrant NFAT1, AP1 and NFκB activation which were associated with increased acetylation of histone (H3K9). Phosphorylated FTY720 did not inhibit TCA, and arachidonic acid did not rescue FTY720 mediated inhibition of TCA. These data suggest that FTY720 mediated inhibition of TCA is due to inhibition of distal TCR signaling. Understanding FTY720-mediated inhibition of TCA may aid in developing novel FTY720-based immunomodulatory agents.

Background Porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) is an endogenous retrovirus that poses a risk of iatrogenic transmission in the context of pig-to-human xenotransplantation. The lack of a means to control PERV infection in the context of pig-to-human xenotransplantation is a major concern in the field. In this study, we set out to evaluate the ability of currently licensed anti-HIV drugs, and other types of anti-retroviral compounds, to inhibit PERV infection in vitro. Methods We used target cells stably expressing one of the known PERV viral receptors, an infectious molecular clone, PERV-A 14/220, and at least one drug from each class of anti-retroviral inhibitors as well as off-label drugs shown to have anti-viral activities. The susceptibility of PERV-A 14/220 LacZ to the anti-retroviral drugs was determined from infected cells by histochemical staining. Results We extend the results of previous studies by showing that, in addition to raltegravir, dolutegravir is found to have a potent inhibitory activity against PERV replication (IC50 8.634 ±0.336 and IC50 3.06 ± 0.844 nm, respectively). The anti-HIV drug zidovudine (AZT) showed considerable anti-PERV activity with IC50 of 1.923 ±0.691 μm as well. Conclusions The study results indicate that some of the licensed antiretroviral drugs may be useful for controlling PERV infection. However, the efficacy at nanomolar concentrations put forward integrase inhibitors as a drug that has the potential to be useful in the event that xenotransplantation recipients have evidence of PERV transmission and replication.

Porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) may potentially be transmitted through porcine xenotransplantation products administered to humans. This study examined the feasibility of using guinea pigs as a model to characterize the in vivo infectivity of PERV. To enhance the susceptibility of guinea pigs to retroviral infection or genomic integration, moderate physiological or immunological changes were induced prior to exposing the animals to PERV. Quantitative PERV-specific PCR performed on all tested samples resulted in either undetectable or very low copy numbers of proviruses, even in animals possessing PERV-specific antibody responses. The low copy number of viral DNA detected suggests that PERV infected a limited number of cells. However, PERV DNA levels did not increase over time, suggesting no virus replication occurred. These results in the guinea pig are similar to previous observations of non-human primate cells that allow PERV infection but do not support PERV replication in vitro.