Increased IFNα production contributes to the pathogenesis of infectious and autoimmune diseases. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) from females produce more IFNα upon TLR7 stimulation than pDCs from males, yet the mechanisms underlying this difference remain unclear. Here, we show that basal levels of interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) in pDCs were significantly higher in females compared to males and positively correlated with the percentage of IFNα-secreting pDCs. Delivery of recombinant IRF5 protein into human primary pDCs increased TLR7-mediated IFNα secretion. In mice, genetic ablation of the estrogen receptor 1 (Esr1) gene in the hematopoietic compartment or DC lineage reduced IRF5 mRNA expression in pDCs and IFNα production. IRF5 mRNA levels furthermore correlated with Esr1 mRNA levels in human pDCs, consistent with IRF5 regulation at the transcriptional level by Esr1. Taken together, these data demonstrate a critical mechanism by which sex differences in basal pDC IRF5 expression lead to higher IFNα production upon TLR7 stimulation in females, and provide novel targets for the modulation of immune responses and inflammation.

Dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (Møs) internalize and process exogenous HIV-derived antigens for cross-presentation by MHC-I to cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CTL). However, how degradation patterns of HIV antigens in the cross-presentation pathways affect immunodominance and immune escape is poorly defined. Here, we studied the processing and cross-presentation of dominant and subdominant HIV-1 Gag-derived epitopes and HLA-restricted mutants by monocyte-derived DCs and Møs. The cross-presentation of HIV proteins by both DCs and Møs led to higher CTL responses specific for immunodominant epitopes. The low CTL responses to subdominant epitopes were increased by pretreatment of target cells with peptidase inhibitors, suggestive of higher intracellular degradation of the corresponding peptides. Using DC and Mø cell extracts as a source of cytosolic, endosomal or lysosomal proteases to degrade long HIV peptides, we identified by mass spectrometry cell-specific and compartment-specific degradation patterns, which favored the production of peptides containing immunodominant epitopes in all compartments. The intracellular stability of optimal HIV-1 epitopes prior to loading onto MHC was highly variable and sequence-dependent in all compartments, and followed CTL hierarchy with immunodominant epitopes presenting higher stability rates. Common HLA-associated mutations in a dominant epitope appearing during acute HIV infection modified the degradation patterns of long HIV peptides, reduced intracellular stability and epitope production in cross-presentation-competent cell compartments, showing that impaired epitope production in the cross-presentation pathway contributes to immune escape. These findings highlight the contribution of degradation patterns in the cross-presentation pathway to HIV immunodominance and provide the first demonstration of immune escape affecting epitope cross-presentation.

Antigen processing by intracellular proteases and peptidases and epitope presentation are critical for recognition of pathogen-infected cells by CD8+ T lymphocytes. First generation HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) alter proteasome activity, but the effect of first or second generation PIs on other cellular peptidases, the underlying mechanism and impact on antigen processing and epitope presentation to CTL are still unknown. Here we demonstrate that several HIV PIs altered not only proteasome but also aminopeptidase activities in PBMC. Using an in vitro degradation assay involving PBMC cytosolic extracts we showed that PIs altered the degradation patterns of oligopeptides and peptide production in a sequence-specific manner, enhancing the cleavage of certain residues and reducing others’. PIs affected the sensitivity of peptides to intracellular degradation, altered the kinetics and amount of HIV epitopes produced intracellularly. Accordingly the endogenous degradation of incoming virions in the presence of PIs led to variations in CTL-mediated killing of HIV-infected cells. By altering host protease activities and the degradation patterns of proteins in a sequence-specific manner, HIV PIs may diversify peptides available for MHC-I presentation to CTL, alter the patters of CTL responses, and may provide a complementary approach to current therapies for the CTL-mediated clearance of abnormal cells in infection, cancer or other immune disease.