Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: IFN-λ4 may contribute to HCV persistence by increasing ER stress and enhancing IRF1 signaling

doi: 10.1101/2020.10.28.359398

Figure Lengend Snippet: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs, P-FDR < 0.05) were identified by RNA-seq analysis in IFN-λ3-GFP, IFN-λ4-GFP and IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1 KO HepG2 cells after 72 hrs of induction by dox, comparing to controls (dox-conditions). Cutoff threshold (fold change > +/-1.5) is indicated by dotted lines. (A) Analysis of all DEGs (n=3251) detected for IFN-λ4-GFP or IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1 KO cells. In blue - DEGs (n=2,735) specific to IFN-λ4-GFP and considered IFNLR1-dependent. In black - DEGs (n=145) shared between both groups and considered IFNLR1-independent. In orange - DEGs (n=371) specific to IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1 KO . (B) DEGs of IFN-λ4-GFP analyzed in IFN-λ3-GFP transcriptome. In black - DEGs (n=1,506) shared in IFN-λ4-GFP and IFN-λ3-GFP and in blue - IFN-λ4-signature DEGs (n=1,229) detected in IFN-λ4-GFP but not in IFN-λ3-GFP producing cells. Additional details are provided in Fig. S3 and Table S6. (C , D) Cell cycle analysis of cells synchronized by 24 hrs of serum starvation, treated with or without dox (0.5 µg/ml) for 72 hrs and analyzed by flow cytometry after PI staining. The plot shows a representative picture and the percentage of cells in each phase of the cell cycle. All data are shown as mean± SEM from triplicate experiments. *, P < 0.05. (E , F) Bromodeoxyuridine (BRDU, %) incorporation indicating cell proliferation in HepG2 cells expressing IFN-λ3-GFP, IFN-λ4-GFP and IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1KO. Cells were cocultured with HepG2 cells labeled with Far Red proliferation dye, dox-induced for 72 hrs and treated with BRDU for 3 hrs before analysis. Gates show HepG2 cells exposed to IFN-λs (IFN-λ treated cells) and HepG2 expressing IFN-λs. P-values compare corresponding dox+ vs. dox-HepG2 cells, ** p<0.01, Student’s T-test. Graphs represent one of three independent experiments, each in biological triplicates.

Article Snippet: The membranes were probed with primary antibodies against IFNLR1 (#NBP1-84381, Novus Biologicals), STAT1 (#9172, Cell Signaling Technology), phospho-STAT1 (Tyr701, #58D6, Cell Signaling Technology), IFN-λ4 (ab196984; Abcam), GAPDH (ab37168, Abcam) and HRP-linked secondary antibody, goat anti-rabbit IgG (#7074; Cell Signaling Technology) or goat anti-mouse IgG (San Cruz, sc-2031).

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Cell Cycle Assay, Flow Cytometry, Staining, BrdU Incorporation Assay, Expressing, Labeling

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: IFN-λ4 may contribute to HCV persistence by increasing ER stress and enhancing IRF1 signaling

doi: 10.1101/2020.10.28.359398

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Unsupervised clustering of activities of 54 regulons that were significantly and directionally enriched with HepG2-DEGs in the set of 885 of TCGA-LIHC regulons. The heatmap shows differences in activity scores (dES) for the IFN-λ4-enriched regulons organized by GSEA-2T results for the IFN-λ4-GFP, IFN-λ3-GFP and IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1 KO DEG signatures. Cluster I: regulons with dES > 0 in IFN-λ4-GFP; cluster II: regulons with dES < 0 in IFN-λ4-GFP. Table S7 provides the regulon activity scores presented in Figure 2A. (B-G) GSEA-2T plots for IRF1 and IRF2, respectively, in DEG signatures for (B-C) IFN-λ3-GFP, ( D-E ) IFN-λ4-GFP, and ( F-G ) IFN-λ4-GFP-IFNLR1 KO . (H) Inhibition of proliferation in IFN-λ4-GFP HepG2 cells, for one of three independent experiments. Cells were treated with IRF1 siRNA for 24 hrs, labeled with Far Red proliferation dye and dox-induced at indicated concentrations for 72 hrs. Proliferation was assessed by flow cytometry with a graph representing the geometric mean expression of Far Red proliferation dye with higher values indicating reduced cell proliferation. P-values compare dox-treated control siRNA with dox-treated IRF1 siRNA. ** p<0.01, Student’s T-test. Below: Western blots showing IRF1 protein levels following siRNA knockdown.

Article Snippet: The membranes were probed with primary antibodies against IFNLR1 (#NBP1-84381, Novus Biologicals), STAT1 (#9172, Cell Signaling Technology), phospho-STAT1 (Tyr701, #58D6, Cell Signaling Technology), IFN-λ4 (ab196984; Abcam), GAPDH (ab37168, Abcam) and HRP-linked secondary antibody, goat anti-rabbit IgG (#7074; Cell Signaling Technology) or goat anti-mouse IgG (San Cruz, sc-2031).

Techniques: Activity Assay, Inhibition, Labeling, Flow Cytometry, Expressing, Control, Western Blot, Knockdown

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: IFN-λ4 may contribute to HCV persistence by increasing ER stress and enhancing IRF1 signaling

doi: 10.1101/2020.10.28.359398

Figure Lengend Snippet: Representative confocal images of HepG2 cells transduced with a mammalian baculovirus delivery system (BacMam) of GFP-tagged proteins targeting specific organelles - lysosomes, Golgi, early and late endosomes. After transduction for 6 hrs, cells were transiently transfected with Halo-tagged constructs for IFN-λ4 or control for indicated times, stained with cell-permeant Halo-tag ligand TMR (red), and imaged. (A) Confocal images showing IFN-λ4 accumulation in lysosomes but not in early endosomes. (B) Late endosomal trafficking of IFN-λ4, with the inset showing larger magnification. (C) Unfolded protein response (UPR) is represented by lysosomal enlargement after protein accumulation. (D) Live images of IFN-λ4-expressing HepG2 cells undergoing apoptosis, characterized by membrane blebbing and cell death. Images were scanned every minute for 12 hrs. Scale bars – 10 um. (E) Apoptosis detection with ApoTox-Glo assays in corresponding untreated and dox-induced cells for indicated time points. RLU, relative luminescence units. (F) Graph showing counts from colony formation assay for HepG2 cells expressing IFN-λ4 or IFNLR1 KO grown in 6-well plates with or without dox for 13 days. Cell colonies were stained with crystal violet and manually counted. The graph represents the number of colonies as a percentage of initial plated counts. (G,H) mRNA (G) and protein levels ( H ) of DDIT3 after siRNA knockdown tested by qRT-PCR and Western blot assays, respectively. (I-J) Apoptosis (I) and cell viability (J) assays were performed after siRNA knockdown of DDIT3 in dox-induced IFN-λ4-GFP cells. * p<0.05, ** p< 0.01, *** p<0.001.

Article Snippet: The membranes were probed with primary antibodies against IFNLR1 (#NBP1-84381, Novus Biologicals), STAT1 (#9172, Cell Signaling Technology), phospho-STAT1 (Tyr701, #58D6, Cell Signaling Technology), IFN-λ4 (ab196984; Abcam), GAPDH (ab37168, Abcam) and HRP-linked secondary antibody, goat anti-rabbit IgG (#7074; Cell Signaling Technology) or goat anti-mouse IgG (San Cruz, sc-2031).

Techniques: Transduction, Transfection, Construct, Control, Staining, Expressing, Membrane, Colony Assay, Knockdown, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Profiling Allogeneic HLA-specific B-cell Responses Utilizing a 64-plex Single-HLA Reporter Cell Panel

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.19.700453

Figure Lengend Snippet: The HLA64-RC panel was labeled with fluorochrome-conjugated Abs or with unconjugated primary Abs followed by fluorochrome-conjugated secondary Abs. Following flow cytometry acquisition, data were analyzed using FlowJo ™ software. Live cell events were demultiplexed into 64 populations based on the six FP channels as in . Stacked histograms of the demultiplexed populations show fluorescence intensities corresponding to Ab labeling. Histograms are grouped by HLA-A (dark red), HLA-B (green), HLA-DQ (blue), and HLA-DR (purple) alleles, displayed upward in the order indicated on the far-right. Blue labels positioned in the upper-right (top row) or lower-right (bottom row) corners denote the reported specificities of the corresponding mAbs. hIgG1K and hIgG1L, human IgG1κ and IgG1λ isotype control Abs. BB7.2-hIgG1K, BB7.2 in human IgG1κ format. Anti-hIgG-PE and anti-mIgG-PE, PE-conjugated anti-human or anti-mouse IgG secondary Abs. SA-PE, PE-conjugated streptavidin.

Article Snippet: Following three additional washes, a cocktail of HRP-conjugated anti-human Igκ (Southern Biotech, 2061-05) and anti-human Igλ (Southern Biotech, 2071-05) Abs was added.

Techniques: Labeling, Flow Cytometry, Software, Fluorescence, Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Profiling Allogeneic HLA-specific B-cell Responses Utilizing a 64-plex Single-HLA Reporter Cell Panel

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.19.700453

Figure Lengend Snippet: Using the HLA64-RC panel, ten serum samples (#01–#10) from sensitized transplant candidates were tested for HLA-binding activities at 1/3 serial dilutions from 1:2 to 1:486, followed by secondary labeling using PE-conjugated anti-human IgG at 2 µg/ml. Raw binding data are shown in Supplementary Document 1. The dilutions yielding the highest signal-to-background ratio for individual samples were selected and MFI values (Supplementary Data 3) were compared with those obtained from clinical SAB assays (Supplementary Data 4) using the same samples. a) Heatmaps comparing log 10 (MFI) values for shared alleles between the HLA64-RC and SAB assays. The selected dilutions for the HLA64-RC assay were indicated in parentheses. For the SAB assay, serum samples were tested neat. Alleles with MFI values below the binding threshold (see Methods) are shown in grey. Reactivities detected by the HLA64-RC assay but absent in the SAB assay are highlighted with blue boxes. b) Dot plots comparing log 10 (MFI) values for shared alleles between the HLA64-RC and SAB assays, as in ( a ). Data from multiple samples were pooled and plotted separately for HLA-A, -B, -DQ, and -DR loci, with color and shape indicating individual alleles within each locus. For consistency, only serum samples tested at 1:2 dilution in the HLA64-RC assay in ( a ) were included. Within each locus, Lin’s CCC with 95% bootstrap confidence interval (CI), Spearman correlation, and SMA regression with 95% bootstrap CI were calculated using log 10 (MFI) values from the two assays. Solid diagonal lines represent SMA regression fits; dotted lines indicate the 95% CI.

Article Snippet: Following three additional washes, a cocktail of HRP-conjugated anti-human Igκ (Southern Biotech, 2061-05) and anti-human Igλ (Southern Biotech, 2071-05) Abs was added.

Techniques: Binding Assay, Labeling

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Profiling Allogeneic HLA-specific B-cell Responses Utilizing a 64-plex Single-HLA Reporter Cell Panel

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.19.700453

Figure Lengend Snippet: HLA monomer-binding single B-cell culture supernatants were screened using the HLA64-RC assay. R952-X06 and R952-X08 to -X12 cultures were derived from phenotyping antibody Panel 1 mediated sorting, and the rest from Panel 2 sorting. Secondary labeling was performed using PE-conjugated anti-human IgG (2 μg/ml). Flow cytometry data were analyzed and visualized using the HLA64 R package, and MFI values were exported (Supplementary Data 5). Demultiplexed HLA alleles corresponding to individual reporter cell populations are indicated on the right. Data are shown for HLA-specific cultures, and only HLA-A and -B loci are plotted. Human IgG1κ (hIgG1K), W6/32 in human IgG1κ format (W6/32-hIgG1K), and a no-B-cell culture supernatant were included as labeling controls. Populations exceeding the binding threshold (see Methods) relative to the no-Bcell control were automatically highlighted in red.

Article Snippet: Following three additional washes, a cocktail of HRP-conjugated anti-human Igκ (Southern Biotech, 2061-05) and anti-human Igλ (Southern Biotech, 2071-05) Abs was added.

Techniques: Binding Assay, Cell Culture, Derivative Assay, Labeling, Flow Cytometry, Control