Rapid interferon independent expression of IFITM3 following T cell activation protects cells from influenza virus infection

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 1; p. e0210132
• Main Authors: Bedford, James G, O'Keeffe, Meredith, Reading, Patrick C, Wakim, Linda M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16-01-2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adoptive Transfer - methods; Animals; Antigens; Biology and Life Sciences; Cell activation; Cell survival; Cells, Cultured; Disease Models, Animal; Disease resistance; Dogs; Dosage and administration; Effector cells; Gene expression; Genetic aspects; Humans; Immunology; Infections; Influenza; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - immunology; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - pathogenicity; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype - immunology; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype - pathogenicity; Influenza, Human - immunology; Influenza, Human - virology; Interferon; Interferon Regulatory Factor-3 - genetics; Interferon Regulatory Factor-7 - genetics; Interferons - metabolism; Laboratories; Lymphocyte Activation - immunology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; Medicine and Health Sciences; Membrane proteins; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - immunology; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Prevention; Primary Cell Culture; Proteins; Risk factors; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes - transplantation; Viral infections; Viruses; Australia; Victoria Australia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210132

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) is a potent antiviral protein that enhances cellular resistance to a variety of pathogens, including influenza virus. Classically defined as an interferon-stimulated gene, expression of IFITM3 on cells is rapidly up-regulated in response to type I and II interferon. Here we found that IFITM3 is rapidly up-regulated by T cells following their activation and this occurred independently of type I and II interferon and the interferon regulatory factors 3 and 7. Up-regulation of IFITM3 on effector T cells protected these cells from virus infection and imparted a survival advantage at sites of virus infection. Our results show that IFITM3 expression on effector T cells is crucial for these cells to mediate their effector function and highlights an interferon independent pathway for the induction of IFITM3 which, if targeted, could be an effective approach to harness the activity of IFITM3 for infection prevention.