Role of Mouse and Human Autophagy Proteins in IFN-γ–Induced Cell-Autonomous Responses against Toxoplasma gondii

IFN-γ is a major regulator of immune functions and has been shown to induce liver-stage Plasmodium elimination both in vitro and in vivo. The molecular mechanism responsible for the restriction of liver-stage Plasmodium downstream of IFN-γ remains uncertain, however. Autophagy, a newly described immune defense mechanism, was recently identified as a downstream pathway activated in response to IFN-γ in the control of intracellular infections. We thus hypothesized that the killing of liver-stage malarial parasites by IFN-γ involves autophagy induction. Our results show that whereas IFN-γ treatment of human hepatocytes activates autophagy, the IFN-γ-mediated restriction of liver-stage Plasmodium vivax depends only on the downstream autophagy-related proteins Beclin 1, PI3K, and ATG5, but not on the upstream autophagy-initiating protein ULK1. In addition, IFN-γ enhanced the recruitment of LC3 onto the parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) and increased the colocalization of lysosomal vesicles with P. vivax compartments. Taken together, these data indicate that IFN-γ mediates the control of liver-stage P. vivax by inducing a noncanonical autophagy pathway resembling that of LC3-associated phagocytosis, in which direct decoration of the PVM with LC3 promotes the fusion of P. vivax compartments with lysosomes and subsequent killing of the pathogen. Understanding the hepatocyte response to IFN-γ during Plasmodium infection and the roles of autophagy-related proteins may provide an urgently needed alternative strategy for the elimination of this human malaria.autophagy | LC3-associated phagocytosis | IFN-γ | malaria S everal hundred million cases of human malaria are reported annually, and nearly 600,000 people die from the disease each year (1). Of the five species that infect humans, Plasmodium vivax is not only the most geographically widespread, but also the most prevalent malarial parasite in areas outside Africa. As such, it has caused massive morbidity in these regions of the world. Although malaria caused by P. vivax was previously regarded as benign compared with that caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the recent alarming increase in both the severity and the drug resistance of P. vivax infection has raised concern (2).The widespread distribution of P. vivax has been attributed to the parasite's ability to remain dormant in the liver for years before reactivation (3). The molecular mechanism responsible for P. vivax dormancy is unknown, and knowledge of Plasmodiumhepatocyte interactions remains very limited. Nonetheless, because the number of liver-stage parasites is in the range of 100, whereas in the blood stage as many as 10 13 organisms may be found (4), intervention at the liver stage would seem to offer a better strategy for parasite elimination. A prerequisite to this route of malaria control and the development of novel therapies is a better understanding of liver-stage Plasmodium and its interactions with host hepatocytes. IFN-γ was previously shown to exhibit antimalarial activity against the liver stag...

Section: Liver-stage P Vivax Colocalizes With Lc3 and Ltrsupporting

confidence: 67%

LAP-like process as an immune mechanism downstream of IFN-γ in control of the human malariaPlasmodium vivaxliver stage

Boonhok

Rachaphaew

Duangmanee

et al. 2016

“…S10). GBP translocation to T. gondii PVs and C. trachomatis inclusions has also been observed in humans cells (48,49), yet human cells do not encode GKS proteins (20). These combined observations pose the conundrum of explaining how human GBPs target PVs independently of GKS proteins.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interference with ATG8 lipidation diminishes GBP and GKS protein recruitment to PVs, demonstrating the importance of these molecules in immunotargeting of PVs (24,25,42,48,(55)(56)(57). Whether and how the ATG8 pathway intersects with the newly discovered IRG-driven ubiquitination pathway will need to be explored further in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ubiquitin systems mark pathogen-containing vacuoles as targets for host defense by guanylate binding proteins

Haldar

Foltz

Finethy

et al. 2015

150

237

Many microbes create and maintain pathogen-containing vacuoles (PVs) as an intracellular niche permissive for microbial growth and survival. The destruction of PVs by IFNγ-inducible guanylate binding protein (GBP) and immunity-related GTPase (IRG) host proteins is central to a successful immune response directed against numerous PV-resident pathogens. However, the mechanism by which IRGs and GBPs cooperatively detect and destroy PVs is unclear. We find that host cell priming with IFNγ prompts IRG-dependent association of Toxoplasma- and Chlamydia-containing vacuoles with ubiquitin through regulated translocation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6). This initial ubiquitin labeling elicits p62-mediated escort and deposition of GBPs to PVs, thereby conferring cell-autonomous immunity. Hypervirulent strains of Toxoplasma gondii evade this process via specific rhoptry protein kinases that inhibit IRG function, resulting in blockage of downstream PV ubiquitination and GBP delivery. Our results define a ubiquitin-centered mechanism by which host cells deliver GBPs to PVs and explain how hypervirulent parasites evade GBP-mediated immunity.

“…The recruitment of hGBPs to the membranes of T. gondii-containing PVs is regulated by the autophagic protein, ATG16L1, in IFN-γ-stimulated human fibroblast-like (HAP1) cells (45). Here, using both the noncyst and cyst-forming strains (RH/GFP and PLK/ RED) of T. gondii (46), we observed the recruitment of endogenous hGBP1 to T. gondii-containing PVs at 3 h postinfection in IFN-γ-stimulated human MSCs (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guanylate-binding protein 1 (GBP1) contributes to the immunity of human mesenchymal stromal cells against Toxoplasma gondii

Qin

Lai

Liu

et al. 2017

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have recently been shown to play important roles in mammalian host defenses against intracellular pathogens, but the molecular mechanism still needs to be clarified. We confirmed that human MSCs (hMSCs) prestimulated with IFN-γ showed a significant and dose-dependent ability to inhibit the growth of two types of Toxoplasma gondii [type I RH strain with green fluorescent proteins (RH/GFP) or type II PLK strain with red fluorescent proteins (PLK/RED)]. However, in contrast to previous reports, the anti-T. gondii activity of hMSCs was not mediated by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Genome-wide RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis revealed that IFN-γ increased the expression of the p65 family of human guanylate-binding proteins (hGBPs) in hMSCs, especially hGBP1. To analyze the functional role of hGBPs, stable knockdowns of hGBP1, -2, and -5 in hMSCs were established using a lentiviral transfection system. hGBP1 knockdown in hMSCs resulted in a significant loss of the anti-T. gondii host defense property, compared with hMSCs infected with nontargeted control sequences. hGBP2 and -5 knockdowns had no effect. Moreover, the hGBP1 accumulation on the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) membranes of IFN-γ-stimulated hMSCs might protect against T. gondii infection. Taken together, our results suggest that hGBP1 plays a pivotal role in anti-T. gondii protection of hMSCs and may shed new light on clarifying the mechanism of host defense properties of hMSCs.human stem cells | parasitic protozoan | innate immunity | in vitro cultivation