Academic literature on the topic 'Antimicrobial chemokine'

SUMMARY Chemokines and their G-protein-coupled receptors represent an ancient and complex system of cellular communication participating in growth, development, homeostasis and immunity. Chemokine production has been detected in virtually every microbial infection examined; however, the precise role of chemokines is still far from clear. In most cases they appear to promote host resistance by mobilizing leukocytes and activating immune functions that kill, expel, or sequester pathogens. In other cases, the chemokine system has been pirated by pathogens, especially protozoa and viruses, which have exploited host chemokine receptors as modes of cellular invasion or developed chemokine mimics and binding proteins that act as antagonists or inappropriate agonists. Understanding microbial mechanisms of chemokine evasion will potentially lead to novel antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents.

ABSTRACT Based on previous studies showing that host chemokines exert antimicrobial activities against bacteria, we sought to determine whether the interferon-inducible Glu-Leu-Arg-negative CXC chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 exhibit antimicrobial activities against Bacillus anthracis. In vitro analysis demonstrated that all three CXC chemokines exerted direct antimicrobial effects against B. anthracis spores and bacilli including marked reductions in spore and bacillus viability as determined using a fluorometric assay of bacterial viability and CFU determinations. Electron microscopy studies revealed that CXCL10-treated spores failed to undergo germination as judged by an absence of cytological changes in spore structure that occur during the process of germination. Immunogold labeling of CXCL10-treated spores demonstrated that the chemokine was located internal to the exosporium in association primarily with the spore coat and its interface with the cortex. To begin examining the potential biological relevance of chemokine-mediated antimicrobial activity, we used a murine model of inhalational anthrax. Upon spore challenge, the lungs of C57BL/6 mice (resistant to inhalational B. anthracis infection) had significantly higher levels of CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 than did the lungs of A/J mice (highly susceptible to infection). Increased CXC chemokine levels were associated with significantly reduced levels of spore germination within the lungs as determined by in vivo imaging. Taken together, our data demonstrate a novel antimicrobial role for host chemokines against B. anthracis that provides unique insight into host defense against inhalational anthrax; these data also support the notion for an innovative approach in treating B. anthracis infection as well as infections caused by other spore-forming organisms.

Even though skin and oral mucosae are continuously in contact with commensal and opportunistic microorganisms, they generally remain healthy and uninflamed. Host defense peptides (HDPs) make up the body’s first line of defense against many invading pathogens and are involved in the orchestration of innate immunity and the inflammatory response. In this study, we investigated the effect of two salivary HDPs, LL-37 and Hst1, on the inflammatory and antimicrobial response by skin and oral mucosa (gingiva) keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The potent antimicrobial chemokine CCL20 was investigated and compared with chemokines CCL2, CXCL1, CXCL8, and CCL27 and proinflammatory cytokines IL-1αand IL-6. Keratinocyte-fibroblast cocultures showed a synergistic increase in CCL20 secretion upon Hst1 and LL-37 exposure compared to monocultures. These cocultures also showed increased IL-6, CXCL1, CXCL8, and CCL2 secretion, which was IL-1αdependent. Secretion of the antimicrobial chemokine CCL20 was clearly IL-1αindependent. These results indicate that salivary peptides can stimulate skin as well as gingiva cells to secrete antimicrobial chemokines as part of the hosts’ defense to counteract infection.

Candida species cause serious infections requiring prolonged and sometimes toxic therapy. Antimicrobial proteins, such as chemokines, hold great interest as potential additions to the small number of available antifungal drugs. Metamorphic proteins reversibly switch between multiple different folded structures. XCL1 is a metamorphic, antimicrobial chemokine that interconverts between the conserved chemokine fold (an α–β monomer) and an alternate fold (an all-β dimer). Previous work has shown that human XCL1 kills C. albicans but has not assessed whether one or both XCL1 folds perform this activity. Here, we use structurally locked engineered XCL1 variants and Candida killing assays, adenylate kinase release assays, and propidium iodide uptake assays to demonstrate that both XCL1 folds kill Candida, but they do so via different mechanisms. Our results suggest that the alternate fold kills via membrane disruption, consistent with previous work, and the chemokine fold does not. XCL1 fold-switching thus provides a mechanism to regulate the XCL1 mode of antifungal killing, which could protect surrounding tissue from damage associated with fungal membrane disruption and could allow XCL1 to overcome candidal resistance by switching folds. This work provides inspiration for the future design of switchable, multifunctional antifungal therapeutics.

ABSTRACTCXCL13 is a constitutively expressed chemokine that controls migration of immune cells to lymphoid follicles. Previously, we found CXCL13 mRNA levels increased in rhesus macaque spleen tissues during AIDS. This led us to examine the levels and locations of CXCL13 by detailedin situmethods in cynomolgus macaque lymphoid and intestinal tissues. Our results revealed that there were distinct localization patterns of CXCL13 mRNA compared to protein in germinal centers. These patterns shifted during the course of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection, with increased mRNA expression within and around follicles during AIDS compared to uninfected or acutely infected animals. Unexpectedly, CXCL13 expression was also found in abundance in Paneth cells in crypts throughout the small intestine. Therefore, we expanded our analyses to include chemokines and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) not previously demonstrated to be expressed by Paneth cells in intestinal tissues. We examined the expression patterns of multiple chemokines, including CCL25, as well as α-defensin 6 (DEFA6), β-defensin 2 (BDEF2), rhesus θ-defensin 1 (RTD-1), and Reg3γin situin intestinal tissues. Of the 10 chemokines examined, CXCL13 was unique in its expression by Paneth cells. BDEF2, RTD-1, and Reg3γ were also expressed by Paneth cells. BDEF2 and RTD-1 previously have not been shown to be expressed by Paneth cells. These findings expand our understanding of mucosal immunology, innate antimicrobial defenses, homeostatic chemokine function, and host protective mechanisms against microbial translocation.

Fish are a potential source of diverse organic compounds with a broad spectrum of biological activities. Many fish-derived antimicrobial peptides and proteins are key components of the fish innate immune system. They are also potential candidates for development of new antimicrobial agents. CXCL20b is a grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) CXC chemokine strongly transcribed at the early stage of bacterial infections, for which the immune role had not been reported to date. In the present study, we found that CXCL20b is a cationic amphipathic protein that displays potent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The results of DiOC2(3) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) assays indicated that CXCL20b could induce bacterial membrane depolarization and disruption in a short time. By performing further structure-activity studies, we found that the antimicrobial activity of CXCL20b was mainly relative to the N-terminal random coil region. The central part of this cytokine representing β-sheet region was insoluble in water and the C-terminal α-helical region did not show an antimicrobial effect. The results presented in this article support the poorly understood function of CXCL20b, which fulfills an important role in bony fish antimicrobial immunity.

Chemokines are best recognized for their role within the innate immune system as chemotactic cytokines, signaling and recruiting host immune cells to sites of infection. Certain chemokines, such as CXCL10, have been found to play an additional role in innate immunity, mediating CXCR3-independent killing of a diverse array of pathogenic microorganisms. While this is still not clearly understood, elucidating the mechanisms underlying chemokine-mediated antimicrobial activity may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies effective against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. Here, we show that CXCL10 exerts antibacterial effects on clinical and laboratory strains ofEscherichia coliand report that disruption of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHc), which converts pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A, enablesE. colito resist these antimicrobial effects. Through generation and screening of a transposon mutant library, we identified two mutants with increased resistance to CXCL10, both with unique disruptions of the gene encoding the E1 subunit of PDHc,aceE. Resistance to CXCL10 also occurred following deletion of eitheraceForlpdA, genes that encode the remaining two subunits of PDHc. Although PDHc resides within the bacterial cytosol, electron microscopy revealed localization of immunogold-labeled CXCL10 to the bacterial cell surface in both theE. coliparent andaceEdeletion mutant strains. Taken together, our findings suggest that while CXCL10 interacts with an as-yet-unidentified component on the cell surface, PDHc is an important mediator of killing by CXCL10. To our knowledge, this is the first description of PDHc as a key bacterial component involved in the antibacterial effect of a chemokine.

This research focuses on the antimicrobial activity of the mouse chemokine CCL28. In addition to their well characterized chemotactic activity, many chemokines have been shown to be antimicrobial in vitro, including the mucosally expressed chemokine CCL28. I have investigated the primary sequence features required for antimicrobial activity, salt sensitive nature of killing/binding mechanism, and in vivo microbial interactions of CCL28. Through the use of protein mutation and expression techniques, I have shown that the holoprotein (108 amino acids) is necessary for full antimicrobial activity of CCL28. Furthermore, the C terminal region of CCL28 is essential for microbial killing as an almost complete loss of antimicrobial activity is seen following the removal of the C terminal 24 amino acids. The positively charged amino acids of the C-terminus directly contributed to the antimicrobial activity of CCL28. These experiments are the first to investigate the role of primary structure on the killing activity of an antimicrobial chemokine. Using flow cytometry analysis, I found that the salt-sensitive nature of CCL28 killing activity corresponds to its binding ability. Additionally, I have shown direct evidence for in vivo interaction between commensal bacteria and endogenously expressed CCL28 in the mouse large intestine. This interaction may directly correlate to the in vivo antimicrobial activity of CCL28. Lastly, I have begun to generate a CCL28 knockout mouse model to directly address the in vivo antimicrobial activity of CCL28. Vector construction and ES cell targeting by the vector has been completed, chimeric mouse generation remains to be done. This work represents the first systematic study of antimicrobial chemokine function. This work extends our understanding of antimicrobial proteins and their role in innate immune protection of the host and provides guidance for making better alternative antimicrobials.

In order to better understand the mechanism of antimicrobial chemokine activity, including binding to and killing of bacteria, random transposon mutagenesis was performed in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Resulting mutants were screened for increased binding to chemokine and high binding clones were selected for further study. One mutant, designated mutant 27, was found to have a single insertion mutation in the rfaD gene. The rfaD gene product is involved in heptose biosynthesis, one of the sugars of the inner core oligosaccharide of Gram- negative lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mutant 27 was found to bind both CCL25 and CCL28, two antimicrobial chemokines, more efficiently than the wild type bacteria. This clone was also found to be more susceptible to CCL28- mediated killing and polymyxin activity. Complementation with a plasmid bearing the full rfaDFC operon restored the wild type phenotype in both regards. These data suggest that normal LPS expression by Y. pseudotuberculosis serves to protect the bacteria from the antimicrobial function of chemokines and other antimicrobial proteins of the mammalian innate immune system.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a foodborne pathogen that is the ancestral strain to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of Plague. Y. pseudotuberculosis invades a host through the intestinal epithelium. The bacteria resist mucosal innate immune defenses including antimicrobial chemokines and phagocytic cells, and replicate in local lymph nodes. They cause Tuberculosis-like symptoms, including necrosis of local tissue and granuloma formation. Like all bacteria, Y. pseudotuberculosis has a net negative charge, which contributes to its susceptibility to some cationic antimicrobial peptides. Y. pseudotuberculosis is able to reduce this negative charge by adding 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) to the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide. The production and addition of the L-Ara4N is coded for by the pmrHFIJKLM (pmrF) operon. A previous study has shown that the Y. pseudotuberculosis pmrF operon is important for resistance against polymyxin, but is not important for virulence in mice. Several previous reports have shown a strong influence of growth temperature on resistance to antimicrobial peptides and pmrF expression in pathogenic Yersinia species, but these studies also suggest significant variability between species, and even between strains of individual species. In particular, the regulation of the Y. pseudotuberculosis pmrF operon and its effect on bacterial interactions with mucosa-associated antimicrobial chemokines and neutrophils is not understood. In these studies, we investigated the environmental influences on pmrF expression in Y. pseudotuberculosis. We found that the promoter activity of the pmrHFIJKLM operon is increased at lower temperatures (21ºC) and in the presence of human serum. A ΔpmrI mutant strain of Y. pseudotuberculosis defective for addition of L-Ara4N was found to be more susceptible to killing by the antimicrobial chemokine CCL28 compared to wild-type. This suggests that this gene is important in the bacterial defense against antimicrobial chemokines. However, when the ΔpmrI mutant strain was exposed to human neutrophils, there was a decrease in phagocytosis as compared to wild-type bacteria. Our results suggest that the regulation of L-Ara4N modifications in Yersinia is more complex than previously appreciated and varies between species. Addition of L-Ara4N to Y. pseudotuberculosis appears to enhance resistance to some antimicrobial peptides like CCL28 and promote greater phagocytic engulfment by neutrophils. These opposing effects may partly explain why there is no net apparent survival defect in mutants lacking the pmrF operon during infection.

Résumé du premier manuscrit : Facteurs influençant le dialogue entre les cellules épithéliales et immunes : Interactions entre les cytokines et les voies de signalisation induites par l’ATRA. Nous avons choisi les deux plus puissantes cytokines proinflammatoires connues, l’IL1β et le TNFα pour étudier les effets de l’ATRA. Nous avons utilisé ces deux cytokines, en présence ou en absence d’ATRA, pour stimuler pendant 6 h la lignée épithéliale de colon Caco2. Nous avons constaté que l’ATRA induisait l’expression de CD103 à la surface des cellules dendritiques (DC) et des macrophages (Mf). Quand l’expression du CX3CR1 était observé à la surface des cellules, les DC traitées avec un surnageant conditionné de CEC traitées par l’ATRA montraient une augmentation de l’expression de CX3CR1 alors que les Mfprésentaient un diminution de l’expression de CX3CR1 suite à un traitement similaire. Le fait que l’ATRA ait un effet variable sur différents types cellulairesmontrel’aptitude de l’ATRA à influencer les réponses lymphocytaires T finales. Dans notre système in vitro, nous avons constaté que les surnageants de CEC traitées par l’ATRA peuvent influencer les DC qui, lorsqu’elles sont cultivées avec de lymphocytes T CD4+, induisent moins de cellules Th17 alors que dans la même situation, les Mf conduisent à un nombre accru de cellules Th17.Résumé du second manuscrit (en collaboration avec le Dr. Éva Csősz, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Proteomics Core Facility University of Debrecen) : Quantification relative des β-défensines humaines dans les cellules épithéliales de colon par une approche protéomique basée sur la SRM ciblée. Dans cette étude, nous avons développé une méthode basée sur la protéomique ciblée pour déterminer les niveaux de défensines dans les lysats cellulaires et les surnageants de culture. La lignée épithéliale humaine Caco2 a été soumise à un stimulus inflammatoire constitué par l’IL-1β et les niveaux de β-défensine 2 ont été analysés dans les lysats cellulaires et les surnageants de culture. La méthode a été validée par qPCR, ELISA et Western blot quantitatifs. Les niveaux d’expression du gène de la β-défensine 2 ainsi que de la protéine étaient significativement plus élevés dans les échantillons traités par l’IL-1β comparés aux contrôles non stimulés. Les niveaux de β-défensine 2,de β-défensine 3, de β-défensine 4 et d’α-défensine ont également été étudiés et des niveaux significativement plus élevés de β-défensine 3 ont été détectés dans les surnageants de cellules Caco2 activées. Nos résultats montrent que la méthode de protéomique ciblée développée ici fournit une approche alternative aux analyses de spectrométrie de masse de certaines défensines
Retinoids and other derivatives of vitamin A are known to bear important functions in regulating differentiation and proliferation of epithelial cells (EC). We studied the effects of ATRA on colonic EC in combination with different pro-inflammatory activators. We selected the two most potent known pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α for studying the effects of ATRA. When we used these cytokines in the presence or absence of ATRA as inducers of Caco2 colonic EC cell lines we observed that ATRA was responsible for conferring the CD103 cell surface expression on DC and Mf after 6 hrs. In case of CX3CR1 cell surface expression, DC treated with ATRA-conditioned CEC supernatant showed an increase in CX3CR1 expression, whereas in Mf decreased CX3CR1 expression was observed after similar treatment. The fact that ATRA exerted different effects on different cells indicates the capability of ATRA to affect the final outcome of T-lymphocyte responses. In our in vitro system we observed that ATRA treated CEC supernatant can influence the outcome of DC responses when co-cultured with CD4+ T lymphocytes, as the balance of Th17 cells was reduced, while in Mf the number of Th17 cells was significantly increased. Defensins represent an important group of AMP consisting of 16 – 50 amino acids, organized to a structurally conserved compact organization associated with multiple functions in order to act as a first line of defense mechanism. The three subfamilies of defensins (α, β, θ) differ in their peptide length, location of disulphide bonds, their precursor structures and in the site of protein expression. Elevated levels β-defensin 3 in colonic mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis suggest their role in the inflammatory response. In this study we have developed a targeted proteomics based method for the determination of defensin levels in cell lysates and cell culture supernatants. Human Caco2 epithelial cells were challenged with IL-1β as an inflammatory stimulus and the levels of β-defensin 2 was analyzed in cell lysates and in cell culture supernatants. The developed method was validated by using qPCR, quantitative ELISA and Western blot. The gene and protein expression levels of β-defensin 2 were significantly higher in the IL-1β treated samples as compared to the unstimulated controls. Beside β-defensin 2, the levels of β-defensin 3, β-defensin 4 and α-defensin was also measured and showed significantly higher levels in the supernatants of activated Caco2 cells. Our results show that the targeted proteomics method developed here offers an alternative approach for the mass spectrometric analyses of a selected set of defensins

Infection by a pathogenic micro-organism triggers a coordinated activation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. The innate immune response quickly triggers an antimicrobial response that will initiate development of a pathogen-specific, long-lasting adaptive immune response. Accurate recognition of microbial-associated molecular patterns by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) is the cornerstone of this immediate response. Most studied PRRs are Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their kinase signalling cascades that activate nuclear transcription factors, and induce gene expression and cytokine production. Deficiencies or genetic variability in these different signalling pathways may lead to recurrent pyogenic infections and severe invasive diseases. After initial contact between the host and pathogen, numerous factors mediate the inflammatory response, as pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Apart from host genetic variability, pathogen diversity also influences the phenotypic features of various infectious diseases. Genomic analysis may assist in the development of targeted therapies or new therapeutic strategies based on both patient and microorganism genotype.

There are four major components of the immune system. These include: 1. mechanical barriers to pathogen entry. 2. the innate immune system. 3. the adaptive immune system. 4. the lymphoid organs. Mechanical barriers include skin and mucous membranes and tight junctions between epithelial cells prevent pathogen entry. Breaches can be iatrogenic, for example, IV lines, surgical wounds, and mucositis, and are a large source of healthcare- associated infections. The innate immune system provides the first internal line of defence, as well as initiating and shaping the adaptive immune response. The innate system comprises a range of responses: phagocytosis by neutrophils and macrophages (guided in part by the adaptive immune system), the complement cascade, and the release of antimicrobial peptides by epithelial cells (e.g. defensins, cathelicidin). The adaptive immune system includes both humoral (antibody- mediated) and cell-mediated responses. It is capable of greater diversity and specificity than the innate immune system, and can develop memory to pathogens and provide increased protection on re-exposure. Immune cells are divided into myeloid cells (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, and monocytes/macrophages) and lymphoid cells (B, T, and NK cells). These all originate in the bone marrow from pluripotent haematopoietic stem cells. The lymphoid organs include the spleen, the lymph nodes, and mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues—which respond to antigens in the blood, tissues, and epithelial surfaces respectively. The three main ‘professional’ phagocytes are macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils. They are similar with respect to how they recognize pathogens, but differ in their principal location and effector functions. Phagocytes express an array of Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) e.g. Toll-like receptors and lectins (proteins that bind carbohydrates). PRRs recognize Pathogen- Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs)— elements which are conserved across species, such as cell-surface glycoproteins and nucleic acid sequences. Though limited in number, PRRs have evolved to recognize a huge array of pathogens. Binding of PRRs to PAMPs enhances phagocytosis. Macrophages are tissue-resident phagocytes, initiating and co-ordinating the local immune response. The cytokines and chemokines they produce cause vasodilation and alter the expression of endothelial cell adhesion factors, recruiting circulating immune cells.