Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were discovered as extracellular strands of decondensed DNA in complex with histones and granule proteins, which were expelled from dying neutrophils to ensnare ...and kill microbes. NETs are formed during infection in vivo by mechanisms different from those originally described in vitro. Citrullination of histones by peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is central for NET formation in vivo. NETs may spur formation of autoantibodies and may also serve as scaffolds for thrombosis, thereby providing a link among infection, autoimmunity, and thrombosis. In this review, we present the mechanisms by which NETs are formed and discuss the physiological and pathophysiological consequences of NET formation. We conclude that NETs may be of more importance in autoimmunity and thrombosis than in innate immune defense.
Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) results from mutations that inactivate cysteine protease cathepsin C (CTSC), which processes a variety of serine proteases considered essential for antimicrobial ...defense. Despite serine protease-deficient immune cell populations, PLS patients do not exhibit marked immunodeficiency. Here, we characterized a 24-year-old woman who had suffered from severe juvenile periodontal disease, but was otherwise healthy, and identified a homozygous missense mutation in CTSC indicative of PLS. Proteome analysis of patient neutrophil granules revealed that several proteins that normally localize to azurophil granules, including the major serine proteases, elastase, cathepsin G, and proteinase 3, were absent. Accordingly, neutrophils from this patient were incapable of producing neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in response to ROS and were unable to process endogenous cathelicidin hCAP-18 into the antibacterial peptide LL-37 in response to ionomycin. In immature myeloid cells from patient bone marrow, biosynthesis of CTSC and neutrophil serine proteases appeared normal along with initial processing and sorting to cellular storage. In contrast, these proteins were completely absent in mature neutrophils, indicating that CTSC mutation promotes protease degradation in more mature hematopoietic subsets, but does not affect protease production in progenitor cells. Together, these data indicate CTSC protects serine proteases from degradation in mature immune cells and suggest that neutrophil serine proteases are dispensable for human immunoprotection.
Gene expression profiling has revealed that circulating neutrophils rest between two major bursts of transcriptional and protein synthetic activities. The first occurs in the bone marrow. This equips ...the neutrophil with stocks of innate defense armory that are packaged into different granule subsets. The second burst occurs when the neutrophil exits circulation and migrates into tissues to find, capture and phagocytose microorganisms. This burst results in the synthesis and secretion of cytokines and chemokines that support resolution of inflammation and healing of damaged tissue. Gene expression profiling has revealed that neutrophils express a variety of innate immunity proteins, known previously only to be expressed in other cells. Likewise, it has become clear that some proteins previously thought to be specific to the neutrophil are expressed in epithelial cells during inflammation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In acute inflammation, infiltrating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (also known as PMNs) release preformed granule proteins having multitudinous effects on the surrounding environment. Here we present ...what we believe to be a novel role for PMN-derived proteins in bacterial phagocytosis by both human and murine macrophages. Exposure of macrophages to PMN secretion markedly enhanced phagocytosis of IgG-opsonized Staphylococcus aureus both in vitro and in murine models in vivo. PMN secretion activated macrophages, resulting in upregulation of the Fcgamma receptors CD32 and CD64, which then mediated the enhanced phagocytosis of IgG-opsonized bacteria. The phagocytosis-stimulating activity within the PMN secretion was found to be due to proteins released from PMN primary granules; thorough investigation revealed heparin-binding protein (HBP) and human neutrophil peptides 1-3 (HNP1-3) as the mediators of the macrophage response to PMN secretion. The use of blocking antibodies and knockout mice revealed that HBP acts via beta2 integrins, but the receptor for HNP1-3 remained unclear. Mechanistically, HBP and HNP1-3 triggered macrophage release of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma, which acted in an autocrine loop to enhance expression of CD32 and CD64 and thereby enhance phagocytosis. Thus, we attribute what may be a novel role for PMN granule proteins in regulating the immune response to bacterial infections.
Pathogenic mycobacteria reside in, and are in turn controlled by, macrophages. However, emerging data suggest that neutrophils also play a critical role in innate immunity to tuberculosis, presumably ...by their different antibacterial granule proteins. In this study, we purified neutrophil azurophil and specific granules and systematically analyzed the antimycobacterial activity of some purified azurophil and specific granule proteins against M. smegmatis, M. bovis-BCG and M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Using gel overlay and colony forming unit assays we showed that the defensin-depleted azurophil granule proteins (AZP) were more active against mycobacteria compared to other granule proteins and cytosolic proteins. The proteins showing antimycobacterial activity were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Electron microscopic studies demonstrate that the AZP disintegrate bacterial cell membrane resulting in killing of mycobacteria. Exogenous addition of AZP to murine macrophage RAW 264.7, THP-1 and peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages significantly reduced the intracellular survival of mycobacteria without exhibiting cytotoxic activity on macrophages. Immunofluorescence studies showed that macrophages actively endocytose neutrophil granular proteins. Treatment with AZP resulted in increase in co-localization of BCG containing phagosomes with lysosomes but not in increase of autophagy. These data demonstrate that neutrophil azurophil proteins may play an important role in controlling intracellular survival of mycobacteria in macrophages.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
Macrophages have been shown to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis through the action of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin (CAMP), whose expression was shown to be induced by ...1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3). Here, we investigated in detail the antimycobacterial effect of murine and human cathelicidin against Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. bovis BCG infections. We have synthesized novel LL‐37 peptide variants that exhibited potent in vitro bactericidal activity against M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis H37Rv, as compared with parental peptide. We show that the exogenous addition of LL‐37 or endogenous overexpression of cathelicidin in macrophages significantly reduced the intracellular survival of mycobacteria relative to control cells. An upregulation of cathelicidin mRNA expression was observed that correlated with known M. smegmatis killing phases in J774 macrophages. Moreover, RNAi‐based Camp knock‐down macrophages and Camp−/− bone marrow derived mouse macrophages were significantly impaired in their ability to kill mycobacteria. M. smegmatis killing in Camp−/− macrophages was less extensive than in Camp+/+ cells following activation with FSL‐1, an inducer of cathelicidin expression. Finally we show that LL‐37 and 1,25D3 treatment results in increase in colocalization of BCG‐containing phagosomes with lysosomes. Altogether, these data demonstrate that cathelicidin plays an important role in controlling intracellular survival of mycobacteria.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cellular prion-related protein (PrP(c)) is a cell-surface protein that is ubiquitously expressed in the human body. The multifunctionality of PrP(c), and presence of an exposed cationic and ...heparin-binding N-terminus, a feature characterizing many antimicrobial peptides, made us hypothesize that PrP(c) could exert antimicrobial activity.
Intact recombinant PrP exerted antibacterial and antifungal effects at normal and low pH. Studies employing recombinant PrP and N- and C-terminally truncated variants, as well as overlapping peptide 20mers, demonstrated that the antimicrobial activity is mediated by the unstructured N-terminal part of the protein. Synthetic peptides of the N-terminus of PrP killed the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the fungus Candida parapsilosis. Fluorescence studies of peptide-treated bacteria, paired with analysis of peptide effects on liposomes, showed that the peptides exerted membrane-breaking effects similar to those seen after treatment with the "classical" human antimicrobial peptide LL-37. In contrast to LL-37, however, no marked helix induction was detected for the PrP-derived peptides in presence of negatively charged (bacteria-mimicking) liposomes. PrP furthermore showed an inducible expression during wounding of human skin ex vivo and in vivo, as well as stimulation of keratinocytes with TGF-alpha in vitro.
The demonstration of an antimicrobial activity of PrP, localisation of its activity to the N-terminal and heparin-binding region, combined with results showing an increased expression of PrP during wounding, indicate that PrPs could have a previously undisclosed role in host defense.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that are extensive webs of DNA covered with antimicrobial proteins into the extracellular environment during infection or inflammation as a part of their defense ...arsenal. Image acquisition of fluorescently labeled NETs and subsequent image-based quantification is frequently used to analyze NET formation (NETosis) in response to various stimuli. However, there are important limitations in the present methods for quantification. Manual methods tend to be error-prone, tedious, and often quite subjective, whereas the software-rooted options are either semi-automatic or difficult to operate. Here, we present an automated and uncomplicated approach for quantifying NETs from fluorescence images, built as a freely available app for MATLAB
. It is based on detection of a set of clearly defined parameters, all related to the biological manifestation of NETs and allowing for single-cell resolution quantification and analysis.
Neutrophils are essential for host defense at the oral mucosa and neutropenia or functional neutrophil defects lead to disordered oral homeostasis. We found that neutrophils from the oral mucosa ...harvested from morning saliva had released neutrophil extracellular traps (undergone NETosis) in vivo. The NETosis was mediated through intracellular signals elicited by binding of sialyl LewisX present on salival mucins to l-selectin on neutrophils. This led to rapid loss of nuclear membrane and intracellular release of granule proteins with subsequent neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) release independent of elastase and reduced NAD phosphate-oxidase activation. The saliva-induced NETs were more DNase-resistant and had higher capacity to bind and kill bacteria than NETs induced by bacteria or by phorbol-myristate acetate. Furthermore, saliva/sialyl LewisX mediated signaling enhanced intracellular killing of bacteria by neutrophils. Saliva from patients with aphthous ulcers and Behçet disease prone to oral ulcers failed to induce NETosis, but for different reasons it demonstrated that disordered homeostasis in the oral cavity may result in deficient saliva-mediated NETosis.
•Saliva induces bactericidal and DNase resistant NETs in the oral cavity via sialyl LewisX- L-selectin signaling.•Disordered homeostasis in the oral cavity may lead to deficient saliva-mediated NETosis.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Sepsis is characterized by a dysregulated host-pathogen response, leading to high cytokine levels, excessive coagulation and failure to eradicate invasive bacteria. Novel therapeutic strategies that ...address crucial pathogenetic steps during infection are urgently needed. Here, we describe novel bioactive roles and therapeutic anti-infective potential of the peptide EDC34, derived from the C-terminus of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2). This peptide exerted direct bactericidal effects and boosted activation of the classical complement pathway including formation of antimicrobial C3a, but inhibited bacteria-induced activation of the contact system. Correspondingly, in mouse models of severe Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, treatment with EDC34 reduced bacterial levels and lung damage. In combination with the antibiotic ceftazidime, the peptide significantly prolonged survival and reduced mortality in mice. The peptide's boosting effect on bacterial clearance paired with its inhibiting effect on excessive coagulation makes it a promising therapeutic candidate for invasive Gram-negative infections.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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