Adenosine-A3 receptors in neutrophil microdomains promote the formation of bacteria-tethering cytonemes.

The A3-adenosine receptor (A3AR) has recently emerged as a key regulator of neutrophil behaviour. Using a fluorescent A3AR ligand, we show that A3ARs aggregate in highly polarized immunomodulatory microdomains on human neutrophil membranes. In addition to regulating chemotaxis, A3ARs promote the formation of filipodia-like projections (cytonemes) that can extend up to 100 µm to tether and 'reel in' pathogens. Exposure to bacteria or an A3AR agonist stimulates the formation of these projections and bacterial phagocytosis, whereas an A3AR-selective antagonist inhibits cytoneme formation. Our results shed new light on the behaviour of neutrophils and identify the A3AR as a potential target for modulating their function.

Novel phenol-soluble modulin derivatives in community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus identified through imaging mass spectrometry.

Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide range of human disease ranging from localized skin and soft tissue infections to potentially lethal systemic infections. S. aureus has the biosynthetic ability to generate numerous virulence factors that assist in circumventing the innate immune system during disease pathogenesis. Recent studies have uncovered a set of extracellular peptides produced by community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) with homology to the phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) from Staphylococcus epidermidis. CA-MRSA PSMs contribute to skin infection and recruit and lyse neutrophils, and truncated versions of these peptides possess antimicrobial activity. In this study, novel CA-MRSA PSM derivatives were discovered by the use of microbial imaging mass spectrometry. The novel PSM derivatives are compared with their parent full-length peptides for changes in hemolytic, cytolytic, and neutrophil-stimulating activity. A potential contribution of the major S. aureus secreted protease aureolysin in processing PSMs is demonstrated. Finally, we show that PSM processing occurs in multiple CA-MRSA strains by structural confirmation of additional novel derivatives. This work demonstrates that IMS can serve as a useful tool to go beyond genome predictions and expand our understanding of the important family of small peptide virulence factors.

Iron-chelating agent desferrioxamine stimulates formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in human blood-derived neutrophils.

Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation is a significant innate immune defense mechanism against microbial infection that complements other neutrophil functions including phagocytosis and degranulation of antimicrobial peptides. NETs are decondensed chromatin structures in which antimicrobial components (histones, antimicrobial peptides and proteases) are deployed and mediate immobilization of microbes. Here we describe an effect of iron chelation on the phenotype of NET formation. Iron-chelating agent desferrioxamine (DFO) showed a modest but significant induction of NETs by freshly isolated human neutrophils as visualized and quantified by immunocytochemistry against histone-DNA complexes. Further analyses revealed that NET induction by iron chelation required NADPH-dependent production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as protease and peptidyl-arginine-deiminase 4 (PAD4) activities, three key mechanistic pathways previously linked to NET formation. Our results demonstrate that iron chelation by DFO contributes to the formation of NETs and suggest a target for pharmacological manipulation of NET activity.

N-terminal ArgD peptides from the classical Staphylococcus aureus Agr system have cytotoxic and proinflammatory activities.

AgrD is the precursor for the autoinducing peptide in a quorum-sensing system regulating virulence phenotypes of the preeminent pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Mass spectrometry-based methods, including molecular networking, identified formylated and nonformylated peptide variants derived from the AgrD N-terminal leader domain in S. aureus cell-free culture supernatants. Functional assessment of these peptides revealed unexpected bioactivities, including human cell-line cytotoxicity, modulation of neutrophil chemotaxis, neutrophil extracellular trap formation, and the aggravation of skin lesions in vivo.

Myeloid cell HIF-1α regulates asthma airway resistance and eosinophil function.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α is a master regulator of inflammatory activities of myeloid cells, including neutrophils and macrophages. These studies examine the role of myeloid cell HIF-1α in regulating asthma induction and pathogenesis, and for the first time, evaluate the roles of HIF-1α and HIF-2α in the chemotactic properties of eosinophils, the myeloid cells most associated with asthma. Wild-type (WT) and myeloid cell-specific HIF-1α knockout (KO) C57BL/6 mice were studied in an ovalbumin (OVA) model of asthma. Administration of the pharmacological HIF-1α antagonist YC-1 was used to corroborate findings from the genetic model. WT, HIF-1α, and HIF-2α KO eosinophils underwent in vitro chemotaxis assays. We found that deletion of HIF-1α in myeloid cells and systemic treatment with YC-1 during asthma induction decreased airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Deletion of HIF-1α in myeloid cells in OVA-induced asthma also reduced eosinophil infiltration, goblet cell hyperplasia, and levels of cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 in the lung. HIF-1α inhibition with YC-1 during asthma induction decreased eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage, lung parenchyma, and blood, as well as decreased total lung inflammation, IL-5, and serum OVA-specific IgE levels. Deletion of HIF-1α in eosinophils decreased their chemotaxis, while deletion of the isoform HIF-2α led to increased chemotaxis. This work demonstrates that HIF-1α in myeloid cells plays a role in asthma pathogenesis, particularly in AHR development. Additionally, treatment with HIF-1α inhibitors during asthma induction decreases AHR and eosinophilia. Finally, we show that HIF-1α and HIF-2α regulate eosinophil migration in opposing ways.

Influences of chloride and hypochlorite on neutrophil extracellular trap formation.

BACKGROUND: The release by neutrophils of DNA-based extracellular traps (NETs) is a recently recognized innate immune phenomenon that contributes significantly to control of bacterial pathogens at tissue foci of infection. NETs have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of non-infectious diseases such as small vessel vasculitis, lupus and cystic fibrosis lung disease. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important mediators of NET generation (NETosis). Neutrophils with reduced ROS production, such as those from patients with chronic granulomatous disease or myeloperoxidase (MPO) deficiency, produce fewer NETs in response to inflammatory stimuli. To better understand the roles of various ROS in NETosis, we explore the role of MPO, its substrates chloride ion (Cl(-)) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), and its product hypochlorite (HOCl) in NETosis. FINDINGS: In human peripheral blood neutrophils, pharmacologic inhibition of MPO decreased NETosis. Absence of extracellular Cl(-), a substrate for MPO, also reduced NETosis. While exogenous addition of H(2)O(2) and HOCl stimulated NETosis, only exogenous HOCl could rescue NETosis in the setting of MPO inhibition. Neither pharmacological inhibition nor genetic deletion of MPO in murine neutrophils blocked NETosis, in contrast to findings in human neutrophils. CONCLUSIONS: Our results pinpoint HOCl as the key ROS involved in human NETosis. This finding has implications for understanding innate immune function in diseases in which Cl(-) homeostasis is disturbed, such as cystic fibrosis. Our results also reveal an example of significant species-specific differences in NET phenotypes, and the need for caution in extrapolation to humans from studies of murine NETosis.