Interferon-γ-inducible Rab20 regulates endosomal morphology and EGFR degradation in macrophages.

Little is known about the molecular players that regulate changes in the endocytic pathway during immune activation. Here we investigate the role of Rab20 in the endocytic pathway during activation of macrophages. Rab20 is associated with endocytic structures, but the function of this Rab GTPase in the endocytic pathway remains poorly characterized. We find that in macrophages, Rab20 expression and endosomal association significantly increase after interferon-γ (IFN-γ) treatment. Moreover, IFN-γ and Rab20 expression induce a dramatic enlargement of endosomes. These enlarged endosomes are the result of homotypic fusion promoted by Rab20 expression. The expression of Rab20 or the dominant-negative mutant Rab20T19N does not affect transferrin or dextran 70 kDa uptake. However, knockdown of Rab20 accelerates epidermal growth factor (EGF) trafficking to LAMP-2-positive compartments and EGF receptor degradation. Thus this work defines a function for Rab20 in the endocytic pathway during immune activation of macrophages.

Polyketide synthase (PKS) reduces fusion of Legionella pneumophila-containing vacuoles with lysosomes and contributes to bacterial competitiveness during infection.

L. pneumophila-containing vacuoles (LCVs) exclude endocytic and lysosomal markers in human macrophages and protozoa. We screened a L. pneumophila mini-Tn10 transposon library for mutants, which fail to inhibit the fusion of LCVs with lysosomes by loading of the lysosomal compartment with colloidal iron dextran, mechanical lysis of infected host cells, and magnetic isolation of LCVs that have fused with lysosomes. In silico analysis of the mutated genes, D. discoideum plaque assays and infection assays in protozoa and U937 macrophage-like cells identified well established as well as novel putative L. pneumophila virulence factors. Promising candidates were further analyzed for their co-localization with lysosomes in host cells using fluorescence microscopy. This approach corroborated that the O-methyltransferase, PilY1, TPR-containing protein and polyketide synthase (PKS) of L. pneumophila interfere with lysosomal degradation. Competitive infections in protozoa and macrophages revealed that the identified PKS contributes to the biological fitness of pneumophila strains and may explain their prevalence in the epidemiology of Legionnaires' disease.

Study of phagolysosome biogenesis in live macrophages.

Phagocytic cells play a major role in the innate immune system by removing and eliminating invading microorganisms in their phagosomes. Phagosome maturation is the complex and tightly regulated process during which a nascent phagosome undergoes drastic transformation through well-orchestrated interactions with various cellular organelles and compartments in the cytoplasm. This process, which is essential for the physiological function of phagocytic cells by endowing phagosomes with their lytic and bactericidal properties, culminates in fusion of phagosomes with lysosomes and biogenesis of phagolysosomes which is considered to be the last and critical stage of maturation for phagosomes. In this report, we describe a live cell imaging based method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the dynamic process of lysosome to phagosome content delivery, which is a hallmark of phagolysosome biogenesis. This approach uses IgG-coated microbeads as a model for phagocytosis and fluorophore-conjugated dextran molecules as a luminal lysosomal cargo probe, in order to follow the dynamic delivery of lysosomal content to the phagosomes in real time in live macrophages using time-lapse imaging and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Here we describe in detail the background, the preparation steps and the step-by-step experimental setup to enable easy and precise deployment of this method in other labs. Our described method is simple, robust, and most importantly, can be easily adapted to study phagosomal interactions and maturation in different systems and under various experimental settings such as use of various phagocytic cells types, loss-of-function experiments, different probes, and phagocytic particles.

Immune regulation of Rab proteins expression and intracellular transport.

Compartmentalization in cells of the immune system, the focus of this review, facilitates the spatiotemporal organization of cellular responses essential for specialized immune functions. In this process of compartment maintenance, Rab proteins are central regulators of protein-mediated transport and fusion of intracellular structures. It is widely believed that the intracellular concentration of proteins that regulate intracellular transport, including Rab proteins, is constitutively mantained. However, there is a growing body of evidence indicating that transcriptional rates of Rab proteins can be modified. This process is especially evident during immune activation and argues that after activation, these cells require higher levels of Rab proteins. The aim of this review is to discuss evidence showing the increasing links between Rab protein expression and intracellular transport, particularly in monocytes and macrophages. We highlight here biological processes in which the expression of Rab GTPases is selectively regulated, leading to the activation of specific intracellular routes. Further, we focus on the immune regulation of intracellular transport after cytokine activation and microbial infection, with an emphasis in mycobacterial infection.