Importance of host cell arginine uptake in Francisella phagosomal escape and ribosomal protein amounts.

Upon entry into mammalian host cells, the pathogenic bacterium Francisella must import host cell arginine to multiply actively in the host cytoplasm. We identified and functionally characterized an arginine transporter (hereafter designated ArgP) whose inactivation considerably delayed bacterial phagosomal escape and intracellular multiplication. Intramacrophagic growth of the ΔargP mutant was fully restored upon supplementation of the growth medium with excess arginine, in both F. tularensis subsp. novicida and F. tularensis subsp. holarctica LVS, demonstrating the importance of arginine acquisition in these two subspecies. High-resolution mass spectrometry revealed that arginine limitation reduced the amount of most of the ribosomal proteins in the ΔargP mutant. In response to stresses such as nutritional limitation, repression of ribosomal protein synthesis has been observed in all kingdoms of life. Arginine availability may thus contribute to the sensing of the intracellular stage of the pathogen and to trigger phagosomal egress. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange database with identifier PXD001584 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD001584).

Asparagine assimilation is critical for intracellular replication and dissemination of Francisella.

In order to develop a successful infectious cycle, intracellular bacterial pathogens must be able to adapt their metabolism to optimally utilize the nutrients available in the cellular compartments and tissues where they reside. Francisella tularensis, the agent of the zoonotic disease tularaemia, is a highly infectious bacterium for a large number of animal species. This bacterium replicates in its mammalian hosts mainly in the cytosol of infected macrophages. We report here the identification of a novel amino acid transporter of the major facilitator superfamily of secondary transporters that is required for bacterial intracellular multiplication and systemic dissemination. We show that inactivation of this transporter does not affect phagosomal escape but prevents multiplication in the cytosol of all cell types tested. Remarkably, the intracellular growth defect of the mutant was fully and specifically reversed by addition of asparagine or asparagine-containing dipeptides as well as by simultaneous addition of aspartic acid and ammonium. Importantly, bacterial virulence was also restored in vivo, in the mouse model, by asparagine supplementation. This work unravels thus, for the first time, the importance of asparagine for cytosolicmultiplication of Francisella. Amino acid transporters are likely to constitute underappreciated players in bacterial intracellular parasitism.

RB18A regulates p53-dependent apoptosis.

We previously demonstrated that RB18A, a member of TRAP220/DRIP205/PBP family, in vivo acted as a cofactor of transcription by differently regulating p53wt transactivating activity on physiological promoters. Using p53-negative cells transfected with different constructs, we herein demonstrated that RB18A down-regulated p53wt-dependent apoptosis. This biological regulation was due to a specific diminution of p53wt protein level, as level of p53mut and GAPDH proteins was not modified. This p53wt diminution was dependent on proteasome activity, as inhibited by MG-132 inhibitor. This specific p53wt degradation was correlated with an increase in expression of MDM2, which promoted p53wt degradation into proteasome. RB18A up-regulated MDM2 expression by activating MDM2 promoter, even in absence of p53wt. Altogether, these data emphasized that RB18A could regulate p53wt function not only by direct interaction between both proteins, but also by up-regulating promoter activity of MDM2, a p53-regulating partner.