Macrophage-specific responses to human- and animal-adapted tubercle bacilli reveal pathogen and host factors driving multinucleated cell formation.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is a group of related pathogens that cause tuberculosis (TB) in mammals. MTBC species are distinguished by their ability to sustain in distinct host populations. While Mycobacterium bovis (Mbv) sustains transmission cycles in cattle and wild animals and causes zoonotic TB, M. tuberculosis (Mtb) affects human populations and seldom causes disease in cattle. The host and pathogen determinants underlying host tropism between MTBC species are still unknown. Macrophages are the main host cell that encounters mycobacteria upon initial infection, and we hypothesised that early interactions between the macrophage and mycobacteria influence species-specific disease outcome. To identify factors that contribute to host tropism, we analysed blood-derived primary human and bovine macrophages (hMϕ or bMϕ, respectively) infected with Mbv and Mtb. We show that Mbv and Mtb reside in different cellular compartments and differentially replicate in hMϕ whereas both Mbv and Mtb efficiently replicate in bMϕ. Specifically, we show that out of the four infection combinations, only the infection of bMϕ with Mbv promoted the formation of multinucleated giant cells (MNGCs), a hallmark of tuberculous granulomas. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that both MPB70 from Mbv and extracellular vesicles released by Mbv-infected bMϕ promote macrophage multinucleation. Importantly, we extended our in vitro studies to show that granulomas from Mbv-infected but not Mtb-infected cattle contained higher numbers of MNGCs. Our findings implicate MNGC formation in the contrasting pathology between Mtb and Mbv for the bovine host and identify MPB70 from Mbv and extracellular vesicles from bMϕ as mediators of this process.

Exploring virulence in Mycobacterium bovis: clues from comparative genomics and perspectives for the future.

Here we provide a summary of a plenary lecture delivered on Mycobacterium bovis, the bovine TB bacillus, at the M. bovis 2022 meeting held in Galway, Ireland, in June 2022. We focus on the analysis of genetic differences between M. bovis and the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a route to gain knowledge on what makes M. bovis function as an animal pathogen. We provide a brief historical background around M. bovis and comparative virulence experiments with M. tuberculosis, before moving to what we have learned from the studies of the M. bovis genome sequence. We discuss the need to translate knowledge on the molecular basis of virulence in M. bovis into improved control of bovine tuberculosis.

Macrophage innate training induced by IL-4 and IL-13 activation enhances OXPHOS driven anti-mycobacterial responses.

Macrophages are a highly adaptive population of innate immune cells. Polarization with IFNγ and LPS into the 'classically activated' M1 macrophage enhances pro-inflammatory and microbicidal responses, important for eradicating bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. By contrast, 'alternatively activated' M2 macrophages, polarized with IL-4, oppose bactericidal mechanisms and allow mycobacterial growth. These activation states are accompanied by distinct metabolic profiles, where M1 macrophages favor near exclusive use of glycolysis, whereas M2 macrophages up-regulate oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Here, we demonstrate that activation with IL-4 and IL-13 counterintuitively induces protective innate memory against mycobacterial challenge. In human and murine models, prior activation with IL-4/13 enhances pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in response to a secondary stimulation with mycobacterial ligands. In our murine model, enhanced killing capacity is also demonstrated. Despite this switch in phenotype, IL-4/13 trained murine macrophages do not demonstrate M1-typical metabolism, instead retaining heightened use of OXPHOS. Moreover, inhibition of OXPHOS with oligomycin, 2-deoxy glucose or BPTES all impeded heightened pro-inflammatory cytokine responses from IL-4/13 trained macrophages. Lastly, this work identifies that IL-10 attenuates protective IL-4/13 training, impeding pro-inflammatory and bactericidal mechanisms. In summary, this work provides new and unexpected insight into alternative macrophage activation states in the context of mycobacterial infection.

Lactate Alters Metabolism in Human Macrophages and Improves Their Ability to Kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In order to mount an appropriate immune response to infection, the macrophage must alter its metabolism by increasing aerobic glycolysis and concomitantly decreasing oxidative phosphorylation; a process known as the Warburg effect. Consequently, lactate, the end-product of glycolysis, accumulates in the extracellular environment. The subsequent effect of lactate on surrounding macrophages is poorly understood. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative organism of Tuberculosis (TB), is phagocytosed by macrophages in the airways. Mtb infected macrophages upregulate aerobic glycolysis and effector functions to try to kill the bacteria. Our lab has previously shown that human macrophages produce lactate in response to infection with Mtb. Although lactate has largely been considered a waste product of aerobic glycolysis, we hypothesised that the presence of extracellular lactate would impact subsequent immunometabolic responses and modulate macrophage function. We demonstrate that the presence of exogenous lactate has an immediate effect on the cellular metabolism of resting human macrophages; causing a decrease in extracellular acidification rate (ECAR; analogous to the rate of glycolysis) and an increase in the oxygen consumption rate (OCR; analogous to oxidative phosphorylation). When lactate-treated macrophages were stimulated with Mtb or LPS, glycolysis proceeds to increase immediately upon stimulation but oxidative phosphorylation remains stable compared with untreated cells that display a decrease in OCR. This resulted in a significantly reduced ECAR/OCR ratio early in response to stimulation. Since altered metabolism is intrinsically linked to macrophage function, we examined the effect of lactate on macrophage cytokine production and ability to kill Mtb. Lactate significantly reduced the concentrations of TNF and IL-1ß produced by human macrophages in response to Mtb but did not alter IL-10 and IL-6 production. In addition, lactate significantly improved bacillary clearance in human macrophages infected with Mtb, through a mechanism that is, at least in part, mediated by promoting autophagy. These data indicate that lactate, the product of glycolysis, has a negative feedback effect on macrophages resulting in an attenuated glycolytic shift upon subsequent stimulation and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Interestingly, this pro-resolution effect of lactate is associated with increased capacity to kill Mtb.