cord-factors and Inflammation

Primary infection with

Topics: Animals; Cord Factors; Female; Fluoroquinolones; Granuloma; Humans; Inflammation; Lactoferrin; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mycobacterium; Recombinant Proteins

Mycobacteria survive in macrophages despite triggering pattern recognition receptors and T cell-derived IFN-γ production. Mycobacterial cord factor trehalose-6,6-dimycolate (TDM) binds the C-type lectin receptor MINCLE and induces inflammatory gene expression. However, the impact of TDM on IFN-γ-induced macrophage activation is not known. In this study, we have investigated the cross-regulation of the mouse macrophage transcriptome by IFN-γ and by TDM or its synthetic analogue trehalose-6,6-dibehenate (TDB). As expected, IFN-γ induced genes involved in Ag presentation and antimicrobial defense. Transcriptional programs induced by TDM and TDB were highly similar but clearly distinct from the response to IFN-γ. The glycolipids enhanced expression of a subset of IFN-γ-induced genes associated with inflammation. In contrast, TDM/TDB exerted delayed inhibition of IFN-γ-induced genes, including pattern recognition receptors, MHC class II genes, and IFN-γ-induced GTPases, with antimicrobial function. TDM downregulated MHC class II cell surface expression and impaired T cell activation by peptide-pulsed macrophages. Inhibition of the IFN-γ-induced GTPase GBP1 occurred at the level of transcription by a partially MINCLE-dependent mechanism that may target IRF1 activity. Although activation of STAT1 was unaltered, deletion of Socs1 relieved inhibition of GBP1 expression by TDM. Nonnuclear Socs1 was sufficient for inhibition, suggesting a noncanonical, cytoplasmic mechanism. Taken together, unbiased analysis of transcriptional reprogramming revealed a significant degree of negative regulation of IFN-γ-induced Ag presentation and antimicrobial gene expression by the mycobacterial cord factor that may contribute to mycobacterial persistence.

Topics: Animals; Antigen Presentation; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Gene Expression Profiling; GTP-Binding Proteins; Humans; Inflammation; Interferon-gamma; Lectins, C-Type; Macrophage Activation; Macrophages; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 1 Protein; Tuberculosis

The immune system responds to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection by forming granulomas to quarantine the bacteria from spreading. Granuloma-mediated inflammation is a cause of lung destruction and disease transmission. Sophora flavescens (SF) has been demonstrated to exhibit bactericidal activities against MTB. However, its immune modulatory activities on MTB-mediated granulomatous inflammation have not been reported. In the present study, we found that flavonoids from Sophora flavescens (FSF) significantly suppressed the pro-inflammatory mediators released from mouse lung alveolar macrophages (MH-S) upon stimulation by trehalose dimycolate (TDM), the most abundant lipoglycan on MTB surface. Moreover, FSF reduced adhesion molecule (LFA-1) expression on MH-S cells after TDM stimulation. Furthermore, FSF treatment on TDM-activated lung epithelial (MLE-12) cells significantly downregulated macrophage chemoattractant protein (MCP-1/CCL2) expression, which in turn reduced the in vitro migration of MH-S to MLE-12 cells. In addition, FSF increased the clearance of mycobacterium bacteria (Mycobacterium aurum) in macrophages. FSF mainly affected the Mincle-Syk-Erk signaling pathway in TDM-activated MH-S cells. In TDM-induced mouse granulomas model, oral administration with FSF significantly suppressed lung granulomas formation and inflammation. These findings collectively implicated an anti-inflammatory role of FSF on MTB-mediated granulomatous inflammation, thereby providing evidence of FSF as an efficacious adjunct treatment during mycobacterial infection.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Cytokines; Flavonoids; Granuloma, Respiratory Tract; Inflammation; Lung Diseases; Macrophages; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mycobacterium; Protective Agents; Sophora

In response to persistent mycobacteria infection, the host induces a granuloma, which often fails to eradicate bacteria and results in tissue damage. Diverse host receptors are required to control the formation and resolution of granuloma, but little is known concerning their regulatory interactions. Here we show that Mincle, the inducible receptor for mycobacterial cord factor, is the key switch for the transition of macrophages from cytokine expression to high nitric oxide production. In addition to its stimulatory role on TLR-mediated transcription, Mincle enhanced the translation of key genes required for nitric oxide synthesis through p38 and eIF5A hypusination, leading to granuloma resolution. Thus, Mincle has dual functions in the promotion and subsequent resolution of inflammation during anti-mycobacterial defence using both transcriptional and translational controls.

Topics: Animals; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Cytokines; Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 5A; Gene Expression; Granuloma; Immunoblotting; Inflammation; Lectins, C-Type; Lysine; Macrophages; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; NIH 3T3 Cells; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Peptide Initiation Factors; Protein Biosynthesis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA-Binding Proteins; Toll-Like Receptors

During inflammatory responses and wound healing, the conversion of soluble fibrinogen to fibrin, an insoluble extracellular matrix, long has been assumed to create a scaffold for the migration of leukocytes and fibroblasts. Previous studies concluded that fibrinogen is a necessary cofactor for mycobacterial trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate-induced responses, because trehalose dimycolate-coated beads, to which fibrinogen was adsorbed, were more inflammatory than those to which other plasma proteins were adsorbed. Herein, we investigate roles for fibrin(ogen) in an in vivo model of mycobacterial granuloma formation and in infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. In wild-type mice, the subcutaneous injection of trehalose dimycolate-coated polystyrene microspheres, suspended within Matrigel, elicited a pyogranulomatous response during the course of 12 days. In fibrinogen-deficient mice, neutrophils were recruited but a more suppurative lesion developed, with the marked degradation and disintegration of the matrix. Compared to that in wild-type mice, the early formation of granulation tissue in fibrinogen-deficient mice was edematous, hypocellular, and disorganized. These deficiencies were complemented by the addition of exogenous fibrinogen. The absence of fibrinogen had no effect on cell recruitment or cytokine production in response to trehalose dimycolate, nor was there a difference in lung histopathology or overall bacterial burden in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this model, fibrin(ogen) was not required for cell recruitment, cytokine response, or response to infection, but it promoted granulation tissue formation and suppressed leukocyte necrosis.

Topics: Animals; Cord Factors; Cytokines; Female; Fibrinogen; Granuloma; Inflammation; Leukocytes; Lung; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Skin; Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a leading killer worldwide, yet the adjuvancy of its cell wall has proven to be a valuable therapeutic tool for vaccination and immunotherapy. Much research effort has focused on the mycobacterial glycolipid trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), a potent immunostimulant that is also known as cord factor. Now, the identification of the monocyte-inducible C-type lectin (Mincle) as an essential receptor for TDM provides new insight into the formation of the characteristic granulomas in tuberculosis and an avenue for rational adjuvant design.

Topics: Animals; Cord Factors; Inflammation; Lectins, C-Type; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Receptors, IgG; Toll-Like Receptors

Recent studies have shown that fine structural modifications of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell envelope lipids mediate host cell immune activation during infection. One such alteration in lipid structure is cis-cyclopropane modification of the mycolic acids on trehalose dimycolate (TDM) mediated by proximal cyclopropane synthase of alpha mycolates (pcaA), a proinflammatory lipid modification during early infection. Here we examine the pathogenetic role and immunomodulatory function of mycolic acid cyclopropane stereochemistry by characterizing an M. tuberculosis cyclopropane-mycolic acid synthase 2 (cmaA2) null mutant (Delta cmaA2) that lacks trans-cyclopropanation of mycolic acids. Although titers of WT and Delta cmaA2 organisms were identical during mouse infection, Delta cmaA2 bacteria were hypervirulent while inducing larger granulomas than WT M. tuberculosis. The hypervirulence of the Delta cmaA2 strain depended on host TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. Loss of trans-cyclopropanation enhanced M. tuberculosis-induced macrophage inflammatory responses, a phenotype that was transferable with petroleum ether extractable lipids. Finally, purified TDM lacking trans-cyclopropane rings was 5-fold more potent in stimulating macrophages. These results establish cmaA2-dependent trans-cyclopropanation of TDM as a suppressor of M. tuberculosis-induced inflammation and virulence. In addition, cyclopropane stereochemistries on mycolic acids interact directly with host cells to both positively and negatively influence host innate immune activation.

Topics: Animals; Bacterial Proteins; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Cyclopropanes; Inflammation; Interferon-gamma; Lung; Macrophages; Membrane Lipids; Methyltransferases; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, SCID; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycolic Acids; Survival Rate; Tuberculosis; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Mice treated with viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis with no glycolipid trehalose dimycolate (TDM) on the outer cell wall (delipidated M. tuberculosis) by intraperitoneal or intratracheal inoculation presented an intense recruitment of polymorphonuclear cells into the peritoneal cavity and an acute inflammatory reaction in the lungs, respectively. In addition, lung lesions were resolved around the 32nd day after intratracheal inoculation. TDM-loaded biodegradable poly-DL-lactide-coglycolide microspheres as well as TDM-coated charcoal particles induced an intense inflammatory reaction. In addition, high levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-12, IL-10, gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), and IL-4 production were detected in lung cells, and nitric oxide (NO) production was high in culture supernatants of bronchoalveolar lavage cells. These in vivo data were confirmed by in vitro experiments using peritoneal macrophages cultured in the presence of TDM adsorbed onto coverslips. High levels of IFN-gamma, IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-12, IL-10, and NO were detected in the culture supernatants. Our results suggest that TDM contributes to persistence of infection through production of cytokines, which are important for the recruitment of inflammatory cells and maintenance of a granulomatous reaction. In addition, our findings are important for a better understanding of the immunostimulatory activity of TDM and its possible use as an adjuvant in experiments using DNA vaccine or gene therapy against tuberculosis.

Topics: Animals; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Cytokines; Drug Carriers; Inflammation; Lactic Acid; Leukocytes; Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Lung; Macrophages, Peritoneal; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microspheres; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Neutrophil Infiltration; Neutrophils; Nitric Oxide; Polyglycolic Acid; Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; Polymers; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), or cord factor, is a mycobacterial cell wall component that induces granuloma formation and proinflammatory cytokine production in vivo and in vitro. The purpose of this work was to better understand the mechanisms by which TDM promotes lung granuloma formation. This was accomplished by characterizing cytokine mRNA expression during TDM-induced alveolitis culminating in cohesive granuloma development. A single intravenous injection of TDM given to C57BL/6 mice produced lung granulomas that peaked in number 5 days after challenge and were nearly resolved by 14 days. mRNA in whole lung preparations was quantitated by bioluminescent RT-PCR. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and IL-6 were significantly elevated during granuloma development and decreased during granuloma resolution. There were no detectable changes in mRNA for interferon-y (IFN-y), IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-12(p40). The level of TNF-alpha protein extracted from lung minces highly correlated with morphologic indices of granulomatous inflammation, indicating that it may be an important modulator of the inflammatory intensity induced by TDM. TDM may interact specifically with macrophages in vivo, as evidenced by induction of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6, but not IFN-gamma, protein in bone marrow-derived macrophages from C57BL/6 mice. TDM may therefore play an important role early in macrophage activation during the host granulomatous response to mycobacteria.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Cord Factors; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Gene Expression; Granuloma; Inflammation; Macrophages; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mycobacterium; RNA, Messenger

When spread as a monolayer on the surface of hydrophobic beads and injected into mice, the mycobacterial glycolipid, trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate, reproduces the biologic effects traditionally associated with virulent mycobacteria, including acute inflammation, granuloma formation, and immune adjuvancy. Repeated intraperitoneal injection of glycolipid-coated beads into young C57Bl/6 mice elicits a granulomatous peritonitis, with concomitant dissemination of beads from the peritoneum to distant organs. Glycolipid-coated beads which disseminate from the peritoneum to other sites elicit neither acute inflammation nor granulomata. The coagulation system may be involved in the dissemination of glycolipid-coated beads as evidenced by the following: fibrinogen is a necessary cofactor of the trehalose dimycolate monolayer; diffuse peritoneal and pulmonary hemorrhage accompanies bead dissemination; peritoneal exudate collected shortly after intraperitoneal injection of glycolipid-coated beads is enriched in coagulant activity; coagulability of blood from trehalose dimycolate-treated animals is reduced; and anticoagulation inhibits the inflammatory response to glycolipid-coated beads. In this report, the dissemination of trehalose dimycolate-coated beads is characterized, and a role for the coagulation system in this process is proposed.

Topics: Animals; Blood Coagulation; Cord Factors; Glycolipids; Granuloma; Inflammation; Leukocytes; Lymphatic Diseases; Mice; Microspheres; Peritoneal Diseases; Polystyrenes; Time Factors; Tissue Adhesions; Tissue Distribution

It was possible to define the effects of trehalose dimycolate (TDM), a glycolipid extracted from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, on mouse peritoneal macrophages more precisely using endotoxin-free culture conditions. TDM-elicited macrophages, when assayed in vitro in the absence of endotoxin, were unable to limit tumor growth; however, after a short treatment (4 h) with low doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 1-10 ng/ml), they exhibited a strong cytostatic capacity against P815 mastocytoma cells. Thus, TDM injected in vivo did not activate macrophages fully but it primed them to respond in vitro to low doses of LPS, which provided the final stimulus for activation to antitumor competence. Macrophages elicited by an injection of killed group C Streptococci were also in a primed state; in contrast, thioglycollate-elicited macrophages were in a nonreceptive state. Besides LPS, concanavalin A (5 micrograms/ml), MDP (0.2-1 microgram/ml) and the ionophore A23187 (5 microM) can deliver the activation signal to TDM-primed macrophages. Primed macrophages were found to express several biochemical markers previously described as specific for activated macrophages (low levels of alkaline phosphodiesterase and beta-galactosidase, for example) and, although they were not cytotoxic for tumor cells, they had the capacity to release large amounts of H2O2. However, when pulsed by LPS or MDP, primed macrophages responded by further modifications in their metabolism: the rate of glucose consumption and the labeling of glycoproteins by D-[2-3H]mannose were greatly increased and the secretion of a polypeptide of 22 kDa was enhanced. The activation-associated biochemical markers are thus acquired in two steps. The ability to produce activated oxygen species is expressed earlier than the antitumoral activity.

Topics: Animals; beta-Galactosidase; Cells, Cultured; Cord Factors; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; Female; Glycolipids; Hydrogen Peroxide; Immunity, Cellular; Inflammation; Lipopolysaccharides; Macrophage Activation; Macrophages; Mice; Monosaccharides; Phosphodiesterase I; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; Proteins

The distribution of an aqueous suspension of cord factor (CF) from Mycobacterium bovis BCG in several mouse organs was examined after intravenous injection, and the correlation between evolution of the inflammatory granulomatous reaction and the presence of CF in these organs was determined. CF was preferentially deposited in the lungs and liver, and the kinetics of the pulmonary and hepatic inflammatory reaction, evaluated by determining the indices for these organs, showed a gradual increase on day 2 after injection, reached a peak around the fifth day, and declined thereafter. Histological analysis showed that on day 5 both the lungs and the liver were diffusely damaged by a mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate arranged in a granulomatous manner and consisting predominantly of histiocytes. CF elimination was more marked in the liver than in the lungs: 2 d after injection 76% of the material deposited in the liver had been eliminated. Little or no CF was detected in the liver and lungs by day 16, when the inflammatory reaction was also substantially decreased. A second CF dose administered 8 d after the first exacerbated the inflammatory process in both the lungs and the liver, indicating that the intensity of this process depends on CF concentration in the lesion site.

Topics: Animals; Cord Factors; Glycolipids; Granuloma; Inflammation; Liver Diseases; Lung Diseases; Mice; Mycobacterium bovis

Topics: Acute Disease; Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Blood Coagulation; Cattle; Cord Factors; Female; Fibrinogen; Glycolipids; Granuloma; Inflammation; Kinetics; Lung Diseases; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Micelles; Microspheres; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Phagocytosis; Polystyrenes; Serum Albumin, Bovine