STUDIES OF ALPHA-DEFENSINS IN PRIMATE INNATE IMMUNITY

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of alpha-defensins in innate immunity of the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). The goals of the proposed studies are to define the determinants of primate alpha-defensin bactericidal activity, their mechanisms of action, and to characterize mechanisms that regulate myeloid (RMADs) and Paneth cell (REDs) alpha-defensin biosynthesis at the transcriptional and posttranslational levels. We propose to quantitate the expression of RED and RMAD mRNAs and peptides in small bowel mucosa, neutrophils and NK cells, characterize and compare their mechanisms of action and the structural basis of that activity, investigate mechanisms of proRED and proRMAD activation in Paneth cells and myeloid cells, and identify cis-acting structural components of RMAD and RED genes that regulate the specificity of their transcription. In Aim #1, the microbicidal activities of REDs 1-6 will be tested against varied bacterial species, and membrane disruptive activities of natural and mutant REDs and RMADs will be characterized and quantitated. The hypothesis that mutagenesis alters peptide structure will be tested by determining NMR structures of native and mutant RED4 and RMAD4 peptides in solution and in the presence of rapidly-tumbling phospholipid bicelles to test the hypothesis that specific residue positions interact with phospholipid bilayers. In Aim #2, we will test the hypothesis that alpha-defensin precursor processing is mediated by lineage-specific proteolytic events by measuring the extent of RED and RMAD precursor processing in intact monkey small intestine and in rhesus neutrophils, NK cells, and monocytes. We will identify the respective processing enzymes, determine whether precursor proteolysis is coincident with activation of bactericidal activity, and determine the effect of mutations at conserved alpha-defensin positions on peptide folding, disulfide bond formation, activation, and membrane binding and disruption. Thus, in Aim #3, the hypotheses that primate alpha-defensin gene expression is regulated by lineage-specific, cis-acting elements will be tested by quantitating the expression and distribution of individual RED and RMAD mRNAs in enteric and myeloid tissues and by identifying determinants of lineage-specific alpha-defensin gene transcription. Potential lineage-specific gene regulatory regions will be assayed by functional analyses of RED and RMAD promoter constructs and chimeric minigenes in cultured monocytes.