Modulation of Host Cell Environment by Mycobacterial PE/PPE Proteins

摘要 自噬是一种关键的宿主防御途径，在先天免疫和获得性免疫中都具有重要作用。然而， 许多微生物已经进化出逃避、颠覆或利用自噬的机制。细菌和病毒 病原体可以阻止自噬小体与溶酶体的融合以逃避降解，或利用其中的营养物质。 水泡。已经证明，刺激巨噬细胞中的自噬途径会导致 分枝杆菌吞噬小体成熟为吞噬小体，然后可以克服运输障碍 由结核分枝杆菌强加的。因此，自噬的诱导可以抑制细胞内的存活 分枝杆菌。我们假设分枝杆菌毒力因子介导自噬逃避，以便 确保在受感染的巨噬细胞内存活。这种毒力的鉴定和特征 这些因素将使我们了解自噬影响宿主-微生物结局的机制。 相互作用和免疫反应。利用转座子筛选分枝杆菌功能缺失 在突变体筛选中，我们能够识别出13个负责操纵的染色体区域 分枝杆菌感染诱导的自噬。值得注意的是，其中六个区域包含属于 PE/PPE蛋白家族，在致病分枝杆菌中含量特别丰富，已被证明发挥作用 在分枝杆菌发病机制和调节关键的先天免疫途径中的不同作用。然而，没有 已知PE/PPE蛋白与自噬途径有关。因此，这个项目的目标是 研究PE/PPE蛋白的一个子集的作用和机制，并确定 分枝杆菌对先天免疫和获得性免疫的自噬降解。增加了对M。 结核病感染诱导的自噬为发现新的和有希望的治疗方法提供了机会 抗结核，防止分枝杆菌在宿主体内感染和存活。此外，亲- 本研究中产生的自噬突变体可能在开发有效、 安全持久的结核病疫苗。

Abstract Autophagy, a key host defense pathway, has an essential role in both innate and adaptive immunity. However, many microbes have evolved mechanisms to evade, subvert, or exploit autophagy. Bacterial and viral pathogens can block autophagosome fusion with lysosomes to evade degradation, or utilize nutrients in such vesicles. It has been demonstrated that stimulation of autophagic pathways in macrophages causes mycobacterial phagosomes to mature into phagolysosomes, which can then overcome the trafficking block imposed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thus, induction of autophagy can suppress intracellular survival of mycobacteria. We hypothesize that mycobacterial virulence factors mediate autophagy evasion in order to ensure survival within the infected macrophages. The identification and characterization of such virulence factors will allow us to understand the mechanisms by which autophagy affects the outcome of host-microbe interactions and immune responses. Through loss-of-function screening of mycobacteria using transposon mutant screening, we were able to identify thirteen chromosomal regions responsible for manipulating mycobacterial infection-induced autophagy. Remarkably, six of these regions contain genes belonging to the PE/PPE protein family that are especially abundant in pathogenic mycobacteria and have been shown to play diverse roles in mycobacterial pathogenesis and in modulating critical innate immune pathways. However, no PE/PPE proteins are known to be associated with autophagy pathways. Thus, the goals of this project are to investigate the roles and mechanisms of a subset of PE/PPE proteins and to determine the consequences of autophagic degradation of mycobacteria on innate and adaptive immunity. Increased knowledge of M. tuberculosis infection-induced autophagy presents an opportunity to uncover new and promising therapeutics against tuberculosis to prevent mycobacterial infection and survival within the host. Additionally, the pro- autophagic mutants generated in this study may have significant application in the development of effective, safe and persistent TB vaccines.