LAMTOR2/LAMTOR1 complex is required for TAX1BP1‐mediated xenophagy

Xenophagy, also known as antibacterial autophagy, plays a role in host defence against invading pathogens such as Group A Streptococcus (GAS) and Salmonella. In xenophagy, autophagy receptors are used in the recognition of invading pathogens and in autophagosome maturation and autolysosome formation. However, the mechanism by which autophagy receptors are regulated during bacterial infection remains poorly elucidated. In this study, we identified LAMTOR2 and LAMTOR1, also named p14 and p18, respectively, as previously unrecognised xenophagy regulators that modulate the autophagy receptor TAX1BP1 in response to GAS and Salmonella invasion. LAMTOR1 was localized to bacterium‐containing endosomes, and LAMTOR2 was recruited to bacterium‐containing damaged endosomes in a LAMTOR1‐dependent manner. LAMTOR2 was dispensable for the formation of autophagosomes targeting damaged membrane debris surrounding cytosolic bacteria, but it was critical for autolysosome formation, and LAMTOR2 interacted with the autophagy receptors NBR1, TAX1BP1, and p62 and was necessary for TAX1BP1 recruitment to pathogen‐containing autophagosomes. Notably, knockout of TAX1BP1 caused a reduction in autolysosome formation and subsequent bacterial degradation. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that the LAMTOR1/2 complex is required for recruiting TAX1BP1 to autophagosomes and thereby facilitating autolysosome formation during bacterial infection.     

How bacteria can block xenophagy: an insight from Salmonella

ABSTRACT

Xenophagy, a unique type of selective macroautophagy/autophagy, targets invading pathogens as part of the host immune response. In order to survive within the host, bacteria have established various self-defense mechanisms. In a recent paper from Feng Shao’s lab, the Salmonella effector protein SopF has been demonstrated to block xenophagy by interrupting the vacuolar type H⁺-translocating (v-) ATPase-ATG16L1 axis, which is important for antibacterial autophagy initiation. SopF can specifically ADP-ribosylate Gln124 on ATP6V0C, a v-ATPase component, thus influencing recruitment of ATG16L1 onto the bacteria-containing vacuole within the host cytosol.

Abbreviations: ATG: autophagy-related; S. Typhimurium: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium; T3SS: type III secretion system     

The multi-step mechanism and biological role of noncanonical autophagy targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae during the early stages of infection

ABSTRACT

Multiple autophagic processes are triggered in response to bacterial infection as the host attempts to eliminate intracellular invaders. However, it is still unclear how the mechanisms contributing to canonical macroautophagy/autophagy, including xenophagy, coordinate with the more recently described features that are characteristic of noncanonical autophagy. Recently, we revealed that infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae can trigger the formation of RB1CC1/FIP200-independent LC3-associated phagosome-like vacuoles (PcLVs) that contain the pneumococci at an early stage of infection. We also found that interactions of SQSTM1/p62 with the ATG16L1 WD domain are essential for PcLV formation. Intriguingly, PcLVs were required for the subsequent generation of bactericidal autophagic vacuoles (PcAVs). Furthermore, we also identified LC3-delocalized SQSTM1-positive PcLVs as intracellular intermediates that link PcLVs and PcAVs. These findings reveal a novel multi-step mechanism that contributes to xenophagy of the critical S. pneumoniae respiratory pathogen.     

Mediatory molecules that fuse autophagosomes and lysosomes

Autophagy functions to degrade intracellular foreign microbial invaders by a process that is termed xenophagy (antimicrobial autophagy). Xenophagosomes undergo a stepwise maturation process culminating in a fusion event with lysosomes, after which the cargos are degraded. Recent investigations by our laboratory demonstrate that endocytic soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) are involved in the fusion between xenophagosomes and lysosomes. Knockdown of the combinational SNARE proteins Vti1b and VAMP8 with siRNAs disturbs the colocalization of LC3 with LAMP-1. We also find that the invasive efficiency of group A Streptococcus into cells is not altered by knockdown of VAMP8 or Vti1b, whereas cellular bactericidal efficiency is significantly diminished, indicating that xenophagy is functionally impaired. In addition, knockdown of these SNAREs inhibits the fusion of canonical autophagosomes with lysosomes. Together, these findings indicate that VAMP8 and Vti1b mediate fusion with lysosomes in both antimicrobial and canonical autophagy.     

新疆阿克苏地区一株羊源沙门菌及其小菌落变异株的生物学特性

【背景】小菌落变异株(smallcolonyvariant,SCV)是一种具有独特的表型及致病特征且生长缓慢的细菌亚群,而国内鲜有关于食源性沙门菌SCV的研究报道。【目的】为食源性沙门菌的防治及动物性食品安全提供实验数据。【方法】使用氨基糖苷类抗生素对羊源胆汁中分离的沙门菌进行实验室诱导得到SCV,然后分别对野生株和诱导株的菌落形态、生长、生化特性、营养缺陷型检测、运动性、耐药性检测及耐药基因、毒力基因、生物被膜形成能力进行比较和分析。【结果】经卡那霉素诱导获得一株血红素依赖型沙门菌SCV,与野生株相比,诱导株生长缓慢,低于野生株84%,不利用柠檬酸盐,溶血能力增强40%,对磺胺类和氨基糖苷类药物的耐受性增强,生物被膜形成能力减弱45%,运动能力减弱78%。【结论】沙门菌SCV的生长和生理生化特性与野生株相比有显著差异,使得沙门菌SCV的分离鉴定尤为困难;并且SCV的致病性与耐药性等方面的变化可能给沙门菌病的防治带来更大挑战,其机制还有待深入研究。     

Acacetin enhances glucose uptake through insulin-independent GLUT4 translocation in L6 myotubes

BackgroundLowering blood glucose levels by increasing glucose uptake in insulin target tissues, such as skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, is one strategy to discover and develop antidiabetic drugs from natural products used as traditional medicines.PurposeOur goal was to reveal the mechanism and activity of acacetin (5,7-dihydroxy-4′-methoxyflavone), one of the major compounds in Agastache rugose, in stimulating glucose uptake in muscle cells.MethodsTo determine whether acacetin promotes GLUT4-dependent glucose uptake in cultured L6 skeletal muscle cells, we performed a [¹⁴C] 2-deoxy-_D-glucose (2-DG) uptake assay after treating differentiated L6-GLUT4myc cells with acacetin.ResultsAcacetin dose-dependently increased 2-DG uptake by enhancing GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane. Our results revealed that acacetin activated the CaMKII-AMPK pathway by increasing intracellular calcium concentrations. We also found that aPKCλ/ζ phosphorylation and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were involved in acacetin-induced GLUT4 translocation. Moreover, acacetin-activated AMPK inhibited intracellular lipid accumulation and increased 2-DG uptake in HepG2 cells.ConclusionTaken together, these results suggest that acacetin might be useful as an antidiabetic functional ingredient. Subsequent experiments using disease model animals are needed to verify our results.     

Ultrastructural insights into pathogen clearance by autophagy

Autophagy defends cells against proliferation of bacteria such as Salmonella in the cytosol. After escape from a damaged Salmonella‐containing vacuole (SCV) exposing luminal glycans that bind to Galectin‐8, the host cell ubiquitination machinery deposits a dense layer of ubiquitin around the cytosolic bacteria. The nature and spatial distribution of this ubiquitin coat in relation to other autophagy‐related membranes are unknown. Using transmission electron microscopy, we determined the exact localisation of ubiquitin, the ruptured SCV membrane and phagophores around cytosolic Salmonella. Ubiquitin was not predominantly present on the Salmonella surface, but enriched on the fragmented SCV. Cytosolic bacteria without SCVs were less efficiently targeted by phagophores. Single bacteria were contained in single phagophores but multiple bacteria could be within large autophagic vacuoles reaching 30 μm in circumference. These large phagophores followed the contour of the engulfed bacteria, they were frequently in close association with endoplasmic reticulum membranes and, within them, remnants of the SCV were seen associated with each engulfed particle. Our data suggest that the Salmonella SCV has a major role in the formation of autophagic phagophores and highlight evolutionary conserved parallel mechanisms between xenophagy and mitophagy with the fragmented SCV and the damaged outer mitochondrial membrane serving similar functions.     

Sorting nexin 3 (SNX3) is a component of a tubular endosomal network induced by Salmonella and involved in maturation of the Salmonella‐containing vacuole

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is an intracellular pathogen that grows within a modified endomembrane compartment, the Salmonella‐containing vacuole (SCV). Maturation of nascent SCVs involves the recruitment of early endosome markers and the remodelling of phosphoinositides at the membrane of the vacuole, in particular the production of phosphatidylinositol 3‐phosphate [PI(3)P]. Sorting nexins (SNXs) are a family of proteins characterized by the presence of a phox homology (PX) domain that binds to phosphoinositides and are involved in intracellular trafficking in eukaryotic cells. We therefore studied whether sorting nexins, particularly sorting nexin 3 (SNX3), play a role in Salmonella infection. We found that SNX3 transiently localized to SCVs at early times post invasion (10 min) and presented a striking tubulation phenotype in the vicinity of SCVs at later times (30–60 min). The bacterial effector SopB, which is known to promote PI(3)P production on SCVs, was required for the formation of SNX3 tubules. In addition, RAB5 was also required for the formation of SNX3 tubules. Depletion of SNX3 by siRNA impaired RAB7 and LAMP1 recruitment to the SCV. Moreover, the formation of Salmonella‐induced filaments (Sifs) was altered by SNX3 knock‐down. Therefore, SNX3 plays a significant role in regulating the maturation of SCVs.     

Activation of the macroautophagy pathway by Yersinia enterocolitica promotes intracellular multiplication and egress of yersiniae from epithelial cells

The virulence strategy of pathogenic Yersinia spp. involves cell‐invasive as well as phagocytosis‐preventing tactics to enable efficient colonisation of the host organism. Enteropathogenic yersiniae display an invasive phenotype in early infection stages, which facilitates penetration of the intestinal mucosa. Here we show that invasion of epithelial cells by Yersinia enterocolitica is followed by intracellular survival and multiplication of a subset of ingested bacteria. The replicating bacteria were enclosed in vacuoles with autophagy‐related characteristics, showing phagophore formation, xenophagy, and recruitment of cytoplasmic autophagosomes to the bacteria‐containing compartments. The subsequent fusion of these vacuoles with lysosomes and concomitant vesicle acidification were actively blocked by Yersinia. This resulted in increased intracellular proliferation and detectable egress of yersiniae from infected cells. Notably, deficiency of the core autophagy machinery component FIP200 impaired the development of autophagic features at Yersinia‐containing vacuoles as well as intracellular replication and release of bacteria to the extracellular environment. These results suggest that Y. enterocolitica may take advantage of the macroautophagy pathway in epithelial cells to create an autophagosomal niche that supports intracellular bacterial survival, replication, and, eventually, spread of the bacteria from infected cells.     

Autophagy is a key tolerance mechanism during Staphylococcus aureus infection

Defense strategies against infectious threats can be divided into resistance and tolerance mechanisms. Resistance mechanisms involve reduction of pathogen burden and include many established examples, one of them being the destruction of intracellular pathogens through autophagy (xenophagy). Tolerance mechanisms protect the host from damage caused by the pathogen or the immune response independent of pathogen load. The role of autophagy in maintaining homeostasis in response to environmental stress suggests that this pathway is involved in tolerance to a variety of infectious agents. However, demonstrating that autophagy promotes tolerance independent of its role in resistance has been a challenge, especially during infection by clinically relevant pathogens. We have found that autophagy protects against Staphylococcus aureus infection by maintaining tolerance toward a pore forming toxin secreted by the bacteria, α-toxin.     

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Nef Inhibits Autophagy through Transcription Factor EB Sequestration

HIV Nef acts as an anti-autophagic maturation factor through interaction with beclin-1 (BECN1). We report that exposure of macrophages to infectious or non-infectious purified HIV induces toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) and BECN1 dependent dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation of TFEB and that this correlates with an increase in autophagy markers. RNA interference for ATG13, TFEB, TLR8, or BECN1 inhibits this HIV-induced autophagy. However, once HIV establishes a productive infection, TFEB phosphorylation and cytoplasmic sequestration are increased resulting in decreased autophagy markers. Moreover, by 7 d post-infection, autophagy levels are similar to mock infected controls. Conversely, although Nef deleted HIV similarly induces TFEB dephosphorylation and nuclear localization, and increases autophagy, these levels remain elevated during continued productive infection. Thus, the interaction between HIV and TLR8 serves as a signal for autophagy induction that is dependent upon the dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation of TFEB. During permissive infection, Nef binds BECN1 resulting in mammalian target of rapamycin (MTOR) activation, TFEB phosphorylation and cytosolic sequestration, and the inhibition of autophagy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a virus modulating TFEB localization and helps to explain how HIV modulates autophagy to promote its own replication and cell survival.     

Toll‐like receptor signalling cross‐activates the autophagic pathway to restrict Salmonella Typhimurium growth in macrophages

It has been long recognised that activation of toll‐like receptors (TLRs) induces autophagy to restrict intracellular bacterial growth. However, the mechanisms of TLR‐induced autophagy are incompletely understood. Salmonella Typhimurium is an intracellular pathogen that causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis in humans. Whether TLR activation contributes to S. Typhimurium‐induced autophagy has not been investigated. Here, we report that S. Typhimurium and TLRs shared a common pathway to induce autophagy in macrophages. We first showed that S. Typhimurium‐induced autophagy in a RAW264.7 murine macrophage cell line was mediated by the AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) through activation of the TGF‐β‐activated kinase (TAK1), a kinase activated by multiple TLRs. AMPK activation led to increased phosphorylation of Unc‐51‐like autophagy activating kinase (ULK1) at S317 and S555. ULK1 phosphorylation at these two sites in S. Typhimurium‐infected macrophages overrode the inhibitory effect of mTOR on ULK1 activity due to mTOR‐mediated ULK1 phosphorylation at S757. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), flagellin, and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide, which activate TLR4, TLR5, and TLR9, respectively, increased TAK1 and AMPK phosphorylation and induced autophagy in RAW264.7 cells and in bone marrow‐derived macrophages. However, LPS was unable to induce TAK1 and AMPK phosphorylation and autophagy in TLR4‐deficient macrophages. TAK1 and AMPK‐specific inhibitors blocked S. Typhimurium‐induced autophagy and xenophagy and increased the bacterial growth in RAW264.7 cells. These observations collectively suggest that activation of the TAK1–AMPK axis through TLRs is essential for S. Typhimurium‐induced autophagy and that TLR signalling cross‐activates the autophagic pathway to clear intracellular bacteria.     

Dual function of CALCOCO2/NDP52 during xenophagy

During xenophagy, pathogens are selectively targeted by autophagy receptors to the autophagy machinery for their subsequent degradation. In infected cells, the autophagy receptor CALCOCO2/NDP52 targets Salmonella Typhimurium to the phagophore membrane by concomitantly interacting with LC3C and binding to ubiquitinated cytosolic bacteria or to LGALS8/GALECTIN 8 adsorbed on damaged vacuoles that contain bacteria. We recently reported that in addition, CALCOCO2 is also necessary for the maturation step of Salmonella Typhimurium-containing autophagosomes. Interestingly, the role of CALCOCO2 in maturation is independent of its role in targeting, as these functions rely on distinct binding domains and protein partners. Indeed, to mediate autophagosome maturation CALCOCO2 binds on the one hand to LC3A, LC3B, or GABARAPL2, and on the other hand to MYO6/MYOSIN VI, whereas the interaction with LC3C is dispensable. Therefore, the autophagy receptor CALCOCO2 plays a dual function during xenophagy first by targeting bacteria to nascent autophagosomes and then by promoting autophagosome maturation in order to destroy bacteria.Xenophagy is the process referring to the selective degradation of intracellular microorganisms by autophagy. Xenophagy is a very potent intrinsic cellular line of defense to fight pathogens and requires first the detection and targeting of microorganisms to growing phagophores prior to autophagosome maturation leading to microbial destruction. The targeting step can be achieved by cytosolic autophagy receptors, which bind on the one hand to the pathogen and on the other hand to LC3, a phagophore membrane-anchored protein. Once entrapped within an autophagosome, bacteria can survive or escape, unless they are rapidly destroyed. Therefore, autophagosome maturation allows the discharge of lysosomal enzymes in autolysosomes, allowing destruction of the bacteria. It is, however, not well known how autophagosomes mature, especially in the context of xenophagy. Recently, the endosomal membrane-bound protein TOM1 and the dynein motor MYO6 have been both shown to be implicated in the transport of endosomes into the vicinity of autophagosomes in order to ensure fusion of autophagosomes with vesicles of the endo/lysosomal pathway. Moreover, the concomitant absence of 3 autophagy receptors, CALCOCO2, TAX1BP1/T6BP, and OPTN/OPTINEURIN, impairs autophagosome biogenesis and maturation. As CALCOCO2 was already shown to have a MYO6 binding domain, we wondered whether CALCOCO2 could also be implicated in autophagosome maturation per se to promote bacterial degradation.We first observed that the binding site of CALCOCO2 to MYO6 was required for cells to control Salmonella Typhimurium intracellular growth. Nevertheless, when the binding of CALCOCO2 to MYO6 was abolished, bacteria were still efficiently targeted to autophagosomes, but yet still able to replicate to levels similar to the one observed in CALCOCO2-depleted cells. Strikingly, in noninfected cells the absence of CALCOCO2 perturbs the autophagy flux, resulting in a strong accumulation of autophagosomes, suggesting a positive role for CALCOCO2 in the autophagosome-lysosome fusion process. Surprisingly, we found that CALCOCO2 binding to LC3C, through its noncanonical LC3 interacting region (CLIR), is not involved in the maturation of autophagosomes. Instead, we identified another motif in the primary sequence of CALCOCO2, which mediates binding to at least LC3A, LC3B, and GABARAPL2 (but not LC3C). We referred to this motif as “LIR-like” as it differs from the canonical LIR motif by the absence of a hydrophobic residue in position X₃. This LIR-like motif was necessary for autophagosome maturation, along with the domain of CALCOCO2 responsible for its binding to MYO6. Eventually, mutation of this LIR-like motif also resulted in an increased Salmonella Typhimurium intracellular proliferation, whereas bacteria were still efficiently targeted within nondegradative autophagosomes. Interestingly, the absence of the autophagy receptor OPTN also led to the accumulation of nondegradative autophagosomes, suggesting that other autophagy receptors could share CALCOCO2 dual functions in xenophagy.Having autophagy receptors ensuring both targeting and degradation of pathogens could be an important evolutionary advantage against infections. Indeed, this mechanism could help to reduce the delay necessary for maturation, thus avoiding adaptation of the pathogen to its new environment (as proposed for Coxiella burnetti, Listeria monocytogenes, and Legionella pneumophila) or its escape from the autophagosome. Conversely, pathogens could avoid autophagy entrapment or autophagic degradation by targeting CALCOCO2 or any other autophagy receptors, which could play similar roles. For instance Chikungunya virus was reported to target CALCOCO2 in human cells leading to increased virus replication. Nevertheless, redundancy among autophagy receptors could also ensure a selective immune advantage against pathogens targeting any one of these receptors.Our results and those from others suggest for now that CALCOCO2 serves as a docking platform for MYO6-bound endosomes, thus facilitating autophagosome maturation (Fig. 1). How this action is coordinated with CALCOCO2 directing pathogens to the phagophore membranes remains unclear. During xenophagy against Salmonella Typhimurium, CALCOCO2 interaction first with LC3C is necessary to further recruit other ATG8 orthologs and ensure the final degradation of bacteria. Since the LIR-like motifs bind several ATG8s, whereas the CLIR motif only mediates binding to LC3C, it is possible that binding of CALCOCO2 to LC3C induces conformational changes and uncovers the LIR-like motif that can be then engaged with other ATG8 orthologs to trigger autophagosome maturation. Moreover, it is still unclear whether the action of CALCOCO2 in autophagosome maturation is coordinated with other partners, such as STX17/SYNTAXIN 17, which is recruited on the external membrane of autophagosomes and regulate fusion with lysosomes. Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Schematic model for the dual role of CALCOCO2 in xenophagy. CALCOCO2 targets bacteria to the phagophore through its LC3C binding site (CLIR motif), and, independently, regulates autophagosome maturation through its LC3A, LC3B, or GABARAPL2 binding site (LIR-like motif) and its MYO6 interacting region.Our findings reveal a new role for the autophagy receptor CALCOCO2 in autophagosome maturation, unravelling another function for CALCOCO2 in cell autonomous defense against pathogens: CALCOCO2 not only targets pathogens to phagophore membranes, but also regulates subsequent maturation of pathogen-containing autophagosomes, thus assuring efficient degradation of autophagy-targeted pathogens.     

The intracellular microbial sensor NLRP4 directs Rho-actin signaling to facilitate Group A Streptococcus-containing autophagosome-like vacuole formation

Xenophagy, also known as antibacterial autophagy, functions as a crucial defense system that can utilize intracellular pattern recognition sensors, such as NLRP4, to recognize and selectively eliminate bacterial pathogens. However, little is known about how NLRP4 regulates xenophagy. Here, we report that NLRP4 binds ARHGDIA (Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor α) to regulate Rho GTPase signaling and facilitate actin-mediated xenophagy. Specifically, NLRP4 is recruited to Group A Streptococcus (GAS) and colocalizes with GAS-containing autophagosome-like vacuoles (GcAVs), where it regulates ARHGDIA-Rho GTPase recruitment to promote autophagosome formation. The interaction between NLRP4, ARHGDIA, and Rho GTPases is regulated by ARHGDIA Tyr156 phosphorylation, which acts as a gate to induce Rho-mediated xenophagy. Moreover, ARHGDIA and Rho GTPase are involved in actin-mediated ATG9A recruitment to phagophores, facilitating elongation to form autophagosomes. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that NLRP4 functions as a Rho receptor complex to direct actin dynamics regulating xenophagy.