Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Infection and Immunity, October 2006, p. 5658-5666, Vol. 74, No. 10
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.00784-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Center for Oral Health and Systemic Disease,1 Departments of Periodontics,2 Immunology/Microbiology,3 Pedodontics, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Kentucky 40292,4 Infection and Immunity Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, United Kingdom5
Received 16 May 2006/ Returned for modification 17 June 2006/ Accepted 12 July 2006
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
Strikingly, the P. gingivalis fimbria-induced signaling pathway for CD11b/CD18 activation may not be exclusively involved in innate defense or inflammation but may alternatively be exploited by the pathogen. We have found that the ability of mouse macrophages to elicit interleukin-12 (IL-12) p70 in response to P. gingivalis fimbriae is upregulated by CD11b deficiency but is eliminated by TLR2 deficiency (8). These findings suggest that fimbriae interact with CD11b/CD18 and inhibit TLR2-dependent induction of IL-12 p70, a major cytokine in mediating bacterial clearance (32). Through fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies, we have additionally shown that fimbriae induce a coassociation of TLR2 with CD11b/CD18 as well as with CD14, an essential TLR2 coreceptor for fimbria-induced activation of nuclear factor
B and cytokine production (9). It therefore appears that fimbriae influence TLR2-dependent cellular activation through interactions with at least two functionally associated pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), CD14 and CD11b/CD18.
Our working hypothesis is that P. gingivalis has co-opted a proadhesive signaling pathway, normally involved in leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions, for enhancing the interaction of its cell surface fimbriae with CD11b/CD18. This proadhesive pathway is initiated when P. gingivalis fimbriae bind CD14 and activate TLR2- and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-mediated signaling, leading to the induction of an activation-specific neoepitope (CBRM1/5) on CD11b (12). The induction of the high-affinity conformation of CD11b/CD18, signified by the CBRM1/5 neoepitope, may be essential for the binding of fimbriae. However, direct evidence for a dual role of P. gingivalis fimbriae as both an activator and a ligand of CD11b/CD18 is missing. Moreover, the extent to which CD14 contributes to the binding of fimbriae after CD11b/CD18 becomes activated remains uncertain. To address these questions, we have now generated a recombinant inside-out signaling system in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and, moreover, developed a modified version of our standard binding assay for human monocytes. Specifically, the binding assay was dissected into an activation step (for stimulating the ligand-binding activity of CD11b/CD18) and a binding step. The latter step was carried out on ice and in the presence of metabolic inhibitors to inhibit further inside-out signaling. Using these methods, we have generated conclusive evidence that P. gingivalis fimbriae stimulate the adhesive activity of CD11b/CD18 and thereby promote their own CD11b/CD18-dependent cellular binding. Moreover, P. gingivalis fimbria-induced CD14/TLR2 cluster formation and the activation of the proadhesive pathway appeared to occur in membrane lipid rafts, signaling platforms used by several pathogens to invade host cells (1). Interestingly, the receptors involved in the inside-out signaling pathway for CD11b/CD18 activation (i.e., CD14, TLR2, and CD11b/CD18) were found to play important roles in mediating the internalization of fimbriated P. gingivalis by mouse macrophages.
|
|
|---|
Cell culture. Monocytes were purified from human peripheral blood upon centrifugation using NycoPrep1.068 (Axis-Shield, Oslo, Norway) as previously described (12). Incidental nonmonocytes were removed by magnetic depletion using a cocktail of biotin-conjugated MAbs and magnetic microbeads coupled to anti-biotin MAb (Monocyte Isolation Kit II; Miltenyi Biotec, Auburn, CA). Purified monocytes were cultured at 37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere in RPMI 1640 (Invitrogen/Gibco, Carlsbad, CA) supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, 10 mM HEPES, 100 units/ml penicillin G, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 0.05 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (complete RPMI). Collection of human blood samples was conducted in compliance with established federal guidelines and institutional policies. CHO cells stably transfected with human complement receptor 1 (CR1) or CR3 (CD11b/CD18) were kindly provided by D. T. Golenbock (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA) (19). CHO cells were cultured in Ham's F-12 nutrient mixture (Invitrogen/Gibco) supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 100 units/ml penicillin, and 100 µg/ml streptomycin. Cell viability was monitored using the CellTiter-Blue assay kit (Promega, Madison, WI). None of the experimental treatments affected cell viability compared to medium-only control treatments.
CD11b/CD18 activation assay. The CBRM1/5 epitope induction assay was used to monitor the activation state of CD11b/CD18 as previously described (12). The assay is based on the property of a reporter MAb (CBRM1/5) to detect a conformational change on CD11b that signifies the high-affinity binding state of CD11b/CD18 (4).
Binding assays. Biotinylated fimbriae (1 µg/ml) were allowed to bind to human monocytes or human cell lines for 30 min at 37°C, as previously described (12). Subsequently, the cells were washed and incubated on ice with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled streptavidin. After washing, binding was determined by measuring cell-associated fluorescence (in relative fluorescence units) on a microplate fluorescence reader (FL600; Bio-Tek Instruments, Winooski, VT) with excitation and emission wavelength settings of 485 and 530 nm, respectively. Background fluorescence was determined for cells treated with medium only and FITC-streptavidin.
To separate the CD11b/CD18 activation step from the binding stage in monocyte interactions with fimbriae, the basic protocol described above was modified as follows. The cells were pretreated for 10 min at 37°C with medium only or with agents that activate the ligand-binding capacity of CD11b/CD18 (107 M FMLP, 0.1 µg/ml PMA, or 1 µg/ml fimbriae) ("activation step"). The cells were then immediately washed with ice-cold Hanks' balanced salt solution containing 1% bovine serum albumin, 0.1% azide, and 50 mM 2-deoxy-D-glucose to inhibit metabolic activity. Subsequently, biotinylated fimbriae (1 µg/ml) were added to both nonactivated and activated cells for a 1-h incubation on ice ("binding step"), and binding was measured as described above. The reason for performing the binding step on ice and in the presence of metabolic inhibitors was because these conditions would permit binding to preactivated CD11b/CD18 but would not support further CD11b/CD18 activation, which requires higher temperatures (ambient or 37°C) and energy (20).
P. gingivalis internalization assay. Mouse macrophages were incubated at 37°C with FITC-labeled P. gingivalis at a multiplicity of infection of 10:1 for various time points (5 to 60 min). Phagocytosis was stopped by cooling the incubation tubes on ice. After cell washing to remove nonadherent bacteria, extracellular fluorescence (representing attached but not internalized bacteria) was quenched with 0.2% trypan blue. The cells were washed again, fixed with 1% paraformaldehyde, and analyzed by flow cytometry using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACSCalibur) and CellQuest software (Becton-Dickinson). The percentage of cells positive for FITC-P. gingivalis and the mean fluorescence intensity of the positive cells (giving a measure of the number of internalized bacteria) were recorded.
Recombinant inside-out signaling system in CHO cells. To reconstitute the CD14/TLR2-dependent inside-out signaling system for CD11b/CD18 activation in CHO cells, CHO cell lines stably expressing CD11b/CD18 (CHO/CR3) or CD35 (CHO/CR1; control) (19) were transiently cotransfected with human CD14 and TLR2, with the latter in either the wild-type form or the signaling-deficient version, using plasmid constructs obtained from Invivogen (pUNO-hCD14, pUNO-hTLR2, pZERO-hTLR2tirless, or empty vectors as transfection controls). TLR plasmids were used at 100 ng per transfected well, and CD14 was used at 50 ng per transfected well. The total amount of plasmid DNA per well was kept constant (150 ng) by supplementation with empty control vector. Transfections were performed using the PolyFect transfection reagent (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Two days posttransfection, expression of transfected CD14 and TLR2 was confirmed by staining the cells with specific FITC-labeled anti-CD14 or anti-TLR2 MAb and measuring cell-associated fluorescence using a Bio-Tek microplate fluorescence reader. The binding of P. gingivalis fimbriae to transfected CHO cells was assessed using the basic protocol described above for monocytes.
MCD treatment and cholesterol reconstitution. To deplete human monocytes of cholesterol using MCD and reconstituting cellular cholesterol in MCD-treated cells, we used a modification of a previously published methodology (3, 18). Briefly, human monocytes were incubated in the presence of 10 mM MCD for 30 min at 37°C to deplete the cells of cholesterol. The cells were washed and incubated for an additional 30 min with medium only or with 150 µM cholesterol. Subsequently, the cells (MCD-treated cells, MCD-treated and cholesterol-reconstituted cells, and cells treated with medium only) were used in functional assays.
FRET. The procedures for measuring the efficiency of energy transfer between fluorescently labeled cell surface receptors have been previously described in detail (29, 30). Briefly, human monocytes were cultured on microchamber culture slides (Lab-tek; Invitrogen/Gibco). Following treatment for 10 min at 37°C with medium only or with P. gingivalis fimbriae (1 µg/ml), the cells were labeled with 100 µl of a mixture of Cy3-conjugated MAb to TLR2 (donor) and Cy5-conjugated MAb to CD14 or CD11b (acceptors). MAb to MHC class I conjugated to Cy5 was used for control purposes. The cells were rinsed twice with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.02% bovine serum albumin and then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 min. Cell fixation was necessary to prevent the potential reorganization of the proteins during the course of the experiment and energy transfer determinations. Energy transfer between different receptor pairs was calculated from the increase in donor fluorescence after acceptor photobleaching.
Statistical analysis. Data were evaluated by analysis of variance and the Dunnett multiple-comparison test using the InStat program (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA). Where appropriate (comparison of two groups only), two-tailed t tests were also performed. Statistical differences were considered significant at a P value of <0.05.
|
|
|---|
![]() View larger version (25K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Induction of a CD11b activation-specific neoepitope (CBRM1/5) in monocytes correlates with the cell binding activity of P. gingivalis fimbriae. Human monocytes were pretreated for 30 min with medium only or with IgG1 or IgG2a isotype controls; MAbs to CD14, TLR2, or TLR4 (all at 10 µg/ml); or wortmannin (WTM; 50 nM), LY294002 (20 µM), or its inactive analog, LY30351 (20 µM). Subsequently, the cells were exposed for 30 min to medium only (unstimulated) or to 1 µg/ml of biotinylated P. gingivalis fimbriae. Similarly treated but separate aliquots of cells were assessed for induction of the CBRM1/5 neoepitope after staining with FITC-labeled CBRM1/5 MAb or for binding of fimbriae after staining with streptavidin-FITC. Cell-associated fluorescence was measured and expressed in relative fluorescence units (RFU). Data are presented as means ± standard deviations (SDs) of triplicate determinations from one of two independent experiments that yielded similar results. Asterisks indicate statistically significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of CBRM1/5 induction or of binding of fimbriae compared to corresponding uninhibited, stimulated controls.
|
![]() View larger version (21K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. P. gingivalis fimbriae display inducible binding to CD11b/CD18. CHO cells stably transfected with CR1 (A) or CR3 (CD11b/CD18) (A to C) were exposed to biotinylated P. gingivalis fimbriae (1 µg/ml) for 30 min at 37°C. The binding of fimbriae was measured as cell-associated fluorescence after cell staining with streptavidin (SA)-FITC. Background binding was determined in cells treated with medium only and streptavidin-FITC. In panels A and B, the cells were incubated in the absence or presence of PMA (0.1 µg/ml), a CD11b/CD18 activator. In panel C, the cells were transiently cotransfected with human CD14 and TLR2 in either the wild type (TLR2-WT), the signaling-deficient mutant version (TLR2- TIR), CD14 alone, or empty vector control. In panels B and C, the binding of fimbriae was assessed in the absence or presence of anti-CD11b or the IgG1 isotype control (both at 10 µg/ml). Data are presented as means ± SDs of triplicate determinations from one of two independent sets of experiments that yielded similar results. In panel A, asterisks denote statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences compared to the corresponding PMA-untreated control. Throughout, black diamonds ( ) denote statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences between selected groups as indicated, whereas black circles () indicate statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences due to MAb treatment. RFU, relative fluorescence units.
|
TIR) (signaling-deficient control). The cells were additionally cotransfected with human CD14, which greatly facilitates fimbria-induced TLR2 inside-out signaling (12). We found that the binding of fimbriae to transfected CHO/CR3 cells was maximally increased (by almost sixfold compared to empty vector-transfected cells) when CD14 and TLR2-WT were cotransfected (Fig. 2C). Maximal binding was reduced by 48% when CD14 was cotransfected with the signaling-deficient TLR2-
TIR (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2B). This finding suggests that TLR2 signaling contributes to the cellular binding of fimbriae, presumably through the activation of CD11b/CD18. Indeed, that was the case, since a blocking anti-CD11b MAb reduced the binding of fimbriae in cells cotransfected with CD14 and TLR2-WT to levels similar to those seen in cells cotransfected with CD14 and TLR2-
TIR (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2C). Transfection with CD14 in the absence of TLR2 resulted in relatively modest CD11b/CD18-independent binding (Fig. 2C). In conclusion, P. gingivalis fimbriae readily bind to CD11b/CD18 upon its activation with an artificial agonist that bypasses inside-out signaling (PMA) or, more importantly, upon fimbria-induced TLR2-dependent inside-out signaling. P. gingivalis fimbriae function as both an activator and a ligand of CD11b/CD18 in human monocytes. Using human monocytes and a modification of our fimbria binding assay (12), we tested fimbriae as an activator and a ligand of CD11b/CD18. Specifically, we dissected the binding assay into an activation step (for stimulating the ligand-binding activity of CD11b/CD18) and a binding step. The latter step was carried out on ice and in the presence of metabolic inhibitors to inhibit further inside-out signaling. Thus, human monocytes were pretreated at 37°C for 10 min with 1 µg/ml of unlabeled fimbriae (activation step), and subsequently, biotinylated fimbriae (1 µg/ml) were added to medium-only- or fimbria-pretreated monocytes for a 1-h incubation on ice (binding step). Under the experimental conditions of the binding step, added biotinylated fimbriae could not activate CD11b/CD18 in medium-only-pretreated monocytes because this is an energy-dependent process (20). Indeed, we found that fimbria-pretreated cells bound added labeled fimbriae at significantly (P < 0.05) higher levels than medium-only-pretreated cells (Fig. 3). Moreover, the observed binding in medium-only-pretreated cells could not be attributed to CD11b/CD18, as suggested by the lack of an inhibitory effect of anti-CD11b MAb (Fig. 3). In contrast, when fimbria-pretreated monocytes were incubated with labeled fimbriae in the presence of anti-CD11b MAb, the binding was significantly inhibited (P < 0.05) (Fig. 3) and was comparable to that seen in medium-only-pretreated monocytes (Fig. 3). The differences between medium-only- and fimbria-pretreated monocytes in the binding of labeled fimbriae are therefore attributable to activated CD11b/CD18 in the latter group. These results indicate that P. gingivalis fimbriae activate the ligand-binding capacity of CD11b/CD18, which can thereby efficiently recognize fimbriae.
![]() View larger version (17K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. P. gingivalis fimbriae activate the capacity of CD11b/CD18 to bind fimbriae. Human monocytes were pretreated for 10 min at 37°C with or without 1 µg/ml fimbriae (activation step). The cells were then immediately washed with ice-cold buffer containing metabolic inhibitors and incubated with 1 µg/ml biotinylated fimbriae (F), in the presence of anti-CD11b or IgG1 isotype control (IC) treatment, for 1 h on ice (binding step). Binding was measured as cell-associated fluorescence (relative fluorescence units [RFU]) after staining with streptavidin-FITC. Background fluorescence was determined using cells treated with medium only throughout the experiment, except for incubation with streptavidin-FITC, and is indicated by a discontinuous horizontal line. Data are shown as means ± SDs of triplicate determinations from one of two independent experiments that yielded similar results. Statistically significant (P < 0.05) enhancement of binding of fimbriae compared to the corresponding medium-only-pretreated group is indicated by an asterisk. A statistically significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of binding due to MAb treatment is indicated by a black circle ().
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Relative contributions of CD14 and CD11b/CD18 to the binding of P. gingivalis fimbriaea
|
![]() View larger version (12K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. MCD inhibits CBRM1/5 induction by P. gingivalis fimbriae. Monocytes were pretreated for 30 min with 10 mM MCD to deplete cholesterol or were pretreated for 30 min with 10 mM MCD followed by the addition of 150 µM cholesterol for an additional 30 min. The MCD- and MCD/cholesterol-pretreated monocytes, as well as cells pretreated with medium only, were subsequently stimulated for 30 min with fimbriae or the VIM12 MAb (control) or were left unstimulated with medium only. The cells were assessed for the induction of the CBRM1/5 epitope as outlined in the legend to Fig. 1. Data are presented as means ± SDs of triplicate determinations from one of three independent experiments that yielded similar results. Asterisks indicate statistically significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of CBRM1/5 induction compared to medium-only-pretreated cells.
|
![]() View larger version (14K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 5. Induction of TLR2 association with CD14 by P. gingivalis fimbriae requires intact lipid raft function. Human monocytes were pretreated or not pretreated for 30 min with 10 mM MCD and then stimulated with P. gingivalis fimbriae (1 µg/ml) for 10 min. In panel A, energy transfer between TLR2 (Cy3) and CD14 (Cy5) or MHC class I (MHCI) (Cy5) was measured from the increase in donor (Cy3) fluorescence after acceptor (Cy5) photobleaching. The maximum (max) energy transfer efficiency (E) in the system is indicated by a horizontal discontinuous line and was 36 ± 2.0, determined as the energy transfer between Cy3-26ic MAb and Cy5-Tuk4 MAb, which recognize two different epitopes of the same molecule, CD14. The minimum (min) energy transfer efficiency is also shown and was 4 ± 0.5, determined as the energy transfer between molecules that do not engage in heterotypic associations (CD14 and MHC class I). Panel B shows a control experiment to investigate the effect of MCD on FRET measurements that should not be influenced by the status of lipid raft functionality, i.e., determining the energy transfer between two different epitopes of CD14 or between CD14 and MHC class I. Results are shown as means of percent energy transfer ± SDs calculated from three independent experiments. The asterisk indicates a statistically significant (P < 0.05) increase in energy transfer between TLR2 (donor) and the indicated receptor (acceptor) upon cell activation compared to energy transfer between the same donor-acceptor pair in unstimulated cells. The black circle indicates a statistically significant (P < 0.05) reversal of energy transfer increase due to MCD pretreatment.
|
![]() View larger version (31K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 6. Effect of macrophage PRR deficiencies on P. gingivalis internalization. Peritoneal macrophages from wild-type mice or mice deficient in CD14, TLR2, TLR4, or CR3 were incubated with FITC-labeled P. gingivalis (Pg) 381 or P. gingivalis JH1004 (nonfimbriated mutant) at a multiplicity of infection of 10:1 for the indicated times at 37°C. Internalization was assessed by flow cytometry after washing the macrophages and quenching extracellular fluorescence and was expressed as percent FITC-positive macrophages (A and B). The mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) at the 60-min time point is also shown (C and D) as a relative measure of the number of internalized bacteria. Results are shown as means ± SDs (n = 3; for clarity, only the upper or lower SD is shown in A and B). Asterisks indicate statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences between PRR deficiencies and wild-type (WT) controls (A, B, and D) or between wild-type and mutant P. gingivalis (C).
|
|
|
|---|
Although the binding of fimbriae to CD14 would necessarily occur prior to the interaction with CD11b/CD18, the latter molecule functions as a major receptor upon the activation of its ligand-binding capacity. In fact, about 50% of the binding of fimbriae to stimulated monocytes is CD11b/CD18 dependent as determined by the use of blocking anti-CD11b MAb (Fig. 3 and Table 1). On the other hand, substantial binding of fimbriae to CD14 (35 to 40% of total cell binding) (Table 1) is detectable even after activation of the ligand-binding capacity of CD11b/CD18. Therefore, both CD14 and CD11b/CD18 could simultaneously function as important cellular receptors for fimbriae, although they may differentially influence TLR2-dependent cell activation. Whereas CD14 is essential for fimbria-induced and TLR2-mediated activation of NF-
B and induction of proinflammatory cytokines (9), CD11b/CD18 contributes partially to TLR2-dependent induction of tumor necrosis factor alpha (9) and is involved in the specific downregulation of IL-12 p70 (8). It is thus tempting to speculate that P. gingivalis fimbriae do not behave as a typical microbe-associated molecular pattern but rather behave as a virulence factor when interacting with PRRs. Microbe-associated molecular patterns are essential for performing microbial physiologic functions, and their relatively conserved structure renders them ideal targets for detection by the similarly conserved PRRs (22). On the other hand, virulence factors such as protein adhesins contribute to microbial adaptation within a particular host environment and are thus relatively variable structures. This suggests that virulence factors are not likely to have been selected as targets of pattern recognition during the course of evolution (22). However, the converse notion, that virulence protein adhesins may have evolved to interact with and exploit certain PRRs, constitutes a plausible hypothesis.
It is therefore possible that P. gingivalis, through its surface fimbriae, has evolved the ability to activate and bind CD11b/CD18 for enhancing its own survival. Our initial report that P. gingivalis fimbriae activate a CD14/TLR2-mediated inside-out signaling pathway for regulating the adhesive activity of CD11b/CD18 (12) was published concomitantly with a study by an independent group that demonstrated that mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan also stimulates this proadhesive pathway (26). Interestingly, this pathway is exploited by mycobacteria for promoting their uptake by monocytes via activated CR3 (CD11b/CD18) (26). It can thus be speculated that the TLR2 inside-out signaling pathway for CD11b/CD18 (CR3) activation may represent a universal pathway exploited by different pathogens. Although mycobacteria interact with CD11b/CD18 as a mechanism for intracellular parasitism (6), it has not been established whether P. gingivalis can similarly induce its uptake by monocytes/macrophages through fimbria-CD11b/CD18 interactions. We were thus prompted to investigate this possibility, and we found that all the receptors associated with the inside-out proadhesive pathway (i.e., CD14, TLR2, and CD11b/CD18) play important roles in mediating the internalization of fimbriated P. gingivalis by mouse macrophages (Fig. 6).
It remains to be established whether the TLR2 proadhesive pathway is hijacked by P. gingivalis to also promote intracellular survival following CD11b/CD18-mediated internalization. If this is true, fimbriae may play an instrumental role in this putative evasion strategy, as they both activate and subsequently bind CD11b/CD18. Moreover, the ability of P. gingivalis fimbriae to inhibit the induction of biologically active IL-12 in a CD11b/CD18-dependent way (8) may help reduce intracellular clearance of P. gingivalis. The fact that CD11b/CD18 does not readily activate the oxidative burst or other microbicidal mechanisms and is thus exploited by intracellular pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila and Mycobacterium tuberculosis for finding a replicative niche (21, 24, 34-36) suggests that CD11b/CD18 may similarly be exploited by other CD11b/CD18-interacting pathogens.
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»