Biology subjects

Soldati, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Soldati, T..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Think zinc: Role of zinc poisoning in the intraphagosomal killing of bacteria by the amoeba Dictyostelium

Professional phagocytes have developed an extensive repertoire of autonomous immunity strategies to ensure killing of bacteria. Besides phagosome acidification and the generation of reactive oxygen species, deprivation of nutrients and the lumenal accumulation of toxic metals are essential to kill ingested bacteria or inhibit growth of intracellular pathogens. We use the soil amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, a professional phagocyte that digests bacteria for nutritional purposes, to decipher the role of zinc poisoning during phagocytosis of non-pathogenic bacteria and visualize the temporal and spatial dynamics of compartmentalized, free zinc using fluorescent probes. Immediately after particle uptake, zinc is delivered to phagosomes by fusion with \"zincosomes\" of endosomal origin, but also by the action of one or more zinc transporters. We localize the four Dictyostelium ZnT transporters to endosomes, the contractile vacuole and the Golgi apparatus, and study the impact of znt knockouts on zinc homeostasis. Finally, we show that zinc is delivered into the lumen of Mycobacterium smegmatis-containing vacuoles, and that Escherichia coli deficient in the zinc efflux P1B-type ATPase ZntA is killed faster than wild type bacteria.\n\nSummary statementMetal poisoning is one of the bactericidal strategies of macrophages. Here, we describe the dynamics of free Zn and the role of Zn transporters during phagocytosis in Dictyostelium.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2018

PIKfyve/Fab1 is required for efficient V-ATPase delivery to phagosomes, phagosomal killing, and restriction of Legionella infection

By engulfing potentially harmful microbes, professional phagocytes are continually at risk from intracellular pathogens. To avoid becoming infected, the host must kill pathogens in the phagosome before they can escape or establish a survival niche. Here, we analyse the role of the phosphoinositide (PI) 5-kinase PIKfyve in phagosome maturation and killing, using the amoeba and model phagocyte Dictyostelium discoideum.\n\nPIKfyve plays important but poorly understood roles in vesicular trafficking by catalysing formation of the lipids phosphatidylinositol (3,5)-bisphosphate (PI(3,5)2) and phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate (PI(5)P). Here we show that its activity is essential during early phagosome maturation in Dictyostelium. Disruption of PIKfyve inhibited delivery of both the vacuolar V-ATPase and proteases, dramatically reducing the ability of cells to acidify newly formed phagosomes and digest their contents. Consequently, PIKfyve- cells were unable to generate an effective antimicrobial environment and efficiently kill captured bacteria. Moreover, we demonstrate that cells lacking PIKfyve are more susceptible to infection by the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila. We conclude that PIKfyve-catalysed phosphoinositide production plays a crucial and general role in ensuring early phagosomal maturation, protecting host cells from diverse pathogenic microbes.\n\nImportanceCells that capture or eat bacteria must swiftly kill them to prevent pathogens from surviving long enough to escape the bactericidal pathway and establish an infection. This is achieved by the rapid delivery of components that produce an antimicrobial environment in the phagosome, the compartment containing the captured microbe. This is essential both for the function of immune cells and for amoebae that feed on bacteria in their environment. Here we identify a central component of the pathway used by cells to deliver antimicrobial components to the phagosome and show that bacteria survive over three times as long within the host if this pathway is disabled. We show that this is of general importance for killing a wide range of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria, and that it is physiologically important if cells are to avoid infection by the opportunistic human pathogen Legionella.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2018

ESCRT and autophagy cooperate to repair ESX-1-dependent damage to the Mycobacterium-containing vacuole

Phagocytes capture invader microbes within the bactericidal phagosome. Some pathogens subvert killing by damaging and escaping from this compartment. To prevent and fight bacterial escape, cells contain and repair the membrane damage, or finally eliminate the cytosolic escapees. All eukaryotic cells engage highly conserved mechanisms to ensure integrity of membranes in a multitude of physiological and pathological situations, including the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) and autophagy machineries. In Dictyostelium discoideum, recruitment of the ESCRT-III protein Snf7/Chmp4/Vps32 and the ATPase Vps4 to sites of membrane repair relies on the ESCRT-I component Tsg101 and occurs in absence of Ca2+. The ESX-1 dependent membrane perforations produced by the pathogen Mycobacterium marinum separately engage both ESCRT and autophagy. In absence of Tsg101, M. marinum escapes earlier to the cytosol, where it is restricted by xenophagy. We propose that ESCRT has an evolutionary conserved function in containing intracellular pathogens in intact compartments.

microbiology↗