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Lee EY, Chan LC, Wang H, Lieng J, Hung M, Srinivasan Y, Wang J, Waschek JA, Ferguson AL, Lee KF, Yount NY, Yeaman MR, Wong GCL. PACAP is a pathogen-inducible resident antimicrobial neuropeptide affording rapid and contextual molecular host defense of the brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e1917623117. [PMID: 33372152 PMCID: PMC7817161 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1917623117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Defense of the central nervous system (CNS) against infection must be accomplished without generation of potentially injurious immune cell-mediated or off-target inflammation which could impair key functions. As the CNS is an immune-privileged compartment, inducible innate defense mechanisms endogenous to the CNS likely play an essential role in this regard. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide known to regulate neurodevelopment, emotion, and certain stress responses. While PACAP is known to interact with the immune system, its significance in direct defense of brain or other tissues is not established. Here, we show that our machine-learning classifier can screen for immune activity in neuropeptides, and correctly identified PACAP as an antimicrobial neuropeptide in agreement with previous experimental work. Furthermore, synchrotron X-ray scattering, antimicrobial assays, and mechanistic fingerprinting provided precise insights into how PACAP exerts antimicrobial activities vs. pathogens via multiple and synergistic mechanisms, including dysregulation of membrane integrity and energetics and activation of cell death pathways. Importantly, resident PACAP is selectively induced up to 50-fold in the brain in mouse models of Staphylococcus aureus or Candida albicans infection in vivo, without inducing immune cell infiltration. We show differential PACAP induction even in various tissues outside the CNS, and how these observed patterns of induction are consistent with the antimicrobial efficacy of PACAP measured in conditions simulating specific physiologic contexts of those tissues. Phylogenetic analysis of PACAP revealed close conservation of predicted antimicrobial properties spanning primitive invertebrates to modern mammals. Together, these findings substantiate our hypothesis that PACAP is an ancient neuro-endocrine-immune effector that defends the CNS against infection while minimizing potentially injurious neuroinflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Y Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
- UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Liana C Chan
- Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
| | - Huiyuan Wang
- Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
| | - Juelline Lieng
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Mandy Hung
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Yashes Srinivasan
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Jennifer Wang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - James A Waschek
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Intellectual Development and Disabilities Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Andrew L Ferguson
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Kuo-Fen Lee
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Nannette Y Yount
- Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
| | - Michael R Yeaman
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509;
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Intellectual Development and Disabilities Research Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Gerard C L Wong
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
- California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
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2
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Lee EY, Srinivasan Y, de Anda J, Nicastro LK, Tükel Ç, Wong GCL. Functional Reciprocity of Amyloids and Antimicrobial Peptides: Rethinking the Role of Supramolecular Assembly in Host Defense, Immune Activation, and Inflammation. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1629. [PMID: 32849553 PMCID: PMC7412598 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Pathological self-assembly is a concept that is classically associated with amyloids, such as amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease and α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease. In prokaryotic organisms, amyloids are assembled extracellularly in a similar fashion to human amyloids. Pathogenicity of amyloids is attributed to their ability to transform into several distinct structural states that reflect their downstream biological consequences. While the oligomeric forms of amyloids are thought to be responsible for their cytotoxicity via membrane permeation, their fibrillar conformations are known to interact with the innate immune system to induce inflammation. Furthermore, both eukaryotic and prokaryotic amyloids can self-assemble into molecular chaperones to bind nucleic acids, enabling amplification of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling. Recent work has shown that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) follow a strikingly similar paradigm. Previously, AMPs were thought of as peptides with the primary function of permeating microbial membranes. Consistent with this, many AMPs are facially amphiphilic and can facilitate membrane remodeling processes such as pore formation and fusion. We show that various AMPs and chemokines can also chaperone and organize immune ligands into amyloid-like ordered supramolecular structures that are geometrically optimized for binding to TLRs, thereby amplifying immune signaling. The ability of amphiphilic AMPs to self-assemble cooperatively into superhelical protofibrils that form structural scaffolds for the ordered presentation of immune ligands like DNA and dsRNA is central to inflammation. It is interesting to explore the notion that the assembly of AMP protofibrils may be analogous to that of amyloid aggregates. Coming full circle, recent work has suggested that Aβ and other amyloids also have AMP-like antimicrobial functions. The emerging perspective is one in which assembly affords a more finely calibrated system of recognition and response: the detection of single immune ligands, immune ligands bound to AMPs, and immune ligands spatially organized to varying degrees by AMPs, result in different immunologic outcomes. In this framework, not all ordered structures generated during multi-stepped AMP (or amyloid) assembly are pathological in origin. Supramolecular structures formed during this process serve as signatures to the innate immune system to orchestrate immune amplification in a proportional, situation-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Y Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Yashes Srinivasan
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jaime de Anda
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Lauren K Nicastro
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Çagla Tükel
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Gerard C L Wong
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,California Nano Systems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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3
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Harman JL, Loes AN, Warren GD, Heaphy MC, Lampi KJ, Harms MJ. Evolution of multifunctionality through a pleiotropic substitution in the innate immune protein S100A9. eLife 2020; 9:e54100. [PMID: 32255429 PMCID: PMC7213983 DOI: 10.7554/elife.54100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Multifunctional proteins are evolutionary puzzles: how do proteins evolve to satisfy multiple functional constraints? S100A9 is one such multifunctional protein. It potently amplifies inflammation via Toll-like receptor four and is antimicrobial as part of a heterocomplex with S100A8. These two functions are seemingly regulated by proteolysis: S100A9 is readily degraded, while S100A8/S100A9 is resistant. We take an evolutionary biochemical approach to show that S100A9 evolved both functions and lost proteolytic resistance from a weakly proinflammatory, proteolytically resistant amniote ancestor. We identify a historical substitution that has pleiotropic effects on S100A9 proinflammatory activity and proteolytic resistance but has little effect on S100A8/S100A9 antimicrobial activity. We thus propose that mammals evolved S100A8/S100A9 antimicrobial and S100A9 proinflammatory activities concomitantly with a proteolytic 'timer' to selectively regulate S100A9. This highlights how the same mutation can have pleiotropic effects on one functional state of a protein but not another, thus facilitating the evolution of multifunctionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph L Harman
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| | - Andrea N Loes
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| | - Gus D Warren
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| | - Maureen C Heaphy
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
| | | | - Michael J Harms
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of OregonEugeneUnited States
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Lande R, Lee EY, Palazzo R, Marinari B, Pietraforte I, Santos GS, Mattenberger Y, Spadaro F, Stefanantoni K, Iannace N, Dufour AM, Falchi M, Bianco M, Botti E, Bianchi L, Alvarez M, Riccieri V, Truchetet ME, C.L. Wong G, Chizzolini C, Frasca L. CXCL4 assembles DNA into liquid crystalline complexes to amplify TLR9-mediated interferon-α production in systemic sclerosis. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1731. [PMID: 31043596 PMCID: PMC6494823 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09683-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2018] [Accepted: 03/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis and vasculopathy. CXCL4 represents an early serum biomarker of severe SSc and likely contributes to inflammation via chemokine signaling pathways, but the exact role of CXCL4 in SSc pathogenesis is unclear. Here, we elucidate an unanticipated mechanism for CXCL4-mediated immune amplification in SSc, in which CXCL4 organizes "self" and microbial DNA into liquid crystalline immune complexes that amplify TLR9-mediated plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC)-hyperactivation and interferon-α production. Surprisingly, this activity does not require CXCR3, the CXCL4 receptor. Importantly, we find that CXCL4-DNA complexes are present in vivo and correlate with type I interferon (IFN-I) in SSc blood, and that CXCL4-positive skin pDCs coexpress IFN-I-related genes. Thus, we establish a direct link between CXCL4 overexpression and the IFN-I-gene signature in SSc and outline a paradigm in which chemokines can drastically modulate innate immune receptors without being direct agonists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Lande
- National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Pharmacological research and experimental therapy UNIT, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Ernest Y. Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
| | - Raffaella Palazzo
- National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Pharmacological research and experimental therapy UNIT, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Barbara Marinari
- Dermatology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, 00133 Italy
| | - Immacolata Pietraforte
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Santiago Santos
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
| | - Yves Mattenberger
- Department of Microbiol and Molecular Medicine, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Spadaro
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Confocal Microscopy Unit, Core Facilities, Rome, 00161 Italy
| | - Katia Stefanantoni
- Division of Rheumatology, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University La Sapienza, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Nicoletta Iannace
- Division of Rheumatology, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University La Sapienza, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Aleksandra Maria Dufour
- Immunology & Allergy and Immunology & Pathology, University Hospital and School of Medicine, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Mario Falchi
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, National AIDS Center, Rome, 00161 Italy
| | - Manuela Bianco
- National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Pharmacological research and experimental therapy UNIT, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Botti
- Dermatology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, 00133 Italy
| | - Luca Bianchi
- Dermatology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, 00133 Italy
| | - Montserrat Alvarez
- Immunology & Allergy and Immunology & Pathology, University Hospital and School of Medicine, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Valeria Riccieri
- Division of Rheumatology, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University La Sapienza, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Marie-Elise Truchetet
- Division of Rheumatology and immunoConcept, University Hospital, Bordeaux, 33076 France
| | - Gerard C.L. Wong
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
| | - Carlo Chizzolini
- Immunology & Allergy and Immunology & Pathology, University Hospital and School of Medicine, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Loredana Frasca
- National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Pharmacological research and experimental therapy UNIT, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), 00161 Rome, Italy
- Immunology & Allergy and Immunology & Pathology, University Hospital and School of Medicine, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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5
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Lee EY, Zhang C, Di Domizio J, Jin F, Connell W, Hung M, Malkoff N, Veksler V, Gilliet M, Ren P, Wong GCL. Helical antimicrobial peptides assemble into protofibril scaffolds that present ordered dsDNA to TLR9. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1012. [PMID: 30833557 PMCID: PMC6399285 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08868-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Amphiphilicity in ɑ-helical antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is recognized as a signature of potential membrane activity. Some AMPs are also strongly immunomodulatory: LL37-DNA complexes potently amplify Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) activation in immune cells and exacerbate autoimmune diseases. The rules governing this proinflammatory activity of AMPs are unknown. Here we examine the supramolecular structures formed between DNA and three prototypical AMPs using small angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling. We correlate these structures to their ability to activate TLR9 and show that a key criterion is the AMP's ability to assemble into superhelical protofibril scaffolds. These structures enforce spatially-periodic DNA organization in nanocrystalline immunocomplexes that trigger strong recognition by TLR9, which is conventionally known to bind single DNA ligands. We demonstrate that we can "knock in" this ability for TLR9 amplification in membrane-active AMP mutants, which suggests the existence of tradeoffs between membrane permeating activity and immunomodulatory activity in AMP sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Y Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Changsheng Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China
| | - Jeremy Di Domizio
- Department of Dermatology, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Fan Jin
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China
| | - Will Connell
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Mandy Hung
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Nicolas Malkoff
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Veronica Veksler
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Michel Gilliet
- Department of Dermatology, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pengyu Ren
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
| | - Gerard C L Wong
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
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Lee MW, Lee EY, Ferguson AL, Wong GCL. Machine learning antimicrobial peptide sequences: Some surprising variations on the theme of amphiphilic assembly. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci 2018; 38:204-213. [PMID: 31093008 DOI: 10.1016/j.cocis.2018.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) collectively constitute a key component of the host innate immune system. They span a diverse space of sequences and can be α-helical, β-sheet, or unfolded in structure. Despite a wealth of knowledge about them from decades of experiments, it remains difficult to articulate general principles governing such peptides. How are they different from other molecules that are also cationic and amphiphilic? What other functions, in immunity and otherwise, are enabled by these simple sequences? In this short review, we present some recent work that engages these questions using methods not usually applied to AMP studies, such as machine learning. We find that not only do AMP-like sequences confer membrane remodeling activity to an unexpectedly broad range of protein classes, their cationic and amphiphilic signature also allows them to act as meta-antigens and self-assemble with immune ligands into nanocrystalline complexes for multivalent presentation to Toll-like receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle W Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
| | - Ernest Y Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
| | - Andrew L Ferguson
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
| | - Gerard C L Wong
- Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
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