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Kulak K, Kuska K, Colineau L, Mckay M, Maziarz K, Slaby J, Blom AM, King BC. Intracellular C3 protects β-cells from IL-1β-driven cytotoxicity via interaction with Fyn-related kinase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2312621121. [PMID: 38346191 PMCID: PMC10895342 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312621121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the hallmarks of type 1 but also type 2 diabetes is pancreatic islet inflammation, associated with altered pancreatic islet function and structure, if unresolved. IL-1β is a proinflammatory cytokine which detrimentally affects β-cell function. In the course of diabetes, complement components, including the central complement protein C3, are deregulated. Previously, we reported high C3 expression in human pancreatic islets, with upregulation after IL-1β treatment. In the current investigation, using primary human and rodent material and CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited β-cells deficient in C3, or producing only cytosolic C3 from a noncanonical in-frame start codon, we report a protective effect of C3 against IL-1β-induced β-cell death, that is attributed to the cytosolic fraction of C3. Further investigation revealed that intracellular C3 alleviates IL-1β-induced β-cell death, by interaction with and inhibition of Fyn-related kinase (FRK), which is involved in the response of β-cells to cytokines. Furthermore, these data were supported by increased β-cell death in vivo in a β-cell-specific C3 knockout mouse. Our data indicate that a functional, cytoprotective association exists between FRK and cytosolic C3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaudia Kulak
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Katarzyna Kuska
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Lucie Colineau
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Marina Mckay
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Karolina Maziarz
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Julia Slaby
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Anna M Blom
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
| | - Ben C King
- Section of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö 214-28, Sweden
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Bettoni S, Maziarz K, Stone MRL, Blaskovich MAT, Potempa J, Bazzo ML, Unemo M, Ram S, Blom AM. Serum Complement Activation by C4BP-IgM Fusion Protein Can Restore Susceptibility to Antibiotics in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Front Immunol 2021; 12:726801. [PMID: 34539665 PMCID: PMC8440848 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.726801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the etiological agent of gonorrhea, the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Reproductive sequelae of gonorrhea include infertility, ectopic pregnancy and chronic pelvic pain. Most antibiotics currently in clinical use have been rendered ineffective due to the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance among gonococci. The developmental pipeline of new antibiotics is sparse and novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Previously, we utilized the ability of N. gonorrhoeae to bind the complement inhibitor C4b-binding protein (C4BP) to evade killing by human complement to design a chimeric protein that linked the two N-terminal gonococcal binding domains of C4BP with the Fc domain of IgM. The resulting molecule, C4BP-IgM, enhanced complement-mediated killing of gonococci. Here we show that C4BP-IgM induced membrane perturbation through complement deposition and membrane attack complex pore insertion facilitates the access of antibiotics to their intracellular targets. Consequently, bacteria become more susceptible to killing by antibiotics. Remarkably, C4BP-IgM restored susceptibility to azithromycin of two azithromycin-resistant clinical gonococcal strains because of overexpression of the MtrC-MtrD-MtrE efflux pump. Our data show that complement activation can potentiate activity of antibiotics and suggest a role for C4BP-IgM as an adjuvant for antibiotic treatment of drug-resistant gonorrhea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Bettoni
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Karolina Maziarz
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - M Rhia L Stone
- Centre for Superbug Solutions, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Mark A T Blaskovich
- Centre for Superbug Solutions, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jan Potempa
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Department of Oral Immunity and Infectious Diseases, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Maria Luiza Bazzo
- Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Serology Laboratory, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Magnus Unemo
- World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Sanjay Ram
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Anna M. Blom
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
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Laabei M, Colineau L, Bettoni S, Maziarz K, Ermert D, Riesbeck K, Ram S, Blom AM. Antibacterial Fusion Proteins Enhance Moraxella catarrhalis Killing. Front Immunol 2020; 11:2122. [PMID: 32983170 PMCID: PMC7492680 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.02122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Moraxella catarrhalis is a human-specific commensal of the respiratory tract and an opportunistic pathogen. It is one of the leading cause of otitis media in children and of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, resulting in significant morbidity and economic burden. Vaccines and new immunotherapeutic strategies to treat this emerging pathogen are needed. Complement is a key component of innate immunity that mediates the detection, response, and subsequent elimination of invading pathogens. Many pathogens including M. catarrhalis have evolved complement evasion mechanisms, which include the binding of human complement inhibitors such as C4b-binding protein (C4BP) and Factor H (FH). Inhibiting C4BP and FH acquisition by M. catarrhalis may provide a novel therapeutic avenue to treat infections. To achieve this, we created two chimeric proteins that combined the Moraxella-binding domains of C4BP and FH fused to human immunoglobulin Fcs: C4BP domains 1 and 2 and FH domains 6 and 7 fused to IgM and IgG Fc, respectively. As expected, FH6-7/IgG displaced FH from the bacterial surface while simultaneously activating complement via Fc-C1q interactions, together increasing pathogen elimination. C4BP1-2/IgM also increased serum killing of the bacteria through enhanced complement deposition, but did not displace C4BP from the surface of M. catarrhalis. These Fc fusion proteins could act as anti-infective immunotherapies. Many microbes bind the complement inhibitors C4BP and FH through the same domains as M. catarrhalis, therefore these Fc fusion proteins may be promising candidates as adjunctive therapy against many different drug-resistant pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maisem Laabei
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.,Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Lucie Colineau
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Serena Bettoni
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Karolina Maziarz
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - David Ermert
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Kristian Riesbeck
- Clinical Microbiology, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Sanjay Ram
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Anna M Blom
- Division of Medical Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
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Bettoni S, Shaughnessy J, Maziarz K, Ermert D, Gulati S, Zheng B, Mörgelin M, Jacobsson S, Riesbeck K, Unemo M, Ram S, Blom AM. C4BP-IgM protein as a therapeutic approach to treat Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections. JCI Insight 2019; 4:131886. [PMID: 31661468 PMCID: PMC6962029 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.131886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection with 87 million new cases per year globally. Increasing antibiotic resistance has severely limited treatment options. A mechanism that Neisseria gonorrhoeae uses to evade complement attack is binding of the complement inhibitor C4b-binding protein (C4BP). We screened 107 porin B1a (PorB1a) and 83 PorB1b clinical isolates randomly selected from a Swedish strain collection over the last 10 years and noted that 96/107 (89.7%) PorB1a and 16/83 (19.3%) PorB1b bound C4BP; C4BP binding substantially correlated with the ability to evade complement-dependent killing (r = 0.78). We designed 2 chimeric proteins that fused C4BP domains to the backbone of IgG or IgM (C4BP-IgG; C4BP-IgM) with the aim of enhancing complement activation and killing of gonococci. Both proteins bound gonococci (KD C4BP-IgM = 2.4 nM; KD C4BP-IgG 980.7 nM), but only hexameric C4BP-IgM efficiently outcompeted heptameric C4BP from the bacterial surface, resulting in enhanced complement deposition and bacterial killing. Furthermore, C4BP-IgM substantially attenuated the duration and burden of colonization of 2 C4BP-binding gonococcal isolates but not a non-C4BP-binding strain in a mouse vaginal colonization model using human factor H/C4BP-transgenic mice. Our preclinical data present C4BP-IgM as an adjunct to conventional antimicrobials for the treatment of gonorrhea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Bettoni
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Jutamas Shaughnessy
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Karolina Maziarz
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - David Ermert
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Sunita Gulati
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Bo Zheng
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Susanne Jacobsson
- World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Kristian Riesbeck
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Magnus Unemo
- World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Sanjay Ram
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Anna M. Blom
- Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
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Wang J, Maziarz K, Ratnam M. Recognition of the carboxyl-terminal signal for GPI modification requires translocation of its hydrophobic domain across the ER membrane. J Mol Biol 1999; 286:1303-10. [PMID: 10064698 DOI: 10.1006/jmbi.1999.2584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
A carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic domain is an essential component of the processed signal for attachment of the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) membrane anchor to proteins and it is linked to the site (omega) of GPI modification by a spacer domain. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the hydrophobic domain interacts with the lipid bilayer of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane to optimally position the omega site for GPI modification. The hydrophobic domain of the GPI signal in the human folate receptor (FR) type alpha was substituted with the carboxyl-terminal segment of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), including its membrane spanning region, without altering either the spacer or the omega site. The FR-alpha/LDLR chimera was not GPI modified but was attached to the plasma membrane by a polypeptide anchor. When the carboxyl-terminal half of the hydrophobic transmembrane polypeptide in the FR-alpha/LDLR chimera was altered by introduction of negatively charged (Asp) residues, or when the cytosolic domain in the chimera was deleted, the mutated proteins became GPI-anchored. On the other hand, attachment of a carboxyl-terminal segment of LDLR including the entire cytosolic domain to FR-alpha converted it into a transmembrane protein. The results indicate that in the FR-alpha/LDLR chimera the inability of the cellular machinery for GPI modification to recognize the hydrophobic domain is not due to the intrinsic nature of the peptide, but is rather due to the retention of the peptide within the lipid bilayer. It follows that the hydrophobic domain in the signal for GPI modification must traverse the ER membrane prior to recognition of the omega site by the GPI-protein transamidase. The results thus establish a critical topographical requirement for recognition of the GPI signal in the ER.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Wang
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical College of Ohio, 3035 Arlington Avenue, Toledo, OH, 43614-5804, USA
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