INTRODUCTION
Macrophages are preferred host cells for many species of intracellular bacterial pathogen. Bona fide pathogens of mammals, such as
Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
Listeria monocytogenes, and
Salmonella enterica, as well as environmental microorganisms that are “accidental” pathogens of mammals, such as
Legionella pneumophila, display the ability to replicate efficiently in macrophages, demonstrating that these cells can provide a plastic niche suitable to the metabolic needs of distinct bacterial species (
1). To defend against potential exploitation by diverse pathogens, including environmental microorganisms with which they have not coevolved, macrophages require potent mechanisms to restrict intracellular bacterial replication. A cornerstone of the immune response to many intracellular pathogens is the cytokine interferon gamma (IFN-γ). The importance of IFN-γ is highlighted by the observation that genetic deficiencies in the IFN-γ signaling pathway render humans highly susceptible to infections by intracellular pathogens, most notably
M. tuberculosis and even normally benign environmental bacteria (
2). Mice with deficiencies in the IFN-γ pathway are also highly susceptible to intracellular bacterial pathogens, including
M. tuberculosis,
L. monocytogenes,
S. enterica,
Brucella abortus, and
L. pneumophila, among others (
3–9).
L. pneumophila normally replicates in protozoan host amoebae but can cause a severe pneumonia in humans, known as Legionnaires’ disease, through infection of lung macrophages.
L. pneumophila employs a type IV secretion system to translocate bacterial effector proteins into the host cytosol, allowing the bacteria to establish an intracellular replicative compartment (
10). Flagellin produced by wild-type
L. pneumophila can trigger host cell pyroptosis via the NAIP/NLRC4 inflammasome; however,
L. pneumophila bacteria that lack flagellin (Δ
flaA) are able to replicate to high levels in macrophages (
11–17). Brown et al. demonstrated that failure of IFN-γ-deficient mice to control
L. pneumophila likely occurs at the level of cell-intrinsic restriction of bacteria in monocyte-derived macrophages that infiltrate the lung following infection (
18). Accordingly,
in vitro infection models using bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) have enabled meaningful study of the cell-intrinsic immune response to
L. pneumophila coordinated by IFN-γ. However, despite several decades of evidence supporting an essential role for IFN-γ in the antimicrobial immune response, the precise mechanisms by which IFN-γ acts to mediate cell-intrinsic control of
L. pneumophila and other pathogens remain obscure.
Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, encoded by the gene
Nos2 in mice) plays a key role in the IFN-γ-dependent response to
M. tuberculosis and several other pathogens (
19–21). iNOS facilitates the production of nitric oxide (NO), a toxic metabolite with direct antimicrobial activity. NO also acts as a regulator of host responses and coordinates metabolic changes in IFN-γ-stimulated macrophages (
22–24). While
Nos2−/− mice display increased susceptibility to infection by
M. tuberculosis, evidence suggests this is not simply due to direct cell-intrinsic antimicrobial effects of NO (
25). In addition, the activity of iNOS is not absolutely required to control infection by many pathogens, suggesting that there are redundant iNOS-independent mechanisms that underlie the potency of IFN-γ (
26). Strikingly, while
L. pneumophila does not display resistance to the effects of NO when cultured in broth,
Nos2−/− macrophages are not impaired in IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila (
27–29). This indicates either that
L. pneumophila is resistant to the effects of iNOS/NO during infection or, more likely, that there are redundant factors induced by IFN-γ that can restrict
L. pneumophila in the absence of iNOS.
Previous work has attempted to address the possibility of redundancy in the IFN-γ-dependent immune response to
L. pneumophila. Pilla et al. generated quadruple knockout (QKO) mice deficient in
Nos2,
Cybb (cytochrome
b558 subunit beta, encoding NADPH oxidase 2, also known as NOX2),
Irgm1 (immunity-related GTPase family M member 1), and
Irgm3 (immunity-related GTPase family M member 3), all induced by IFN-γ (
28). NOX2 partners with phagosomal oxidase components to generate reactive oxygen species, which, like NO, can cause direct toxicity to phagocytized pathogens in neutrophils and macrophages (
30,
31). IRGM1 and IRGM3 are antimicrobial GTPases that participate in the disruption of membrane-bound, pathogen-containing compartments within phagocytes in the case of
Toxoplasma (
32,
33) and
Chlamydia (
34). To date, however, a nonredundant role for IRGM1 and IRGM3 in disruption of the
L. pneumophila-containing vacuole has not been established. Remarkably, Pilla et al. observed that macrophages derived from QKO mice retained restriction of
L. pneumophila replication when stimulated with IFN-γ (
28). This study implicated the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) detector caspase 11 (CASP11), encoded by the gene
Casp4, in some of the residual IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila replication in macrophages (
28). Upon binding of bacterial lipopolysaccharide in the cytoplasm, CASP11 can trigger host macrophage pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of cell death (
35,
36).
Recently, Naujoks et al. implicated immune-responsive gene 1 (IRG1), encoded by the gene
Acod1, in the IFN-γ-dependent immune response to
L. pneumophila, demonstrating that driving
Acod1 expression in macrophages was sufficient to suppress
L. pneumophila replication (
29). However, this study did not address whether macrophages deficient in IRG1 were impaired in the ability to restrict
L. pneumophila when stimulated with IFN-γ. Like iNOS, IRG1 generates a potentially toxic metabolite (itaconate) and contributes to metabolic changes that occur in inflamed macrophages (
37–39).
We recently described a mutant strain of
L. pneumophila (Δ
flaA Δ
uhpC) that is able to replicate in macrophages treated with 2-deoxyglucose (2DG), an inhibitor of mammalian glycolysis (
40). This strain allows us to probe the role that host cell metabolism plays in the immune response to
L. pneumophila. In the present study, we use a combination of preexisting knockout mouse models, pharmacological treatment with 2DG and other drugs, CRISPR/Cas9 genetic manipulation of immortalized mouse macrophages, and primary BMMs from novel strains of CRISPR/Cas9-engineered mice to survey the factors required for IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila in macrophages. Ultimately, we demonstrate that iNOS and IRG1 are redundant in terms of IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila. Further, we identify six IFN-γ-inducible factors, iNOS, IRG1, CASP11, NOX2, IRGM1, and IRGM3, which are responsible for the entirety of the IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila in macrophages.
DISCUSSION
Our results support a model in which IFN-γ restricts L. pneumophila replication in mammalian macrophages through activation of multiple redundant factors, including iNOS and IRG1. To date, no study has identified any single IFN-γ-stimulated gene that fully accounts for the ability of macrophages to restrict L. pneumophila replication when stimulated with IFN-γ. Even QKO macrophages, which lack three other potentially antimicrobial factors in addition to iNOS, largely maintain the ability to restrict L. pneumophila, reinforcing the notion that redundant mechanisms contribute to IFN-γ-mediated bacterial control in macrophages.
Our recent identification of a strain of
L. pneumophila resistant to the direct antimicrobial effect of 2DG when growing in BMMs (
40) allowed us to test the hypothesis that global disruption of macrophage metabolism interferes with the antimicrobial effects of IFN-γ. Indeed, 2DG partially reversed the restriction of
L. pneumophila replication by IFN-γ in BMMs. However, neither the glycolysis inhibition activity nor the UPR induction activity of 2DG,
per se, appears to underlie the ability of this drug to subvert the antimicrobial effect of IFN-γ. Instead, 2DG appears to regulate the IFN-γ-dependent induction of iNOS and IRG1 via some as-yet-unidentified mechanism. In addition, there appears to be some effect of 2DG independent of iNOS and IRG1 regulation, suggesting that the drug interferes with the antimicrobial activities of IRGM1, IRGM3, and/or NOX2 in IFN-γ-stimulated macrophages. Ultimately, experimentation with 2DG and other stimuli that reversed IFN-γ-mediated restriction of
L. pneumophila led us to the hypothesis that both iNOS and IRG1 are sufficient, and therefore redundant, in terms of mediating IFN-γ-coordinated immune response to
L. pneumophila in macrophages.
A complex picture is emerging in terms of the role of IRG1 and the metabolite it produces, itaconate, during inflammation and infection. A direct antimicrobial role for itaconate via poisoning the bacterial glyoxylate pathway has been suggested for
M. tuberculosis and
L. pneumophila (
29,
37). IRG1 was shown to be an essential component of the immune response to
M. tuberculosis, as
Acod1−/− mice succumbed more rapidly than wild-type mice to infection (
56). However, IRG1 appeared to be required for regulation of non-cell-autonomous pathological inflammation, and there was no evidence for cell-intrinsic antimicrobial effects of itaconate (
56). IRG1 has also been demonstrated to be protective in a model of Zika virus infection in neurons (
57). Interestingly, other studies have demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects of itaconate on myeloid cells, suggesting it may act as part of a negative feedback loop to control inflammation (
39,
58). Beyond production of itaconate, the disruption of oxidative metabolic pathways caused by IRG1 activity may promote antimicrobial metabolic shifts in macrophages. Ultimately, diverse cell-intrinsic and intercellular roles for IRG1 and itaconate likely contribute to the immune response to a broad array of pathogens. Our data demonstrate that IRG1 is not essential for the cell-intrinsic immune response to
L. pneumophila in macrophages treated with IFN-γ. However, our data are consistent with the observation that IRG1 activity may be sufficient to restrict
L. pneumophila replication, as previously reported (
29). Both NO generated by iNOS and itaconate generated by IRG1 may be directly antimicrobial to
L. pneumophila in macrophages stimulated with IFN-γ. Alternately or additionally, iNOS and IRG1 may act to restrict
L. pneumophila replication via coordinating global changes in macrophage metabolism that restrict access to key bacterial metabolites or otherwise render the host macrophage inhospitable for bacterial growth.
Adding IRG1 and CASP11 deficiency to the QKO background revealed further layers of redundancy in the immune response to
L. pneumophila coordinated by IFN-γ. While QKO/C11 macrophages did not differ significantly from QKO macrophages in terms of IFN-γ-mediated bacterial restriction, we observed a profound loss of restriction in QKO/IRG1 macrophages, beyond what we observed in primary
Nos2−/− Acod1−/− macrophages. This result indicates that factors other than iNOS disrupted in the QKO background may play a role in limiting
L. pneumophila in IFN-γ-stimulated macrophages. For example, IRGM1-deficient macrophages displayed a partial loss of IFN-γ-dependent restriction of
L. pneumophila (
59). In agreement with the results of Pilla et al. (
28), our data suggest that a role exists for CASP11 in the IFN-γ-mediated immune response to
L. pneumophila, given the complete inability of IFN-γ to restrict
L. pneumophila replication in 6KO macrophages versus QKO/IRG1 macrophages (which retain CASP11). In combination with the data showing that
Casp1/11−/− and QKO/C11 BMMs retain IFN-γ-mediated bacterial restriction, this result demonstrates that the activity of CASP11 is also redundant, at least with the activities of iNOS and IRG1. A role for CASP11 may be less apparent in our experiments using immortalized macrophages, which may be impaired in cell death pathways in addition to other major physiological differences from primary cells.
In sum, our study reveals a more comprehensive picture of the factors that are required to coordinate the IFN-γ-dependent immune response to L. pneumophila. We have not determined whether all six of the genes disrupted in 6KO BMMs cells are required to fully exert IFN-γ-dependent cell-intrinsic restriction of L. pneumophila or a subset of the six that includes iNOS, IRG1, and CASP11. Nonetheless, we are encouraged that among the numerous genes transcribed in IFN-γ-stimulated macrophages, we have narrowed the field that mediate cell-intrinsic control of L. pneumophila to six candidates. While all of the gene products disrupted in the 6KO background could function directly as antimicrobial effectors, we also note the possibility that some or all may function as upstream regulators and thus affect L. pneumophila indirectly.
IFN-γ is an essential component of the immune response to bacterial pathogens beyond L. pneumophila. Thus, the implications of this study extend beyond furthering our understanding of the immune response to L. pneumophila, an accidental pathogen of mammals that did not evolve to evade the human immune response. Our work reveals fundamental redundancy in the IFN-γ-dependent immune response to potentially pathogenic environmental microbes. Dissecting these overlapping innate immune strategies reveals the complexity and comprehensiveness of the innate immune barrier posed to novel environmental microorganisms by mammalian macrophages and IFN-γ. Further, a more detailed understanding of how IFN-γ can mediate bacterial restriction in host cells may inform studies of how “professional” pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis, S. enterica, and L. monocytogenes, have evolved to avoid or subvert these effects of IFN-γ.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
R.E.V. is supported by an Investigator Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and by NIH grants AI063302 and AI075039. J.C. holds an Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and is supported by NIH grants AI103197 and AI139425.
We thank Harmandeep Dhaliwal at the Cancer Research Laboratory Gene Targeting Facility at UC Berkeley for assistance in generating mouse strains used in this study. We also thank Kevin Barry for assistance with RNAseq analysis. The students taking Oberlin College biology course BIOL 337, Immunity and Pathogenesis, were instrumental in generating and testing iCas9-derived cell lines. We thank Forrest Rose, Dorothy Auble, Laurie Holcomb, Twila Colley, and the Biology and Neuroscience departments at Oberlin College for assistance with shared resources, facilities, and equipment. We acknowledge stimulating discussions with Sarah Stanley, Jonathan Braverman, Greg Barton, and Daniel Portnoy; members of the Vance, Stanley, Barton, and Portnoy Labs; and members of the P01 Intracellular Pathogens and Innate Immunity research group.
We have no conflicts of interest with regard to the results presented in this study.