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Skin-specific antibodies neutralizing mycolactone toxin during the spontaneous healing of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

ABSTRACT: Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical infectious disease, is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Without treatment, its lesions can progress to chronic skin ulcers, but spontaneous healing is observed in 5% of cases, suggesting the possible establishment of a host strategy counteracting the effects of M. ulcerans. We reveal here a skin-specific local humoral signature of the spontaneous healing process, associated with a rise in antibody-producing cells and specific recognition of mycolactone by the mouse IgG2a immunoglobulin subclass. We demonstrate the production of skin-specific antibodies neutralizing the immunomodulatory activity of the mycolactone toxin, and confirm the role of human host machinery in triggering effective local immune responses by the detection of anti-mycolactone antibodies in patients with Buruli ulcer. Our findings pave the way for substantial advances in both the diagnosis and treatment of Buruli ulcer in accordance with the most recent challenges issued by the World Health Organization.

SUBMITTER: Foulon M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7043917 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Skin-specific antibodies neutralizing mycolactone toxin during the spontaneous healing of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

Foulon Mélanie M Pouchin Amélie A Manry Jérémy J Khater Fida F Robbe-Saule Marie M Durand Amandine A Esnault Lucille L Delneste Yves Y Jeannin Pascale P Saint-André Jean-Paul JP Croué Anne A Altare Frederic F Abel Laurent L Alcaïs Alexandre A Marion Estelle E

Science advances 20200226 9

Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical infectious disease, is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Without treatment, its lesions can progress to chronic skin ulcers, but spontaneous healing is observed in 5% of cases, suggesting the possible establishment of a host strategy counteracting the effects of M. ulcerans. We reveal here a skin-specific local humoral signature of the spontaneous healing process, associated with a rise in antibody-producing cells and specific recognition of mycol ...[more]

PMID: 32133396

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Project description:Mycolactone is the exotoxin produced by Mycobacterium ulcerans and is the virulence factor behind the neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer. The toxin has a broad spectrum of biological effects within the host organism, stemming from its interaction with at least two molecular targets and the inhibition of protein uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum. Although it has been shown that the toxin can passively permeate into host cells, it is clearly lipophilic. Association with lipid carriers would have substantial implications for the toxin's distribution within a host organism, delivery to cellular targets, diagnostic susceptibility, and mechanisms of pathogenicity. Yet the toxin's interactions with, and distribution in, lipids are unknown. Herein we have used coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, guided by all-atom simulations, to study the interaction of mycolactone with pure and mixed lipid membranes. Using established techniques, we calculated the toxin's preferential localization, membrane translocation, and impact on membrane physical and dynamical properties. The computed water-octanol partition coefficient indicates that mycolactone prefers to be in an organic phase rather than in an aqueous environment. Our results show that in a solvated membrane environment the exotoxin mainly localizes in the water-membrane interface, with a preference for the glycerol moiety of lipids, consistent with the reported studies that found it in lipid extracts of the cell. The calculated association constant to the model membrane is similar to the reported association constant for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein. Mycolactone is shown to modify the physical properties of membranes, lowering the transition temperature, compressibility modulus, and critical line tension at which pores can be stabilized. It also shows a tendency to behave as a linactant, a molecule that localizes at the boundary between different fluid lipid domains in membranes and promotes inter-mixing of domains. This property has implications for the toxin's cellular access, T-cell immunosuppression, and therapeutic potential.

Dataset Information

Skin-specific antibodies neutralizing mycolactone toxin during the spontaneous healing of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

Publications

Skin-specific antibodies neutralizing mycolactone toxin during the spontaneous healing of <i>Mycobacterium ulcerans</i> infection.

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