Project description:DNA Damage Regulated Autophagy Modulator 1 (DRAM1) is a stress-inducible regulator of autophagy and cell death. DRAM1 has been implicated in cancer, myocardial infarction, and infectious diseases, but the molecular and cellular functions of this transmembrane protein remain poorly understood. Previously, we have proposed DRAM1 as a host resistance factor for tuberculosis (TB) and a potential target for host-directed anti-infective therapies. In this study, we generated a zebrafish dram1 mutant and investigated its loss-of-function effects during Mycobacterium marinum (Mm) infection, a widely used model in TB research. In agreement with previous knockdown analysis, dram1 mutation increased the susceptibility of zebrafish larvae to Mm infection. RNA sequencing revealed major effects of Dram1 deficiency on metabolic, immune response, and cell death pathways during Mm infection, whereas only minor effects on proteinase and metabolic pathways were found under uninfected conditions. Furthermore, unchallenged dram1 mutants did not display overt autophagic defects, while autophagic targeting of Mm was reduced in absence of Dram1, despite overall increased Lc3-II accumulation. The phagocytic ability of dram1 mutants was unaffected, but acidification of Mm-containing vesicles was strongly reduced, indicating that Dram1 is required for phagosome maturation. By in vivo imaging we observed that Dram1-deficient macrophages fail to restrict Mm during early stages of infection. The resulting enhanced bacterial burden phenotype could be rescued by knockdown of inflammatory caspase (caspa) and gasdermin (gsdmeb), demonstrating pyroptosis as the mechanism underlying premature cell death of Mm-infected macrophages in dram1 mutants. Collectively, these data demonstrate that dissemination of mycobacterial infection in zebrafish larvae is promoted in absence of Dram1 due to reduced maturation of mycobacteria-containing vesicles, failed intracellular containment, and consequent pyroptotic cell death of infected macrophages. These results provide new evidence that Dram1 plays a central role in host resistance to intracellular infection, acting at the crossroad of autophagy and cell death.

Project description:MyD88 is an adaptor protein in Toll-like receptor and interleukin 1 receptor mediated signaling pathways that plays an essential role in activation of immune responses following pathogen recognition. We investigate that role in the zebrafish embryo model by using a zebrafish mutant line that contains a premature stop condon in the gene encoding MyD88, leading to a truncated protein that lacks domains important for its normal function. We infected these MyD88 mutants and wildtype individuals with Mycobacterium marinum to compare the resulting immune response by transcriptome profiling on total RNA isolated from single embryos. Autophagy regulator dram1 was identified as one of the MyD88-dependent genes. This RNAseq analysis was used to determine the effect of a truncation of the MyD88 protein on the innate immune response of zebrafish embryos during infection with Mycobacterium marinum. Myd88 mutant and wild type embryos were derived by incrossing homozygous myd88 mutant parents (allele hu3568, van der Vaart et al., 2013, Disease models & mechanisms 6, 841-854) or their wildtype siblings. RNA was isolated from pools of 20 embryos at 4 days post infection (4 dpi). The following treatment groups were used: homozygous mutants mock-injected with PBS/2%PVP 4 dpi, (2) wildtype siblings mock-injected with PBS/2%PVP 4dpi, (3) M. marinum-infected homozygous mutants 4dpi, (4) M. marinum-infected wildtype siblings 4dpi. Embryos were grown at 28.5M-bM-^@M-^S30M-BM-0C in egg water and manually dechorionated at 24 hours post fertilization (hpf). Subsequently, embryos were infected at 28 hpf by micro-injecting 200 colony forming units (CFU) of Mycobacterium marinum Mma20 bacteria into the caudal vein, or were mock-injected with buffer (PBS/2%PVP) as a control. After injections embryos were transferred into fresh egg water and incubated for 4 days at 28M-BM-0C. After the incubation period, single embryos were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and RNA was isolated for RNAseq analysis.

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