Candida is the most common human fungal pathogen and causes systemic infections that require neutrophils for effective host defense. Humans deficient in the C-type lectin pathway adaptor protein CARD9 develop spontaneous fungal disease that targets the central nervous system (CNS). However, how CARD9 promotes protective antifungal immunity in the CNS remains unclear. Here, we show that a patient with CARD9 deficiency had impaired neutrophil accumulation and induction of neutrophil-recruiting CXC chemokines in the cerebrospinal fluid despite uncontrolled CNS Candida infection. We phenocopied the human susceptibility in Card9 -/- mice, which develop uncontrolled brain candidiasis with diminished neutrophil accumulation. The induction of neutrophil-recruiting CXC chemokines is significantly impaired in infected Card9 -/- brains, from both myeloid and resident glial cellular sources, whereas cell-intrinsic neutrophil chemotaxis is Card9-independent. Taken together, our data highlight the critical role of CARD9-dependent neutrophil trafficking into the CNS and provide novel insight into the CNS fungal susceptibility of CARD9-deficient humans.

Systemic Candida albicans infection causes high morbidity and mortality and is associated with neutropenia; however, the roles of other innate immune cells in pathogenesis are poorly defined. Here, using a mouse model of systemic candidiasis, we found that resident macrophages accumulated in the kidney, the main target organ of infection, and formed direct contacts with the fungus in vivo mainly within the first few hours after infection. Macrophage accumulation and contact with Candida were both markedly reduced in mice lacking chemokine receptor CX 3 CR1, which was found almost exclusively on resident macrophages in uninfected kidneys. Infected Cx3cr1 -/-mice uniformly succumbed to Candida-induced renal failure, but exhibited clearance of the fungus in all other organs tested. Renal macrophage deficiency in infected Cx3cr1 -/-mice was due to reduced macrophage survival, not impaired proliferation, trafficking, or differentiation. In humans, the dysfunctional CX 3 CR1 allele CX 3 CR1-M280 was associated with increased risk of systemic candidiasis. Together, these data indicate that CX 3 CR1-mediated renal resident macrophage survival is a critical innate mechanism of early fungal control that influences host survival in systemic candidiasis.

Angiopoietins 1–4 (Ang1–4) represent an important family of growth factors, whose activities are mediated through the tyrosine kinase receptors, Tie1 and Tie2. The best characterized are angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2). Ang1 is a potent angiogenic growth factor signaling through Tie2, whereas Ang2 was initially identified as a vascular disruptive agent with antagonistic activity through the same receptor. Recent data demonstrates that Ang2 has context-dependent agonist activities. Ang2 plays important roles in physiological processes and the deregulation of its expression is characteristic of several diseases. In this review, we summarize the activity of Ang2 on blood and lymphatic endothelial cells, its significance in human physiology and disease, and provide a current view of the molecular signaling pathways regulated by Ang2 in endothelial cells.

Histamine-induced vascular leakage is an integral component of many highly prevalent human diseases, including allergies, asthma, and anaphylaxis. Yet, how histamine induces the disruption of the endothelial barrier is not well defined. By using genetically modified animal models, pharmacologic inhibitors, and a synthetic biology approach, here we show that the small GTPase RhoA mediates histamine-induced vascular leakage. Histamine causes the rapid formation of focal adherens junctions, disrupting the endothelial barrier by acting on H1R Gαq-coupled receptors, which is blunted in endothelial Gαq/11 KO mice. Interfering with RhoA and ROCK function abolishes endothelial permeability, while phospholipase Cβ plays a limited role. Moreover, endothelial-specific RhoA gene deletion prevents vascular leakage and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in vivo, and ROCK inhibitors protect from lethal systemic anaphylaxis. This study supports a key role for the RhoA signaling circuitry in vascular permeability, thereby identifying novel pharmacological targets for many human diseases characterized by aberrant vascular leakage.

We have previously shown that the angiogenic growth factor pleiotrophin (PTN) induces migration of endothelial cells through binding to its receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase beta/zeta (RPTPbeta/zeta). In this study, we show that a monoclonal antibody against alpha(nu)beta(3) but not alpha(5)beta(1) integrin abolished PTN-induced human endothelial cell migration in a concentration-dependent manner. Integrin alpha(nu)beta(3) was found to directly interact with PTN in an RGD-independent manner, whereas a synthetic peptide corresponding to the specificity loop of the beta(3) integrin extracellular domain ((177)CYDMKTTC(184)) inhibited PTN-alpha(nu)beta(3) interaction and totally abolished PTN-induced endothelial cell migration. Interestingly, alpha(nu)beta(3) was also found to directly interact with RPTPbeta/zeta, and PTN-induced Y773 phosphorylation of beta(3) integrin was dependent on both RPTPbeta/zeta and the downstream c-src kinase activation. Midkine was found to interact with RPTPbeta/zeta, but not with alpha(nu)beta(3), and caused a small but statistically significant decrease in cell migration. In the same line, PTN decreased migration of different glioma cell lines that express RPTPbeta/zeta but do not express alpha(nu)beta(3), while it stimulated migration of U87MG cells that express alpha(nu)beta(3) on their cell membrane. Overexpression or down-regulation of beta(3) stimulated or abolished, respectively, the effect of PTN on cell migration. Collectively, these data suggest that alpha(nu)beta(3) is a key molecule that determines the stimulatory or inhibitory effect of PTN on cell migration.

Despite our improved understanding of cancer, the 5-year survival rate for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) patients remains relatively unchanged at 50% for the past three decades. HNSCC often metastasize to locoregional lymph nodes, and lymph node involvement represents one of the most important prognostic factors of poor clinical outcome. Among the multiple dysregulated molecular mechanism in HNSCC, emerging basic, preclinical, and clinical findings support the importance of the mTOR signaling route in HNSCC progression. Indeed, we observed here that the activation of mTOR is a widespread event in clinical specimens of HNSCC invading locoregional lymph nodes. We developed an orthotopic model of HNSCC consisting in the implantation of HNSCC cells into the tongues of immunocompromised mice. These orthotopic tumors spontaneously metastasize to the cervical lymph nodes, where the presence of HNSCC cells can be revealed by histological and immunohistochemical evaluation. Both primary and metastatic experimental HNSCC lesions exhibited elevated mTOR activity. The ability to monitor and quantitate lymph node invasion in this model system enabled us to explore whether the blockade of mTOR could impact on HNSCC metastasis. We found that inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin and the rapalog RAD001 diminished lymphangiogenesis in the primary tumors and prevented the dissemination of HNSCC cancer cells to the cervical lymph nodes, thereby prolonging animal survival. These findings may provide a rationale for the future clinical evaluation of mTOR inhibitors, including rapamycin and its analogs, as part of a molecular-targeted metastasis preventive strategy for the treatment of HNSCC patients.

Commensal microbiota inhabit all the mucosal surfaces of the human body. It plays significant roles during homeostatic conditions, and perturbations in numbers and/or products are associated with several pathological disorders. Angiogenesis, the process of new vessel formation, promotes embryonic development and critically modulates several biological processes during adulthood. Indeed, deregulated angiogenesis can induce or augment several pathological conditions. Accumulating evidence has implicated the angiogenic process in various microbiota-associated human diseases. Herein, we critically review diseases that are regulated by microbiota and are affected by angiogenesis, aiming to provide a broad understanding of how angiogenesis is involved and how microbiota regulate angiogenesis in microbiota-associated human conditions.

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