Increased mucus production is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in inflammatory airway diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis. However, the precise molecular mechanisms for pathogenic mucus production are largely undetermined. Accordingly, there are no specific and effective anti-mucus therapeutics. Here, we define a signaling pathway from chloride channel calcium-activated 1 (CLCA1) to MAPK13 that is responsible for IL-13-driven mucus production in human airway epithelial cells. The same pathway was also highly activated in the lungs of humans with excess mucus production due to COPD. We further validated the pathway by using structure-based drug design to develop a series of novel MAPK13 inhibitors with nanomolar potency that effectively reduced mucus production in human airway epithelial cells. These results uncover and validate a new pathway for regulating mucus production as well as a corresponding therapeutic approach to mucus overproduction in inflammatory airway diseases.

SUMMARY During anti-viral defense, interferon (IFN) signaling triggers nuclear transport of tyrosine phosphorylated STAT1 (PY-STAT1), which occurs via a subset of karyopherin alpha (KPNA) nuclear transporters. Many viruses, including Ebola virus, actively antagonize STAT1 signaling to counteract the antiviral effects of IFN. Ebola virus VP24 protein (eVP24) binds KPNA to inhibit PY-STAT1 nuclear transport and render cells refractory to IFNs. We describe the structure of human KPNA5 C-terminus in complex with eVP24. In the complex, eVP24 recognizes a unique non-classical nuclear localization signal (NLS) binding site on KPNA5 that is necessary for efficient PY-STAT1 nuclear transport. eVP24 binds KPNA5 with very high affinity to effectively compete with and inhibit PY-STAT1 nuclear transport. In contrast, eVP24 binding does not affect the transport of classical NLS cargo. Thus, eVP24 counters cell-intrinsic innate immunity by selectively targeting PY-STAT1 nuclear import while leaving the transport of other cargo that maybe required for viral replication unaffected.

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis depends upon the interaction of accessory proteins with the alpha-ear of the AP-2 adaptor. We present structural characterization of these regulatory interactions. DPF and DPW motif peptides derived from eps15 and epsin bind in type I beta turn conformations to a conserved pocket on the alpha-ear platform. We show evidence for a second binding site that is DPW motif specific. The structure of a complex with an AP-2 binding segment from amphiphysin reveals a novel binding motif that we term FxDxF, which is engaged in an extended conformation by a unique surface of the platform domain. The FxDxF motif is also used by AP180 and the 170 kDa isoform of synaptojanin and can be found in several potential endocytic proteins, including HIP1, CD2AP, and PLAP. A mechanism of clathrin assembly regulation is suggested by three different AP-2 engagement modes.

Wu et al. use a mouse model to show that active respiratory viral infection triggers TREM-2 expression on the macrophage cell surface and thereby prevents macrophage apoptosis during the acute illness. In addition, long after viral clearance, IL-13 and DAP12 promote TREM-2 cleavage to its soluble form that unexpectedly also enhances macrophage survival and promotes chronic inflammatory disease.

Enhancing the response to interferon could offer an immunological advantage to the host. In support of this concept, we used a modified form of the transcription factor STAT1 to achieve interferon hyperresponsiveness without toxicity and markedly improve antiviral function in transgenic mice and transduced human cells. We found that the improvement depends on expression of a PARP9-DTX3L complex with distinct domains for interaction with STAT1 and for activity as an E3 ubiquitin ligase that acts on host histone H2BJ to promote interferon-stimulated gene expression and on viral 3C proteases to initiate their degradation via the immunoproteasome. Together, PARP9-DTX3L acts on host and pathogen to achieve a double layer of immunity within a safe reserve in the interferon signaling pathway.

Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (sTREM2) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). TREM2 plays a critical role in microglial activation, survival, and phagocytosis; however, the pathophysiological role of sTREM2 in AD is not well understood. Understanding the role of sTREM2 in AD may reveal new pathological mechanisms and lead to the identification of therapeutic targets. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic modifiers of CSF sTREM2 obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Common variants in the membrane-spanning 4-domains subfamily A (MS4A) gene region were associated with CSF sTREM2 concentrations (rs1582763; P = 1.15 × 10−15); this was replicated in independent datasets. The variants associated with increased CSF sTREM2 concentrations were associated with reduced AD risk and delayed age at onset of disease. The single-nucleotide polymorphism rs1582763 modified expression of the MS4A4A and MS4A6A genes in multiple tissues, suggesting that one or both of these genes are important for modulating sTREM2 production. Using human macrophages as a proxy for microglia, we found that MS4A4A and TREM2 colocalized on lipid rafts at the plasma membrane, that sTREM2 increased with MS4A4A overexpression, and that silencing of MS4A4A reduced sTREM2 production. These genetic, molecular, and cellular findings suggest that MS4A4A modulates sTREM2. These findings also provide a mechanistic explanation for the original GWAS signal in the MS4A locus for AD risk and indicate that TREM2 may be involved in AD pathogenesis not only in TREM2 risk-variant carriers but also in those with sporadic disease.

Inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit stereotyped traits that are variably expressed in each person. In experimental mouse models of chronic lung disease, these individual disease traits can be genetically segregated and thereby linked to distinct determinants. Functional genomic analysis indicates that at least one of these traits, mucous cell metaplasia, depends on members of the calcium-activated chloride channel (CLCA) gene family. Here we review advances in the biochemistry of the CLCA family and the evidence of a role for CLCA family members in the development of mucous cell metaplasia and possibly airway hyperreactivity in experimental models and in humans. Based on this information, we develop the model that CLCA proteins are not integral membrane proteins with ion channel function, but instead are secreted signaling molecules that specifically regulate airway target cells in healthy and disease conditions.

The protein Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) is an immunomodulatory receptor with a central role in myeloid cell activation and survival. In recent years, the importance of TREM2 has been highlighted by the identification of coding variants that increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Animal studies have further shown the importance of TREM2 in neurodegenerative and other inflammatory disease models including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. A mechanistic understanding of TREM2 function remains elusive, however, due in part to the absence of conclusive information regarding the identity of endogenous TREM2 ligands. While many TREM2 ligands have been proposed, their physiological role and mechanism of engagement remain to be determined. In this review, we highlight the suggested roles of TREM2 in these diseases, recent advances in our understanding of TREM2, and discuss putative TREM2-ligand interactions and their potential roles in signaling during health and disease. We develop a model based on the TREM2 structure to explain how different TREM2 ligands might interact with the receptor and how disease-risk variants may alter ligand interactions. Finally, we propose future experimental directions to establish the role and importance of these different interactions on TREM2 function.