Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). In the lungs, macrophages and neutrophils are the first immune cells that have contact with the infecting mycobacteria. Neutrophils are phagocytic cells that kill microorganisms through several mechanisms, which include the lytic enzymes and antimicrobial peptides that are found in their lysosomes, and the production of reactive oxygen species. Neutrophils also release extracellular vesicles (EVs) (100–1,000 nm in diameter) to the extracellular milieu; these EVs consist of a lipid bilayer surrounding a hydrophilic core and participate in intercellular communication. We previously demonstrated that human neutrophils infected in vitro with Mtb H37Rv release EVs (EV-TB), but the effect of these EVs on other cells relevant for the control of Mtb infection, such as macrophages, has not been completely analyzed. In this study, we characterized the EVs produced by non-stimulated human neutrophils (EV-NS), and the EVs produced by neutrophils stimulated with an activator (PMA), a peptide derived from bacterial proteins (fMLF) or Mtb, and observed that the four EVs differed in their size. Ligands for toll-like receptor (TLR) 2/6 were detected in EV-TB, and these EVs favored a modest increase in the expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80, a higher expression of CD86, and the production of higher amounts of TNF-α and IL-6, and of lower amounts of TGF-β, in autologous human macrophages, compared with the other EVs. EV-TB reduced the amount of intracellular Mtb in macrophages, and increased superoxide anion production in these cells. TLR2/6 ligation and superoxide anion production are known inducers of autophagy; accordingly, we found that EV-TB induced higher expression of the autophagy-related marker LC3-II in macrophages, and the co-localization of LC3-II with Mtb inside infected macrophages. The intracellular mycobacterial load increased when autophagy was inhibited with wortmannin in these cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that neutrophils produce different EVs in response to diverse activators, and that EV-TB activate macrophages and promote the clearance of intracellular Mtb through early superoxide anion production and autophagy induction, which is a novel role for neutrophil-derived EVs in the immune response to Mtb.
Background SARS-CoV-2 infection in children is generally milder than in adults, yet a proportion of cases result in hyperinflammatory conditions often including myocarditis. Methods To better understand these cases, we applied a multi-parametric approach to the study of blood cells of 56 children hospitalized with suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Plasma cytokine and chemokine levels and blood cellular composition were measured, alongside gene expression both at the bulk and single cell levels. Findings The most severe forms of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children related to SARS-CoV-2 (MIS-C), that resulted in myocarditis, were characterized by elevated levels of pro-angiogenesis cytokines and several chemokines. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses identified a unique monocyte/dendritic cell gene signature that correlated with the occurrence of severe myocarditis, characterized by sustained NF-κB activity, TNF-α signaling, associated with decreased gene expression of NF-κB inhibitors. We also found a weak response to type-I and type-II interferons, hyperinflammation and response to oxidative stress related to increased HIF-1α and VEGF signaling. Conclusions These results provide potential for a better understanding of disease pathophysiology. Funding Agence National de la Recherche (Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Imagine, grant ANR-10-IAHU-01, Recherche Hospitalo-Universitaire, grant ANR-18-RHUS-0010, Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘‘Milieu Intérieur”, grant ANR-10-LABX-69-01, ANR-flash Covid19 “AIROCovid” and “CoVarImm”), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and the “URGENCE COVID-19” fundraising campaign of Institut Pasteur
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