IL-21/type I interferon interplay regulates neutrophil-dependent innate immune responses to Staphylococcus aureus

  1. Rosanne Spolski  Is a corresponding author
  2. Erin E West
  3. Peng Li
  4. Sharon Veenbergen
  5. Sunny Yung
  6. Majid Kazemian
  7. Jangsuk Oh
  8. Zu-Xi Yu
  9. Alexandra F Freeman
  10. Stephen M Holland
  11. Philip M Murphy
  12. Warren J Leonard  Is a corresponding author
  1. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, United States
  2. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Netherlands
  3. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, United States

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major hospital- and community-acquired pathogen, but the mechanisms underlying host-defense to MRSA remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of IL-21 in this process. When administered intra-tracheally into wild-type mice, IL-21 induced granzymes and augmented clearance of pulmonary MRSA but not when neutrophils were depleted or a granzyme B inhibitor was added. Correspondingly, IL-21 induced MRSA killing by human peripheral blood neutrophils. Unexpectedly, however, basal MRSA clearance was enhanced when IL-21 signaling was blocked, both in Il21r KO mice and in wild-type mice injected with IL-21R-Fc fusion-protein. This correlated with increased type I interferon and an IFN-related gene signature, and indeed anti-IFNAR1 treatment diminished MRSA clearance in these animals. Moreover, we found that IFNb induced granzyme B and promoted MRSA clearance in a granzyme B-dependent fashion. These results reveal an interplay between IL-21 and type-I IFN in the innate immune response to MRSA.

Data availability

All sequencing data in the final manuscript will be deposited in GEO.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Rosanne Spolski

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    For correspondence
    spolskir@nhlbi.nih.gov
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Erin E West

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Peng Li

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Sharon Veenbergen

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Sunny Yung

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Majid Kazemian

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7080-8820
  7. Jangsuk Oh

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Zu-Xi Yu

    The Pathology Core, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Alexandra F Freeman

    Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Stephen M Holland

    Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  11. Philip M Murphy

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  12. Warren J Leonard

    Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and the Immunology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States
    For correspondence
    wjl@helix.nih.gov
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5740-7448

Funding

National Institutes of Health (Division of Intramural Research, NHLBI)

  • Warren J Leonard

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: Experiments involving animals were performed under protocols (H-0087R4) approved by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Animal Care and Use Committee and followed National Institutes of Health guidelines for use of animals in intramural research.

Human subjects: Blood samples were obtain from normal donors from the NIH Blood Bank under a waiver from the NIH Office of Human Subjects research. Blood samples were also obtained from AD-HIES patients who had given informed consent under an NIH IRB-approved protocol.

Copyright

This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

Metrics

  • 2,377
    views
  • 322
    downloads
  • 18
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Rosanne Spolski
  2. Erin E West
  3. Peng Li
  4. Sharon Veenbergen
  5. Sunny Yung
  6. Majid Kazemian
  7. Jangsuk Oh
  8. Zu-Xi Yu
  9. Alexandra F Freeman
  10. Stephen M Holland
  11. Philip M Murphy
  12. Warren J Leonard
(2019)
IL-21/type I interferon interplay regulates neutrophil-dependent innate immune responses to Staphylococcus aureus
eLife 8:e45501.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45501

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45501

Further reading

    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    Eugenio Antonio Carrera Silva, Juliana Puyssegur, Andrea Emilse Errasti
    Review Article

    The gut biome, a complex ecosystem of micro- and macro-organisms, plays a crucial role in human health. A disruption in this evolutive balance, particularly during early life, can lead to immune dysregulation and inflammatory disorders. ‘Biome repletion’ has emerged as a potential therapeutic approach, introducing live microbes or helminth-derived products to restore immune balance. While helminth therapy has shown some promise, significant challenges remain in optimizing clinical trials. Factors such as patient genetics, disease status, helminth species, and the optimal timing and dosage of their products or metabolites must be carefully considered to train the immune system effectively. We aim to discuss how helminths and their products induce trained immunity as prospective to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The molecular repertoire of helminth excretory/secretory products (ESPs), which includes proteins, peptides, lipids, and RNA-carrying extracellular vesicles (EVs), underscores their potential to modulate innate immune cells and hematopoietic stem cell precursors. Mimicking natural delivery mechanisms like synthetic exosomes could revolutionize EV-based therapies and optimizing production and delivery of ESP will be crucial for their translation into clinical applications. By deciphering and harnessing helminth-derived products’ diverse modes of action, we can unleash their full therapeutic potential and pave the way for innovative treatments.

    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    Graham L Barlow, Christian M Schürch ... Paul L Bollyky
    Research Article

    In autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D), immune cells infiltrate and destroy the islets of Langerhans — islands of endocrine tissue dispersed throughout the pancreas. However, the contribution of cellular programs outside islets to insulitis is unclear. Here, using CO-Detection by indEXing (CODEX) tissue imaging and cadaveric pancreas samples, we simultaneously examine islet and extra-islet inflammation in human T1D. We identify four sub-states of inflamed islets characterized by the activation profiles of CD8+T cells enriched in islets relative to the surrounding tissue. We further find that the extra-islet space of lobules with extensive islet-infiltration differs from the extra-islet space of less infiltrated areas within the same tissue section. Finally, we identify lymphoid structures away from islets enriched in CD45RA+ T cells — a population also enriched in one of the inflamed islet sub-states. Together, these data help define the coordination between islets and the extra-islet pancreas in the pathogenesis of human T1D.