PUBLICATION

Rac2 Functions in Both Neutrophils and Macrophages To Mediate Motility and Host Defense in Larval Zebrafish

Authors
Rosowski, E.E., Deng, Q., Keller, N.P., Huttenlocher, A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-161113-3
Date
2016
Source
Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)   197(12): 4780-4790 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Huttenlocher, Anna, Rosowski, Emily E.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Movement/genetics
  • Cell Polarity
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Fish Diseases/immunology*
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Innate
  • Larva
  • Macrophages/immunology*
  • Mutation/genetics
  • Neutrophils/immunology*
  • Pseudomonas Infections/genetics
  • Pseudomonas Infections/immunology*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa/immunology*
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism*
  • rac GTP-Binding Proteins/genetics
  • rac GTP-Binding Proteins/metabolism*
  • rac1 GTP-Binding Protein/genetics
  • rac1 GTP-Binding Protein/metabolism
PubMed
27837107 Full text @ J. Immunol.
Abstract
Leukocyte motility is required for host defense responses. Rac-family Rho GTPases are implicated in leukocyte function; however, the distinct roles of different Rac isoforms in host defense in vivo have remained unclear. In this study, we generated Rac2-deficient zebrafish using transcription activator-like effector nucleases to directly compare the role of Rac2 in vivo in neutrophils and macrophages in motility and the response to infection. This zebrafish larval model is highly amenable to live imaging of leukocyte behavior, and we report that in rac2-/- larvae both neutrophils and macrophages are defective in basic motility, leading to impaired responses to localized wounds or infections. rac2-/- larvae are highly susceptible to infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be almost fully rescued by ectopic expression of either Rac2 or Rac1 specifically in neutrophils, indicating that these isoforms have partially overlapping functions in vivo. Rescue of Rac2 expression specifically in macrophages also confers resistance to Pseudomonas infection, highlighting an important role for Rac2 in this leukocyte population as well. Surprisingly, in contrast to neutrophils expressing a Rac2 dominant inhibitory human disease mutation, rac2-/- neutrophils do not have altered polarity or mobilization from hematopoietic tissue, suggesting that a different Rac isoform, such as Rac1, also contributes to these phenotypes in vivo.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping