PUBLICATION

Innate immunity. A Spaetzle-like role for nerve growth factor β in vertebrate immunity to Staphylococcus aureus

Authors
Hepburn, L., Prajsnar, T.K., Klapholz, C., Moreno, P., Loynes, C.A., Ogryzko, N.V., Brown, K., Schiebler, M., Hegyi, K., Antrobus, R., Hammond, K.L., Connolly, J., Ochoa, B., Bryant, C., Otto, M., Surewaard, B., Seneviratne, S.L., Grogono, D.M., Cachat, J., Ny, T., Kaser, A., Török, M.E., Peacock, S.J., Holden, M., Blundell, T., Wang, L., Ligoxygakis, P., Minichiello, L., Woods, C.G., Foster, S.J., Renshaw, S.A., Floto, R.A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-141102-5
Date
2014
Source
Science (New York, N.Y.)   346: 641-6 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hammond, Katherine L., Loynes, Catherine, Prajsnar, Thomasz, Renshaw, Steve A.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Drosophila melanogaster/genetics
  • Drosophila melanogaster/immunology
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions/genetics
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions/immunology
  • Humans
  • Macrophages/immunology
  • Nerve Growth Factor/genetics
  • Nerve Growth Factor/immunology*
  • Phagocytosis/genetics
  • Phagocytosis/immunology
  • Receptor, trkA/genetics
  • Receptor, trkA/immunology*
  • Staphylococcal Infections/genetics
  • Staphylococcal Infections/immunology*
  • Staphylococcus aureus/immunology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/immunology
PubMed
25359976 Full text @ Science
Abstract
Many key components of innate immunity to infection are shared between Drosophila and humans. However, the fly Toll ligand Spaetzle is not thought to have a vertebrate equivalent. We have found that the structurally related cystine-knot protein, nerve growth factor β (NGFβ), plays an unexpected Spaetzle-like role in immunity to Staphylococcus aureus infection in chordates. Deleterious mutations of either human NGFβ or its high-affinity receptor tropomyosin-related kinase receptor A (TRKA) were associated with severe S. aureus infections. NGFβ was released by macrophages in response to S. aureus exoproteins through activation of the NOD-like receptors NLRP3 and NLRP4 and enhanced phagocytosis and superoxide-dependent killing, stimulated proinflammatory cytokine production, and promoted calcium-dependent neutrophil recruitment. TrkA knockdown in zebrafish increased susceptibility to S. aureus infection, confirming an evolutionarily conserved role for NGFβ-TRKA signaling in pathogen-specific host immunity.
Genes / Markers
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Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping