Abstract
Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) is an intracellular macrophage-tropic pathogen with potential for causing fatal pyogranulomatous pneumonia in foals between 1 and 6 months of age. In this study, we sought to determine whether infection of macrophages with R. equi could lead to the induction of autophagy. Murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) were infected with R. equi for various time intervals and analyzed for upregulation of autophagy proteins and accumulation of autophagosomes relative to uninfected controls. Western blot analysis showed a progressive increase in LC3-II and Beclin1 levels in a time-dependent manner. The functional accumulation of autophagosomes detected with monodansylcadaverine further supported the enhanced induction of autophagy in BMDM infected with R. equi. In addition, infection of BMDM with R. equi induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a time-dependent manner. These data are consistent with reports documenting the role of ROS in induction of autophagy and indicate that the infection of macrophages by R. equi elicits innate host defense mechanisms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 8135737 |
| Journal | Scientifica |
| Volume | 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017 Prashanth Chandramani-Shivalingappa et al.
Funding
and 48 h suggesting that the autophagy machinery could play a role in innate host defense. T his study was supported by a progressive accumulation of autophagosomes as detected using a MDC detection assay.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
| National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Blood Pressure Program | 1R15HL103488-01 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Environmental Science
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences