New Strategies for Expression and Purification of Recombinant Human RNASET2 Protein in Pichia pastoris

The human RNASET2 protein affects the polarization pattern of human macrophages in vitro

Macrophages represent key inflammatory cellular effectors of the innate immune response. Despite being widely acknowledged as professional phagocytes, the functional roles played by these cells have been progressively widened over the years to encompass regulation of the adaptive immune system, stimulation or suppression of cancer cell growth and tissue remodeling. These diverse functional features have led to the concept of "macrophage plasticity", i.e. the ability of these cells to express a wide range of phenotypes endowed with different functional roles. Several activation programs have been described for mammalian macrophages, based mainly on their differential transcriptional profiles. Based on established in vitro experimental conditions, many researchers currently refer to the M1 (or M1-like) and M2 (or M2-like) terms to describe the two extremes of a rather broad spectrum of polarization states that macrophages can experience in vivo. In light of the widely recognized opposite roles of M1-like and M2-like macrophages on cancer growth, and our largely incomplete knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment of the M1-like versus M2-like balance within a tumor mass, we report here results from in vitro assays pointing at the human RNASET2 gene as a potential regulator of the balance between M1-like/M2-like macrophage polarization. Not only do our results confirm previous in vivo data, thus further supporting a role for this pleiotropic protein in the innate immune system, but they also define RNASET2 as a new molecular target with potential applications for in vivo reprogramming of macrophage polarization, an increasingly appraised anticancer strategy.

Novel RNASET2 Pathogenic Variants in an East Asian Child with Delayed Psychomotor Development

INTRODUCTION

RNASET2 mutation has been reported in patients with cystic leukoencephalopathy without megalencephaly and the Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome. Both disorders are Mendelian mimics of congenital cytomegalovirus infection with overlapping features, including leukoencephalopathy, white matter alterations, intracranial calcification, delayed psychomotor development, intelligence disability and seizures. Only eight families with RNASET2 mutation have been previously reported.

METHODS

Whole exome sequencing was performed and copy number variants were described by read-depth strategy.

RESULTS

We identified a novel nonsense variant c.128G>A (p. W43^*) and a 430 Kb 6q27 microdeletion encompassing RNASET2. Our patient did not show anterior temporal lobe subcortical cysts, hearing loss, dystonia or extra-neurological features.

CONCLUSION

Our results provided further genetic and phenotypic information of RNASET2 mutation in Chinese patients and highlighted the importance for physicians to consider RNASET2-related disorders when diagnosing patients with congenital brain infection-like phenotypes.