Antigen Presentation and Autophagy in Teleost Adaptive Immunity

Infectious diseases are a burden for aquaculture. Antigen processing and presentation (APP) to the immune effector cells that fight pathogens is key in the adaptive immune response. At the core of the adaptive immunity that appeared in lower vertebrates during evolution are the variable genes encoding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). MHC class I molecules mainly present peptides processed in the cytosol by the proteasome and transported to the cell surface of all cells through secretory compartments. Professional antigen-presenting cells (pAPC) also express MHC class II molecules, which normally present peptides processed from exogenous antigens through lysosomal pathways. Autophagy is an intracellular self-degradation process that is conserved in all eukaryotes and is induced by starvation to contribute to cellular homeostasis. Self-digestion during autophagy mainly occurs by the fusion of autophagosomes, which engulf portions of cytosol and fuse with lysosomes (macroautophagy) or assisted by chaperones (chaperone-mediated autophagy, CMA) that deliver proteins to lysosomes. Thus, during self-degradation, antigens can be processed to be presented by the MHC to immune effector cells, thus, linking autophagy to APP. This review is focused on the essential components of the APP that are conserved in teleost fish and the increasing evidence related to the modulation of APP and autophagy during pathogen infection.

Selenium donor restricts the intracellular growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis through the induction of c-Jun-mediated both canonical autophagy and LC3-associated phagocytosis of alveolar macrophages

The relationship between selenium and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection has been reported previously; however, the specific mechanism is still not clear. In this study, selenium levels decreased in the serum of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) compared with the healthy controls; they were associated with the treatment outcome of such patients. The qRT-PCR assay revealed that selenium might function through proinflammatory and autophagy pathways. The treatment with methylseleninic acid (MSeA), a selenium donor, blocked the M1 polarization of MTB-infected macrophages through the induction of both canonical autophagy and LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP). c-Jun is vital in mediating the MSeA-triggered canonical autophagy and LAP process, thus displaying a restricting function against intracellular MTB. An in vivo study confirmed that the activity of MSeA was shown through enhancing macrophage autophagy related pathway. The results showed that selenium had a restricting function against intracellular MTB by regulating autophagy in macrophages. The findings might provide a novel direction for PTB therapy in the future.

A triterpenoid Nrf2 activator, RS9, promotes LC3-associated phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments in a p62-independent manner

Daily phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments (POS) by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is required to sustain the visual function. Recent reports revealed that POS phagocytosis is progressed with LC3-associated manner. Patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) had impaired autophagic degradation in the RPE. Nrf2 is a key antioxidant transcriptional regulator that ameliorates oxidative stress which is another contributor to AMD pathogenesis. Nrf2 activation also induces the autophagy receptor protein, p62. However, the role of the Nrf2-p62 pathway in LC3-associated phagocytosis of POS is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationships between Nrf2 activation and POS phagocytosis progression. A triterpenoid Nrf2 activator, RS9, facilitated POS uptake into phagolysosomes in RPE cells. RS9 also induced the expression of the autophagy-related proteins, LC3-II and p62, as well as phase-2 antioxidant enzymes. The effect of RS9 on POS phagocytosis was abolished by autophagy inhibition. Unexpectedly, p62 knockdown did not inhibit the effect of RS9 on POS phagocytosis, although, RS9-mediated LC3-II induction by RS9 was inhibited in p62 knockdown RPE cells. We also found that RS9 activated the AMPKα-mTOR signaling pathway earlier than p62 induction. Knockdown of AMPKα₁, but not α₂, inhibited the RS9-mediated activation of LC3-associated phagocytosis and RS9-mediated induction of LC3-II. Furthermore, intravitreal treatment of RS9 to adult mice decreased the size of POS phagolysosomes after light exposure. Collectively, these results showed that RS9-mediated activation of POS phagocytosis was mainly ascribed to the enhancement of autophagy via AMPKα₁ activation. Our findings reveal novel effects of Nrf2 and AMPK α₁ activation that contribute to the maintenance of the RPE function via LC3-associated POS phagocytosis.