Propranolol Promotes Bone Formation and Limits Resorption Through Novel Mechanisms During Anabolic Parathyroid Hormone Treatment in Female C57BL/6J Mice

Although the nonselective β-blocker, propranolol, improves bone density with parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment in mice, the mechanism of this effect is unclear. To address this, we used a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to address how propranolol influences bone remodeling in the context of PTH treatment. In female C57BL/6J mice, intermittent PTH and propranolol administration had complementary effects in the trabecular bone of the distal femur and fifth lumbar vertebra (L₅ ), with combination treatment achieving microarchitectural parameters beyond that of PTH alone. Combined treatment improved the serum bone formation marker, procollagen type 1 N propeptide (P1NP), but did not impact other histomorphometric parameters relating to osteoblast function at the L₅ . In vitro, propranolol amplified the acute, PTH-induced, intracellular calcium signal in osteoblast-like cells. The most striking finding, however, was suppression of PTH-induced bone resorption. Despite this, PTH-induced receptor activator of nuclear factor κ-B ligand (RANKL) mRNA and protein levels were unaltered by propranolol, which led us to hypothesize that propranolol could act directly on osteoclasts. Using in situ methods, we found Adrb2 expression in osteoclasts in vivo, suggesting β-blockers may directly impact osteoclasts. Consistent with this, we found propranolol directly suppresses osteoclast differentiation in vitro. Taken together, this work suggests a strong anti-osteoclastic effect of nonselective β-blockers in vivo, indicating that combining propranolol with PTH could be beneficial to patients with extremely low bone density. © 2022 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Interact To Enhance Virulence of Mucosal Infection in Transparent Zebrafish

Polymicrobial infections often include both fungi and bacteria and can complicate patient treatment and resolution of infection. Cross-kingdom interactions among bacteria, fungi, and/or the immune system during infection can enhance or block virulence mechanisms and influence disease progression. The fungus Candida albicans and the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa are coisolated in the context of polymicrobial infection at a variety of sites throughout the body, including mucosal tissues such as the lung. In vitro, C. albicans and P. aeruginosa have a bidirectional and largely antagonistic relationship. Their interactions in vivo remain poorly understood, specifically regarding host responses in mediating infection. In this study, we examine trikingdom interactions using a transparent juvenile zebrafish to model mucosal lung infection and show that C. albicans and P. aeruginosa are synergistically virulent. We find that high C. albicans burden, fungal epithelial invasion, swimbladder edema, and epithelial extrusion events serve as predictive factors for mortality in our infection model. Longitudinal analyses of fungal, bacterial, and immune dynamics during coinfection suggest that enhanced morbidity is associated with exacerbated C. albicans pathogenesis and elevated inflammation. The P. aeruginosa quorum-sensing-deficient ΔlasR mutant also enhances C. albicans pathogenicity in coinfection and induces extrusion of the swimbladder. Together, these observations suggest that C. albicans-P. aeruginosa cross talk in vivo can benefit both organisms to the detriment of the host.

Polyclonal anti-Candida antibody improves phagocytosis and overall outcome in zebrafish model of disseminated candidiasis

Fungal infections are a major cause of animal and plant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Effective biological therapeutics could complement current antifungal drugs, but understanding of their in vivo mechanisms has been hampered by technical barriers to intravital imaging of host-pathogen interactions. Here we characterize the fungal infection of zebrafish as a model to understand the mechanism-of-action for biological antifungal therapeutics through intravital imaging of these transparent animals. We find that non-specific human IgG enhances phagocytosis by zebrafish phagocytes in vivo. Polyclonal anti-Candida antibodies enhance containment of fungi in vivo and promote survival. Analysis suggests that early phagocytic containment is a strong prognostic indicator for overall survival. Although polyclonal anti-Candida antibodies protect against disease, this is not necessarily the case for individual monoclonal anti-Candida antibodies. Thus, the zebrafish appears to provide a useful model host for testing if a biological therapeutic promotes phagocytosis in vivo and enhances protection against candidemia.

Phenotypic Plasticity Regulates Candida albicans Interactions and Virulence in the Vertebrate Host

Phenotypic diversity is critical to the lifestyles of many microbial species, enabling rapid responses to changes in environmental conditions. In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, cells exhibit heritable switching between two phenotypic states, white and opaque, which yield differences in mating, filamentous growth, and interactions with immune cells in vitro. Here, we address the in vivo virulence properties of the two cell states in a zebrafish model of infection. Multiple attributes were compared including the stability of phenotypic states, filamentation, virulence, dissemination, and phagocytosis by immune cells, and phenotypes equated across three different host temperatures. Importantly, we found that both white and opaque cells could establish a lethal systemic infection. The relative virulence of the two cell types was temperature dependent; virulence was similar at 25°C, but at higher temperatures (30 and 33°C) white cells were significantly more virulent than opaque cells. Despite the difference in virulence, fungal burden, and dissemination were similar between cells in the two states. Additionally, both white and opaque cells exhibited robust filamentation during infection and blocking filamentation resulted in decreased virulence, establishing that this program is critical for pathogenesis in both cell states. Interactions between C. albicans cells and immune cells differed between white and opaque states. Macrophages and neutrophils preferentially phagocytosed white cells over opaque cells in vitro, and neutrophils showed preferential phagocytosis of white cells in vivo. Together, these studies distinguish the properties of white and opaque cells in a vertebrate host, and establish that the two cell types demonstrate both important similarities and key differences during infection.

Modeling mucosal candidiasis in larval zebrafish by swimbladder injection

Early defense against mucosal pathogens consists of both an epithelial barrier and innate immune cells. The immunocompetency of both, and their intercommunication, are paramount for the protection against infections. The interactions of epithelial and innate immune cells with a pathogen are best investigated in vivo, where complex behavior unfolds over time and space. However, existing models do not allow for easy spatio-temporal imaging of the battle with pathogens at the mucosal level. The model developed here creates a mucosal infection by direct injection of the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, into the swimbladder of juvenile zebrafish. The resulting infection enables high-resolution imaging of epithelial and innate immune cell behavior throughout the development of mucosal disease. The versatility of this method allows for interrogation of the host to probe the detailed sequence of immune events leading to phagocyte recruitment and to examine the roles of particular cell types and molecular pathways in protection. In addition, the behavior of the pathogen as a function of immune attack can be imaged simultaneously by using fluorescent protein-expressing C. albicans. Increased spatial resolution of the host-pathogen interaction is also possible using the described rapid swimbladder dissection technique. The mucosal infection model described here is straightforward and highly reproducible, making it a valuable tool for the study of mucosal candidiasis. This system may also be broadly translatable to other mucosal pathogens such as mycobacterial, bacterial or viral microbes that normally infect through epithelial surfaces.