Abstract
In response to infection, macrophages rapidly adapt their metabolic programs whereby enhanced glycolysis fuels specialized antimicrobial effector functions. We establish fungal melanin as an essential molecule required for the metabolic rewiring of macrophages during infection with the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Using different pharmacological and genetic tools, we reveal a molecular link between calcium sequestration by melanin inside the phagosome and induction of glycolysis required for efficient innate immune responses. By remodeling the intracellular calcium machinery and impairing signaling via calmodulin, melanin drives an immunometabolic signaling axis towards glycolysis involving the activation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF-1α) and that requires the phagosomal recruitment of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). These data demonstrate a pivotal mechanism in the immunometabolic regulation of macrophages during fungal infection and highlight the metabolic repurposing of immune cells as a potential therapeutic strategy.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 2282 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 11 |
Early online date | 8 May 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- Aspergillus
- melanin
- immunometabolism
- glycolysis
- calcium
- macrophage
- antifungal immunity
- invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
- ACTIVATION
- ASPERGILLUS-FUMIGATUS
- PHAGOCYTOSIS
- DENDRITIC CELL
- CONIDIA
- MTOR
- SUCCINATE-DEHYDROGENASE
- INHIBITION
- BIOSYNTHESIS
- CELLULAR-METABOLISM
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