Autophagy facilitates intracellular survival of pathogenic rickettsiae in macrophages via evasion of autophagosomal maturation and reduction of microbicidal pro-inflammatory IL-1 cytokine responses.

Abstract

The genus Rickettsia is comprised of obligate intracellular bacterial parasites of a wide range of arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Some Rickettsia species (spp.) are responsible for serious human diseases globally. One interesting feature of these stealthy group of pathogens is their ability to exploit host cytosolic defense responses to their benefits. However, the precise mechanism by which pathogenic Rickettsia spp. elude host immune defense responses remains to be determined. Here, we observed that pathogenic Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia rickettsii (Sheila Smith [SS]), but not non-pathogenic Rickettsia montanensis, become ubiquitinated and induce autophagy upon entry into bone marrow-derived macrophages. Moreover, unlike R. montanensis, both R. typhi and R. rickettsii (SS) colocalized with LC3B and not with Lamp2 upon host cell entry. Finally, we observed that both R. typhi and R. rickettsii, but not R. montanensis, reduce pro-inflammatory interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokine responses, likely via an autophagy-mediated mechanism. In summary, we identified a previously unappreciated pathway by which both pathogenic R. typhi and R. rickettsii (SS), but not the non-pathogenic R. montanensis, become ubiquitinated, induce autophagy, avoid autolysosomal destruction, and reduce microbicidal IL-1 cytokine responses to establish an intracytosolic niche in macrophages. IMPORTANCE Rickettsia spp. are intracellular bacterial parasites of a wide range of arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Some rickettsiae are responsible for several severe human diseases globally. One interesting feature of these pathogens is their ability to exploit host cytosolic defense responses to their benefits. However, the precise mechanism by which pathogenic Rickettsia spp. elude host defense responses remains unclear. Here, we observed that pathogenic Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia rickettsii (Sheila Smith [SS]), but not non-pathogenic Rickettsia montanensis, become ubiquitinated and induce autophagy upon entry into macrophages. Moreover, unlike R. montanensis, R. typhi and R. rickettsii (SS) colocalized with LC3B but not with Lamp2 upon host cell entry. Finally, we observed that both R. typhi and R. rickettsii (SS), but not R. montanensis, reduce pro-inflammatory interleukin-1 (IL-1) responses, likely via an autophagy-mediated mechanism. In summary, we identified a previously unappreciated pathway by which both pathogenic R. typhi and R. rickettsii (SS) become ubiquitinated, induce autophagy, avoid autolysosomal destruction, and reduce microbicidal IL-1 cytokine responses to establish an intracytosolic niche in macrophages.