Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing severe infections often characterized by robust neutrophilic infiltration. Neutrophils provide the first line of defense against P. aeruginosa. Aside from their defense conferred by phagocytic activity, neutrophils also release neutrophil e...

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Main Authors: Madison Floyd, Matthew Winn, Christian Cullen, Payel Sil, Benoit Chassaing, Dae-Goon Yoo, Andrew T Gewirtz, Joanna B Goldberg, Linda L McCarter, Balázs Rada
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-11-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005987
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author Madison Floyd
Matthew Winn
Christian Cullen
Payel Sil
Benoit Chassaing
Dae-Goon Yoo
Andrew T Gewirtz
Joanna B Goldberg
Linda L McCarter
Balázs Rada
author_facet Madison Floyd
Matthew Winn
Christian Cullen
Payel Sil
Benoit Chassaing
Dae-Goon Yoo
Andrew T Gewirtz
Joanna B Goldberg
Linda L McCarter
Balázs Rada
author_sort Madison Floyd
collection DOAJ
description Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing severe infections often characterized by robust neutrophilic infiltration. Neutrophils provide the first line of defense against P. aeruginosa. Aside from their defense conferred by phagocytic activity, neutrophils also release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to immobilize bacteria. Although NET formation is an important antimicrobial process, the details of its mechanism are largely unknown. The identity of the main components of P. aeruginosa responsible for triggering NET formation is unclear. In this study, our focus was to identify the main bacterial factors mediating NET formation and to gain insight into the underlying mechanism. We found that P. aeruginosa in its exponential growth phase promoted strong NET formation in human neutrophils while its NET-inducing ability dramatically decreased at later stages of bacterial growth. We identified the flagellum as the primary component of P. aeruginosa responsible for inducing NET extrusion as flagellum-deficient bacteria remained seriously impaired in triggering NET formation. Purified P. aeruginosa flagellin, the monomeric component of the flagellum, does not stimulate NET formation in human neutrophils. P. aeruginosa-induced NET formation is independent of the flagellum-sensing receptors TLR5 and NLRC4 in both human and mouse neutrophils. Interestingly, we found that flagellar motility, not flagellum binding to neutrophils per se, mediates NET release induced by flagellated bacteria. Immotile, flagellar motor-deficient bacterial strains producing paralyzed flagella did not induce NET formation. Forced contact between immotile P. aeruginosa and neutrophils restored their NET-inducing ability. Both the motAB and motCD genetic loci encoding flagellar motor genes contribute to maximal NET release; however the motCD genes play a more important role. Phagocytosis of P. aeruginosa and superoxide production by neutrophils were also largely dependent upon a functional flagellum. Taken together, the flagellum is herein presented for the first time as the main organelle of planktonic bacteria responsible for mediating NET release. Furthermore, flagellar motility, rather than binding of the flagellum to flagellum-sensing receptors on host cells, is required for P. aeruginosa to induce NET release.
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spelling doaj.art-2d35d866abed4523b358caf71358d0ad2022-12-21T22:36:13ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742016-11-011211e100598710.1371/journal.ppat.1005987Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Madison FloydMatthew WinnChristian CullenPayel SilBenoit ChassaingDae-Goon YooAndrew T GewirtzJoanna B GoldbergLinda L McCarterBalázs RadaPseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing severe infections often characterized by robust neutrophilic infiltration. Neutrophils provide the first line of defense against P. aeruginosa. Aside from their defense conferred by phagocytic activity, neutrophils also release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to immobilize bacteria. Although NET formation is an important antimicrobial process, the details of its mechanism are largely unknown. The identity of the main components of P. aeruginosa responsible for triggering NET formation is unclear. In this study, our focus was to identify the main bacterial factors mediating NET formation and to gain insight into the underlying mechanism. We found that P. aeruginosa in its exponential growth phase promoted strong NET formation in human neutrophils while its NET-inducing ability dramatically decreased at later stages of bacterial growth. We identified the flagellum as the primary component of P. aeruginosa responsible for inducing NET extrusion as flagellum-deficient bacteria remained seriously impaired in triggering NET formation. Purified P. aeruginosa flagellin, the monomeric component of the flagellum, does not stimulate NET formation in human neutrophils. P. aeruginosa-induced NET formation is independent of the flagellum-sensing receptors TLR5 and NLRC4 in both human and mouse neutrophils. Interestingly, we found that flagellar motility, not flagellum binding to neutrophils per se, mediates NET release induced by flagellated bacteria. Immotile, flagellar motor-deficient bacterial strains producing paralyzed flagella did not induce NET formation. Forced contact between immotile P. aeruginosa and neutrophils restored their NET-inducing ability. Both the motAB and motCD genetic loci encoding flagellar motor genes contribute to maximal NET release; however the motCD genes play a more important role. Phagocytosis of P. aeruginosa and superoxide production by neutrophils were also largely dependent upon a functional flagellum. Taken together, the flagellum is herein presented for the first time as the main organelle of planktonic bacteria responsible for mediating NET release. Furthermore, flagellar motility, rather than binding of the flagellum to flagellum-sensing receptors on host cells, is required for P. aeruginosa to induce NET release.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005987
spellingShingle Madison Floyd
Matthew Winn
Christian Cullen
Payel Sil
Benoit Chassaing
Dae-Goon Yoo
Andrew T Gewirtz
Joanna B Goldberg
Linda L McCarter
Balázs Rada
Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
PLoS Pathogens
title Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
title_full Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
title_fullStr Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
title_full_unstemmed Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
title_short Swimming Motility Mediates the Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Induced by Flagellated Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
title_sort swimming motility mediates the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps induced by flagellated pseudomonas aeruginosa
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005987
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