Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Infected Macrophages with Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Microparticles Drives NFκB and Autophagy Dependent Bacillary Killing.
The emergence of multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has pushed our available repertoire of anti-TB therapies to the limit of effectiveness. This has increased the urgency to develop novel treatment modalities, and inhalable microparticle (MP) formulations are a promising option to target the site of infection. We have engineered poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) MPs which can carry a payload of anti-TB agents, and are successfully taken up by human alveolar macrophages. Even without a drug cargo, MPs can be potent immunogens; yet little is known about how they influence macrophage function in the setting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. To address this issue we infected THP-1 macrophages with Mtb H37Ra or H37Rv and treated with MPs. In controlled experiments we saw a reproducible reduction in bacillary viability when THP-1 macrophages were treated with drug-free MPs. NFκB activity was increased in MP-treated macrophages, although cytokine secretion was unaltered. Confocal microscopy of immortalized murine bone marrow-derived macrophages expressing GFP-tagged LC3 demonstrated induction of autophagy. Inhibition of caspases did not influence the MP-induced restriction of bacillary growth, however, blockade of NFκB or autophagy with pharmacological inhibitors reversed this MP effect on macrophage function. These data support harnessing inhaled PLGA MP-drug delivery systems as an immunotherapeutic in addition to serving as a vehicle for targeted drug delivery. Such "added value" could be exploited in the generation of inhaled vaccines as well as inhaled MDR-TB therapeutics when used as an adjunct to existing treatments.
Funding
: This work was supported by the Irish Health Research Board (http://www.hrb.ie/home/) under grant RP/2006/152 and HRB HRAPOR/2012/ 43 (SAC), HRB CSA/2012/16 and the Royal City of Dublin Hospital Trust, (JK) and Science Foundation Ireland (http://www.sfi.ie/) 08/RFP/BMT1689 (MOS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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This article is also available at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149167Published Citation
Lawlor C, O'Connor G, O'Leary S, Gallagher PJ, Cryan SA, Keane J, O'Sullivan MP. Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Infected Macrophages with Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Microparticles Drives NFκB and Autophagy Dependent Bacillary Killing. PLoS One. 2016;11(2):e0149167.Publication Date
2016-01-01External DOI
PubMed ID
26894562Department/Unit
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences