Functional plasticity shapes neutrophil response to Leishmania major infection in susceptible and resistant strains of mice

• Published in: PLoS pathogens Vol. 20; no. 10; p. e1012592
• Main Authors: DeSouza-Vieira, Thiago, Pretti, Marco Antônio M, Lima Gomes, Phillipe Souza, Paula-Neto, Heitor A, Goundry, Amy, Nascimento, Michelle T, Ganesan, Sundar, Gonçalves da Silva, Triciana, Kamenyeva, Olena, Kabat, Juraj, Manzella-Lapeira, Javier, B Canto, Fábio, Fraga-Junior, Vanderlei da Silva, Eustáquio Lopes, Mateus, Gomes Vaz, Leonardo, Pessenda, Gabriela, Paun, Andrea, Freitas-Mesquita, Anita L, Meyer-Fernandes, José Roberto, Boroni, Mariana, Bellio, Maria, Batista Menezes, Gustavo, Brzostowski, Joseph, Mottram, Jeremy, Sacks, David, Lima, Ana Paula C A, Saraiva, Elvira M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.10.2024
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Care and treatment; Cell death; Diagnosis; Disease Susceptibility; DNA microarrays; Extracellular Traps - immunology; Female; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Infection; Leishmania major - immunology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - immunology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - parasitology; Measurement; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neutrophils; Neutrophils - immunology; Phagocytosis; Brazil
• ISSN: 1553-7374; 1553-7366; 1553-7374
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012592

Neutrophils rapidly infiltrate sites of infection and possess several microbicidal strategies, such as neutrophil extracellular traps release and phagocytosis. Enhanced neutrophil infiltration is associated with higher susceptibility to Leishmania infection, but neutrophil effector response contribution to this phenotype is uncertain. Here, we show that neutrophils from susceptible BALB/c mice (B/c) produce more NETs in response to Leishmania major than those from resistant C57BL/6 mice (B6), which are more phagocytic. The absence of neutrophil elastase contributes to phagocytosis regulation. Microarray analysis shows enrichment of genes involved in NET formation (mpo, pi3kcg, il1b) in B/c, while B6 shows upregulation of genes involved in phagocytosis and cell death (Arhgap12, casp9, mlkl, FasL). scRNA-seq in L. major-infected B6 showed heterogeneity in the pool of intralesional neutrophils, and we identified the N1 subset as the putative subpopulation involved with phagocytosis. In vivo, imaging validates NET formation in infected B/c ears where NETing neutrophils were mainly uninfected cells. NET digestion in vivo augmented parasite lymphatic drainage. Hence, a balance between NET formation and phagocytosis in neutrophils may contribute to the divergent phenotype observed in these mice.