A Novel Interaction of Translocator Protein 18 kDa (TSPO) with NADPH Oxidase in Microglia

• Published in: Molecular neurobiology Vol. 57; no. 11; pp. 4467 - 4487
• Main Authors: Loth, Meredith K., Guariglia, Sara R., Re, Diane B., Perez, Juan, de Paiva, Vanessa Nunes, Dziedzic, Jennifer L., Chambers, Jeremy W., Azzam, Diana J., Guilarte, Tomás R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Astrocytes; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Central nervous system; CYBB protein; Cytochrome b558; Electron microscopy; Endoplasmic reticulum; Glial cells; Homeostasis; Immunofluorescence; Immunoprecipitation; Inflammation; Lipopolysaccharides; Localization; Membrane proteins; Microglia; Mitochondria; NAD(P)H oxidase; Neurobiology; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropil; Neurosciences; Original; Original Article; p22phox Protein; Proteins; Reactive oxygen species; Stress response; TSPO; Redox homeostasis; Heme; ROS; NOX2; Microglia
• ISSN: 0893-7648; 1559-1182
• DOI: 10.1007/s12035-020-02042-w

In the brain neuropil, translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) is a stress response protein that is upregulated in microglia and astrocytes in diverse central nervous system pathologies. TSPO is widely used as a biomarker of neuroinflammation in preclinical and clinical neuroimaging studies. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on the function(s) of TSPO in glial cells. In this study, we explored a putative interaction between TSPO and NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) in microglia. We found that TSPO associates with gp91 phox and p22 phox , the principal subunits of NOX2 in primary murine microglia. The association of TSPO with gp91 phox and p22 phox was observed using co-immunoprecipitation, confocal immunofluorescence imaging, and proximity ligation assay. We found that besides gp91 phox and p22 phox , voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) also co-immunoprecipitated with TSPO consistent with previous reports. When we compared lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated microglia to vehicle control, we found that a lower amount of gp91 phox and p22 phox protein co-immunoprecipitated with TSPO suggesting a disruption of the TSPO-NOX2 subunits association. TSPO immuno-gold electron microscopy confirmed that TSPO is present in the outer mitochondrial membrane but it is also found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mitochondria-associated ER membrane (MAM), and in the plasma membrane. TSPO localization at the MAM may represent a subcellular site where TSPO interacts with gp91 phox and p22 phox since the MAM is a point of communication between outer mitochondria membrane proteins (TSPO) and ER proteins (gp91 phox and p22 phox ) where they mature and form the cytochrome b 558 (Cytb 558 ) heterodimer. We also found that an acute burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased TSPO levels on the surface of microglia and this effect was abrogated by a ROS scavenger. These results suggest that ROS production may alter the subcellular distribution of TSPO. Collectively, our findings suggest that in microglia, TSPO is associated with the major NOX2 subunits gp91 phox and p22 phox . We hypothesize that this interaction may regulate Cytb 558 formation and modulate NOX2 levels, ROS production, and redox homeostasis in microglia.