An interferon-related signature in the transcriptional core response of human macrophages to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
The W-Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains is known for its high-prevalence and -virulence, as well as for its genetic diversity, as recently reported by our laboratories and others. However, little is known about how the immune system responds to these strains. To explore this issue, here we used reverse engineering and genome-wide expression profiling of human macrophage-like THP-1 cells infected by different Mtb strains of the W-Beijing family, as well as by the reference laboratory strain H37Rv. Detailed data mining revealed that host cell transcriptome responses to H37Rv and to different strains of the W-Beijing family are similar and overwhelmingly induced during Mtb infections, collectively typifying a robust gene expression signature ("THP1r2Mtb-induced signature"). Analysis of the putative transcription factor binding sites in promoter regions of genes in this signature identified several key regulators, namely STATs, IRF-1, IRF-7, and Oct-1, commonly involved in interferon-related immune responses. The THP1r2Mtb-induced signature appeared to be highly relevant to the interferon-inducible signature recently reported in active pulmonary tuberculosis patients, as revealed by cross-signature and cross-module comparisons. Further analysis of the publicly available transcriptome data from human patients showed that the signature appears to be relevant to active pulmonary tuberculosis patients and their clinical therapy, and be tuberculosis specific. Thus, our results provide an additional layer of information at the transcriptome level on mechanisms involved in host macrophage response to Mtb, which may also implicate the robustness of the cellular defense system that can effectively fight against genetic heterogeneity in this pathogen.
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics and Sino-French Research Center for Life Sciences and Genomics, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Kang
K
Wu
Dandan
D
Dong
Hai
H
Fang
Florence
F
Levillain
Wen
W
Jin
Jian
J
Mei
Brigitte
B
Gicquel
Yanzhi
Y
Du
Kankan
K
Wang
Qian
Q
Gao
Olivier
O
Neyrolles
Ji
J
Zhang
D002460:Cell Line; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D050835:Interferon Regulatory Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007372:Interferons / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
D050835:Interferon Regulatory Factors; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D007372:Interferons