Transcriptome analysis of murine macrophages in response to infection with Streptococcus pyogenes

The complex response of murine macrophages to infection with Streptococcus pyogenes was investigated at the level of gene expression using a high-density oligomer microarray. More than 400 genes were identified as being differentially regulated. Many of the up-regulated genes encoded molecules were involved in immune response and inflammation, transcription, signalling, apoptosis, cell cycle, electron transport and cell adhesion. Of particular interest was the up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines, typical of the classically activated macrophages (M1 phenotype) such as TNF-?, IL-1 and IL-6, and also the up-regulation of anti-inflammatory mediators such as IL-1ra and IL-10 associated with macrophage alternative activation (M2 phenotype). Furthermore, the gene encoding inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), an enzyme typically implicated in classical activation was not induced in infected macrophages. Instead, the gene encoding arginase, a competitor for the iNOS substrate arginine and involved in the alternative activation pathway was up-regulated in S. pyogenes-infected cells. Thus, the microarray-based gene expression analysis demonstrated that S. pyogenes induced an atypical activation program in macrophages with some but not all features of classically or alternatively activation phenotypes. The microarray data also suggested that the bactericidal activity of macrophages against S. pyogenes is mediated by phagocyte oxydase since p47phox was up-regulated in infected cells. Indeed, the in vivo and in vitro killing of S. pyogenes was markedly diminished in the absence of functional phagocyte (p47phox-/-) but not in the absence of iNOS (iNOS-/-). Understanding how macrophages respond to S. pyogenes at the molecular level may facilitate the development of new therapeutic paradigms.

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Goldmann O, von Köckritz-Blickwede M, Höltje C, Chhatwal GS, Geffers R, Medina E