The Wingless homolog WNT5A and its receptor Frizzled-5 regulate inflammatory responses of human mononuclear cells induced by microbial stimulation

Blood. 2006 Aug 1;108(3):965-73. doi: 10.1182/blood-2005-12-5046. Epub 2006 Apr 6.

Abstract

Microarray--assisted gene--expression screens of human macrophages revealed WNT5A, a homolog of Wingless, a key regulator of Drosophila melanogaster embryonic segmentation and patterning, to be consistently up-regulated following stimulation with different mycobacterial species and conserved bacterial structures. The expression of WNT5A required Toll-like receptor signaling and NF-kappaB activation, which identifies a novel induction pathway for a Wingless homolog. We show that human peripheral-blood mononuclear cells express the WNT5A receptor Frizzled-5 (FZD5). Both WNT5A and FZD5 also were detected in granulomatous lesions in the lungs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected patients. Functional studies showed that WNT5A and FZD5 regulate the microbially induced interleukin-12 response of antigen-presenting cells and interferon-gamma production by mycobacterial antigen-stimulated T cells. Our findings implicate the evolutionarily conserved WNT/Frizzled signaling system in bridging innate and adaptive immunity to infections.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antigen-Presenting Cells / immunology
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Frizzled Receptors / physiology*
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / immunology*
  • Macrophages / immunology*
  • Monocytes / immunology
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / immunology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / physiology*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / physiology*
  • Signal Transduction / immunology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / immunology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / pathology
  • Up-Regulation / genetics
  • Wnt Proteins / genetics
  • Wnt Proteins / physiology*
  • Wnt-5a Protein

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • FZD5 protein, human
  • Frizzled Receptors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • WNT5A protein, human
  • Wnt Proteins
  • Wnt-5a Protein