Diversity in the macrophage models currently employed in immunology studies may lead to opposed results and interpretations. In this study, we aimed to analyze the suitability of J774 macrophage-like cells as a model for the interaction between the dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum and macrophages. J774 cells were competent in fungal phagocytosis, but succumbed to hyphal growth. Nevertheless, they could also secrete IL-1β in response to the dermatophyte. On the opposite direction, inflammatory, thioglycollate-induced peritoneal macrophages did not succumb to fungal growth and showed no significant IL-1β production. The proteomic profiling of these cells uncovered vimentin and plastin-2 as proteins whose abundance was altered by the fungal interaction. Our study indicates that this cell line could be an interesting tool in the investigation of T. rubrum infection biology.
Keywords: Dermatophyte; Macrophages; Plastin-2; Proteomics; Trichophyton rubrum; Vimentin.