Control of IFN-I responses by the aminopeptidase IRAP in neonatal C57BL/6 alveolar macrophages during RSV infection

Mucosal Immunol. 2021 Jul;14(4):949-962. doi: 10.1038/s41385-021-00402-w. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Abstract

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants, in whom, the sensing of RSV by innate immune receptors and its regulation are still poorly described. However, the severe bronchiolitis following RSV infection in neonates has been associated with a defect in type I interferons (IFN-I) production, a cytokine produced mainly by alveolar macrophages (AMs) upon RSV infection in adults. In the present study, neonatal C57BL/6 AMs mobilized very weakly the IFN-I pathway upon RSV infection in vitro and failed to restrain virus replication. However, IFN-I productions by neonatal AMs were substantially increased by the deletion of Insulin-Responsive AminoPeptidase (IRAP), a protein previously involved in the regulation of IFN-I production by dendritic cells. Moreover, neonatal IRAPKO AMs showed a higher expression of IFN-stimulated genes than their wild-type C57BL/6 counterpart. Interestingly, depletion of IRAP did not affect adult AM responses. Finally, we demonstrated that newborn IRAPKO mice infected with RSV had more IFN-I in their lungs and eliminated the virus more efficiently than WT neonates. Taken together, early-life susceptibility to RSV infection may be related to an original age-dependent suppressive function of IRAP on the IFN-I driven-antiviral responses in neonatal AMs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Cystinyl Aminopeptidase / metabolism*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions / immunology
  • Interferon Type I / metabolism*
  • Macrophages, Alveolar / immunology*
  • Macrophages, Alveolar / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / immunology*
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / metabolism*
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / virology
  • Respiratory Syncytial Viruses*
  • Signal Transduction
  • Toll-Like Receptors / metabolism
  • Virus Replication

Substances

  • Interferon Type I
  • Toll-Like Receptors
  • Cystinyl Aminopeptidase
  • leucyl-cystinyl aminopeptidase