Single Cell Analysis of Peripheral TB-Associated Granulomatous Lymphadenitis.

We successfully employed a single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) approach to describe the cells and the communication networks characterizing granulomatous lymph nodes of TB patients. When mapping cells from individual patient samples, clustered based on their transcriptome similarities, we uniformly identify several cell types that known to characterize human and non-human primate granulomas. Whether high or low Mtb burden, we find the T cell cluster to be one of the most abundant. Many cells expressing T cell markers are clearly quantifiable within this CD3 expressing cluster. Other cell clusters that are uniformly detected, but that vary dramatically in abundance amongst the individual patient samples, are the B cell, plasma cell and macrophage/dendrocyte and NK cell clusters. When we combine all our scRNA-seq data from our current 23 patients (in order to add power to cell cluster identification in patient samples with fewer cells), we distinguish T, macrophage, dendrocyte and plasma cell subclusters, each with distinct signaling activities. The sizes of these subclusters also varies dramatically amongst the individual patients. In comparing FNA composition we noted trends in which T cell populations and macrophage/dendrocyte populations were negatively correlated with NK cell populations. In addition, we also discovered that the scRNA-seq pipeline, designed for quantification of human cell mRNA, also detects Mtb RNA transcripts and associates them with their host cell's transcriptome, thus identifying individual infected cells. We hypothesize that the number of detected bacterial transcript reads provides a measure of Mtb burden, as does the number of Mtb-infected cells. The number of infected cells also varies dramatically in abundance amongst the patient samples. CellChat analysis identified predominating signaling pathways amongst the cells comprising the various granulomas, including many interactions between stromal or endothelial cells and the other component cells, such as Collagen, FN1 and Laminin,. In addition, other more selective communications pathways, including MIF, MHC-1, MHC-2, APP, CD 22, CD45, and others, are identified as originating or being received by individual immune cell components. Author Summary: The research conducted describes the cellular composition and communication networks within granulomatous lymph nodes of tuberculosis (TB) patients, employing a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) approach. By analyzing individual patient samples and clustering cells based on their transcriptome similarities, the study reveals several consistent cell types described to be present in both human and non-human primate granulomas. Notably, T cell clusters emerge as abundant in most samples. Additionally, variations in the abundance of B cells, plasma cells, macrophages/dendrocytes, and NK cells among patient samples are observed. Pooling scRNA-seq data from 23 patients enabled the identification of T, macrophage, dendrocyte, and plasma cell subclusters, each displaying distinct signaling activities. Moreover, the study uncovers a surprising capability of the scRNA-seq pipeline to detect Mtb RNA transcripts within host cells, providing insights into individual infected cells and Mtb burden. CellChat analysis unveils predominant signaling pathways within granulomas, highlighting interactions between stromal/endothelial cells and other immune cell components. Moreover, selective communication pathways involving molecules such as Collagen, FN1, Laminin, CD99, MIF, MHC-1, APP and CD45 are identified, shedding light on the intricate interplay within granulomatous lymph nodes during TB infection.

Multiplexed Strain Phenotyping Defines Consequences of Genetic Diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis for Infection and Vaccination Outcomes.

There is growing evidence that genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, contributes to the outcomes of infection and public health interventions, such as vaccination. Epidemiological studies suggest that among the phylogeographic lineages of M. tuberculosis, strains belonging to a sublineage of Lineage 2 (mL2) are associated with concerning clinical features, including hypervirulence, treatment failure, and vaccine escape. The global expansion and increasing prevalence of this sublineage has been attributed to the selective advantage conferred by these characteristics, yet confounding host and environmental factors make it difficult to identify the bacterial determinants driving these associations in human studies. Here, we developed a molecular barcoding strategy to facilitate high-throughput, experimental phenotyping of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates. This approach allowed us to characterize growth dynamics for a panel of genetically diverse M. tuberculosis strains during infection and after vaccination in the mouse model. We found that mL2 strains exhibit distinct growth dynamics in vivo and are resistant to the immune protection conferred by Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. The latter finding corroborates epidemiological observations and demonstrates that mycobacterial features contribute to vaccine efficacy. To investigate the genetic and biological basis of mL2 strains' distinctive phenotypes, we performed variant analysis, transcriptional studies, and genome-wide transposon sequencing. We identified functional genetic changes across multiple stress and host response pathways in a representative mL2 strain that are associated with variants in regulatory genes. These adaptive changes may underlie the distinct clinical characteristics and epidemiological success of this lineage. IMPORTANCE Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a remarkably heterogeneous disease, a feature that complicates clinical care and public health interventions. The contributions of pathogen genetic diversity to this heterogeneity are uncertain, in part due to the challenges of experimentally manipulating M. tuberculosis, a slow-growing, biosafety level 3 organism. To overcome these challenges, we applied a molecular barcoding strategy to a panel of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates. This novel application of barcoding permitted the high-throughput characterization of M. tuberculosis strain growth dynamics and vaccine resistance in the mouse model of infection. Integrating these results with genomic analyses, we uncover bacterial pathways that contribute to infection outcomes, suggesting targets for improved therapeutics and vaccines.

Correction: TnSeq of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates reveals strain-specific antibiotic liabilities.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006939.].

Bacterial Genome-Wide Association Identifies Novel Factors That Contribute to Ethionamide and Prothionamide Susceptibility in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, recent genome-wide association studies have identified a novel constellation of mutations that are correlated with high-level drug resistances. Interpreting the functional importance of the new resistance-associated mutations has been complicated, however, by a lack of experimental validation and a poor understanding of the epistatic factors influencing these correlations, including strain background and programmatic variation in treatment regimens. Here we perform a genome-wide association analysis in a panel of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from China to identify variants correlated with resistance to the second-line prodrug ethionamide (ETH). Mutations in a bacterial monooxygenase, Rv0565c, are significantly associated with ETH resistance. We demonstrate that Rv0565c is a novel activator of ETH, independent of the two known activators, EthA and MymA. Clinically prevalent mutations abrogate Rv0565c function, and deletion of Rv0565c confers a consistent fitness benefit on M. tuberculosis in the presence of partially inhibitory doses of ETH. Interestingly, Rv0565c activity affects susceptibility to prothionamide (PTH), the ETH analog used in China, to a greater degree. Further, clinical isolates vary in their susceptibility to both ETH and PTH, to an extent that correlates with the total expression of ETH/PTH activators (EthA, MymA, and Rv0565c). These results suggest that clinical strains considered susceptible to ETH/PTH are not equally fit during treatment due to both Rv0565c mutations and more global variation in the expression of the prodrug activators.IMPORTANCE Phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is slow and cumbersome. Rapid molecular diagnostics promise to help guide therapy, but such assays rely on complete knowledge of the molecular determinants of altered antibiotic susceptibility. Recent genomic studies of antibiotic-resistant M. tuberculosis have identified several candidate loci beyond those already known to contribute to antibiotic resistance; however, efforts to provide experimental validation have lagged. Our study identifies a gene (Rv0565c) that is associated with resistance to the second-line antibiotic ethionamide at a population level. We then use bacterial genetics to show that the variants found in clinical strains of M. tuberculosis improve bacterial survival after ethionamide exposure.

Concurrent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis confers robust protection against secondary infection in macaques.

For many pathogens, including most targets of effective vaccines, infection elicits an immune response that confers significant protection against reinfection. There has been significant debate as to whether natural Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection confers protection against reinfection. Here we experimentally assessed the protection conferred by concurrent Mtb infection in macaques, a robust experimental model of human tuberculosis (TB), using a combination of serial imaging and Mtb challenge strains differentiated by DNA identifiers. Strikingly, ongoing Mtb infection provided complete protection against establishment of secondary infection in over half of the macaques and allowed near sterilizing bacterial control for those in which a secondary infection was established. By contrast, boosted BCG vaccination reduced granuloma inflammation but had no impact on early granuloma bacterial burden. These findings are evidence of highly effective concomitant mycobacterial immunity in the lung, which may inform TB vaccine design and development.

TnSeq of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates reveals strain-specific antibiotic liabilities.

Once considered a phenotypically monomorphic bacterium, there is a growing body of work demonstrating heterogeneity among Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains in clinically relevant characteristics, including virulence and response to antibiotics. However, the genetic and molecular basis for most phenotypic differences among Mtb strains remains unknown. To investigate the basis of strain variation in Mtb, we performed genome-wide transposon mutagenesis coupled with next-generation sequencing (TnSeq) for a panel of Mtb clinical isolates and the reference strain H37Rv to compare genetic requirements for in vitro growth across these strains. We developed an analytic approach to identify quantitative differences in genetic requirements between these genetically diverse strains, which vary in genomic structure and gene content. Using this methodology, we found differences between strains in their requirements for genes involved in fundamental cellular processes, including redox homeostasis and central carbon metabolism. Among the genes with differential requirements were katG, which encodes the activator of the first-line antitubercular agent isoniazid, and glcB, which encodes malate synthase, the target of a novel small-molecule inhibitor. Differences among strains in their requirement for katG and glcB predicted differences in their response to these antimicrobial agents. Importantly, these strain-specific differences in antibiotic response could not be predicted by genetic variants identified through whole genome sequencing or by gene expression analysis. Our results provide novel insight into the basis of variation among Mtb strains and demonstrate that TnSeq is a scalable method to predict clinically important phenotypic differences among Mtb strains.

A bug's life in the granuloma.

The granuloma is the defining feature of the host response to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Despite knowing of its existence for centuries, much remains unclear regarding the host and bacterial factors that contribute to granuloma formation, heterogeneity of presentation, and the forces at play within. Mtb is highly adapted to life within the granuloma and employs many unique strategies to both create a niche within the host as well as survive the stresses imposed upon it. Adding to the complexity of the granuloma is the vast range of pathology observed, often within the same individual. Here, we explore some of the many ways in which Mtb crafts the immune response to its liking and builds a variety of granuloma features that contribute to its survival. We also consider the multitude of ways that Mtb is adapted to life in the granuloma and how variability in the deployment of these strategies may result in different fates for both the bacterium and the host. It is through better understanding of these complex interactions that we may begin to strategize novel approaches for tuberculosis treatments.

Calcium dynamics of Plasmodium berghei sporozoite motility.

Calcium is a key signalling molecule in apicomplexan parasites and plays an important role in diverse processes including gliding motility. Gliding is essential for the malaria parasite to migrate from the skin to the liver as well as to invade host tissues and cells. Here we investigated the dynamics of intracellular Ca(2+) in the motility of Plasmodium berghei sporozoites by live imaging and flow cytometry. We found that cytosolic levels of Ca(2+) increase when sporozoites are activated in suspension, which is sufficient to induce the secretion of integrin-like adhesins that are essential for gliding motility. By increasing intracellular Ca(2+) levels artificially with an ionophore, these adhesins are secreted onto the sporozoite surface, however, the parasite is not capable of gliding. A second level of Ca(2+) modulation was observed during attachment to and detachment from a solid substrate, leading to a further increase or a decrease in the cytoplasmic levels of Ca(2+) respectively. We also observed oscillations in the intracellular Ca(2+) level during gliding. Finally, an intracellular Ca(2+) chelator, an inhibitor of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), and an inhibitor of the inositol triphosphate (IP3) receptor blocked the rise in intracellular Ca(2+) , adhesin secretion, and motility of activated sporozoites, indicating that intracellular stores supply Ca(2+) during sporozoite gliding. Our study indicates that a rise in intracellular Ca(2+) is necessary but not sufficient to activate gliding, that Ca(2+) levels are modulated in several ways during motility, and that a PI-PLC/IP3 pathway regulates Ca(2+) release during the process of sporozoite locomotion.

Scoring sporozoite motility.

Sporozoites, the stage of Plasmodium infectious to vertebrates when injected in the skin by a mosquito vector, are highly motile cells. Their unusual form of gliding motility is essential for infectivity, allowing the parasite to travel through both the mosquito and mammalian hosts, invading different cell types and escaping immune cell-mediated death. In this chapter, we describe techniques to study gliding motility of sporozoites in vitro and in vivo.

Insect olfaction from model systems to disease control.

Great progress has been made in the field of insect olfaction in recent years. Receptors, neurons, and circuits have been defined in considerable detail, and the mechanisms by which they detect, encode, and process sensory stimuli are being unraveled. We provide a guide to recent progress in the field, with special attention to advances made in the genetic model organism Drosophila. We highlight key questions that merit additional investigation. We then present our view of how recent advances may be applied to the control of disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes, which transmit disease to hundreds of millions of people each year. We suggest how progress in defining the basic mechanisms of insect olfaction may lead to means of disrupting host-seeking and other olfactory behaviors, thereby reducing the transmission of deadly diseases.

Odorant reception in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. It locates its human hosts primarily through olfaction, but little is known about the molecular basis of this process. Here we functionally characterize the Anopheles gambiae odorant receptor (AgOr) repertoire. We identify receptors that respond strongly to components of human odour and that may act in the process of human recognition. Some of these receptors are narrowly tuned, and some salient odorants elicit strong responses from only one or a few receptors, suggesting a central role for specific transmission channels in human host-seeking behaviour. This analysis of the Anopheles gambiae receptors permits a comparison with the corresponding Drosophila melanogaster odorant receptor repertoire. We find that odorants are differentially encoded by the two species in ways consistent with their ecological needs. Our analysis of the Anopheles gambiae repertoire identifies receptors that may be useful targets for controlling the transmission of malaria.

Molecular basis of odor coding in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

A systematic functional analysis across much of the conventional Anopheles gambiae odorant receptor (AgOR) repertoire was carried out in Xenopus oocytes using two-electrode, voltage-clamp electrophysiology. The resulting data indicate that each AgOR manifests a distinct odor-response profile and tuning breadth. The large diversity of tuning responses ranges from AgORs that are responsive to a single or small number of odorants (specialists) to more broadly tuned receptors (generalists). Several AgORs were identified that respond robustly to a range of human volatiles that may play a critical role in anopheline host selection. AgOR responses were analyzed further by constructing a multidimensional odor space representing the relationships between odorants and AgOR responses. Within this space, the distance between odorants is related to both chemical class and concentration and may correlate with olfactory discrimination. This study provides a comprehensive overview of olfactory coding mechanisms of An. gambiae that ultimately may aid in fostering the design and development of olfactory-based strategies for reducing the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.