Interaction between Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species, Heme Oxygenase, and Nitric Oxide Synthase Stimulates Phagocytosis in Macrophages

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential components of the innate immune response against intracellular bacteria, and it is thought that professional phagocytes generate ROS primarily via the phagosomal NADPH oxidase (Phox) machinery 1 . However, recent studies have suggested that mitochondrial ROS (mROS) also contribute to macrophage bactericidal activity, although the mechanisms linking innate immune signaling to mitochondria for mROS generation remain unclear 2-4 . Here we demonstrate that engagement of a subset of Toll-like receptors (TLR1, TLR2 and TLR4) results in the recruitment of mitochondria to macrophage phagosomes and augments mROS production. This response involves translocation of the TLR signaling adapter tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) to mitochondria where it engages evolutionarily conserved signaling intermediate in Toll pathways (ECSIT), a protein implicated in mitochondrial respiratory chain assembly 5 . Interaction with TRAF6 leads to ECSIT ubiquitination and enrichment at the mitochondrial periphery, resulting in increased mitochondrial and cellular ROS generation. ECSIT and TRAF6 depleted macrophages exhibit decreased levels of TLR-induced ROS and are significantly impaired in their ability to kill intracellular bacteria. Additionally, reducing macrophage mROS by expressing catalase in mitochondria results in defective bacterial killing, confirming the role of mROS in bactericidal activity. These results therefore reveal a novel pathway linking innate immune signaling to mitochondria, implicate mROS as important components of antibacterial responses, and further establish mitochondria as hubs for innate immune signaling.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) catalyzes the first and rate-limiting enzymatic step of heme degradation and produces carbon monoxide, free iron, and biliverdin. HO-1, a stress-inducible protein, is induced by various oxidative and inflammatory signals. Consequently, HO-1 expression has been regarded as an adaptive cellular response against inflammatory response and oxidative injury. Although several transcriptional factors and signaling cascades are involved in HO-1 regulation, the two main pathways of Nrf2/Bach1 system and IL-10/HO-1 axis exist in monocyte/macrophage. Macrophages are broadly divisible into two groups: pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages and anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages. More recently, several novel macrophage subsets have been identified including Mhem, Mox, and M4 macrophages. Of these, M2 macrophages, Mhem, and Mox are HO-1 highly expressing macrophages. HO-1 has been recognized as having major immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been demonstrated in HO-1 deficient mice and human cases of genetic HO-1 deficiency. However, the mechanism underlying the immunomodulatory actions of HO-1 remains poorly defined. This review specifically addresses macrophage polarization. The present current evidence indicates that HO-1 induction mediated by multiple pathways can drive the phenotypic shift to M2 macrophages and suggests that HO-1 induction in macrophages is a potential therapeutic approach to immunomodulation in widely diverse human diseases.

Carbon monoxide, an activator of guanylyl cyclase, is formed by the action of the enzyme heme oxygenase. By in situ hybridization in brain slices, discrete neuronal localization of messenger RNA for the constitutive form of heme oxygenase throughout the brain has been demonstrated. This localization is essentially the same as that for soluble guanylyl cyclase messenger RNA. In primary cultures of olfactory neurons, zinc protoporphyrin-9, a potent selective inhibitor of heme oxygenase, depletes endogenous guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP). Thus, carbon monoxide, like nitric oxide, may be a physiologic regulator of cGMP. These findings, together with the neuronal localizations of heme oxygenase, suggest that carbon monoxide may function as a neurotransmitter.