LFA-1/ ICAM-1 promotes NK cell cytotoxicity associated with the pathogenesis of ocular toxoplasmosis in murine model

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Oct 7;16(10):e0010848. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010848. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is one of the most common causes of posterior uveitis. However, the pathogenic mechanisms of OT have not been well elucidated. Here, we used C57BL/6 (B6) mice to establish OT by peroral infection with 20 cysts of the TgCtWh6 strain, and severe ocular damage was observed by histopathological analysis in the eyes of infected mice. RNA-sequencing results showed that infection with T. gondii increased the expression of the NK-mediated cytotoxicity gene pathway at Day 30 after ocular T. gondii infection. Both NK-cell and CD49a+ NK-cell subsets are increased in ocular tissues, and the expression levels of LFA-1 in NK cells and ICAM-1 in the OT murine model were upregulated upon infection. Furthermore, inhibition of the interaction between LFA-1 and ICAM-1 with lifitegrast, a novel small molecule integrin antagonist, inhibited the protein expression of LFA-1 and ICAM-1 in murine OT and NK cells, improved the pathology of murine OT and influenced the secretion of cytokines in the OT murine model. In conclusion, the interaction between LFA-1 and ICAM-1 plays a role in the early regulation of the CD49a+ NK-cell proportion in an OT murine model. LFA-1/ ICAM-1 may be a key molecule in the pathogenesis of OT, and may provide new insights for potential immunotherapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Integrin alpha1 / metabolism
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / genetics
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / metabolism
  • Killer Cells, Natural / metabolism
  • Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1* / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • RNA
  • Toxoplasmosis, Ocular*

Substances

  • Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1
  • Integrin alpha1
  • Cytokines
  • RNA

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (to Y Cai, grant no. KJ2020A0153), Natural Science Foundation of China (to Y Cai, grant no. 81572801) and Scientific Research from Anhui Medical University (to Y Cai, grant no. XJ202005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.