A novel role for lipid droplets in the organismal antibacterial response
Preetha Anand,
Silvia Cermelli,
Zhihuan Li,
Adam Kassan,
Marta Bosch,
Robilyn Sigua,
Lan Huang,
Andre J Ouellette,
Albert Pol,
Michael A Welte,
Steven P Gross
Affiliations
Preetha Anand
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States
Silvia Cermelli
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States
Zhihuan Li
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States
Adam Kassan
Equip de Proliferació i Senyalització Cel.lular, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
Marta Bosch
Equip de Proliferació i Senyalització Cel.lular, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
Robilyn Sigua
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States
Lan Huang
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States; Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States
Andre J Ouellette
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Albert Pol
Equip de Proliferació i Senyalització Cel.lular, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
Michael A Welte
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States
Steven P Gross
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, United States
We previously discovered histones bound to cytosolic lipid droplets (LDs); here we show that this forms a cellular antibacterial defense system. Sequestered on droplets under normal conditions, in the presence of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipoteichoic acid (LTA), histones are released from the droplets and kill bacteria efficiently in vitro. Droplet-bound histones also function in vivo: when injected into Drosophila embryos lacking droplet-bound histones, bacteria grow rapidly. In contrast, bacteria injected into embryos with droplet-bound histones die. Embryos with droplet-bound histones displayed more than a fourfold survival advantage when challenged with four different bacterial species. Our data suggests that this intracellular antibacterial defense system may function in adult flies, and also potentially in mice.
