The macrophage-inducible C-type lectin, mincle, is an essential component of the innate immune response to Candida albicans

CA Wells, JA Salvage-Jones, X Li… - The Journal of …, 2008 - journals.aai.org
CA Wells, JA Salvage-Jones, X Li, K Hitchens, S Butcher, RZ Murray, AG Beckhouse
The Journal of Immunology, 2008journals.aai.org
The recognition of carbohydrate moieties by cells of the innate immune system is emerging
as an essential element in antifungal immunity, but despite the number and diversity of
lectins expressed by innate immune cells, few carbohydrate receptors have been
characterized. Mincle, a C-type lectin, is expressed predominantly on macrophages, and is
here shown to play a role in macrophage responses to the yeast Candida albicans. After
exposure to the yeast in vitro, Mincle localized to the phagocytic cup, but it was not essential …
Abstract
The recognition of carbohydrate moieties by cells of the innate immune system is emerging as an essential element in antifungal immunity, but despite the number and diversity of lectins expressed by innate immune cells, few carbohydrate receptors have been characterized. Mincle, a C-type lectin, is expressed predominantly on macrophages, and is here shown to play a role in macrophage responses to the yeast Candida albicans. After exposure to the yeast in vitro, Mincle localized to the phagocytic cup, but it was not essential for phagocytosis. In the absence of Mincle, production of TNF-α by macrophages was reduced, both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, mice lacking Mincle showed a significantly increased susceptibility to systemic candidiasis. Thus, Mincle plays a novel and nonredundant role in the induction of inflammatory signaling in response to C. albicans infection.
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