Transcription Repressor Protein ZBTB25 Associates with HDAC1-Sin3a Complex in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Infected Macrophages, and Its Inhibition Clears Pathogen by Autophagy

• Published in: mSphere 2021-02, Vol.6 (1)
• Main Authors: Madhavan, Aravind, Arun, K B, Pushparajan, Akhil Raj, Balaji, M, Kumar, Ramakrishnan Ajay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Research Article
• ISSN: 2379-5042; 2379-5042
• DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00036-21

Downregulation of host gene expression is a key strategy employed by intracellular pathogens for their survival in macrophages and subsequent pathogenesis. In a previous study, we have shown that histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) levels go up in macrophages infected with , and it hypoacetylates histone H3 at the promoter of gene, leading to its downregulation. We now show that after infection with , HDAC1 is phosphorylated, and the levels of phosphorylated HDAC1 (pHDAC1) increase significantly in macrophages. We found that transcriptional repressor protein zinc finger and BTB domain 25 (ZBTB25) and transcriptional corepressor Sin3a associate with the HDAC1 silencing complex, which is recruited to the promoter of to downregulate its expression in infected macrophages. Knocking down of enhanced release of IL-12p40 from infected macrophages. Inhibition of HDAC1 and ZBTB25 promoted colocalization of and LC3 (microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3) in autophagosomes. Induction of autophagy resulted in the killing of intracellular Enhanced phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT4 was observed in macrophages upon treatment with HDAC1 and ZBTB inhibitors, and inhibition of JAK2/STAT4 negated the killing of the intracellular pathogen, suggesting their role in the autophagy-mediated killing of intracellular In view of the emergence of drug resistance in , host-directed therapy is an attractive alternative strategy to combat tuberculosis (TB). HDACs have been proposed to be host targets for TB treatment. Our study indicates that ZBTB25, a functional subunit of the HDAC1/Sin3a repressor complex involved in suppression, could be an alternative target for host-directed anti-TB therapy. Following infection with , levels of HDAC1 go up in macrophages, and it is recruited to the promoter of where it hypoacetylates histone H3, leading to the downregulation of the gene. Here, we show that host transcriptional repressor protein ZBTB25 and transcriptional corepressor Sin3a associate with HDAC1 in the silencing complex. Knocking down of prevented the recruitment of the complex to the promoter and consequently enhanced the gene expression and the release of IL-12p40 from infected macrophages. Pharmacological inhibition of ZBTB25 in infected macrophages resulted in the induction of autophagy and killing of intracellular Drug-resistant TB is a serious challenge to TB control programs all over the world which calls for finding alternative therapeutic methods. Host-directed therapy