Metabolomics analyses suggest changes in amino acid abundance, particularly l-arginine (L-ARG), occur in patients with tuberculosis. Immune cells require L-ARG to fuel effector functions following infection. We have previously described an L-ARG synthesis pathway in immune cells; however, its role in APCs has yet to be uncovered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) regulates the immunometabolic phenotype of macrophages, including the orchestration of inflammatory and antimicrobial processes. Macrophages deficient in HIF-1α produce excessive quantities of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) during infection with the intracellular fungal pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum (R. A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophages are indispensable immune cells tasked at eliminating intracellular pathogens. (), one of the most virulent intracellular bacterial pathogens known to man, infects and resides within macrophages. While macrophages can be provoked by extracellular stimuli to inhibit and kill bacilli, these host defense mechanisms can be blocked by limiting nutritional metabolites, such as amino acids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity is a prevalent predisposing factor to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common chronic liver disease in the developed world. NAFLD spectrum of disease involves progression from steatosis (NAFL), to steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite clinical and public health significance, current FDA approved therapies for NAFLD are lacking in part due to insufficient understanding of pathogenic mechanisms driving disease progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) plays a major role in multiple disease processes, including colitis. Understanding the mechanisms coupling PAR-1 to disease pathogenesis is complicated by the fact that PAR-1 is broadly expressed across multiple cell types.
Objective: Determine the specific contributions of PAR-1 expressed by macrophages and colonic enterocytes to infectious colitis.