HLH-30/TFEB-mediated autophagy functions in a cell-autonomous manner for epithelium intrinsic cellular defense against bacterial pore-forming toxin in C. elegans

Huan Da Chen, Cheng Yuan Kao, Bang Yu Liu, Shin Whei Huang, Cheng Ju Kuo, Jhen Wei Ruan, Yen Hung Lin, Cheng Rung Huang, Yu Hung Chen, Horng Dar Wang, Raffi V. Aroian, Chang Shi Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved intracellular system that maintains cellular homeostasis by degrading and recycling damaged cellular components. The transcription factor HLH-30/TFEB-mediated autophagy has been reported to regulate tolerance to bacterial infection, but less is known about the bona fide bacterial effector that activates HLH-30 and autophagy. Here, we reveal that bacterial membrane pore-forming toxin (PFT) induces autophagy in an HLH-30-dependent manner in Caenorhabditis elegans. Moreover, autophagy controls the susceptibility of animals to PFT toxicity through xenophagic degradation of PFT and repair of membrane-pore cell-autonomously in the PFT-targeted intestinal cells in C. elegans. These results demonstrate that autophagic pathways and autophagy are induced partly at the transcriptional level through HLH-30 activation and are required to protect metazoan upon PFT intoxication. Together, our data show a new and powerful connection between HLH-30-mediated autophagy and epithelium intrinsic cellular defense against the single most common mode of bacterial attack in vivo.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)371-385
Number of pages15
JournalAutophagy
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Feb 1

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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