Infection of Human Dendritic Cells with aMycobacterium tuberculosis sigEMutant Stimulates Production of High Levels of Interleukin-10 but Low Levels of CXCL10: Impact on the T-Cell Response

TheMycobacterium tuberculosis genome encodes 13 sigma factors. We have previously shown that mutations in some of these transcriptional activators renderM. tuberculosis sensitive to various environmental stresses and can attenuate the virulence phenotype. In this work, we focused on extracytoplasmic factor σE and studied the effects induced by the deletion of its structural gene (sigE ) in the infection of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC). We found that the wild-typeM. tuberculosis strain (H37Rv), thesigE mutant (ST28), and the complemented strain (ST29) were able to infect dendritic cells (DC) to similar extents, although at 4 days postinfection a reduced ability to grow inside MDDC was observed for thesigE mutant ST28. After mycobacterium capture, the majority of MDDC underwent full maturation and expressed both inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, and the regulatory cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12), IL-18, and beta interferon (IFN-β). Conversely, a higher level of production of IL-10 was observed in ST28-infected MDDC compared to H37Rv- or ST29-infected cell results. However, in spite of the presence of IL-10, supernatants from ST28-infected DC induced IFN-γ production by T cells similarly to those from H37Rv-infected DC culture. On the other hand, IL-10 impaired CXCL10 production insigE mutant-infected DC and, indeed, its neutralization restored CXCL10 secretion. In line with these results, supernatants from ST28-infected cells showed a decreased capability to recruit CXCR3+ CD4+ T cells compared to those obtained from H37Rv-infected DC culture. Thus, our findings suggest that thesigE mutant-induced secretion of IL-10 inhibits CXCL10 expression and, in turn, the recruitment of activated-effector cells involved in the formation of granulomas.