LAB/NTAL facilitates fungal/PAMP-induced IL-12 and IFN-γ production by repressing β-catenin activation in dendritic cells.

Fungal pathogens elicit cytokine responses downstream of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-coupled or hemiITAM-containing receptors and TLRs. The Linker for Activation of B cells/Non-T cell Activating Linker (LAB/NTAL) encoded by Lat2, is a known regulator of ITAM-coupled receptors and TLR-associated cytokine responses. Here we demonstrate that LAB is involved in anti-fungal immunity. We show that Lat2-/- mice are more susceptible to C. albicans infection than wild type (WT) mice. Dendritic cells (DCs) express LAB and we show that it is basally phosphorylated by the growth factor M-CSF or following engagement of Dectin-2, but not Dectin-1. Our data revealed a unique mechanism whereby LAB controls basal and fungal/pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP)-induced nuclear β-catenin levels. This in turn is important for controlling fungal/PAMP-induced cytokine production in DCs. C. albicans- and LPS-induced IL-12 and IL-23 production was blunted in Lat2-/- DCs. Accordingly, Lat2-/- DCs directed reduced Th1 polarization in vitro and Lat2-/- mice displayed reduced Natural Killer (NK) and T cell-mediated IFN-γ production in vivo/ex vivo. Thus our data define a novel link between LAB and β-catenin nuclear accumulation in DCs that facilitates IFN-γ responses during anti-fungal immunity. In addition, these findings are likely to be relevant to other infectious diseases that require IL-12 family cytokines and an IFN-γ response for pathogen clearance

Integrative DNA, RNA, and Protein Evidence Connects TREML4 to Coronary Artery Calcification

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a heritable and definitive morphologic marker of atherosclerosis that strongly predicts risk for future cardiovascular events. To search for genes involved in CAC, we used an integrative transcriptomic, genomic, and protein expression strategy by using next-generation DNA sequencing in the discovery phase with follow-up studies using traditional molecular biology and histopathology techniques. RNA sequencing of peripheral blood from a discovery set of CAC cases and controls was used to identify dysregulated genes, which were validated by ClinSeq and Framingham Heart Study data. Only a single gene, TREML4, was upregulated in CAC cases in both studies. Further examination showed that rs2803496 was a TREML4 cis-eQTL and that the minor allele at this locus conferred up to a 6.5-fold increased relative risk of CAC. We characterized human TREML4 and demonstrated by immunohistochemical techniques that it is localized in macrophages surrounding the necrotic core of coronary plaques complicated by calcification (but not in arteries with less advanced disease). Finally, we determined by von Kossa staining that TREML4 colocalizes with areas of microcalcification within coronary plaques. Overall, we present integrative RNA, DNA, and protein evidence implicating TREML4 in coronary artery calcification. Our findings connect mulfimodal genomics data with a commonly used clinical marker of cardiovascular disease