Effect of Mip inhibition on J774A.1 macrophage immune response during Burkholderia pseudomallei infection

Melioidosis, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a disease endemic to South-East Asia and Northern Australia. Clinical presentation is highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal septicaemia, and thus the outcome of infection can depend on the host immune responses. The aim of this study was to characterise the macrophage immune response to B. pseudomallei in the presence of novel inhibitors targeting the virulence factor, Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator (Mip) protein. To do this. murine macrophage J774A.1 cells were infected with B. pseudomallei K96243 in the presence and absence of two small-molecule inhibitors designed to target the Mip protein. Global transcriptional profiling of macrophages infected with B. pseudomallei was analysed by RNA-Seq four hours post-infection. In the presence of Mip inhibitors, we found a significant reduction in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines highlighting the potential to utilize Mip inhibitors to dampen potentially harmful pro-inflammatory responses resulting from B. pseudomallei infection in macrophages. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of J774A.1 macrophages infected with Burkholderia pseudomallei in the presence of two Mip inhibitors or vehicle control 4 hours post-infection