The Class A Macrophage Scavenger Receptor Is a Major Pattern Recognition Receptor for Neisseria meningitidis Which Is Independent of Lipopolysaccharide and Not Required for Secretory Responses

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Abstract
Macrophages (Mφ) play a key role in the pathogenesis of invasive meningococcal infections. The roles of two pattern recognition molecules, the Mφ scavenger receptor (SR-A) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4), have been investigated using bone marrow culture-derived Mφ (BMMφ). Surprisingly, a comparison of BMMφ from wild-type and SR-A knockout (SR-A −/− ) mice showed that nonopsonic phagocytosis of meningococci was mediated almost exclusively via SR-A. Previous studies have demonstrated only a partial involvement of the receptor in the uptake of other bacteria, such as Escherichia coli . Interestingly, we also show that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was not the ligand for the receptor on these organisms. Further study of the downstream events of SR-A-mediated ingestion of Neisseria meningitidis demonstrated that SR-A was not required for cytokine production. To determine the bacterial and host factors required to stimulate Mφ activation, we examined TLR-4-deficient Mφ from C3H/HeJ mice and LPS-deficient meningococci. TLR-4-deficient cells elaborated reduced amounts of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-12 (IL-12), and IL-10, even though ingestion via SR-A was unaffected in these cells. Similarly, although there was no change in SR-A-mediated ingestion of LPS-deficient meningococci, the mutant failed to stimulate a Mφ-dependent cytokine response. Thus, we show that Mφ SR-A mediates opsonin-independent uptake of N. meningitidis independently of lipid A and that this activity is uncoupled from the Mφ secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, which provides a basis for further investigation of the role of this receptor in meningococcal disease in humans.