Role of Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) in influencing inflammatory pathways in macrophages modulated by Borrelia burgdorferi lipoproteins

Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease, has a large array of lipoproteins that play a significant role in mediating host-pathogen interactions within ticks and vertebrates. Although there is substantial information on the effects of B. burgdorferi lipoproteins (BbLP) on immune modulatory pathways, the application of multi-omics methodologies to decode the transcriptional and proteomic patterns associated with host cell responses induced by lipoproteins in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) has identified additional effectors and pathways. Single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) performed on BMDMs treated with various concentrations of borrelial lipoproteins revealed macrophage subsets within the BMDMs. Differential expression analysis showed that genes encoding various receptors, type I IFN-stimulated genes, signaling chemokines, and mitochondrial genes are altered in BMDMs in response to lipoproteins. Unbiased proteomics analysis of lysates of BMDMs treated with lipoproteins corroborated several of these findings. Notably, dual specificity phosphatase 1 (Dusp1) gene was upregulated during the early stages of BMDM exposure to BbLP. Pre-treatment with benzylidene-3-cyclohexylamino-1-indanone hydrochloride (BCI), an inhibitor of both DUSP1 and 6 prior to exposure to BbLP, demonstrated that DUSP1 negatively regulates NLRP3-mediated pro-inflammatory signaling and positively regulates the expression of interferon-stimulated genes and those encoding Ccl5, Il1b, and Cd274. Moreover, DUSP1, IkB kinase complex and MyD88 also modulate mitochondrial changes in BMDMs treated with borrelial lipoproteins. These findings advance the potential for exploiting DUSP1 as a therapeutic target to regulate host responses in reservoir hosts to limit survival of B. burgdorferi during its infectious cycle between ticks and mammalian hosts. ImportanceBorrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, encodes numerous lipoproteins that play a crucial role as a pathogen associated molecular pattern affecting interactions with tick- and vertebrate-host cells. Single cell transcriptomics validated using unbiased proteomics and conventional molecular biology approaches have demonstrated significant differences in gene expression patterns in a dose- and time-dependent manner following treatment of murine bone marrow derived macrophages with borrelial lipoproteins. Distinct populations of macrophages, alterations in immune signaling pathways, cellular energy production and mitochondrial responses were identified and validated using primary murine macrophages and human reporter cell lines. Notably, the role of Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) in influencing several inflammatory, metabolic and mitochondrial responses of macrophages were observed in these studies using known pharmacological inhibitors. Significant outcomes include novel strategies to interfere with immunomodulatory and survival capabilities of B. burgdorferi in reservoir hosts affecting its natural infectious life cycle between ticks and vertebrate hosts.