Poster Presentation Lorne Infection and Immunity 2022

TREML4 receptor regulates inflammation and innate immune cell death during polymicrobial sepsis (#189)

Christina Nedeva 1 , Joseph Menassa 1 , Mubing Duan 1 , Chuanxin Liu 1 , Marcel Doerflinger 2 3 , Andrew J Kueh 3 4 , Marco J Herold 3 4 , Pamali Fonseka 1 , Thanh Kha Phan 1 , Pierre Faou 1 , Harinda Rajapaksha 1 , Weisan Chen 1 , Mark D Hulett 1 , Hamsa Puthalakath 1
  1. Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Infection and Immunity Devision, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  3. Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  4. Blood Call and Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute f Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Sepsis is a biphasic disease characterized by an acute inflammatory response, followed by a prolonged immunosuppressive phase. Therapies aimed at controlling inflammation help to reduce the time patients with sepsis spend in intensive care units, but they do not lead to a reduction in overall mortality. Recently, the focus has been on addressing the immunosuppressive phase, often caused by apoptosis of immune cells. However, molecular triggers of these events are not yet known. Using whole-genome CRISPR screening in mice, we identified a triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM) family receptor, TREML4, as a key regulator of inflammation and immune cell death in sepsis. Genetic ablation of Treml4 in mice demonstrated that TREML4 regulates a host of cellular responses, particularly of innate immune cells, during polymicrobial sepsis, leading to an overall increase in survival rate, both during the acute and chronic phases of the disease.