Group A Streptococcus induces less p65 nuclear translocation and non-classical nuclear factor kappa B activation in macrophages, which possibly leads to a weaker inflammatory response

• The inflammatory mediators in macrophages induced by group A Streptococcus (GAS) were examined.
• GAS induced less inflammatory mediators than Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli.
• GAS induced less p-p65 of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) translocation in macrophages than S. aureus.
• GAS induced non-classical NF-κB activation in macrophages: p65–p52 heterodimer.

SummaryObjectivesThe aim of this study was to explore the pathogenic mechanism of group A Streptococcus (GAS) and to investigate how GAS evades phagocytosis by immune cells.MethodsThe classical inflammatory signaling pathway of macrophages infected with GAS was investigated by protein microarray, real-time PCR, Western blot, immunoprecipitation, and flow cytometry.ResultsGAS induced a lower level of inflammatory mediators in macrophages than either the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus or the Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Therefore, the conventional inflammatory signal pathway was investigated. It was found that GAS and S. aureus induced both toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4 expression, while Gram-negative E. coli only activated TLR4 in RAW264.7 cells. Although MyD88, the main adaptor protein, was activated by the three pathogens, there was no difference in MyD88 expression in macrophages. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is the classical transcription factor of inflammatory signals, and the results of the present study showed that GAS, similar to E. coli, induced a weaker p65 nuclear translocation compared to S. aureus. Interestingly, GAS activated NF-κB by inducing p65–p52 heterodimer, but not the classical heterodimer of NF-κB (p65–p50), while E. coli activated NF-κB by inducing both p65–p50 and p65–p52 heterodimers.ConclusionsCompared to S. aureus and E. coli infection, GAS induced a weaker nuclear translocation and distinct combination of NF-κB subunits in macrophages, which probably leads to a weak inflammatory response.