{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T12:49:14Z","timestamp":1793105354069,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,9]],"date-time":"2024-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1720483200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006668","name":"Fondo para la Investigaci\u00f3n Cient\u00edfica y Tecnol\u00f3gica","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PICT-2020 SERIE A-00882"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PICT-2020 SERIE A-00882"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006668","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006668","name":"Fondo para la Investigaci\u00f3n Cient\u00edfica y Tecnol\u00f3gica","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PICT-2020 SERIE A-00978"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PICT-2020 SERIE A-00978"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006668","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Brucella abortus<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic>) is a pathogen that survives inside macrophages. Despite being its preferential niche, <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> infects other cells, as shown by the multiple signs and symptoms humans present. This pathogen can evade our immune system. <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> displays a mechanism of down-modulating MHC-I on monocytes\/macrophages in the presence of IFN-\u03b3 (when Th1 response is triggered) without altering the total expression of MHC-I. The retained MHC-I proteins are located within the Golgi Apparatus (GA). The RNA of <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> is one of the PAMPs that trigger this phenomenon. However, we acknowledged whether this event could be triggered in other cells relevant during <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> infection. Here, we demonstrate that <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA reduced the surface expression of MHC-I induced by IFN-\u03b3 in the human bronchial epithelium (Calu-6), the <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Human\" xlink:type=\"simple\">human<\/jats:ext-link> <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pulmonary_alveolus\" xlink:type=\"simple\">alveolar<\/jats:ext-link> epithelium (A-549) and the endothelial microvasculature (HMEC) cell lines. In Calu-6 and HMEC cells, <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA induces the retention of MHC-I in the GA. This phenomenon was not observed in A-549 cells. We then evaluated the effect of <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA on the secretion of IL-8, IL-6 and MCP-1, key cytokines in <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> infection. Contrary to our expectations, HMEC, Calu-6 and A-549 cells treated with <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA had higher IL-8 and IL-6 levels compared to untreated cells. In addition, we showed that <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA down-modulates the MHC-I surface expression induced by IFN-\u03b3 on human monocytes\/macrophages via the pathway of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). So, cells were stimulated with an EGFR ligand-blocking antibody (Cetuximab) and <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA. Neutralization of the EGFR to some extent reversed the down-modulation of MHC-I mediated by <jats:italic>Ba<\/jats:italic> RNA in HMEC and A-549 cells. In conclusion, this is the first study exploring a central immune evasion strategy, such as the downregulation of MHC-I surface expression, beyond monocytes and could shed light on how it persists effectively within the host, enduring unseen and escaping CD8<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> T cell surveillance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0306429","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,9]],"date-time":"2024-07-09T18:23:46Z","timestamp":1720549426000},"page":"e0306429","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Beyond its preferential niche: Brucella abortus RNA down-modulates the IFN-\u03b3-induced MHC-I expression in epithelial and endothelial cells"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Agustina","family":"Serafino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yasm\u00edn A.","family":"Bertinat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jorgelina","family":"Bueno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 R.","family":"Pittaluga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federico","family":"Birnberg Weiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7891-5169","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"M. Ayel\u00e9n","family":"Milillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Barrionuevo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0306429.ref001","volume-title":"Molecular Medical Microbiology","author":"P Baldi","year":"2024","edition":"3"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0306429.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"775","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(07)70286-4","article-title":"Human brucellosis","volume":"7","author":"MP Franco","year":"2007","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0306429.ref003","article-title":"Brucellosis remains a neglected disease in the developing world: A call for interdisciplinary action","author":"KA Franc","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0306429.ref004","unstructured":"Meeting WA. 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