Monounsaturated fatty acid depletion is a metabolic pattern of pathogenesis surveilled to activate p38 MAPK innate immunity
- 1University of Massachusetts Medical School
Abstract
Pathogen infection profoundly remodels host metabolism. Whether hosts sense specific pathogen-induced metabolic changes to identify microbial infection is not known. Here, we find that depletion the monounsaturated fatty acid oleate is a metabolic pattern of pathogenesis, specifically surveilled by the nematode C. elegans to identify active infection with a bacterial pathogen. We previously demonstrated that the enzymatic TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor/resistance)-domain containing protein, TIR-1/SARM1, the key upstream activator of p38 MAPK PMK-1 immunity, is a guard protein in an effector-triggered immune response, positioned specifically on the surface of lysosome-related organelles to sense the toxic effects of bacterial infection. Here, we show that acute loss of oleate in intestinal cells during bacterial infection causes lysosome-related organelles to collapse, which induces the aggregation and activation of TIR-1/SARM1. Further, we find that oleate deficiency is a host vulnerability that concomitantly activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) KGB-1 nutrient sensing pathway, an adaptive response that promotes expression of TIR-1/SARM1 on lysosome-related organelles and is required for survival during infection. These data establish a mechanistic connection between fatty acid nutrition and innate immune regulation, and reveal that specific changes in host metabolism are surveilled to identify pathogen attack.
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BibTeX
@misc{wani2026monounsaturated,
title = {{Monounsaturated fatty acid depletion is a metabolic pattern of pathogenesis surveilled to activate p38 MAPK innate immunity}},
author = {K. A. Wani and S. S. Rahman and R. Pukkila-Worley},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.04.764347},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.764347v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Monounsaturated fatty acid depletion is a metabolic pattern of pathogenesis surveilled to activate p38 MAPK innate immunity
AU - K. A. Wani
AU - S. S. Rahman
AU - R. Pukkila-Worley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.04.764347
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.764347v1
AB - Pathogen infection profoundly remodels host metabolism. Whether hosts sense specific pathogen-induced metabolic changes to identify microbial infection is not known. Here, we find that depletion the monounsaturated fatty acid oleate is a metabolic pattern of pathogenesis, specifically surveilled by the nematode C. elegans to identify active infection with a bacterial pathogen. We previously demonstrated that the enzymatic TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor/resistance)-domain containing protein, TIR-1/SARM1, the key upstream activator of p38 MAPK PMK-1 immunity, is a guard protein in an effector-triggered immune response, positioned specifically on the surface of lysosome-related organelles to sense the toxic effects of bacterial infection. Here, we show that acute loss of oleate in intestinal cells during bacterial infection causes lysosome-related organelles to collapse, which induces the aggregation and activation of TIR-1/SARM1. Further, we find that oleate deficiency is a host vulnerability that concomitantly activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) KGB-1 nutrient sensing pathway, an adaptive response that promotes expression of TIR-1/SARM1 on lysosome-related organelles and is required for survival during infection. These data establish a mechanistic connection between fatty acid nutrition and innate immune regulation, and reveal that specific changes in host metabolism are surveilled to identify pathogen attack.
ER -