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Cathepsins were first described, as endolysosomal proteolytic enzymes in reference to the organelles where they degrade the bulk of endogenous and exogenous substrates in a slightly acidic environment. These substrates include pathogens internalizedviaendocytosis and/or marked for destruction by autophagy. However, the role of cathepsins during infection far exceeds that of direct digestion of the pathogen. Cathepsins have been extensively investigated in the context of tumour associated immune cells and chronic inflammation. Several cathepsin-dependent immune responses develop in the endocytic pathway while others take place in the cytosol, the nucleus, or in the extracellular space. In this review we highlight the spatial localization of cathepsins and their implications in immune activation and resolution pathways during infection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a successful intracellular pathogen that thrives in macrophages (Mφs). There is a need to better understand how Mtb hijacks cellular processes like phagolysosome biogenesis, a classical pathogenesis determinant. A central feature to this microbial strategy is the manipulation of actin in Mφs. Here, we examine the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as a potential mechanism in the regulation of actin-mediated events leading to phagocytosis in the context of mycobacteria infection. Given that non-virulent Mycobacterium smegmatis also controls actin filamentation to prolong its instracellular survival inside host cells, our approach was to perform a global transcriptomic approach to assess the modulation of miRNAs upon M. smegmatis infection of the murine Mφ cell line, J774A.1. This approach yielded miR-142-3p as a top candidate to be involved in the regulation of actin dynamics required in phagocytosis. We unequivocally demonstrate miR-142-3p targets N-Wasp, an actin-binding protein required during microbial challenge. A gain-of-function approach for miR-142-3p revealed a down-regulation of N-Wasp expression accompanied by a decrease of mycobacteria intake, while a loss-of-function approach yielded the reciprocal increase of the phagocytosis process. Equally important, we show Mtb induces the early expression of miR-142-3p and down-regulates N-Wasp protein levels in both the murine J774A.1 cell line and primary human Mφs. As proof of principle, the partial siRNA-mediated knock down of N-Wasp resulted in a decrease of Mtb intake by human Mφs, reflected in lower levels of colony-forming units counts over time. We therefore propose the modulation of miRNAs as a novel strategy in mycobacterial infection to control factors involved in actin filamentation and other early events of phagolysosome biogenesis, such as the case presented here for miR-142-3p influencing N-Wasp activity during the phagocytosis process.