RIP3 impedes Mycobacterium tuberculosis survival and promotes p62-mediated autophagy

Macrophage is believed to play a vital role in the fight against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection by activating autophagy. Recently, receptor-interacting protein kinase-3 (RIP3), an essential kinase for necroptotic cell death signaling, has been demonstrated to be involved in autophagy. However, RIP3's role in fighting against M.tb infection remains elusive. Here we show that a substantial increase in inflammatory cell infiltration and higher bacterial burden are observed in the lungs of RIP3^-/- mice with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) infection. Meanwhile, RIP3 ameliorates lung injury and promote autophagy via induce autophagosome and autophagolysosome formation which indicate that RIP3 is indispensable for host clearance of BCG via autophagy. Mechanically, RIP3 enhances p62 binding to ubiquitylated proteins and LC3 by interacting with p62, and RHIM domain is required for RIP3-p62 interaction. Hence, our results conclusively show that RIP3 impedes M.tb survival and promotes p62-mediated autophagy. The findings provide further insight into understanding the mechanism of M.tb immune escape and pathogenesis of tuberculosis.