Tolerance to Lung Infection in TWIK2 K⁺ Efflux Mediated Macrophage Trained Immunity

Alveolar macrophages (AMφ) are essential for innate immune function in the lungs. It is now apparent that macrophages can be trained to become better at attacking infections. Although trained immunity is thought to result from metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that AMφ can be trained by extracellular ATP, which is ubiquitously released during inflammation. ATP ligates the canonical Purinergic Receptor 2 subtype X7 receptor (P2X7) to mediate endosomal Two-pore domain Weak Inwardly rectifying K⁺ channel 2 (TWIK2) translocation into the plasma membrane (PM). This endows the cells to transit to a 'ready' state for microbial killing in two directions: first, K⁺ efflux via PM-TWIK2 induces NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which further activates metabolic pathways; second, upon bacterial phagocytosis, PM-TWIK2 internalizes into phagosome membrane with proper topological orientation, where TWIK2 mediates K⁺ influx into phagosomes to control pH and ionic strength favoring bacterial killing. Therefore, the enhanced association of TWIK2 in phagosomal and plasma membranes signaled by danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), such as ATP, mediates trained immunity in AMφ and enhances the microbiocidal activity.