The roles of sphingosine-1-phosphate and its receptor in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and novel antibiotics discovery

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) infection remains a major public health problem of global concern, largely due to antibiotics resistance, persistence and immune evasion. Sphingolipid bioactive molecules are involved in several important pathophysiological processes. Sphingosine-1-phosphate is a key product of sphingolipid metabolism, and can play a role in two manners:autocrine and/or paracrine. Sphingosine-1-phosphate regulates T cells and a variety of antigen-presenting cells during M. tuberculosis infection, promotes antigen processing and expression in monocytes, is involved in the maturation of phagolysosome, regulates Ca²⁺ homeostasis, participates in the autophagy of macrophages, inhibits the survival and proliferation of M. tuberculosis within host cells, and effectively reduces the necrosis of the mouse lungs infected by M. tuberculosis. Injection of 20 nmol per mouse sphingosine-1-phosphate inhibited up to 47% of mycobacterial growth in the lung and spleen of mice infected by M. tuberculosis. In this paper, sphingosine-1-phosphate, its receptors and regulatory network were reviewed, and the specific mechanism of sphingosine-1-phosphate inhibiting the survival of M. tuberculosis-infected host cells was elaborated. This will provide novel insights into the new targets for tuberculosis prevention and treatment.