Abstract
The Parkinson's disease-associated protein, Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), a known negative regulator of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), is expressed in myeloid cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) and is involved in the host immune response against pathogens. Since, the Ca2+/NFAT/IL-2 axis has been previously found to regulate DC response to the fungus Aspergillus, we have investigated the role played by the kinase LRRK2 during fungal infection. Mechanistically, we found that in the early stages of the non-canonical autophagic response of DCs to the germinated spores of Aspergillus, LRRK2 undergoes progressive degradation and regulates NFAT translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. Our results shed new light on the complexity of the Ca2+/NFAT/IL-2 pathway, where LRRK2 plays a role in controlling the immune response of DCs to Aspergillus.