Pneumococcus uses COMMD2 to alter host cellular immunity

NF-κB driven cellular immunity is essential for both pro- and anti-inflammatory responses to microbes, which makes it one of the most frequently targeted pathways by bacteria during pathogenesis. How NF-κB tunes the epithelial response to Streptococcus pneumoniae across the spectrum of commensal to pathogenic outcomes is not fully understood. In this study, we compare a commensal-like 6B ST90 strain to an invasive TIGR4 isolate and demonstrate, through comparative mass spectrometry of the p65 interactome, TIGR4 challenge triggers a novel interaction of COMMD2 with p65 and p62. Mechanistically, we show this complex mediates export of p65 for degradation and COMMD2 is necessary for altering host cellular immunity. With these results, we reveal for the first time a new bacterial pathogenesis mechanism to repress host inflammatory response though COMMD2 and p65 degradation while presenting a paradigm for diverging NF-κB responses to pneumococcus.