The tetraspanin CD82 is specifically recruited to fungal and bacterial phagosomes prior to acidification.

CD82 is a member of the tetraspanin superfamily, whose physiological role is best described in the context of cancer metastasis. However, CD82 also associates with components of the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen presentation pathway, including class II MHC molecules and the peptide-loading machinery, as well as CD63, another tetraspanin, suggesting a role for CD82 in antigen presentation. Here, we observe the dynamic rearrangement of CD82 after pathogen uptake by imaging CD82-mRFP1 expressed in primary living dendritic cells. CD82 showed rapid and specific recruitment to Cryptococcus neoformans-containing phagosomes compared to polystyrene-containing phagosomes, similar to CD63. CD82 was also actively recruited to phagosomes containing other pathogenic fungi, including Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. Recruitment of CD82 to fungal phagosomes occurred independently of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling. Recruitment was not limited to fungi, as bacterial organisms, including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, also induced CD82 recruitment to the phagosome. CD82 intersected the endocytic pathway used by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), implicating CD82 in trafficking of small, pathogen-associated molecules. Despite its partial overlap with lysosomal compartments, CD82 recruitment to C. neoformans-containing phagosomes occurred independently of phagosome acidification. Kinetic analysis of fluorescence imaging revealed that CD82 and class II MHC simultaneously appear in the phagosome, indicating that the two proteins may be associated. Together, these data show that the CD82 tetraspanin is specifically recruited to pathogen-containing phagosomes prior to fusion with lysosomes.