国外研究信息

<正>白细胞介素1受体相关激酶1旁路引发和直接连接Toll样受体至快速核苷酸结合寡聚化结构域样受体含热蛋白结构域3炎性体激活致病性感染和组织损伤引发炎性体的组装,这种胞质蛋白复合物激活半胱天冬酶-1(caspase-1),促进白细胞介素1β前体(pro-IL-1β)和pro-IL-18的切割成熟,还能调节caspase-1依赖的程序性细胞死亡(pyroptosis)。众所周知,微生物识别Toll样受体(TLR)主要是诱导激活caspase-1,但已知的TLR功能仅限于上调炎性体的作用。感染致命微生物后,TLR和核苷酸结合寡聚化结构域样受体(NLR)有可能同时     

细胞程序性坏死与细胞焦亡

细胞死亡对调节机体内细胞的增殖和分化平衡、维持组织内环境的稳态至关重要。细胞凋亡(apoptosis)一度被认为是程序性细胞死亡的唯一形式,近期的研究结果发现程序性细胞死亡方式还包括程序性坏死(necroptosis)与细胞焦亡(pyroptosis),两者均可使细胞膜形成孔洞,破坏细胞膜,并激活强烈的炎症反应,然而两者在机制及形态上又有不同点。本文对程序性坏死与细胞焦亡的分子机制、形态学特征以及在缺血再灌注损伤、病原体感染中的作用等方面的区别做一综述。     

大肠杆菌EscI蛋白C-末端多肽诱导巨噬细胞炎性体应答

摘要:【目的】分析E.coli的EscI蛋白C-末端多肽诱导巨噬细胞NLRC4炎性体应答情况。【方法】以含有E.coli的EscI蛋白C-末端氨基酸序列的多肽为材料,通过体外导入小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞,分析细胞的应答情况。【结果】利用脂多糖预先刺激后,含有EscI蛋白C-末端15个氨基酸的多肽能够明显地激活细胞内NLRC4炎性体应答,细胞内半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶1 被激活,细胞发生pyroptosis,细胞培养上清中IL-1β和IL-18的含量增加(P＜0.05)。通过优化刺激条件发现,以多肽/脂质体为70 μg/μL的比例导入细胞并孵育4 h时,IL-1β的分泌量最高。【结论】含有E.coli的EscI蛋白C-末端15个氨基酸的多肽能够明显地诱导巨噬细胞NLRC4炎性体应答。     

细胞焦亡的机制和功能

细胞焦亡(pyroptosis)是一种高度促炎性的细胞程序性死亡,最早是在受细菌感染或者细菌毒素处理后的巨噬细胞中观察到的,很长一段时间被误认为是一种巨噬细胞特异的、依赖于能够切割白介素1β的促炎性蛋白酶caspase-1的细胞死亡.后续的研究发现,胞浆内模式识别受体识别病原体来源的模式分子或者机体本身来源的危险信号分子形成炎症小体(inflammasomes),招募和激活caspase-1导致细胞焦亡;鼠的caspase-11和人的caspase-4/5直接作为模式识别受体识别细菌脂多糖类脂A组装的炎症小体也导致细胞焦亡,这一发现颠覆了传统炎症小体的概念.与caspase-1不同, caspase-11/4/5不能切割白介素且引起的细胞焦亡在非单核细胞中也普遍存在.最新的研究发现, caspase-1以及caspase-11/4/5都能切割共同的底物gasdermin D(GSDMD)导致裂解性细胞死亡.GSDMD属于一类具有膜打孔活性的gasdermin家族蛋白成员,细胞焦亡也被重新定义为gasdermin介导的程序性坏死样细胞死亡,开创了细胞焦亡研究的新领域.本文回顾了细胞焦亡研究的历史以及细胞焦亡概念的进化过程,总结了caspase-1和caspase-11/4/5上游目前已知的天然免疫通路,讨论了关于细胞焦亡的研究进展尤其是GSDMD以及其他gasdermin家族细胞焦亡执行蛋白的功能和作用机制,以及细胞焦亡和相关蛋白在对抗感染以及人的自身炎症性疾病过程中的作用.     

流行性感冒相关细胞因子的研究进展

流行性感冒(简称流感)是由流感病毒引起的一种急性上呼吸道传染病,其中甲型流感由于抗原变异率高而受到广泛关注。流感病毒感染机体后,细胞因子一方面参与机体抗流感免疫应答,发挥免疫调节作用,即在天然免疫阶段,白细胞介素、肿瘤坏死因子α等炎性细胞因子参与调节机体免疫应答强度、介导炎症反应的发生并启动适应性免疫应答,最终清除流感病毒;另一方面,炎性细胞因子的过度表达会引发细胞因子表达失调,对机体造成严重的病理损伤。     

流感病毒感染诱导MDCK细胞凋亡的研究

用荧光染色、DNA凝胶电泳等方法检测了A型流感病毒株A1／京防86－1和B型流感病毒株B/沪防93－1诱导狗肾体代细胞(MDCKcells)的凋亡情况,并采用MTT法和流式细胞仪比较了这2株病毒对MMCK细胞的毒力和凋亡诱导能力水平。结果显示：病毒感染6h后,细胞DNA发生断裂,病毒感染12h后,可见明显的染色质凝聚;在一定范围内,细胞凋亡强度表现出明显的时间和剂量依赖关系;并且,A型流感病毒株的毒力和调亡诱导能力均强于B型流感病毒株。实验结果表明：流感病毒感染引起的细胞死亡主要是通过调亡实现的,毒力不同的流感病毒株诱导细胞调亡的能力不同。     

NALP3炎性体与非感染性炎症疾病

在机体非感染性炎症疾病过程中,caspase-1的活化引起IL-1β、IL-18、IL-33等促炎细胞因子的分泌是一个重要的过程.而一个被称为NALP3炎性体的多蛋白复合物在caspase-1的活化过程中起到了重要的调节作用.各种外源或内源的刺激可通过不同的信号通路激活NALP3炎性体来活化caspase-1.本文就NALP3炎性体的结构和分布、活化和信号通路及对2型糖尿病、痛风、阿尔兹海默病和肾脏疾病等非感染性炎症疾病的近期研究作一综述.     

Pyroptosis引起的细胞死亡在人类免疫缺陷病毒1型感染中驱动CD4＋ T细胞耗竭

细胞凋亡是造成人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染者CD4 T细胞耗竭的一个关键机制,但对其具体信号通路知之甚少。该研究表明,caspase‐3介导的细胞凋亡在已活化的和有效感染的CD4＋ T细胞死亡中所占比重很小。余下超过95％的静息CD4＋ T细胞是由流产病毒感染引发的caspase‐1介导的pyroptosis死亡。Pyroptosis是细胞程序性死亡的一种强烈炎症模式,即胞质内容物和促炎性细胞因子包括白细胞介素1β（IL‐1β）的释放。这条死亡通路连接HIV感染的两个重要特征--CD4＋ T细胞耗竭和慢性炎症,使将死的CD4＋ T细胞释放炎症信号,以吸引更多的细胞死亡,导致恶性循环。此循环可被caspase‐1抑制剂所阻断,且证明在人类中是安全的,这为靶向宿主而不是病毒本身的新型抗艾滋病治疗策略提供了理论依据。     

NLRP3炎性体与代谢性疾病的研究进展

代谢性疾病是由体内氨基酸、葡萄糖和脂质代谢紊乱引起的一类疾病,慢性炎症反应是其重要特征之一.Nod样受体蛋白3(Nod-like receptor protein 3,NLRP3)炎性体是位于细胞内的一种蛋白质复合体,主要功能为活化半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶1(caspase-1)以间接调控白介素1β(IL-1β)、IL-18和IL-33等的成熟和分泌.NLRP3炎性体是炎性体相关研究的热点,多种内源性或外源性危险信号通过激活这一蛋白质复合体上调炎性因子的表达水平,从而促进多种代谢性疾病的发生发展.本文对NLRP3炎性体的结构、功能、调节以及在代谢性疾病中的作用做一综述,以期为代谢性疾病的防治提供新靶点.     

细胞焦亡的分子机制及其临床意义

细胞焦亡(pyroptosis)是近年来被发现并证实,有别于细胞自然死亡、凋亡及坏死的一种新的细胞死亡类型,其生物学特征是细胞死亡依赖于两种半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白水解酶(caspase):caspase-1及caspase-4/5/11,并伴随着炎性反应的发生。最近研究发现,感染性疾病、传染性疾病、糖尿病和心血管疾病等多种疾病的发生、发展均有细胞焦亡的参与。因此,深入研究细胞焦亡在相关疾病发生、发展及转归中的作用,会对疾病的防治有着重要意义。     

Ubiquitination is a major modulator for the activation of inflammasomes and pyroptosis

Inflammasomes are a central node of the innate immune defense system against the threat of homeostatic perturbance caused by pathogenic organisms or host-derived molecules. Inflammasomes are generally composed of multimeric protein complexes that assemble in the cytosol after sensing danger signals. Activated inflammasomes promote downstream proteolytic activation, which triggers the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines therefore inducing pyroptotic cell death. The inflammasome pathway is finely tuned by various mechanisms. Recent studies found that protein post-translational modifications such as ubiquitination also modulate inflammasome activation. Targeting the ubiquitination modification of the inflammasome pathway might be a promising strategy for related diseases. In this review, we extensively discuss the advances in inflammasome activation and pyroptosis modulated by ubiquitination which help in-depth understanding and controlling the inflammasome and pyroptosis in various diseases.     

Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome activation via its phosphokinase PknF

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has evolved to evade host innate immunity by interfering with macrophage functions. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is secreted by macrophages after the activation of the inflammasome complex and is crucial for host defense against Mtb infections. We have previously shown that Mtb is able to inhibit activation of the AIM2 inflammasome and subsequent pyroptosis. Here we show that Mtb is also able to inhibit host cell NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis. We identified the serine/threonine kinase PknF as one protein of Mtb involved in the NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition, since the pknF deletion mutant of Mtb induces increased production of IL-1β in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). The increased production of IL-1β was dependent on NLRP3, the adaptor protein ASC and the protease caspase-1, as revealed by studies performed in gene-deficient BMDMs. Additionally, infection of BMDMs with the pknF deletion mutant resulted in increased pyroptosis, while the IL-6 production remained unchanged compared to Mtb-infected cells, suggesting that the mutant did not affect the priming step of inflammasome activation. In contrast, the activation step was affected since potassium efflux, chloride efflux and the generation of reactive oxygen species played a significant role in inflammasome activation and subsequent pyroptosis mediated by the Mtb pknF mutant strain. In conclusion, we reveal here that the serine/threonine kinase PknF of Mtb plays an important role in innate immune evasion through inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome.     

Elevated AIM2-mediated pyroptosis triggered by hypercytotoxic Francisella mutant strains is attributed to increased intracellular bacteriolysis

Intracellular bacterial pathogens Francisella novicida and the Live Vaccine Strain (LVS) are recognized in the macrophage cytosol by the AIM2 inflammasome, which leads to the activation of caspase-1 and the processing and secretion of active IL-1β, IL-18 and pyroptosis. Previous studies have reported that F. novicida and LVS mutants in specific genes (e.g. FTT0584, mviN and ripA) induce elevated inflammasome activation and hypercytotoxicity in host cells, leading to the proposal that F. novicida and LVS may have proteins that actively modulate inflammasome activation. However, there has been no direct evidence of such inflammasome evasion mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the above mutants, along with a wide range of F. novicida hypercytotoxic mutants that are deficient for membrane-associated proteins (ΔFTT0584, ΔmviN, ΔripA, ΔfopA and ΔFTN1217) or deficient for genes involved in O-antigen or LPS biosynthesis (ΔwbtA and ΔlpxH) lyse more intracellularly, thus activating increased levels of AIM2-dependent pyroptosis and other innate immune signalling pathways. This suggests that an inflammasome-specific evasion mechanism may not be present in F. novicida and LVS. Furthermore, future studies may need to consider increased bacterial lysis as a possible cause of elevated stimulation of multiple innate immune pathways when the protein composition or surface carbohydrates of the bacterial membrane is altered.     

Gasdermin D is an executor of pyroptosis and required for interleukin-1β secretion

Inflammasome is an intracellular signaling complex of the innate immune system. Activation of inflammasomes promotes the secretion of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and IL-18 and triggers pyroptosis. Caspase-1 and -11 (or -4/5 in human) in the canonical and non-canonical inflammasome pathways, respectively, are crucial for inflammasome-mediated inflammatory responses. Here we report that gasdermin D (GSDMD) is another crucial component of inflammasomes. We discovered the presence of GSDMD protein in nigericin-induced NLRP3 inflammasomes by a quantitative mass spectrometry-based analysis. Gene deletion of GSDMD demonstrated that GSDMD is required for pyroptosis and for the secretion but not proteolytic maturation of IL-1β in both canonical and non-canonical inflammasome responses. It was known that GSDMD is a substrate of caspase-1 and we showed its cleavage at the predicted site during inflammasome activation and that this cleavage was required for pyroptosis and IL-1β secretion. Expression of the N-terminal proteolytic fragment of GSDMD can trigger cell death and N-terminal modification such as tagging with Flag sequence disrupted the function of GSDMD. We also found that pro-caspase-1 is capable of processing GSDMD and ASC is not essential for GSDMD to function. Further analyses of LPS plus nigericin- or Salmonella typhimurium-treated macrophage cell lines and primary cells showed that apoptosis became apparent in Gsdmd^−/− cells, indicating a suppression of apoptosis by pyroptosis. The induction of apoptosis required NLRP3 or other inflammasome receptors and ASC, and caspase-1 may partially contribute to the activation of apoptotic caspases in Gsdmd^−/− cells. These data provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of pyroptosis and reveal an unexpected interplay between apoptosis and pyroptosis.     

Quantitative subcellular proteome and secretome profiling of influenza A virus-infected human primary macrophages

Influenza A viruses are important pathogens that cause acute respiratory diseases and annual epidemics in humans. Macrophages recognize influenza A virus infection with their pattern recognition receptors, and are involved in the activation of proper innate immune response. Here, we have used high-throughput subcellular proteomics combined with bioinformatics to provide a global view of host cellular events that are activated in response to influenza A virus infection in human primary macrophages. We show that viral infection regulates the expression and/or subcellular localization of more than one thousand host proteins at early phases of infection. Our data reveals that there are dramatic changes in mitochondrial and nuclear proteomes in response to infection. We show that a rapid cytoplasmic leakage of lysosomal proteins, including cathepsins, followed by their secretion, contributes to inflammasome activation and apoptosis seen in the infected macrophages. Also, our results demonstrate that P2X₇ receptor and src tyrosine kinase activity are essential for inflammasome activation during influenza A virus infection. Finally, we show that influenza A virus infection is associated with robust secretion of different danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) suggesting an important role for DAMPs in host response to influenza A virus infection. In conclusion, our high-throughput quantitative proteomics study provides important new insight into host-response against influenza A virus infection in human primary macrophages.     

ZBP1 promotes fungi-induced inflammasome activation and pyroptosis,apoptosis, and necroptosis (PANoptosis)

Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus are dangerous fungal pathogens with high morbidity and mortality, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Innate immune-mediated programmed cell death (pyroptosis, apoptosis, necroptosis) is an integral part of host defense against pathogens. Inflammasomes, which are canonically formed upstream of pyroptosis, have been characterized as key mediators of fungal sensing and drivers of proinflammatory responses. However, the specific cell death pathways and key upstream sensors activated in the context of Candida and Aspergillus infections are unknown. Here, we report that C. albicans and A. fumigatus infection induced inflammatory programmed cell death in the form of pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis (PANoptosis). Further, we identified the innate immune sensor Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1) as the apical sensor of fungal infection responsible for activating the inflammasome/pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis. The Zα2 domain of ZBP1 was required to promote this inflammasome activation and PANoptosis. Overall, our results demonstrate that C. albicans and A. fumigatus induce PANoptosis and that ZBP1 plays a vital role in inflammasome activation and PANoptosis in response to fungal pathogens.     

Activation of the inflammasome upon Francisella tularensis infection: interplay of innate immune pathways and virulence factors

Tularaemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the facultative intracellular bacterium Francisella tularensis. The virulence of this pathogen depends on its ability to escape into the cytosol of host cells. Pathogens are detected by the innate immune system's pattern recognition receptors which are activated in response to conserved microbial molecules (pathogen-associated molecular patterns). Cytosolic bacteria are sensed intracellularly, often leading to activation of the cysteine protease caspase-1 within a multimolecular complex called the inflammasome. Caspase-1 activation leads to both host cell death and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in a process called pyroptosis. Here we review the pathway leading to, and the consequences of, inflammasome activation upon F. tularensis infection both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we discuss recent data on how other innate immune pathways and F. tularensis virulence factors control the activation of the inflammasome during infection.     

Differential recognition of HIV-stimulated IL-1β and IL-18 secretion through NLR and NAIP signalling in monocyte-derived macrophages

Macrophages are important drivers of pathogenesis and progression to AIDS in HIV infection. The virus in the later phases of the infection is often predominantly macrophage-tropic and this tropism contributes to a chronic inflammatory and immune activation state that is observed in HIV patients. Pattern recognition receptors of the innate immune system are the key molecules that recognise HIV and mount the inflammatory responses in macrophages. The innate immune response against HIV-1 is potent and elicits caspase-1-dependent pro-inflammatory cytokine production of IL-1β and IL-18. Although, NLRP3 has been reported as an inflammasome sensor dictating this response little is known about the pattern recognition receptors that trigger the “priming” signal for inflammasome activation, the NLRs involved or the HIV components that trigger the response. Using a combination of siRNA knockdowns in monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs) of different TLRs and NLRs as well as chemical inhibition, it was demonstrated that HIV Vpu could trigger inflammasome activation via TLR4/NLRP3 leading to IL-1β/IL-18 secretion. The priming signal is triggered via TLR4, whereas the activation signal is triggered by direct effects on Kv1.3 channels, causing K⁺ efflux. In contrast, HIV gp41 could trigger IL-18 production via NAIP/NLRC4, independently of priming, as a one-step inflammasome activation. NAIP binds directly to the cytoplasmic tail of HIV envelope protein gp41 and represents the first non-bacterial ligand for the NAIP/NLRC4 inflammasome. These divergent pathways represent novel targets to resolve specific inflammatory pathologies associated with HIV-1 infection in macrophages.     

Measles virus V protein inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated interleukin-1β secretion

Inflammasomes are cytosolic protein complexes that stimulate the activation of caspase-1, which in turn induces the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. Recent studies have indicated that the inflammasome known as the NOD-like-receptor-family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome recognizes several RNA viruses, including the influenza and encephalomyocarditis viruses, whereas the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) inflammasome may detect vesicular stomatitis virus. We demonstrate that measles virus (MV) infection induces caspase-1-dependent IL-1β secretion in the human macrophage-like cell line THP-1. Gene knockdown experiments indicated that IL-1β secretion in MV-infected THP-1 cells was mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome but not the RIG-I inflammasome. MV produces the nonstructural V protein, which has been shown to antagonize host innate immune responses. The recombinant MV lacking the V protein induced more IL-1β than the parental virus. THP-1 cells stably expressing the V protein suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated IL-1β secretion. Furthermore, coimmunoprecipitation assays revealed that the V protein interacts with NLRP3 through its carboxyl-terminal domain. NLRP3 was located in cytoplasmic granular structures in THP-1 cells stably expressing the V protein, but upon inflammasome activation, NLRP3 was redistributed to the perinuclear region, where it colocalized with the V protein. These results indicate that the V protein of MV suppresses NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated IL-1β secretion by directly or indirectly interacting with NLRP3.