Inflammasomes are intracellular protein complexes that drive the activation of inflammatory caspases1. To date, four inflammasomes involving NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4 and AIM2 have been described that recruit the common adaptor ASC to activate caspase-1, leading to the secretion of mature IL-1β and IL-182,3. The NLRP3 inflammasome has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several acquired inflammatory diseases4,5 as well as Cryopyrin-associated periodic fever syndromes (CAPS) caused by inherited NLRP3 mutations6,7. Potassium efflux is a common step that is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by multiple stimuli8,9. Despite extensive investigation, the molecular mechanism leading to NLRP3 activation in response to potassium efflux remains unknown. We report here the identification of Nek7, a member of the family of mammalian NIMA-related kinases (Neks)10, as an NLRP3-binding protein that acts downstream of potassium efflux to regulate NLRP3 oligomerization and activation. In the absence of Nek7, caspase-1 activation and IL-1β release were abrogated in response to signals that activate NLRP3, but not NLRC4 or AIM2 inflammasome. NLRP3-activating stimuli promoted the NLRP3-Nek7 interaction in a process dependent on potassium efflux. NLRP3 associated with the catalytic domain of Nek7, but the catalytic activity of Nek7 was dispensable for activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Activated macrophages formed a high-molecular-mass NLRP3-Nek7 complex, which along with ASC oligomerization and ASC speck formation were abrogated in the absence of Nek7. Nek7 was required for macrophages harboring the CAPS-associated NLRP3R258W activating mutation to activate caspase-1. Mouse chimeras reconstituted with wild-type, Nek7−/− or Nlrp3−/− hematopoietic cells revealed that Nek7 was required for NLRP3 inflammasome activation in vivo. These studies demonstrate that Nek7 is an essential protein that acts downstream of potassium efflux to mediate NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and activation.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that acts on various cell types. Here we show that IL-6 mRNA is produced in vivo in two self-limiting physiologic angiogenic processes: (i) the formation of the vascular system accompanying development of ovarian follicles and (ii) the formation of a capillary network in the maternal decidua following embryonic implantation. In situ and RNA blot hybridization analyses detected transient expression of IL-6 mRNA in gonadotropin-primed hyperstimulated ovaries, with maximal mRNA levels coinciding with the period of formation of a capillary network around follicles. Expression of IL-6 mRNA was detected in the vasculature extending from the ovarian medulla to the forming capillary sheath in the thecal layer of individual growing follicles. No expression was detected in more-developed preovulatory follicles once angiogenesis had been completed. IL-6 mRNA was also detected in the uterus of pregnant mice 9.5 days postcoitum, and there was no appreciable IL-6 mRNA at later stages of embryonic development. Expression in the uterus was confined to cords of endothelial cells in the process of formation of an anastomosing network that traversed the maternal decidua towards the developing embryo. The expression ofIL-6 mRNA in two independent physiological angiogenic processes and the transient nature of its expression in endothelial cells suggest a role for IL-6 in angiogenesis.

Screening of mouse cDNA expression libraries with antibodies to phosphotyrosine resulted in repeated isolation of cDNAs that encode a novel mammalian protein kinase of 774 amino acids, termed Nek1. Nek1 contains an N‐terminal protein kinase domain which is most similar (42% identity) to the catalytic domain of NIMA, a protein kinase which controls initiation of mitosis in Aspergillus nidulans. In addition, both Nek1 and NIMA have a long, basic C‐terminal extension, and are therefore similar in overall structure. Despite its identification with anti‐phosphotyrosine antibodies, Nek1 contains sequence motifs characteristic of protein serine/threonine kinases. The Nek1 kinase domain, when expressed in bacteria, phosphorylated exogenous substrates primarily on serine/threonine, but also on tyrosine, indicating that Nek1 is a dual specificity kinase with the capacity to phosphorylate all three hydroxyamino acids. Like NIMA, Nek1 preferentially phosphorylated beta‐casein in vitro. In situ RNA analysis of nek1 expression in mouse gonads revealed a high level of expression in both male and female germ cells, with a distribution consistent with a role in meiosis. These results suggest that Nek1 is a mammalian relative of the fungal NIMA cell cycle regulator.

Members of the NIMA-related kinases (NRK) family are recently emerging as central regulators of various aspects of the cell cycle. However, the cellular roles of the mammalian NRK, Nek7, remain obscure. We show here that the endogenous Nek7 protein is enriched at the centrosome in a microtubuleindependent manner. Overexpression of wt or kinase-defective Nek7 resulted in cells of rounder appearance, and higher proportions of multinuclear and apoptotic cells. Down-regulation of Nek7 using a small interfering RNA approach resulted in a significant increase in mitotic cells presenting multipolar spindle phenotype. These results suggest a role for Nek7 in regulating proper spindle assembly and mitotic progression.