Neuroinflammation has been identified as a causative factor of multiple neurological diseases. The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-, leucine-rich repeat- and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, a subcellular multiprotein complex that is abundantly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), can sense and be activated by a wide range of exogenous and endogenous stimuli such as microbes, aggregated and misfolded proteins, and adenosine triphosphate, which results in activation of caspase-1. Activated caspase-1 subsequently leads to the processing of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediates rapid cell death. IL-1β and IL-18 drive inflammatory responses through diverse downstream signaling pathways, leading to neuronal damage. Thus, the NLRP3 inflammasome is considered a key contributor to the development of neuroinflammation. In this review article, we briefly discuss the structure and activation the NLRP3 inflammasome and address the involvement of the NLRP3 inflammasome in several neurological disorders, such as brain infection, acute brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, we review a series of promising therapeutic approaches that target the NLRP3 inflammasome signaling including anti-IL-1 therapy, small molecule NLRP3 inhibitors and other compounds, however, these approaches are still experimental in neurological diseases. At present, it is plausible to generate cell-specific conditional NLRP3 knockout (KO) mice via the Cre system to investigate the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome, which may be instrumental in the development of novel pharmacologic investigations for neuroinflammation-associated diseases.

Lysine acetylation of proteins, a dynamic and reversible post-translational modification, plays a critical regulatory role in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Several researches have been carried out on acetylproteome in plants. However, until now, there have been no data on common wheat, the major cereal crop in the world. In this study, we performed a global acetylproteome analysis of common wheat variety (Triticum aestivum L.), Chinese Spring. In total, 416 lysine modification sites were identified on 277 proteins, which are involved in a wide variety of biological processes. Consistent with previous studies, a large proportion of the acetylated proteins are involved in metabolic process. Interestingly, according to the functional enrichment analysis, 26 acetylated proteins are involved in photosynthesis and Calvin cycle, suggesting an important role of lysine acetylation in these processes. Moreover, protein interaction network analysis reveals that diverse interactions are modulated by protein acetylation. These data represent the first report of acetylome in common wheat and serve as an important resource for exploring the physiological role of lysine acetylation in this organism and likely in all plants.

BackgroundProtein lysine succinylation is an important post-translational modification and plays a critical regulatory role in almost every aspects of cell metabolism in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Common wheat is one of the major global cereal crops. However, to date, little is known about the functions of lysine succinylation in this plant. Here, we performed a global analysis of lysine succinylation in wheat and examined its overlap with lysine acetylation.ResultsIn total, 330 lysine succinylated modification sites were identified in 173 proteins. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the modified proteins are distributed in multiple subcellular compartments and are involved in a wide variety of biological processes such as photosynthesis and the Calvin-Benson cycle, suggesting an important role for lysine succinylation in these processes. Five putative succinylation motifs were identified. A protein interaction network analysis revealed that diverse interactions are modulated by protein succinylation. Moreover, 21 succinyl-lysine sites were found to be acetylated at the same position, and 33 proteins were modified by both acetylation and succinylation, suggesting an extensive overlap between succinylation and acetylation in common wheat. Comparative analysis indicated that lysine succinylation is conserved between common wheat and Brachypodium distachyon.ConclusionsThese results suggest that lysine succinylation is involved in diverse biological processes, especially in photosynthesis and carbon fixation. This systematic analysis represents the first global analysis of lysine succinylation in common wheat and provides an important resource for exploring the physiological role of lysine succinylation in this cereal crop and likely in all plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3698-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lysine acetylation is a dynamic and reversible post-translational modification that plays an important role in diverse cellular processes. Botrytis cinerea is the most thoroughly studied necrotrophic species due to its broad host range and huge economic impact. However, to date, little is known about the functions of lysine acetylation in this plant pathogen. In this study, we determined the lysine acetylome of B. cinerea through the combination of affinity enrichment and high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis. Overall, 1582 lysine acetylation sites in 954 proteins were identified. Bioinformatics analysis shows that the acetylated proteins are involved in diverse biological functions and show multiple cellular localizations. Several particular amino acids preferred near acetylation sites, including KacY, KacH, Kac***R, KacF, FKac and Kac***K, were identified in this organism. Protein interaction network analysis demonstrates that a variety of interactions are modulated by protein acetylation. Interestingly, 6 proteins involved in virulence of B. cinerea, including 3 key components of the high-osmolarity glycerol pathway, were found to be acetylated, suggesting that lysine acetylation plays regulatory roles in pathogenesis. These data provides the first comprehensive view of the acetylome of B. cinerea and serves as a rich resource for functional analysis of lysine acetylation in this plant pathogen.

Lysine acetylation is a major post-translational modification that plays an important regulatory role in almost every aspects in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a Gram-positive bacterium, is very effective for the control of plant pathogens. However, very little is known about the function of lysine acetylation in this organism. Here, we conducted the first lysine acetylome in B. amyloliquefaciens through a combination of highly sensitive immune-affinity purification and high-resolution LC−MS/MS. Overall, we identified 3268 lysine acetylation sites in 1254 proteins, which account for 32.9% of the total proteins in this bacterium. Till date, this is the highest ratio of acetylated proteins that have been identified in bacteria. Acetylated proteins are associated with a variety of biological processes and a large fraction of these proteins are involved in metabolism. Interestingly, for the first time, we found that about 71.1% (27/38) and 78.6% (22/28) of all the proteins tightly related to the synthesis of three types of pepketides and five families of lipopeptides were acetylated, respectively. These findings suggest that lysine acetylation plays a critical role in the regulation of antibiotics biosynthesis. These data serves as an important resource for further elucidation of the physiological role of lysine acetylation in B. amyloliquefaciens.

BackgroundProtein lysine malonylation, a newly discovered post-translational modification (PTM), plays an important role in diverse metabolic processes in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Common wheat is a major global cereal crop. However, the functions of lysine malonylation are relatively unknown in this crop. Here, a global analysis of lysine malonylation was performed in wheat.ResultsIn total, 342 lysine malonylated sites were identified in 233 proteins. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the frequency of arginine (R) in position + 1 was highest, and a modification motif, KmaR, was identified. The malonylated proteins were located in multiple subcellular compartments, especially in the cytosol (45%) and chloroplast (30%). The identified proteins were found to be involved in diverse pathways, such as carbon metabolism, the Calvin cycle, and the biosynthesis of amino acids, suggesting an important role for lysine malonylation in these processes. Protein interaction network analysis revealed eight highly interconnected clusters of malonylated proteins, and 137 malonylated proteins were mapped to the protein network database. Moreover, five proteins were simultaneously modified by lysine malonylation, acetylation and succinylation, suggesting that these three PTMs may coordinately regulate the function of many proteins in common wheat.ConclusionsOur results suggest that lysine malonylation is involved in a variety of biological processes, especially carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms. These data represent the first report of the lysine malonylome in common wheat and provide an important dataset for further exploring the physiological role of lysine malonylation in wheat and likely all plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4535-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Recently, a serial of studies have demonstrated that lipid mediators derived from Omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid have pro-resolving or anti-inflammatory effects in many inflammatory diseases. Here, we sought to evaluate whether Protectin DX (PDX, an isomer of Protecin D1), a newly identified lipid mediator, could protect mice against sepsis and explore the underling mechanism. Animal model of sepsis was established by cecum ligation and puncture (CLP). We found that PDX increased overall survival rate within eight days and attenuated multiple organ injury in septic mice. In addition, PDX reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines and bacterial load 24 h after CLP. Moreover, PDX promoted phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophages and increased the percentage of M2 macrophages in peritoneum of septic mice. In vitro, M2 macrophage markers (Arg1 and Ym1) and its transcriptional regulator (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, PPAR-γ) were upregulated in Raw264.7 macrophages challenged with PDX. GW9662 (a PPAR-γ inhibitor) and PPAR-γ siRNA abrogated the induction of Arg1 and Ym1 by PDX in Raw264.7 cells. Taken together, our results suggest that PDX is able to promote M2 polarization, enhance phagocytosis activity of macrophage and accelerate resolution of inflammation, finally leading to increased survival rate of septic mice.

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