Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a life-threatening disease that occurs in immunodepressed patients when infected with Aspergillus fumigatus. This fungus is the second most-common causative agent of fungal disease after Candida albicans. Nevertheless, much remains to be learned about the mechanisms by which A. fulmigatus activates the innate immune system. We investigated the inflammatory response to conidia and hyphae of A. fumigatus and specifically, their capacity to trigger activation of an inflammasome. Our results show that in contrast to conidia, hyphal fragments induce NLRP3 inflammasome assembly, caspase-1 activation and IL-1β release from a human monocyte cell line. The ability of Aspergillus hyphae to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome in the monocytes requires K+ efflux and ROS production. In addition, our data show that NLRP3 inflammasome activation as well as pro-IL-1β expression relies on the Syk tyrosine kinase, which is downstream from the pathogen recognition receptor Dectin-1, reinforcing the importance of Dectin-1 in the innate immune response against fungal infection. Furthermore, we show that treatment of monocytes with corticosteroids inhibits transcription of the gene encoding IL-1β. Thus, our data demonstrate that the innate immune response against A. fumigatus infection involves a two step activation process, with a first signal promoting expression and synthesis of pro-IL-1β; and a second signal, involving Syk-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and caspase-1, allowing processing and secretion of the mature cytokine.

Contact with HIV-1 envelope protein elicits release of ATP through pannexin-1 channels on target cells; by activating purinergic receptors and Pyk2 kinase in target cells, this extracellular ATP boosts HIV-1 infectivity.

We have previously reported that Porphyromonas gingivalis infection of gingival epithelial cells (GEC) requires an exogenous danger signal such as ATP to activate an inflammasome and caspase-1, thereby inducing secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β. Stimulation with extracellular ATP also stimulates production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in GEC. However, the mechanism by which ROS is generated in response to ATP, and the role that different purinergic receptors may play in inflammasome activation, is still unclear. In this study, we revealed that the purinergic receptor P2X4 is assembled with the receptor P2X7 and its associated pore, pannexin-1. ATP induces ROS production through a complex consisting of the P2X4, P2X7, and pannexin-1. P2X7−mediated ROS production can activate the NLRP3 inflammasome and caspase-1. Furthermore, separate depletion or inhibition of P2X4, P2X7, or pannexin-1 complex blocks IL-1β secretion in P. gingivalis-infected GEC following ATP treatment. However, activation via P2X4 alone induces ROS generation but not inflammasome activation. These results suggest that ROS is generated through stimulation of a P2X4/P2X7/pannexin-1 complex, and reveal an unexpected role for P2X4, which acts as a positive regulator of inflammasome activation during microbial infection.

Chlamydia trachomatis infections cause severe and irreversible damage that can lead to infertility and blindness in both males and females. Following infection of epithelial cells, Chlamydia induces production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Unconventionally, Chlamydiae use ROS to their advantage by activating caspase-1, which contributes to chlamydial growth. NLRX1, a member of the Nod-like receptor family that translocates to the mitochondria, can augment ROS production from the mitochondria following Shigella flexneri infections. However, in general, ROS can also be produced by membrane-bound NADPH oxidases. Given the importance of ROS-induced caspase-1 activation in growth of the chlamydial vacuole, we investigated the sources of ROS production in epithelial cells following infection with C. trachomatis. In this study, we provide evidence that basal levels of ROS are generated during chlamydial infection by NADPH oxidase, but ROS levels, regardless of their source, are enhanced by an NLRX1-dependent mechanism. Significantly, the presence of NLRX1 is required for optimal chlamydial growth.During electron transfer reactions, eukaryotic cells generate highly reactive O 2 metabolites collectively known as reactive oxygen species (ROS).2 Given their high cellular toxicity, cells have developed mechanisms to maintain the levels of ROS in a homeostatic state and utilize them in cellular functions, including signaling pathways, gene expression regulation, and host defense mechanisms (1-3). Intracellular ROS generation is mediated by several enzymatic reactions, but the bulk of ROS is generated from two sources: the mitochondrial electron transport chain complex and membrane-bound NADPH oxidase (NOX and DUOX) (4).During oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria, O 2 is reduced to O 2 . , which in turn is converted by superoxide dismutase into H 2 O 2 , which then diffuses across the mitochondrial membrane to the cytoplasm (4). Notably, NLRX1, a member of the intracellular Nod-like receptor (NLR) family that is localized in mitochondria, enhances ROS production induced by poly(I⅐C), TNF␣, and Shigella flexneri infection (5). Although there is evidence that NLRX1 is the only NLR member that is found in mitochondria, its exact dynamic localization remains to be determined. Results from one study suggested that NLRX1 localizes to the outer mitochondrial membrane (6), but subsequent characterization suggests that NLRX1 is transported to the mitochondrial matrix, where it interacts with UQCRC2, a matrix-facing protein of respiratory chain complex III (bc 1 complex). The bc 1 complex is known to play an essential role in ROS generation from the mitochondria (5, 7). Chlamydia trachomatis is the first cause of bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States, and the incidence of infection has been increasing for the past 20 years (8 -10). The bacteria infect their preferred target cells, cervical epithelial cells, through entry vacuoles that avoid fusion with host cell lysosomes and then grow by subverting c...

The elaboration of an effective immune response against pathogenic microbes such as viruses, intracellular bacteria or protozoan parasites relies on the recognition of microbial products called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Ligation of the PRRs leads to synthesis and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Infected cells and other stressed cells also release host-cell derived molecules, called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs, danger signals, or alarmins), which are generic markers for damage. DAMPs are recognized by specific receptors on both immune and nonimmune cells, which, depending on the target cell and the cellular context, can lead to cell differentiation or cell death, and either inflammation or inhibition of inflammation. Recent research has revealed that DAMPs and PAMPs synergize to permit secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β): PAMPs stimulate synthesis ot pro-IL-1β, but not its secretion; while DAMPs can stimulate assembly ot an inflammasome containing, usually, a Nod-like receptor (NLR) member, and activation of the protease caspase-1, which cleaves pro-IL-1β into IL-1β, allowing its secretion. Other NLR members do not participate in formation of inflammasomes but play other essential roles in regulation of the innate immune response.

Chlamydia trachomatis infections represent the leading cause of bacterial sexually-transmitted disease in the United States and can cause serious tissue damage leading to infertility and ectopic pregnancies in women. Inflammation and hence the innate immune response to chlamydial infection contributes significantly to tissue damage, particularly by secreting proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β from monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. Here we demonstrate that C. trachomatis or Chlamydia muridarum infection of a monocytic cell line leads to caspase-1 activation and IL-1β secretion through a process requiring the NLRP3 inflammasome. Thus, secretion of IL-1β decreased significantly when cells were depleted of NLRP3 or treated with the anti-inflammatory inhibitors parthenolide or Bay 11-7082, which inhibit inflammasomes and the transcription factor NF-κB. As for other infections causing NRLP3 inflammasome assembly, caspase-1 activation in monocytes is triggered by potassium efflux and reactive oxygen species production. However, anti-oxidants inhibited IL-1β secretion only partially. Atypically for a bacterial infection, caspase-1 activation during chlamydial infection also involves partially the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), which is usually associated with a pathogen recognition receptor for fungal pathogens. Secretion of IL-1β during infection by many bacteria requires both microbial products from the pathogen and an exogenous danger signal, but chlamydial infection provides both the pathogen-associated molecular patterns and danger signals necessary for IL-1β synthesis and its secretion from human monocytes. Use of inhibitors that target the inflammasome in animals should therefore dampen inflammation during chlamydial infection.

Mycobacterium kansasii has emerged as an important nontuberculous mycobacterium pathogen, whose incidence and prevalence have been increasing in the last decade. M. kansasii can cause pulmonary tuberculosis clinically and radiographically indistinguishable from that caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Unlike the widely-studied M. tuberculosis, little is known about the innate immune response against M. kansasii infection. Although inflammasome activation plays an important role in host defense against bacterial infection, its role against atypical mycobacteria remains poorly understood. In this report, the role of inflammasome activity in THP-1 macrophages against M. kansasii infection was studied. Results indicated that viable, but not heat-killed, M. kansasii induced caspase-1-dependent IL-1β secretion in macrophages. The underlying mechanism was found to be through activation of an inflammasome containing the NLR (Nod-like receptor) family member NLRP3 and the adaptor protein ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD). Further, potassium efflux, lysosomal acidification, ROS production and cathepsin B release played a role in M. kansasii-induced inflammasome activation. Finally, the secreted IL-1β derived from caspase-1 activation was shown to restrict intracellular M. kansasii. These findings demonstrate a biological role for the NLRP3 inflammasome in host defense against M. kansasii.

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