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Nandi D, Forster J, Ramesh A, Nguyen A, Bharadwaj H, Kulkarni A. Caspase-1 Responsive Nanoreporter for In Vivo Monitoring of Inflammasome Immunotherapy. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:55545-55558. [PMID: 37990965 PMCID: PMC11056827 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c15733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2023]
Abstract
Inflammasomes are multimeric protein signaling complexes that are assembled in innate immune cells in response to a multitude of pathogen and damage-associated signals. They are essential for generating robust inflammatory responses to prevent pathogenic insults. However, inflammasome dysregulation can induce cascading immune responses, resulting in systemic toxicities and inflammatory disease. In this sense, there is a strong need to develop potent inflammasome inhibiting therapies as well as technologies to monitor their efficacy, yet current systems lack the ability to effectively image inflammasome activation and track therapy response early. To overcome these limitations, we report a novel nanoparticle system delivering both a caspase-1 cleavable inflammasome detecting probe and the NLRP3 inhibitor drug MCC-950, providing dual capabilities of monitoring and regulation of inflammasome activation in a biocompatible, tissue penetrating, and sustained release liposomal formulation. We observed this liposomal nanoreporter's ability to reduce and detect inflammasome activation both in vitro in immortalized bone marrow-derived macrophages and in vivo in a DSS-induced ulcerative colitis mouse model. Our results exhibited the nanoreporter's ability to penetrate inflammatory tissues and detect inflammasome activation early and in real-time for multiple days while alleviating inflammation in the groups coencapsulating imaging reporter and inflammasome inhibitor. Overall, the developed liposomal nanoreporter platform enables spatiotemporal delivery of imaging probe and inhibitor, captures early and sustained inflammasome detection, and induces inflammasome amelioration, thus establishing a novel tool for the real-time monitoring and treatment of inflammasome-mediated disease with high potential for clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dipika Nandi
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - James Forster
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Anujan Ramesh
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Anh Nguyen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Hariharan Bharadwaj
- Department of Pathology, UMass Chan, Medical School-Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts 01107, United States
| | - Ashish Kulkarni
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Center for Bioactive Delivery, Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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Nandi D, Farid NSS, Karuppiah HAR, Kulkarni A. Imaging Approaches to Monitor Inflammasome Activation. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167251. [PMID: 34537231 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Inflammasomes are a critical component of innate immune response which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various chronic and acute inflammatory disease conditions. An inflammasome complex consists of a multimeric protein assembly triggered by any form of pathogenic or sterile insult, resulting in caspase-1 activation. This active enzyme is further known to activate downstream pro-inflammatory cytokines along with a pore-forming protein, eventually leading to a lytic cell death called pyroptosis. Understanding the spatiotemporal kinetics of essential inflammasome components provides a better interpretation of the complex signaling underlying inflammation during several disease pathologies. This can be attained via in-vitro and in-vivo imaging platforms, which not only provide a basic understanding of molecular signaling but are also crucial to develop and screen targeted therapeutics. To date, numerous studies have reported platforms to image different signaling components participating in inflammasome activation. Here, we review several elements of inflammasome signaling, a common molecular mechanism combining these elements and their respective imaging tools. We anticipate that future needs will include developing new inflammasome imaging systems that can be utilized as clinical tools for diagnostics and monitoring treatment responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dipika Nandi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA. https://twitter.com/dipikanandi24
| | - Noorul Shaheen Sheikh Farid
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA. https://twitter.com/Shaheen30n
| | - Hayat Anu Ranjani Karuppiah
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA. https://twitter.com/AnuHayat
| | - Ashish Kulkarni
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; Center for Bioactive Delivery, Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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Phosphorylation by Aurora B kinase regulates caspase-2 activity and function. Cell Death Differ 2020; 28:349-366. [PMID: 32811973 PMCID: PMC7852673 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-020-00604-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitotic catastrophe (MC) is an important oncosuppressive mechanism that serves to eliminate cells that become polyploid or aneuploid due to aberrant mitosis. Previous studies have demonstrated that the activation and catalytic function of caspase-2 are key steps in MC to trigger apoptosis and/or cell cycle arrest of mitotically defective cells. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate caspase-2 activation and its function are unclear. Here, we identify six new phosphorylation sites in caspase-2 and show that a key mitotic kinase, Aurora B kinase (AURKB), phosphorylates caspase-2 at the highly conserved residue S384. We demonstrate that phosphorylation at S384 blocks caspase-2 catalytic activity and apoptosis function in response to mitotic insults, without affecting caspase-2 dimerisation. Moreover, molecular modelling suggests that phosphorylation at S384 may affect substrate binding by caspase-2. We propose that caspase-2 S384 phosphorylation by AURKB is a key mechanism that controls caspase-2 activation during mitosis.
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Dawar S, Lim Y, Puccini J, White M, Thomas P, Bouchier-Hayes L, Green DR, Dorstyn L, Kumar S. Caspase-2-mediated cell death is required for deleting aneuploid cells. Oncogene 2016; 36:2704-2714. [PMID: 27991927 PMCID: PMC5442422 DOI: 10.1038/onc.2016.423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Caspase-2, one of the most evolutionarily conserved of the caspase family, has been implicated in maintenance of chromosomal stability and tumour suppression. Caspase-2 deficient (Casp2−/−) mice develop normally but show premature ageing-related traits and when challenged by certain stressors, succumb to enhanced tumour development and aneuploidy. To test how caspase-2 protects against chromosomal instability, we utilized an ex vivo system for aneuploidy where primary splenocytes from Casp2−/− mice were exposed to anti-mitotic drugs and followed up by live cell imaging. Our data show that caspase-2 is required for deleting mitotically aberrant cells. Acute silencing of caspase-2 in cultured human cells recapitulated these results. We further generated Casp2C320S mutant mice to demonstrate that caspase-2 catalytic activity is essential for its function in limiting aneuploidy. Our results provide direct evidence that the apoptotic activity of caspase-2 is necessary for deleting cells with mitotic aberrations to limit aneuploidy.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Dawar
- Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Y Lim
- Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - J Puccini
- Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.,Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Medicine, New York University, New York City, NY, USA
| | - M White
- SA Genome Editing Facility, School of Biological Sciences and Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - P Thomas
- SA Genome Editing Facility, School of Biological Sciences and Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - L Bouchier-Hayes
- Department of Pediatrics-Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - D R Green
- Immunology Department, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - L Dorstyn
- Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - S Kumar
- Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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Parsons MJ, Rehm M, Bouchier-Hayes L. Imaging-based methods for assessing caspase activity in single cells. Cold Spring Harb Protoc 2015; 2015:pdb.top070342. [PMID: 25561626 DOI: 10.1101/pdb.top070342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Caspases, a family of proteases that are essential mediators of apoptosis, are divided into two groups: initiator caspases and executioner caspases. Each initiator caspase is activated at the apex of its respective pathway, which generally leads to the cleavage and activation of executioner caspases. Executioner caspases in turn cleave numerous substrates in the cell, leading to its demise. Initiator caspases are activated when inactive monomers undergo induced proximity to form an active caspase. In contrast, executioner caspases are activated by cleavage. Based on this key difference, different imaging techniques have been developed to measure caspase activation and activity on a single-cell basis. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) is used to measure induced proximity of initiator caspases, whereas Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) permits the investigation of caspase-mediated substrate cleavage in real time. Because many of the events in apoptosis, including caspase activation, are asynchronous in nature, these single-cell imaging techniques have proven to be immensely powerful in ordering and dissecting caspase pathways. When coupled with parallel detection of additional hallmark events of apoptosis, they provide detailed and quantitative kinetic and positional insights into the signal transduction pathways that regulate cell death. Here we provide a brief introduction into BiFC- and FRET-based imaging of caspase activation and activity in single cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Parsons
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030 Department of Pediatrics-Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Markus Rehm
- Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Lisa Bouchier-Hayes
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030 Department of Pediatrics-Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
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Rehm M, Parsons MJ, Bouchier-Hayes L. Measuring caspase activity by Förster resonance energy transfer. Cold Spring Harb Protoc 2015; 2015:pdb.prot082560. [PMID: 25561624 DOI: 10.1101/pdb.prot082560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) occurs across very short distances (in the nanometer range) between donor and acceptor fluorophores that overlap in their emission and absorption spectra. FRET-compatible green fluorescent protein (GFP) variants that are fused to short peptide linkers containing caspase cleavage sites can be used to measure caspase activity. In the intact probes, the donor and acceptor fluorophores are in close proximity, and FRET is highly efficient. On caspase activation, proteolysis of the linker occurs, and the donor is separated from the acceptor. This results in a disruption of resonance energy transfer and an increase in donor fluorescence quantum yield; this event is typically referred to as sensitized emission or donor unquenching. A number of highly sensitive FRET probes based on the cyan fluorescent protein-yellow fluorescent protein (CFP-YFP) pair, or improved variants thereof, have been developed to detect intracellular caspase activities. In this protocol we describe how to use FRET-based caspase substrates and time-lapse imaging to measure caspase activity in cells undergoing apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Rehm
- Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Melissa J Parsons
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030 Department of Pediatrics-Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Lisa Bouchier-Hayes
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030 Department of Pediatrics-Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
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