1
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Junqueira C, Crespo Â, Ranjbar S, de Lacerda LB, Lewandrowski M, Ingber J, Parry B, Ravid S, Clark S, Schrimpf MR, Ho F, Beakes C, Margolin J, Russell N, Kays K, Boucau J, Das Adhikari U, Vora SM, Leger V, Gehrke L, Henderson LA, Janssen E, Kwon D, Sander C, Abraham J, Goldberg MB, Wu H, Mehta G, Bell S, Goldfeld AE, Filbin MR, Lieberman J. FcγR-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of monocytes activates inflammation. Nature 2022; 606:576-584. [PMID: 35385861 PMCID: PMC10071495 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04702-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 256] [Impact Index Per Article: 128.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 can cause acute respiratory distress and death in some patients1. Although severe COVID-19 is linked to substantial inflammation, how SARS-CoV-2 triggers inflammation is not clear2. Monocytes and macrophages are sentinel cells that sense invasive infection to form inflammasomes that activate caspase-1 and gasdermin D, leading to inflammatory death (pyroptosis) and the release of potent inflammatory mediators3. Here we show that about 6% of blood monocytes of patients with COVID-19 are infected with SARS-CoV-2. Monocyte infection depends on the uptake of antibody-opsonized virus by Fcγ receptors. The plasma of vaccine recipients does not promote antibody-dependent monocyte infection. SARS-CoV-2 begins to replicate in monocytes, but infection is aborted, and infectious virus is not detected in the supernatants of cultures of infected monocytes. Instead, infected cells undergo pyroptosis mediated by activation of NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, caspase-1 and gasdermin D. Moreover, tissue-resident macrophages, but not infected epithelial and endothelial cells, from lung autopsies from patients with COVID-19 have activated inflammasomes. Taken together, these findings suggest that antibody-mediated SARS-CoV-2 uptake by monocytes and macrophages triggers inflammatory cell death that aborts the production of infectious virus but causes systemic inflammation that contributes to COVID-19 pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Junqueira
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Ângela Crespo
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shahin Ranjbar
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Luna B de Lacerda
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Mercedes Lewandrowski
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jacob Ingber
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Blair Parry
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sagi Ravid
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah Clark
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marie Rose Schrimpf
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Felicia Ho
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Caroline Beakes
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Justin Margolin
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nicole Russell
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kyle Kays
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Julie Boucau
- Ragon Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Upasana Das Adhikari
- Ragon Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Setu M Vora
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Valerie Leger
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Lee Gehrke
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Lauren A Henderson
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Erin Janssen
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Douglas Kwon
- Ragon Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Chris Sander
- cBio Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonathan Abraham
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marcia B Goldberg
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Bacterial Pathogenesis, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hao Wu
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Gautam Mehta
- Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, University College London, London, UK
- Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London, UK
| | - Steven Bell
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anne E Goldfeld
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael R Filbin
- Emergency Medicine, Institute for Patient Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Judy Lieberman
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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2
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Huang Y, Yong P, Dickey D, Vora SM, Wu H, Bernlohr DA. Inflammasome Activation and Pyroptosis via a Lipid-regulated SIRT1-p53-ASC Axis in Macrophages From Male Mice and Humans. Endocrinology 2022; 163:6523230. [PMID: 35136993 PMCID: PMC8896164 DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqac014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Obesity-linked diabetes is associated with accumulation of proinflammatory macrophages into adipose tissue leading to inflammasome activation and pyroptotic secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18. Targeting fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) uncouples obesity from inflammation, attenuates characteristics of type 2 diabetes and is mechanistically linked to the cellular accumulation of monounsaturated fatty acids in macrophages. Herein we show that pharmacologic inhibition or genetic deletion of FABP4 activates silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) and deacetylates its downstream targets p53 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Pharmacologic inhibition of fatty acid synthase or stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase inhibits, whereas exogenous addition of C16:1 or C18:1 but not their saturated acyl chain counterparts, activates SIRT1 and p53/STAT3 signaling and IL-1β/IL-18 release. Expression of the p53 target gene ASC [apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a C-terminal caspase recruitment domain (CARD)] required for assembly of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is downregulated in FABP4 null mice and macrophage cell lines leading to loss of procaspase 1 activation and pyroptosis. Concomitant with loss of ASC expression in FABP4-/- macrophages, inflammasome activation, gasdermin D processing, and functional activation of pyroptosis are all diminished in FABP4 null macrophages but can be rescued by silencing SIRT1 or exogenous expression of ASC. Taken together, these results reveal a novel lipid-regulated pathway linking to SIRT1-p53-ASC signaling and activation of inflammasome action and pyroptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yimao Huang
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
| | - Peter Yong
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
| | - Deborah Dickey
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
| | - Setu M Vora
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David A Bernlohr
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
- Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Correspondence: David A. Bernlohr, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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3
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Vora SM, Fontana P, Mao T, Leger V, Zhang Y, Fu TM, Lieberman J, Gehrke L, Shi M, Wang L, Iwasaki A, Wu H. Targeting stem-loop 1 of the SARS-CoV-2 5' UTR to suppress viral translation and Nsp1 evasion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2117198119. [PMID: 35149555 PMCID: PMC8892331 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2117198119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is a highly pathogenic virus that evades antiviral immunity by interfering with host protein synthesis, mRNA stability, and protein trafficking. The SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 1 (Nsp1) uses its C-terminal domain to block the messenger RNA (mRNA) entry channel of the 40S ribosome to inhibit host protein synthesis. However, how SARS-CoV-2 circumvents Nsp1-mediated suppression for viral protein synthesis and if the mechanism can be targeted therapeutically remain unclear. Here, we show that N- and C-terminal domains of Nsp1 coordinate to drive a tuned ratio of viral to host translation, likely to maintain a certain level of host fitness while maximizing replication. We reveal that the stem-loop 1 (SL1) region of the SARS-CoV-2 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) is necessary and sufficient to evade Nsp1-mediated translational suppression. Targeting SL1 with locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides inhibits viral translation and makes SARS-CoV-2 5' UTR vulnerable to Nsp1 suppression, hindering viral replication in vitro at a nanomolar concentration, as well as providing protection against SARS-CoV-2-induced lethality in transgenic mice expressing human ACE2. Thus, SL1 allows Nsp1 to switch infected cells from host to SARS-CoV-2 translation, presenting a therapeutic target against COVID-19 that is conserved among immune-evasive variants. This unique strategy of unleashing a virus' own virulence mechanism against itself could force a critical trade-off between drug resistance and pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Setu M Vora
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Pietro Fontana
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Tianyang Mao
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520
| | - Valerie Leger
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Ying Zhang
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Tian-Min Fu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
| | - Judy Lieberman
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Lee Gehrke
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, MA 02115
| | - Ming Shi
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115;
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Longfei Wang
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115;
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Akiko Iwasaki
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520;
- HHMI, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115;
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
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4
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Shen C, Li R, Negro R, Cheng J, Vora SM, Fu TM, Wang A, He K, Andreeva L, Gao P, Tian Z, Flavell RA, Zhu S, Wu H. Phase separation drives RNA virus-induced activation of the NLRP6 inflammasome. Cell 2021; 184:5759-5774.e20. [PMID: 34678144 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.09.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
NLRP6 is important in host defense by inducing functional outcomes including inflammasome activation and interferon production. Here, we show that NLRP6 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) upon interaction with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in vitro and in cells, and an intrinsically disordered poly-lysine sequence (K350-354) of NLRP6 is important for multivalent interactions, phase separation, and inflammasome activation. Nlrp6-deficient or Nlrp6K350-354A mutant mice show reduced inflammasome activation upon mouse hepatitis virus or rotavirus infection, and in steady state stimulated by intestinal microbiota, implicating NLRP6 LLPS in anti-microbial immunity. Recruitment of ASC via helical assembly solidifies NLRP6 condensates, and ASC further recruits and activates caspase-1. Lipoteichoic acid, a known NLRP6 ligand, also promotes NLRP6 LLPS, and DHX15, a helicase in NLRP6-induced interferon signaling, co-forms condensates with NLRP6 and dsRNA. Thus, LLPS of NLRP6 is a common response to ligand stimulation, which serves to direct NLRP6 to distinct functional outcomes depending on the cellular context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Shen
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Runzhi Li
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Roberto Negro
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; National Institute of Gastroenterology, "S. de Bellis" Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Bari 70013, Italy
| | - Jiewei Cheng
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Setu M Vora
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tian-Min Fu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Anmin Wang
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Kaixin He
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Liudmila Andreeva
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pu Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhigang Tian
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Richard A Flavell
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Shu Zhu
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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5
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), results in life-threatening disease in a minority of patients, especially elderly people and those with co-morbidities such as obesity and diabetes. Severe disease is characterized by dysregulated cytokine release, pneumonia and acute lung injury, which can rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multisystem failure and death. However, a mechanistic understanding of COVID-19 progression remains unclear. Here we review evidence that SARS-CoV-2 directly or indirectly activates inflammasomes, which are large multiprotein assemblies that are broadly responsive to pathogen-associated and stress-associated cellular insults, leading to secretion of the pleiotropic IL-1 family cytokines (IL-1β and IL-18), and pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of cell death. We further discuss potential mechanisms of inflammasome activation and clinical efforts currently under way to suppress inflammation to prevent or ameliorate severe COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Setu M Vora
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Judy Lieberman
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
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6
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Junqueira C, Crespo Â, Ranjbar S, Lewandrowski M, Ingber J, de Lacerda LB, Parry B, Ravid S, Clark S, Ho F, Vora SM, Leger V, Beakes C, Margolin J, Russell N, Kays K, Gehrke L, Adhikari UD, Henderson L, Janssen E, Kwon D, Sander C, Abraham J, Filbin M, Goldberg MB, Wu H, Mehta G, Bell S, Goldfeld AE, Lieberman J. SARS-CoV-2 infects blood monocytes to activate NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, pyroptosis and cytokine release. Res Sq 2021:rs.3.rs-153628. [PMID: 34401873 PMCID: PMC8366805 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-153628/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 causes acute respiratory distress that can progress to multiorgan failure and death in a minority of patients. Although severe COVID-19 disease is linked to exuberant inflammation, how SARS-CoV-2 triggers inflammation is not understood. Monocytes and macrophages are sentinel immune cells in the blood and tissue, respectively, that sense invasive infection to form inflammasomes that activate caspase-1 and gasdermin D (GSDMD) pores, leading to inflammatory death (pyroptosis) and processing and release of IL-1 family cytokines, potent inflammatory mediators. Here we show that expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) linked to higher GSDMD expression increase the risk of severe COVID-19 disease (odds ratio, 1.3, p<0.005). We find that about 10% of blood monocytes in COVID-19 patients are infected with SARS-CoV-2. Monocyte infection depends on viral antibody opsonization and uptake of opsonized virus by the Fc receptor CD16. After uptake, SARS-CoV-2 begins to replicate in monocytes, as evidenced by detection of double-stranded RNA and subgenomic RNA and expression of a fluorescent reporter gene. However, infection is aborted, and infectious virus is not detected in infected monocyte supernatants or patient plasma. Instead, infected cells undergo inflammatory cell death (pyroptosis) mediated by activation of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, caspase-1 and GSDMD. Moreover, tissue-resident macrophages, but not infected epithelial cells, from COVID-19 lung autopsy specimens showed evidence of inflammasome activation. These findings taken together suggest that antibody-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of monocytes/macrophages triggers inflammatory cell death that aborts production of infectious virus but causes systemic inflammation that contributes to severe COVID-19 disease pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Junqueira
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil
| | - Ângela Crespo
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Shahin Ranjbar
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Mercedes Lewandrowski
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Jacob Ingber
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Luna B. de Lacerda
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil
| | - Blair Parry
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Sagi Ravid
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Sarah Clark
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Felicia Ho
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Setu M. Vora
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Valerie Leger
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
| | - Caroline Beakes
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Justin Margolin
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Nicole Russell
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Kyle Kays
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Lee Gehrke
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
| | - Upasana Das Adhikari
- Ragon Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Lauren Henderson
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
| | - Erin Janssen
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
| | - Douglas Kwon
- Ragon Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Chris Sander
- cBio Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Jonathan Abraham
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Michael Filbin
- Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Patient Care, USA
| | - Marcia B. Goldberg
- Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Center for Bacterial Pathogenesis, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
| | - Hao Wu
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
| | - Gautam Mehta
- Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, University College London, UK
- Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London, UK
| | - Steven Bell
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Anne E. Goldfeld
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Judy Lieberman
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, USA
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7
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Xia S, Zhang Z, Magupalli VG, Pablo JL, Dong Y, Vora SM, Wang L, Fu TM, Jacobson MP, Greka A, Lieberman J, Ruan J, Wu H. Gasdermin D pore structure reveals preferential release of mature interleukin-1. Nature 2021; 593:607-611. [PMID: 33883744 PMCID: PMC8588876 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03478-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 262] [Impact Index Per Article: 87.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
As organelles of the innate immune system, inflammasomes activate caspase-1 and other inflammatory caspases that cleave gasdermin D (GSDMD). Caspase-1 also cleaves inactive precursors of the interleukin (IL)-1 family to generate mature cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18. Cleaved GSDMD forms transmembrane pores to enable the release of IL-1 and to drive cell lysis through pyroptosis1-9. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of the pore and the prepore of GSDMD. These structures reveal the different conformations of the two states, as well as extensive membrane-binding elements including a hydrophobic anchor and three positively charged patches. The GSDMD pore conduit is predominantly negatively charged. By contrast, IL-1 precursors have an acidic domain that is proteolytically removed by caspase-110. When permeabilized by GSDMD pores, unlysed liposomes release positively charged and neutral cargoes faster than negatively charged cargoes of similar sizes, and the pores favour the passage of IL-1β and IL-18 over that of their precursors. Consistent with these findings, living-but not pyroptotic-macrophages preferentially release mature IL-1β upon perforation by GSDMD. Mutation of the acidic residues of GSDMD compromises this preference, hindering intracellular retention of the precursor and secretion of the mature cytokine. The GSDMD pore therefore mediates IL-1 release by electrostatic filtering, which suggests the importance of charge in addition to size in the transport of cargoes across this large channel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Xia
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zhibin Zhang
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Venkat Giri Magupalli
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Juan Lorenzo Pablo
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ying Dong
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Setu M Vora
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Longfei Wang
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tian-Min Fu
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Matthew P Jacobson
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Anna Greka
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Judy Lieberman
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jianbin Ruan
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Immunology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA.
| | - Hao Wu
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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8
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Junqueira C, Crespo Â, Ranjbar S, Ingber J, Parry B, Ravid S, de Lacerda LB, Lewandrowski M, Clark S, Ho F, Vora SM, Leger V, Beakes C, Margolin J, Russell N, Gehrke L, Adhikari UD, Henderson L, Janssen E, Kwon D, Sander C, Abraham J, Filbin M, Goldberg MB, Wu H, Mehta G, Bell S, Goldfeld AE, Lieberman J. SARS-CoV-2 infects blood monocytes to activate NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, pyroptosis and cytokine release. medRxiv 2021. [PMID: 33758872 DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.06.21252796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 causes acute respiratory distress that can progress to multiorgan failure and death in some patients. Although severe COVID-19 disease is linked to exuberant inflammation, how SARS-CoV-2 triggers inflammation is not understood. Monocytes are sentinel blood cells that sense invasive infection to form inflammasomes that activate caspase-1 and gasdermin D (GSDMD) pores, leading to inflammatory death (pyroptosis) and processing and release of IL-1 family cytokines, potent inflammatory mediators. Here we show that ~10% of blood monocytes in COVID-19 patients are dying and infected with SARS-CoV-2. Monocyte infection, which depends on antiviral antibodies, activates NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, caspase-1 and GSDMD cleavage and relocalization. Signs of pyroptosis (IL-1 family cytokines, LDH) in the plasma correlate with development of severe disease. Moreover, expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) linked to higher GSDMD expression increase the risk of severe COVID-19 disease (odds ratio, 1.3, p<0.005). These findings taken together suggest that antibody-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of monocytes triggers inflammation that contributes to severe COVID-19 disease pathogenesis. One sentence summary Antibody-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of monocytes activates inflammation and cytokine release.
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9
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Abstract
The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is central to metazoan development and routinely dysregulated in cancer. Wnt/β-catenin signaling initiates transcriptional reprogramming upon stabilization of the transcription factor β-catenin, which is otherwise posttranslationally processed by a destruction complex and degraded by the proteasome. Since various Wnt signaling components are enriched at centrosomes, we examined the functional contribution of centrosomes to Wnt signaling, β-catenin regulation, and posttranslational modifications. In HEK293 cells depleted of centrosomes we find that β-catenin synthesis and degradation rates are unaffected but that the normal accumulation of β-catenin in response to Wnt signaling is attenuated. This is due to accumulation of a novel high-molecular-weight form of phosphorylated β-catenin that is constitutively degraded in the absence of Wnt. Wnt signaling operates by inhibiting the destruction complex and thereby reducing destruction complex–phosphorylated β-catenin, but high-molecular-weight β-catenin is unexpectedly increased by Wnt signaling. Therefore these studies have identified a pool of β-catenin effectively shielded from regulation by Wnt. We present a model whereby centrosomes prevent inappropriate β-catenin modifications that antagonize normal stabilization by Wnt signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Setu M Vora
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1324
| | - Jan S Fassler
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1324
| | - Bryan T Phillips
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1324
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10
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Shi M, Zhang P, Vora SM, Wu H. Higher-order assemblies in innate immune and inflammatory signaling: A general principle in cell biology. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2020; 63:194-203. [PMID: 32272435 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceb.2020.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Higher-order supramolecular complexes-dubbed signalosomes carry out key signaling and effector functions in innate immunity and inflammation. In this review, we present several recently discovered signalosomes that are formed either by stable protein-protein interactions or by dynamic liquid-liquid phase separation. Structural features of these signalosomes are highlighted to elucidate their functions and biological insights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Shi
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.
| | - Pengfei Zhang
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Setu M Vora
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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11
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Abstract
The centrosome is the major microtubule-organizing center in animal cells but is dispensable for proper microtubule spindle formation in many biological contexts and is thus thought to fulfill additional functions. Recent observations suggest that the centrosome acts as a scaffold for proteasomal degradation in the cell to regulate a variety of biological processes including cell fate acquisition, cell cycle control, stress response, and cell morphogenesis. Here, we review the body of studies indicating a role for the centrosome in promoting proteasomal degradation of ubiquitin-proteasome substrates and explore the functional relevance of this system in different biological contexts. We discuss a potential role for the centrosome in coordinating local degradation of proteasomal substrates, allowing cells to achieve stringent spatiotemporal control over various signaling processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Setu M Vora
- a Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , USA
| | - Bryan T Phillips
- a Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , USA
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