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result(s) for
"Demarco, Benjamin"
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Walking in Berlin : a flaneur in the capital
\"Franz Hessel was an observer par excellence of the increasingly hectic metropolis that was Berlin in the late 1920s. In Walking in Berlin, originally published in Germany in 1929, he captures the rhythm of Weimar-era Berlin, recording evidence of the seismic shifts shaking German culture at the time. Nearly all of the pieces take the form of a walk or outing, focusing either on a theme or part of the city, and many end at a theatre, cinema, or club. Hessel effortlessly weaves historical information into his observations, displaying his extensive knowledge of the city. Today, many years after the Nazi era and the postwar reconstruction that followed, the areas he visited are all still prominent and interesting. From the Alexanderplatz to Kreuzberg, his record of them has become priceless. Superbly written, and as fresh today as when it first appeared, this is a book to be savoured\"-- Provided by publisher
ESCRT-dependent membrane repair negatively regulates pyroptosis downstream of GSDMD activation
by
Heilig, Rosalie
,
Santos, José Carlos
,
Demarco, Benjamin
in
Activation
,
Aniline Compounds - metabolism
,
Animals
2018
Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of cell death induced by select caspases downstream of inflammasome complexes. These caspases cleave gasdermin D (GSDMD), whose N-terminal fragments quickly form large permeability pores that induce cell death. However, a large percentage of cells with active inflammasomes are resistant to pyroptosis. Rühl et al. found that the membrane-remodeling ESCRT-III machinery was recruited to the plasma membrane upon GSDMD activation. ESCRT-III–dependent membrane repair limited proinflammatory cytokine secretion and pyroptosis after activation of inflammasomes. Science , this issue p. 956 The ESCRT-III complex involved in cellular membrane remodeling and repair limits an inflammation-associated form of cell death. Pyroptosis is a lytic form of cell death that is induced by inflammatory caspases upon activation of the canonical or noncanonical inflammasome pathways. These caspases cleave gasdermin D (GSDMD) to generate an N-terminal GSDMD fragment, which executes pyroptosis by forming membrane pores. We found that calcium influx through GSDMD pores serves as a signal for cells to initiate membrane repair by recruiting the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery to damaged membrane areas, such as the plasma membrane. Inhibition of the ESCRT-III machinery strongly enhances pyroptosis and interleukin-1β release in both human and murine cells after canonical or noncanonical inflammasome activation. These results not only attribute an anti-inflammatory role to membrane repair by the ESCRT-III system but also provide insight into general cellular survival mechanisms during pyroptosis.
Journal Article
Human GBP1 binds LPS to initiate assembly of a caspase-4 activating platform on cytosolic bacteria
2020
The human non-canonical inflammasome controls caspase-4 activation and gasdermin-D-dependent pyroptosis in response to cytosolic bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Since LPS binds and oligomerizes caspase-4, the pathway is thought to proceed without dedicated LPS sensors or an activation platform. Here we report that interferon-induced guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) are required for non-canonical inflammasome activation by cytosolic
Salmonella
or upon cytosolic delivery of LPS. GBP1 associates with the surface of cytosolic
Salmonella
seconds after bacterial escape from their vacuole, initiating the recruitment of GBP2-4 to assemble a GBP coat. The GBP coat then promotes the recruitment of caspase-4 to the bacterial surface and caspase activation, in absence of bacteriolysis. Mechanistically, GBP1 binds LPS with high affinity through electrostatic interactions. Our findings indicate that in human epithelial cells GBP1 acts as a cytosolic LPS sensor and assembles a platform for caspase-4 recruitment and activation at LPS-containing membranes as the first step of non-canonical inflammasome signaling.
Detection of LPS derived from Gram-negative bacteria by innate immune receptors is a critical step in the host response. Here Santos and colleagues show human GBP1 binds to LPS resulting in non-canonical inflammasome activation.
Journal Article
Genetic targeting of Card19 is linked to disrupted NINJ1 expression, impaired cell lysis, and increased susceptibility to Yersinia infection
by
Beiting, Daniel P.
,
Chen, Kaiwen W.
,
Henao-Mejia, Jorge
in
Animals
,
Apoptosis
,
Bacterial diseases
2021
Cell death plays a critical role in inflammatory responses. During pyroptosis, inflammatory caspases cleave Gasdermin D (GSDMD) to release an N-terminal fragment that generates plasma membrane pores that mediate cell lysis and IL-1 cytokine release. Terminal cell lysis and IL-1β release following caspase activation can be uncoupled in certain cell types or in response to particular stimuli, a state termed hyperactivation. However, the factors and mechanisms that regulate terminal cell lysis downstream of GSDMD cleavage remain poorly understood. In the course of studies to define regulation of pyroptosis during Yersinia infection, we identified a line of Card19 -deficient mice ( Card19 lxcn ) whose macrophages were protected from cell lysis and showed reduced apoptosis and pyroptosis, yet had wild-type levels of caspase activation, IL-1 secretion, and GSDMD cleavage. Unexpectedly, CARD19, a mitochondrial CARD-containing protein, was not directly responsible for this, as an independently-generated CRISPR/Cas9 Card19 knockout mouse line ( Card19 Null ) showed no defect in macrophage cell lysis. Notably, Card19 is located on chromosome 13, immediately adjacent to Ninj1 , which was recently found to regulate cell lysis downstream of GSDMD activation. RNA-seq and western blotting revealed that Card19 lxcn BMDMs have significantly reduced NINJ1 expression, and reconstitution of Ninj1 in Card19 lxcn immortalized BMDMs restored their ability to undergo cell lysis in response to caspase-dependent cell death stimuli. Card19 lxcn mice exhibited increased susceptibility to Yersinia infection, whereas independently-generated Card19 Null mice did not, demonstrating that cell lysis itself plays a key role in protection against bacterial infection, and that the increased infection susceptibility of Card19 lxcn mice is attributable to loss of NINJ1. Our findings identify genetic targeting of Card19 being responsible for off-target effects on the adjacent gene Ninj1 , disrupting the ability of macrophages to undergo plasma membrane rupture downstream of gasdermin cleavage and impacting host survival and bacterial control during Yersinia infection.
Journal Article
NLRP1-dependent activation of Gasdermin D in neutrophils controls cutaneous leishmaniasis
by
Broz, Petr
,
Tacchini-Cottier, Fabienne
,
Desponds, Chantal
in
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing - genetics
,
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing - metabolism
,
Animals
2024
Intracellular pathogens that replicate in host myeloid cells have devised ways to inhibit the cell’s killing machinery. Pyroptosis is one of the host strategies used to reduce the pathogen replicating niche and thereby control its expansion. The intracellular Leishmania parasites can survive and use neutrophils as a silent entry niche, favoring subsequent parasite dissemination into the host. Here, we show that Leishmania mexicana induces NLRP1- and caspase-1-dependent Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis in neutrophils, a process critical to control the parasite-induced pathology. In the absence of GSDMD, we observe an increased number of infected dermal neutrophils two days post-infection. Using adoptive neutrophil transfer in neutropenic mice, we show that pyroptosis contributes to the regulation of the neutrophil niche early after infection. The critical role of neutrophil pyroptosis and its positive influence on the regulation of the disease outcome was further demonstrated following infection of mice with neutrophil-specific deletion of GSDMD. Thus, our study establishes neutrophil pyroptosis as a critical regulator of leishmaniasis pathology.
Journal Article
Caspase-1 cleaves Bid to release mitochondrial SMAC and drive secondary necrosis in the absence of GSDMD
2020
Caspase-1 drives a lytic inflammatory cell death named pyroptosis by cleaving the pore-forming cell death executor gasdermin-D (GSDMD). Gsdmd deficiency, however, only delays cell lysis, indicating that caspase-1 controls alternative cell death pathways. Here, we show that in the absence of GSDMD, caspase-1 activates apoptotic initiator and executioner caspases and triggers a rapid progression into secondary necrosis. GSDMD-independent cell death required direct caspase-1–driven truncation of Bid and generation of caspase-3 p19/p12 by either caspase-8 or caspase-9. tBid-induced mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization was also required to drive SMAC release and relieve inhibitor of apoptosis protein inhibition of caspase-3, thereby allowing caspase-3 auto-processing to the fully active p17/p12 form. Our data reveal that cell lysis in inflammasome-activated Gsdmd -deficient cells is caused by a synergistic effect of rapid caspase-1–driven activation of initiator caspases-8/-9 and Bid cleavage, resulting in an unusually fast activation of caspase-3 and immediate transition into secondary necrosis. This pathway might be advantageous for the host in counteracting pathogen-induced inhibition of GSDMD but also has implications for the use of GSDMD inhibitors in immune therapies for caspase-1–dependent inflammatory disease.
Journal Article
Bronchoscopic Management of COPD and Advances in Therapy
by
DeMarco, Benjamin
,
MacRosty, Christina R.
in
Ablation
,
BLVR
,
bronchoscopic lung volume reduction
2023
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent and morbid disease marked by irreversible structural changes in the lungs. Bronchoscopic therapies have significantly expanded the treatment armamentarium for patients with persistent symptoms by reducing the physiologic detriments of hyperinflation in a less invasive fashion than surgical lung volume reduction. The spectrum of bronchoscopic techniques to reduce hyperinflation includes endobronchial valves, coils, thermal ablation, and biologic sealants. Other therapies focus on reducing parasympathetic tone and mucus hypersecretion and include targeted lung denervation, bronchial rheoplasty, and cryospray techniques. In this article, we will review the variety of techniques for bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, both established and investigational, along with their respective benefits and complications and will briefly review other investigational therapies for COPD.
Journal Article
How Pyroptosis Contributes to Inflammation and Fibroblast-Macrophage Cross-Talk in Rheumatoid Arthritis
by
Demarco, Benjamin
,
Danielli, Sara
,
Bezbradica, Jelena S.
in
Animals
,
Apoptosis
,
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
2022
About thirty years ago, a new form of pro-inflammatory lytic cell death was observed and termed pyroptosis. Only in 2015, gasdermins were defined as molecules that create pores at the plasma membrane and drive pyroptosis. Today, we know that gasdermin-mediated death is an important antimicrobial defence mechanism in bacteria, yeast and mammals as it destroys the intracellular niche for pathogen replication. However, excessive and uncontrolled cell death also contributes to immunopathology in several chronic inflammatory diseases, including arthritis. In this review, we discuss recent findings where pyroptosis contributes to tissue damage and inflammation with a main focus on injury-induced and autoimmune arthritis. We also review novel functions and regulatory mechanisms of the pyroptotic executors gasdermins. Finally, we discuss possible models of how pyroptosis may contribute to the cross-talk between fibroblast and macrophages, and also how this cross-talk may regulate inflammation by modulating inflammasome activation and pyroptosis induction.
Journal Article
RIPK1 activates distinct gasdermins in macrophages and neutrophils upon pathogen blockade of innate immune signaling
by
Chen, Kaiwen W.
,
Henao-Mejia, Jorge
,
Tacchini-Cottier, Fabienne
in
3T3 Cells
,
Acetyltransferase
,
Animals
2021
Injection of effector proteins to block host innate immune signaling is a common strategy used by many pathogenic organisms to establish an infection. For example, pathogenic Yersinia species inject the acetyltransferase YopJ into target cells to inhibit NF-κB and MAPK signaling. To counteract this, detection of YopJ activity in myeloid cells promotes the assembly of a RIPK1–caspase-8 death–inducing platform that confers antibacterial defense. While recent studies revealed that caspase-8 cleaves the pore-forming protein gasdermin D to trigger pyroptosis in macrophages, whether RIPK1 activates additional substrates downstream of caspase-8 to promote host defense is unclear. Here, we report that the related gasdermin family member gasdermin E (GSDME) is activated upon detection of YopJ activity in a RIPK1 kinase–dependent manner. Specifically, GSDME promotes neutrophil pyroptosis and IL-1β release, which is critical for anti-Yersinia defense. During in vivo infection, IL-1β neutralization increases bacterial burden in wild-type but not Gsdme-deficient mice. Thus, our study establishes GSDME as an important mediator that counteracts pathogen blockade of innate immune signaling.
Journal Article
Lipid-Coated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Innovative ROS-Generators for Photodynamic Therapy in Cancer Cells
2018
In the present paper, we use zinc oxide nanoparticles under the excitation of ultraviolet (UV) light for the generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), with the aim of further using these species for fighting cancer cells in vitro. Owing to the difficulties in obtaining highly dispersed nanoparticles (NPs) in biological media, we propose their coating with a double-lipidic layer and we evaluate their colloidal stability in comparison to the pristine zinc oxide NPs. Then, using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) coupled with the spin-trapping technique, we demonstrate and characterize the ability of bare and lipid-coated ZnO NPs to generate ROS in water only when remotely actuated via UV light irradiation. Interestingly, our results reveal that the surface chemistry of the NPs greatly influences the type of photo-generated ROS. Finally, we show that lipid-coated ZnO NPs are effectively internalized inside human epithelial carcinoma cells (HeLa) via a lysosomal pathway and that they can generate ROS inside cancer cells, leading to enhanced cell death. The results are promising for the development of ZnO-based therapeutic systems.
Journal Article