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Background Ischemic stroke immediately evokes a strong neuro-inflammatory response within the vascular compartment, which contributes to primary infarct development under vessel occlusion as well as further infarct growth despite recanalization, referred to as ischemia/reperfusion injury. Later, in the subacute phase of stroke (beyond day 1 after recanalization), further inflammatory processes within the brain parenchyma follow. Whether this second wave of parenchymal inflammation contributes to an additional/secondary increase in infarct volumes and bears the potential to be pharmacologically targeted remains elusive. We addressed the role of the NLR-family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in the subacute phase of ischemic stroke. Methods Focal cerebral ischemia was induced in C57Bl/6 mice by a 30-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Animals were treated with the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 therapeutically 24 h after or prophylactically before tMCAO. Stroke outcome, including infarct size and functional deficits as well as the local inflammatory response, was assessed on day 7 after tMCAO. Results Infarct sizes on day 7 after tMCAO decreased about 35% after delayed and about 60% after prophylactic NLRP3 inhibition compared to vehicle. Functionally, pharmacological inhibition of NLRP3 mitigated the local inflammatory response in the ischemic brain as indicated by reduction of infiltrating immune cells and reactive astrogliosis. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that the NLRP3 inflammasome continues to drive neuroinflammation within the subacute stroke phase. NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition leads to a better long-term outcome—even when administered with a delay of 1 day after stroke induction, indicating ongoing inflammation-driven infarct progression. These findings may pave the way for eagerly awaited delayed treatment options in ischemic stroke.

The Gram-negative bacteria Yersinia pestis , causative agent of plague, is extremely virulent. One mechanism contributing to Y. pestis virulence is the presence of a type-three secretion system, which injects effector proteins, Yops, directly into immune cells of the infected host. One of these Yop proteins, YopJ, is proapoptotic and inhibits mammalian NF-κB and MAP-kinase signal transduction pathways. Although the molecular mechanism remained elusive for some time, recent work has shown that YopJ acts as a serine/threonine acetyl-transferase targeting MAP2 kinases. Using Drosophila as a model system, we find that YopJ inhibits one innate immune NF-κB signaling pathway (IMD) but not the other (Toll). In fact, we show YopJ mediated serine/threonine acetylation and inhibition of dTAK1, the critical MAP3 kinase in the IMD pathway. Acetylation of critical serine/threonine residues in the activation loop of Drosophila TAK1 blocks phosphorylation of the protein and subsequent kinase activation. In addition, studies in mammalian cells show similar modification and inhibition of hTAK1. These data present evidence that TAK1 is a target for YopJ-mediated inhibition.

Constitutive activation of interferon signaling pathways has been reported in colorectal cancer (CRC), leading to a strong CD8+ T cell response through stimulation of NLRC5 expression. Primed CD8+ T cell expansion, however, may be negatively regulated by PD-L1 expression. Additionally, aberrant PD-L1 expression enables cancer cells to escape the immune attack. Our study aimed to select potential regulatory variants in the NLRC5 and PD-L1 genes by using several online in silico tools, such as UCSC browser, HaploReg, Regulome DB, Gtex Portal, microRNA and transcription factor binding site prediction tools and to investigate their influence on CRC risk in a Czech cohort of 1424 CRC patients and 1114 healthy controls. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and gender reported a moderate association between rectal cancer risk and two NLRC5 SNPs, rs1684575 T>G (OR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.13-2.27, recessive model) and rs3751710 (OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.51-0.96, dominant model). Given that a combination of genetic variants, rather than a single polymorphism, may explain better the genetic etiology of CRC, we studied the interplay between the variants within NLRC5, PD-L1 and the previously genotyped IFNGR1 and IFNGR2 variants, to evaluate their involvement in the risk of CRC development. Overall we obtained 18 pair-wise interactions within and between the NLRC5 ad PD-L1 genes and 6 more when IFNGR variants were added. Thirteen out of the 24 interactions were below the threshold for the FDR calculated and controlled at an arbitrary level q*<0.10. Furthermore, the interaction IFNGR2 rs1059293 C>T-NLRC5 rs289747 G>A (P<0.0001) remained statistically significant even after Bonferroni correction. Our data suggest that not only a single genetic variant but also an interaction between two or more variants within genes involved in immune regulation may play important roles in the onset of CRC, providing therefore novel biological information, which could eventually improve CRC risk management but also PD-1-based immunotherapy in CRC.

Neutrophils, the most abundant human immune cells, are rapidly recruited to sites of infection, where they fulfill their life-saving antimicrobial functions. While traditionally regarded as short-lived phagocytes, recent findings on long-term survival, neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, heterogeneity and plasticity, suppressive functions, and tissue injury have expanded our understanding of their diverse role in infection and inflammation. This review summarises our current understanding of neutrophils in host-pathogen interactions and disease involvement, illustrating the versatility and plasticity of the neutrophil, moving between host defence, immune modulation, and tissue damage.

Chitin, a polysaccharide, is ubiquitously found in nature and has been known to be an active immunogen in mammals, and interacts with Toll-like, mannose and glucan receptors, to induce cytokine and chemokine secretions. FIBCD1 is a tetrameric type II transmembrane endocytic vertebrate receptor that binds chitin, is found in human lung epithelium and modulates lung epithelial inflammatory responses to A . fumigatus cell wall polysaccharides. We previously reported the detrimental role of FIBCD1 in a murine model of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis. However, the effect that chitin and chitin-containing A . fumigatus conidia exerts on lung epithelium following exposure through FIBCD1 is not yet fully explored. Using both in vitro and in vivo strategies, we examined how lung and lung epithelial gene expression are modified after exposure to fungal conidia or chitin fragments in the presence or absence of FIBCD1. FIBCD1 expression was associated with a decrease in inflammatory cytokines with increasing size of chitin (dimer-oligomer). Thus, our results demonstrate that FIBCD1 expression modulates cytokine and chemokine expression in response to A . fumigatus conidia that is modified by the presence of chitin particles.

Protein modifications of death receptor pathways play a central role in the regulation of apoptosis. It has been demonstrated that O-glycosylation of TRAIL-receptor (R) is essential for sensitivity and resistance towards TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. In this study we ask whether and how glycosylation of CD95 (Fas/APO-1), another death receptor, influences DISC formation and procaspase-8 activation at the CD95 DISC and thereby the onset of apoptosis. We concentrated on N-glycostructure since O-glycosylation of CD95 was not found. We applied different approaches to analyze the role of CD95 N-glycosylation on the signal transduction: in silico modeling of CD95 DISC, generation of CD95 glycosylation mutants (at N136 and N118), modulation of N-glycosylation by deoxymannojirimycin (DMM) and sialidase from Vibrio cholerae (VCN). We demonstrate that N-deglycosylation of CD95 does not block DISC formation and results only in the reduction of the procaspase-8 activation at the DISC. These findings are important for the better understanding of CD95 apoptosis regulation and reveal differences between apoptotic signaling pathways of the TRAIL and CD95 systems.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease with strong neutrophil (PMN) infiltration and high levels of the antimicrobial peptide, LL37. LL37 in complex with DNA and RNA is thought to initiate disease exacerbation via plasmacytoid dendritic cells. However, the source of nucleic acids supposed to start this initial inflammatory event remains unknown. We show here that primary murine and human PMNs mount a fulminant and self-propagating neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) and cytokine response, but independently of the canonical NET component, DNA. Unexpectedly, RNA, which is abundant in NETs and psoriatic but not healthy skin, in complex with LL37 triggered TLR8/TLR13-mediated cytokine and NET release by PMNs in vitro and in vivo. Transfer of NETs to naive human PMNs prompts additional NET release, promoting further inflammation. Our study thus uncovers a self-propagating vicious cycle contributing to chronic inflammation in psoriasis, and NET-associated RNA (naRNA) as a physiologically relevant NET component. Antimicrobial peptide LL37 can bind nucleic acids and potentiate their sensing by endosomal TLRs. Here the authors show that LL37 binds to RNA from neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which amplifies inflammation and production of more LL37 and NETs via TLR8/13, suggesting that LL37 contribution to psoriasis may be fueled by NET-associated RNA.

Neutrophil extracellular trap formation (NETosis) and the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome assembly are associated with a similar spectrum of human disorders. While NETosis is known to be regulated by peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in NETosis was not addressed. Here, we establish that under sterile conditions the cannonical NLRP3 inflammasome participates in NETosis. We show apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) speck assembly and caspase-1 cleavage in stimulated mouse neutrophils without LPS priming. PAD4 was needed for optimal NLRP3 inflammasome assembly by regulating NLRP3 and ASC protein levels post-transcriptionally. Genetic ablation of NLRP3 signaling resulted in impaired NET formation, because NLRP3 supported both nuclear envelope and plasma membrane rupture. Pharmacological inhibition of NLRP3 in either mouse or human neutrophils also diminished NETosis. Finally, NLRP3 deficiency resulted in a lower density of NETs in thrombi produced by a stenosis-induced mouse model of deep vein thrombosis. Altogether, our results indicate a PAD4-dependent formation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in neutrophils and implicate NLRP3 in NETosis under noninfectious conditions in vitro and in vivo .

The Gadd45 proteins play important roles in growth control, maintenance of genomic stability, DNA repair, and apoptosis. Recently, Gadd45 proteins have also been implicated in epigenetic gene regulation by promoting active DNA demethylation. Gadd45 proteins have sequence homology with the L7Ae/L30e/S12e RNA binding superfamily of ribosomal proteins, which raises the question if they may interact directly with nucleic acids. Here we show that Gadd45a binds RNA but not single- or double stranded DNA or methylated DNA in vitro. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation experiments demonstrate that Gadd45a is present in high molecular weight particles, which are RNase sensitive. Gadd45a displays RNase-sensitive colocalization in nuclear speckles with the RNA helicase p68 and the RNA binding protein SC35. A K45A point mutation defective in RNA binding was still active in DNA demethylation. This suggests that RNA binding is not absolutely essential for demethylation of an artificial substrate. A point mutation at G39 impared RNA binding, nuclear speckle localization and DNA demethylation, emphasizing its relevance for Gadd45a function. The results implicate RNA in Gadd45a function and suggest that Gadd45a is associated with a ribonucleoprotein particle.

Nod-like receptors (NLRs) are important innate pattern recognition receptors and regulators of inflammation or play a role during development. We systematically analysed 41 non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 21 NLR genes in a Czech discovery cohort of sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) (1237 cases, 787 controls) for their association with CRC risk and survival. Five SNPs were found to be associated with CRC risk and eight with survival at 5% significance level. In a replication analysis using data of two large genome-wide association studies (GWASs) from Germany (DACHS: 1798 cases and 1810 controls) and Scotland (2210 cases and 9350 controls) the associations found in the Czech discovery set were not confirmed. However, expression analysis in human gut-related tissues and immune cells revealed that the NLRs associated with CRC risk or survival in the discovery set were expressed in primary human colon or rectum cells, CRC tissue and/or cell lines, providing preliminary evidence for a potential involvement of NLRs in general in CRC development and/or progression. Most interesting was the finding that the enigmatic development-related NLRP5 (also known as MATER) was not expressed in normal colon tissue but in colon cancer tissue and cell lines. Future studies may show whether regulatory variants instead of coding variants might affect the expression of NLRs and contribute to CRC risk and survival.