Title |
Mst1/2-ALK promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell apoptosis during Listeria monocytogenes infection |
Author |
Aijiao Gao1, Huixin Tang1, Qian Zhang2, Ruiqing Liu1, Lin Wang1, Yashan Liu1, Zhi Qi2*, and Yanna Shen1* |
Address |
1School of Medical Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300203, P. R. China, 2Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China |
Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 59(7),681–692, 2021,
|
DOI |
10.1007/s12275-021-0638-2
|
Key Words |
Listeria monocytogenes, NLR family pyrin domaincontaining
3 inflammasome, mammalian Ste20-like kinases
1/2, Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase, apoptosis |
Abstract |
Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a Gram-positive
intracellular foodborne pathogen that causes severe diseases,
such as meningitis and sepsis. The NLR family pyrin
domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has been reported
to participate in host defense against pathogen infection.
However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying
NLRP3 inflammasome activation remain to be fully elucidated.
In the present study, the roles of mammalian Ste20-
like kinases 1/2 (Mst1/2) and Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase
(ALK) in the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome induced
by L. monocytogenes infection were investigated. The
expression levels of Mst1/2, phospho (p)-ALK, p-JNK, Nek7,
and NLRP3 downstream molecules including activated caspase-
1 (p20) and mature interleukin (IL)-1β (p17), were upregulated
in L. monocytogenes-infected macrophages. The
ALK inhibitor significantly decreased the expression of p-JNK,
Nek7, and NLRP3 downstream molecules in macrophages infected
with L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the Mst1/2 inhibitor
markedly inhibited the L. monocytogenes-induced activation
of ALK, subsequently downregulating the expression
of p-JNK, Nek7, and NLRP3 downstream molecules. Therefore,
our study demonstrated that Mst1/2-ALK mediated
the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by promoting
the interaction between Nek7 and NLRP3 via JNK during
L. monocytogenes infection, which subsequently increased the
maturation and release of proinflammatory cytokine to resist
pathogen infection. Moreover, Listeriolysin O played a
key role in the process. In addition, we also found that the L.
monocytogenes-induced apoptosis of J774A.1 cells was reduced
by the Mst1/2 or ALK inhibitor. The present study reported,
for the first time, that the Mst1/2-ALK-JNK-NLRP3 signaling
pathway plays a vital proinflammatory role during L. monocytogenes
infection. |