Disulfiram Reduces Atherosclerosis and Enhances Efferocytosis, Autophagy, and Atheroprotective Gut Microbiota in Hyperlipidemic Mice.

BACKGROUND: Pyroptosis executor GsdmD (gasdermin D) promotes atherosclerosis in mice and humans. Disulfiram was recently shown to potently inhibit GsdmD, but the in vivo efficacy and mechanism of disulfiram's antiatherosclerotic activity is yet to be explored. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used human/mouse macrophages, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells and a hyperlipidemic mouse model of atherosclerosis to determine disulfiram antiatherosclerotic efficacy and mechanism. The effects of disulfiram on several atheroprotective pathways such as autophagy, efferocytosis, phagocytosis, and gut microbiota were determined. Atomic force microscopy was used to determine the effects of disulfiram on the biophysical properties of the plasma membrane of macrophages. Disulfiram-fed hyperlipidemic apolipoprotein E-/- mice showed significantly reduced interleukin-1ß release upon in vivo Nlrp3 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 3) inflammasome activation. Disulfiram-fed mice showed smaller atherosclerotic lesions (~27% and 29% reduction in males and females, respectively) and necrotic core areas (~50% and 46% reduction in males and females, respectively). Disulfiram induced autophagy in macrophages, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, hepatocytes/liver, and atherosclerotic plaques. Disulfiram modulated other atheroprotective pathways (eg, efferocytosis, phagocytosis) and gut microbiota. Disulfiram-treated macrophages showed enhanced phagocytosis/efferocytosis, with the mechanism being a marked increase in cell-surface expression of efferocytic receptor MerTK. Atomic force microscopy analysis revealed altered biophysical properties of disulfiram-treated macrophages, showing increased order-state of plasma membrane and increased adhesion strength. Furthermore, 16sRNA sequencing of disulfiram-fed hyperlipidemic mice showed highly significant enrichment in atheroprotective gut microbiota Akkermansia and a reduction in atherogenic Romboutsia species. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our data show that disulfiram can simultaneously modulate several atheroprotective pathways in a GsdmD-dependent as well as GsdmD-independent manner.

Disulfiram reduces atherosclerosis and enhances efferocytosis, autophagy, and atheroprotective gut microbiota in hyperlipidemic mice.

Pyroptosis executor Gasdermin (GsdmD) promotes atherosclerosis in mice and humans. Disulfiram (DSF) was recently shown to potently inhibit GsdmD, but the in-vivo efficacy and mechanism of DSF's anti-atherosclerotic activity is yet to be explored. We used human/mouse macrophages and a hyperlipidemic mouse model of atherosclerosis to determine DSF anti-atherosclerotic efficacy and mechanism. DSF-fed hyperlipidemic apoE -/- mice showed significantly reduced IL-1ß release upon in-vivo Nlrp3 inflammasome assembly and showed smaller atherosclerotic lesions (∼27% and 29% reduction in males and females, respectively). The necrotic core area was also smaller (∼50% and 46% reduction in DSF-fed males and females, respectively). DSF induced autophagy in macrophages, hepatocytes/liver, and in atherosclerotic plaques. DSF modulated other atheroprotective pathways such as efferocytosis, phagocytosis, and gut microbiota. DSF-treated macrophages showed enhanced phagocytosis/efferocytosis, with a mechanism being a marked increase in cell-surface expression of efferocytic receptor MerTK. Atomic-force microscopy analysis revealed altered biophysical membrane properties of DSF treated macrophages, showing increased ordered-state of the plasma membrane and increased adhesion strength. Furthermore, the 16sRNA sequencing of DSF-fed hyperlipidemic mice showed highly significant enrichment in atheroprotective gut microbiota Akkermansia and a reduction in atherogenic Romboutsia species. Taken together, our data shows that DSF can simultaneously modulate multiple atheroprotective pathways, and thus may serve as novel adjuvant therapeutic to treat atherosclerosis.

Impavido attenuates inflammation, reduces atherosclerosis, and alters gut microbiota in hyperlipidemic mice.

Impavido (Miltefosine) is an FDA-approved drug for treating leishmaniasis and primary amebic meningoencephalitis. We have shown previously that Miltefosine increased cholesterol release and dampened Nlrp3 inflammasome assembly in macrophages. Here, we show that Miltefosine reduced LPS-induced choline uptake by macrophages, and attenuated Nlrp3 inflammasome assembly in mice. Miltefosine-fed mice showed reduced plasma IL-1ß in a polymicrobial cecal slurry model of systemic inflammation. Miltefosine-fed mice showed increased reverse cholesterol transport to the plasma, liver, and feces. Hyperlipidemic apoE-/- mice fed with WTD + Miltefosine showed significantly reduced weight gain and markedly reduced atherosclerotic lesions versus mice fed with WTD. The 16S rDNA sequencing and analysis of gut microbiota showed marked alterations in the microbiota profile of Miltefosine-fed hyperlipidemic apoE-/- versus control, with the most notable changes in Romboutsia and Bacteriodes species. Taken together, these data indicate that Miltefosine causes pleiotropic effects on lipid metabolism, inflammasome activity, atherosclerosis, and the gut microbiota.

Myeloid-cell-specific role of Gasdermin D in promoting lung cancer progression in mice.

The activities of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes and Gasdermin D (GsdmD) are implicated in lung cancer pathophysiology but it's not clear if their contributions promote or retard lung cancer progression. Using a metastatic Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cell model, we show that GsdmD knockout (GsdmD-/-) mice form significantly fewer cancer foci in lungs, exhibit markedly decreased lung cancer metastasis, and show a significant ∼50% increase in median survival rate. The cleaved forms of GsdmD and IL-1ß were detected in lung tumor tissue, indicating inflammasome activity in lung tumor microenvironment (TME). Increased migration and growth of LLC cells was observed upon exposure to the conditioned media derived from inflammasome-induced wild type, but not the GsdmD-/-, macrophages. Using bone marrow transplantations, we show a myeloid-specific contribution of GsdmD in lung cancer metastasis. Taken together, our data show that GsdmD plays a myeloid-specific role in lung cancer progression.

Quantitative trait locus mapping identifies the Gpnmb gene as a modifier of mouse macrophage lysosome function.

We have previously shown that the DBA/2J versus AKR/J mouse strain is associated with decreased autophagy-mediated lysosomal hydrolysis of cholesterol esters. Our objective was to determine differences in lysosome function in AKR/J and DBA/2J macrophages, and identify the responsible genes. Using a novel dual-labeled indicator of lysosome function, DBA/2J versus AKR/J bone marrow derived macrophages had significantly decreased lysosome function. We performed quantitative trait loci mapping of lysosome function in bone marrow macrophages from an AKR/J × DBA/2J strain intercross. Four distinct lysosome function loci were identified, which we named macrophage lysosome function modifier (Mlfm) Mlfm1 through Mlfm4. The strongest locus Mlfm1 harbors the Gpnmb gene, which has been shown to recruit autophagy protein light chain 3 to autophagosomes for lysosome fusion. The parental DBA/2J strain has a nonsense variant in Gpnmb. siRNA knockdown of Gpnmb in AKR/J macrophages decreased lysosome function, and Gpnmb deletion through CRISP/Cas9 editing in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages also demonstrated a similar result. Furthermore, a DBA/2 substrain, called DBA/2J-Gpnmb+/SjJ, contains the wildtype Gpnmb gene, and macrophages from this Gpnmb-preserved DBA/2 substrain exhibited recovered lysosome function. In conclusion, we identified Gpnmb as a causal modifier gene of lysosome function in this strain pair.

Soat1 mediates the mouse strain effects on cholesterol loading-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and CHOP expression in macrophages.

We previously demonstrated that AKR vs. DBA/2 mouse bone marrow derived macrophages have higher levels of free cholesterol and lower levels of esterified cholesterol after cholesterol loading, and that AKR, but not DBA/2, macrophages induced C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) expression after cholesterol loading. We earlier determined that the free and esterified cholesterol level effect is due to a truncation in the sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (Soat1) gene, encoding acetyl-coenzyme A acetyltransferase 1 (ACAT1). Here we examined the mechanism for the differential induction of CHOP by cholesterol loading. CHOP was induced in both strains after incubation with tunicamycin, indicating both strains have competent endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways. CHOP was induced when DBA/2 macrophages were cholesterol loaded in the presence of an ACAT inhibitor, indicating that the difference in free cholesterol levels were responsible for this strain effect. This finding was confirmed in macrophages derived from DBA/2 embryonic stem cells. Cholesterol loading of Soat1 gene edited cells, mimicking the AKR allele, led to increased free cholesterol levels and restored CHOP induction. The upstream pathway of free cholesterol induced endoplasmic reticulum stress was investigated; and, RNA-dependent protein kinase-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) and inositol-requiring enzyme 1 α protein kinase (IRE1α) pathways were required for maximal CHOP expression.

Uptake of high-density lipoprotein by scavenger receptor class B type 1 is associated with prostate cancer proliferation and tumor progression in mice.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism is facilitated in part by scavenger receptor class B, type 1 (SR-B1) that mediates HDL uptake into cells. Higher levels of HDL have been associated with protection in other diseases, however, its role in prostate cancer is not definitive. SR-B1 is up-regulated in prostate cancer tissue, suggesting a possible role of this receptor in tumor progression. Here, we report that knockout (KO) of SR-B1 in both human and mouse prostate cancer cell lines through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing reduces HDL uptake into the prostate cancer cells and reduces their proliferation in response to HDL. In vivo studies using syngeneic SR-B1 WT (SR-B1+/+) and SR-B1 KO (SR-B1-/-) prostate cancer cells in WT and apolipoprotein-AI KO (apoA1-KO) C57BL/6J mice revealed that WT hosts, containing higher levels of total and HDL-cholesterol, grew larger tumors than apoA1-KO hosts with lower levels of total and HDL-cholesterol. Furthermore, SR-B1-/- prostate cancer cells formed smaller tumors in WT hosts than SR-B1+/+ cells in the same host model. Increased tumor volume was overall associated with reduced survival. We conclude that knocking out SR-B1 in prostate cancer tumors reduces HDL-associated increases in prostate cancer cell proliferation and disease progression.

MBOAT7-driven phosphatidylinositol remodeling promotes the progression of clear cell renal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The most common kidney cancer, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), is closely associated with obesity. The "clear cell" variant of RCC gets its name from the large lipid droplets that accumulate in the tumor cells. Although renal lipid metabolism is altered in ccRCC, the mechanisms and lipids driving this are not well understood. METHODS: We used shotgun lipidomics in human ccRCC tumors and matched normal adjacent renal tissue. To assess MBOAT7s gene expression across tumor severity, we examined histologically graded human ccRCC samples. We then utilized genome editing in ccRCC cell lines to understand the role of MBOAT7 in ccRCC progression. RESULTS: We identified a lipid signature for ccRCC that includes an increase in arachidonic acid-enriched phosphatidylinositols (AA-PI). In parallel, we found that ccRCC tumors have increased expression of acyltransferase enzyme membrane bound O-acyltransferase domain containing 7 (MBOAT7) that contributes to AA-PI synthesis. In ccRCC patients, MBOAT7 expression increases with tumor grade, and increased MBOAT7 expression correlates with poor survival. Genetic deletion of MBOAT7 in ccRCC cells decreases proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest, and MBOAT7-/- cells fail to form tumors in vivo. RNAseq of MBOAT7-/- cells identified alterations in cell migration and extracellular matrix organization that were functionally validated in migration assays. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the accumulation of AA-PI in ccRCC and demonstrates a novel way to decrease the AA-PI pool in ccRCC by limiting MBOAT7. Our data reveal that metastatic ccRCC is associated with altered AA-PI metabolism and identify MBOAT7 as a novel target in advanced ccRCC.

Ubiquitin interacts with the Tollip C2 and CUE domains and inhibits binding of Tollip to phosphoinositides.

A large number of cellular signaling processes are directed through internalization, via endocytosis, of polyubiquitinated cargo proteins. Tollip is an adaptor protein that facilitates endosomal cargo sorting for lysosomal degradation. Tollip preferentially binds phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns(3)P) via its C2 domain, an association that may be required for endosomal membrane targeting. Here, we show that Tollip binds ubiquitin through its C2 and CUE domains and that its association with the C2 domain inhibits PtdIns(3)P binding. NMR analysis demonstrates that the C2 and CUE domains bind to overlapping sites on ubiquitin, suggesting that two ubiquitin molecules associate with Tollip simultaneously. Hydrodynamic studies reveal that ubiquitin forms heterodimers with the CUE domain, indicating that the association disrupts the dimeric state of the CUE domain. We propose that, in the absence of polyubiquitinated cargo, the dual binding of ubiquitin partitions Tollip into membrane-bound and membrane-free states, a function that contributes to the engagement of Tollip in both membrane trafficking and cytosolic pathways.