Nuclear RIPK1 promotes chromatin remodeling to mediate inflammatory response.

RIPK1 is a master regulator of multiple cell death pathways, including apoptosis and necroptosis, and inflammation. Importantly, activation of RIPK1 has also been shown to promote the transcriptional induction of proinflammatory cytokines in cells undergoing necroptosis, in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and in human ALS and AD. Rare human genetic carriers of non-cleavable RIPK1 variants (D324V and D324H) exhibit distinct symptoms of recurrent fevers and increased transcription of proinflammatory cytokines. Multiple RIPK1 inhibitors have been advanced into human clinical trials as new therapeutics for human inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS and AD. However, it is unclear whether and how RIPK1 kinase activity directly mediates inflammation independent of cell death as the nuclear function of RIPK1 has not yet been explored. Here we show that nuclear RIPK1 is physically associated with the BAF complex. Upon RIPK1 activation, the RIPK1/BAF complex is recruited by specific transcription factors to active enhancers and promoters marked by H3K4me1 and H3K27ac. Activated nuclear RIPK1 mediates the phosphorylation of SMARCC2, a key component of the BAF complex, to promote chromatin remodeling and the transcription of specific proinflammatory genes. Increased nuclear RIPK1 activation and RIPK1/BAF-mediated chromatin-remodeling activity were found in cells expressing non-cleavable RIPK1, and increased enrichment of activated RIPK1 on active enhancers and promoters was found in an animal model and human pathological samples of ALS. Our results suggest that RIPK1 kinase serves as a transcriptional coregulator in nucleus that can transmit extracellular stimuli to the BAF complex to modulate chromatin accessibility and directly regulate the transcription of specific genes involved in mediating inflammatory responses.

Modulating TRADD to restore cellular homeostasis and inhibit apoptosis.

Cell death in human diseases is often a consequence of disrupted cellular homeostasis. If cell death is prevented without restoring cellular homeostasis, it may lead to a persistent dysfunctional and pathological state. Although mechanisms of cell death have been thoroughly investigated1-3, it remains unclear how homeostasis can be restored after inhibition of cell death. Here we identify TRADD4-6, an adaptor protein, as a direct regulator of both cellular homeostasis and apoptosis. TRADD modulates cellular homeostasis by inhibiting K63-linked ubiquitination of beclin 1 mediated by TRAF2, cIAP1 and cIAP2, thereby reducing autophagy. TRADD deficiency inhibits RIPK1-dependent extrinsic apoptosis and proteasomal stress-induced intrinsic apoptosis. We also show that the small molecules ICCB-19 and Apt-1 bind to a pocket on the N-terminal TRAF2-binding domain of TRADD (TRADD-N), which interacts with the C-terminal domain (TRADD-C) and TRAF2 to modulate the ubiquitination of RIPK1 and beclin 1. Inhibition of TRADD by ICCB-19 or Apt-1 blocks apoptosis and restores cellular homeostasis by activating autophagy in cells with accumulated mutant tau, α-synuclein, or huntingtin. Treatment with Apt-1 restored proteostasis and inhibited cell death in a mouse model of proteinopathy induced by mutant tau(P301S). We conclude that pharmacological targeting of TRADD may represent a promising strategy for inhibiting cell death and restoring homeostasis to treat human diseases.