A hierarchy of cell death pathways confers layered resistance to shigellosis in mice.

Bacteria of the genus Shigella cause shigellosis, a severe gastrointestinal disease driven by bacterial colonization of colonic intestinal epithelial cells. Vertebrates have evolved programmed cell death pathways that sense invasive enteric pathogens and eliminate their intracellular niche. Previously we reported that genetic removal of one such pathway, the NAIP-NLRC4 inflammasome, is sufficient to convert mice from resistant to susceptible to oral Shigella flexneri challenge (Mitchell et al., 2020). Here, we investigate the protective role of additional cell death pathways during oral mouse Shigella infection. We find that the Caspase-11 inflammasome, which senses Shigella LPS, restricts Shigella colonization of the intestinal epithelium in the absence of NAIP-NLRC4. However, this protection is limited when Shigella expresses OspC3, an effector that antagonizes Caspase-11 activity. TNFα, a cytokine that activates Caspase-8-dependent apoptosis, also provides potent protection from Shigella colonization of the intestinal epithelium when mice lack both NAIP-NLRC4 and Caspase-11. The combined genetic removal of Caspases-1, -11, and -8 renders mice hyper-susceptible to oral Shigella infection. Our findings uncover a layered hierarchy of cell death pathways that limit the ability of an invasive gastrointestinal pathogen to cause disease.

Shigella ubiquitin ligase IpaH7.8 targets gasdermin D for degradation to prevent pyroptosis and enable infection.

The pore-forming protein gasdermin D (GSDMD) executes lytic cell death called pyroptosis to eliminate the replicative niche of intracellular pathogens. Evolution favors pathogens that circumvent this host defense mechanism. Here, we show that the Shigella ubiquitin ligase IpaH7.8 functions as an inhibitor of GSDMD. Shigella is an enteroinvasive bacterium that causes hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in primates, but not rodents. IpaH7.8 contributes to species specificity by ubiquitinating human, but not mouse, GSDMD and targeting it for proteasomal degradation. Accordingly, infection of human epithelial cells with IpaH7.8-deficient Shigella flexneri results in increased GSDMD-dependent cell death compared with wild type. Consistent with pyroptosis contributing to murine disease resistance, eliminating GSDMD from NLRC4-deficient mice, which are already sensitized to oral infection with Shigella flexneri, leads to further enhanced bacterial replication and increased disease severity. This work highlights a species-specific pathogen arms race focused on maintenance of host cell viability.

Inflammasome-mediated antagonism of type I interferon enhances Rickettsia pathogenesis.

The innate immune system fights infection with inflammasomes and interferons. Facultative bacterial pathogens that inhabit the host cytosol avoid inflammasomes1-6 and are often insensitive to type I interferons (IFN-I), but are restricted by IFN-γ7-11. However, it remains unclear how obligate cytosolic bacterial pathogens, including Rickettsia species, interact with innate immunity. Here, we report that the human pathogen Rickettsia parkeri is sensitive to IFN-I and benefits from inflammasome-mediated host cell death that antagonizes IFN-I. R. parkeri-induced cell death requires the cytosolic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor caspase-11 and antagonizes IFN-I production mediated by the DNA sensor cGAS. The restrictive effects of IFN-I require the interferon regulatory factor IRF5, which upregulates genes encoding guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which we found to inhibit R. parkeri. Mice lacking both IFN-I and IFN-γ receptors succumb to R. parkeri, revealing critical and overlapping roles for these cytokines in vivo. The interactions of R. parkeri with inflammasomes and interferons are similar to those of viruses, which can exploit the inflammasome to avoid IFN-I12, are restricted by IFN-I via IRF513,14, and are controlled by IFN-I and IFN-γ in vivo15-17. Our results suggest that the innate immune response to an obligate cytosolic bacterial pathogen lies at the intersection of antibacterial and antiviral responses.

NLRC4 inflammasome activation is NLRP3- and phosphorylation-independent during infection and does not protect from melanoma.

The NAIP/NLRC4 inflammasome is a cytosolic sensor of bacteria that activates caspase-1 and initiates potent immune responses. Structural, biochemical, and genetic data demonstrate that NAIP proteins are receptors for bacterial ligands, while NLRC4 is a downstream adaptor that multimerizes with NAIPs to form an inflammasome. NLRC4 has also been proposed to suppress tumor growth, though the underlying mechanism is unknown. Further, NLRC4 is phosphorylated on serine 533, which was suggested to be critical for its function. In the absence of S533 phosphorylation, it was proposed that another inflammasome protein, NLRP3, can induce NLRC4 activation. We generated a new Nlrc4-deficient mouse line and mice with S533D phosphomimetic or S533A nonphosphorylatable NLRC4. Using these models in vivo and in vitro, we fail to observe a requirement for phosphorylation in NLRC4 inflammasome function. Furthermore, we find no role for NLRP3 in NLRC4 function, or for NLRC4 in a model of melanoma. These results clarify our understanding of the mechanism and biological functions of NAIP/NLRC4 activation.

NAIP-NLRC4-deficient mice are susceptible to shigellosis.

Bacteria of the genus Shigella cause shigellosis, a severe gastrointestinal disease that is a major cause of diarrhea-associated mortality in humans. Mice are highly resistant to Shigella and the lack of a tractable physiological model of shigellosis has impeded our understanding of this important human disease. Here, we propose that the differential susceptibility of mice and humans to Shigella is due to mouse-specific activation of the NAIP-NLRC4 inflammasome. We find that NAIP-NLRC4-deficient mice are highly susceptible to oral Shigella infection and recapitulate the clinical features of human shigellosis. Although inflammasomes are generally thought to promote Shigella pathogenesis, we instead demonstrate that intestinal epithelial cell (IEC)-specific NAIP-NLRC4 activity is sufficient to protect mice from shigellosis. In addition to describing a new mouse model of shigellosis, our results suggest that the lack of an inflammasome response in IECs may help explain the susceptibility of humans to shigellosis.

IRG1 and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Act Redundantly with Other Interferon-Gamma-Induced Factors To Restrict Intracellular Replication of Legionella pneumophila.

Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) restricts the intracellular replication of many pathogens, but the mechanism by which IFN-γ confers cell-intrinsic pathogen resistance remains unclear. For example, intracellular replication of the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila in macrophages is potently curtailed by IFN-γ. However, consistent with prior studies, no individual genetic deficiency that we tested completely abolished IFN-γ-mediated control. Intriguingly, we observed that the glycolysis inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) partially rescued L. pneumophila replication in IFN-γ-treated macrophages. 2DG inhibits glycolysis and triggers the unfolded protein response, but unexpectedly, it appears these effects are not responsible for perturbing the antimicrobial activity of IFN-γ. Instead, we found that 2DG rescues bacterial replication by inhibiting the expression of two key antimicrobial factors, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and immune-responsive gene 1 (IRG1). Using immortalized and primary macrophages deficient in iNOS and IRG1, we confirmed that loss of both iNOS and IRG1, but not individual deficiency in either gene, partially reduced IFN-γ-mediated restriction of L. pneumophila Further, using a combinatorial CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis approach, we found that mutation of iNOS and IRG1 in combination with four other genes (CASP11, IRGM1, IRGM3, and NOX2) resulted in a total loss of L. pneumophila restriction by IFN-γ in primary bone marrow macrophages. Our study defines a complete set of cell-intrinsic factors required for IFN-γ-mediated restriction of an intracellular bacterial pathogen and highlights the combinatorial strategy used by hosts to block bacterial replication in macrophages.IMPORTANCELegionella pneumophila is one example among many species of pathogenic bacteria that replicate within mammalian macrophages during infection. The immune signaling factor interferon gamma (IFN-γ) blocks L. pneumophila replication in macrophages and is an essential component of the immune response to L. pneumophila and other intracellular pathogens. However, to date, no study has identified the exact molecular factors induced by IFN-γ that are required for its activity. We generated macrophages lacking different combinations of IFN-γ-induced genes in an attempt to find a genetic background in which there is a complete loss of IFN-γ-mediated restriction of L. pneumophila We identified six genes that comprise the totality of the IFN-γ-dependent restriction of L. pneumophila replication in macrophages. Our results clarify the molecular basis underlying the potent effects of IFN-γ and highlight how redundancy downstream of IFN-γ is key to prevent exploitation of macrophages by pathogens.

A simple, convenient method to synthesize cobalamins: synthesis of homocysteinylcobalamin, N-acetylcysteinylcobalamin, 2-N-acetylamino-2-carbomethoxyethanethiolatocobalamin, sulfitocobalamin and nitrocobalamin.

Glutathionylcobalamin, nitrocobalamin and sulfitocobalamin are important cobalamin metabolites isolable from human tissues. Herein we demonstrate that a procedure used to synthesize and isolate gamma-glutamylcysteinylcobalamin and glutathionylcobalamin in aqueous solution in high yield and purity can be used to synthesize other novel, biologically relevant thiolatocobalamins, including d,l-homocysteinylcobalamin, N-acetyl-l-cysteinylcobalamin (Na(+) salt) and 2-N-acetylamino-2-carbomethoxy-l-ethanethiolatocobalamin, as well as other non-alkylcobalamins, such as sulfitocobalamin (Na(+) salt) and nitrocobalamin. This uncomplicated, general procedure will assist researchers in identifying unknown cobalamin metabolites isolated from biological samples, and researchers interested in studying the uptake and intracellular cobalamin processing mechanisms utilizing non-alkylcobalamin derivatives that are not yet commercially available. The X-ray structure and XAS spectrum of N-acetyl-l-cysteinylcobalamin are also presented.