Transfer of cGAMP into Bystander Cells via LRRC8 Volume-Regulated Anion Channels Augments STING-Mediated Interferon Responses and Anti-viral Immunity.

The enzyme cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) senses cytosolic DNA in infected and malignant cells and catalyzes the formation of 2'3'cGMP-AMP (cGAMP), which in turn triggers interferon (IFN) production via the STING pathway. Here, we examined the contribution of anion channels to cGAMP transfer and anti-viral defense. A candidate screen revealed that inhibition of volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) increased propagation of the DNA virus HSV-1 but not the RNA virus VSV. Chemical blockade or genetic ablation of LRRC8A/SWELL1, a VRAC subunit, resulted in defective IFN responses to HSV-1. Biochemical and electrophysiological analyses revealed that LRRC8A/LRRC8E-containing VRACs transport cGAMP and cyclic dinucleotides across the plasma membrane. Enhancing VRAC activity by hypotonic cell swelling, cisplatin, GTPγS, or the cytokines TNF or interleukin-1 increased STING-dependent IFN response to extracellular but not intracellular cGAMP. Lrrc8e-/- mice exhibited impaired IFN responses and compromised immunity to HSV-1. Our findings suggest that cell-to-cell transmission of cGAMP via LRRC8/VRAC channels is central to effective anti-viral immunity.

Human polymorphisms in GSDMD alter the inflammatory response.

Exomic studies have demonstrated that innate immune genes exhibit an even higher degree of variation than the majority of other gene families. However, the phenotypic implications of this genetic variation are not well understood, with effects ranging from hypomorphic to silent to hyperfunctioning. In this work, we study the functional consequences of this variation by investigating polymorphisms in gasdermin D, the key pyroptotic effector protein. We find that, although SNPs affecting potential posttranslational modifications did not affect gasdermin D function or pyroptosis, polymorphisms disrupting sites predicted to be structurally important dramatically alter gasdermin D function. The manner in which these polymorphisms alter function varies from conserving normal pyroptotic function to inhibiting caspase cleavage to disrupting oligomerization and pore formation. Further, downstream of inflammasome activation, polymorphisms that cause loss of gasdermin D function convert inflammatory pyroptotic cell death into immunologically silent apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that human genetic variation can alter mechanisms of cell death in inflammation.

Chemical disruption of the pyroptotic pore-forming protein gasdermin D inhibits inflammatory cell death and sepsis.

Dysregulation of inflammatory cell death is a key driver of many inflammatory diseases. Pyroptosis, a highly inflammatory form of cell death, uses intracellularly generated pores to disrupt electrolyte homeostasis and execute cell death. Gasdermin D, the pore-forming effector protein of pyroptosis, coordinates membrane lysis and the release of highly inflammatory molecules, such as interleukin-1ß, which potentiate the overactivation of the innate immune response. However, to date, there is no pharmacologic mechanism to disrupt pyroptosis. Here, we identify necrosulfonamide as a direct chemical inhibitor of gasdermin D, the pyroptotic pore-forming protein, which binds directly to gasdermin D to inhibit pyroptosis. Pharmacologic inhibition of pyroptotic cell death by necrosulfonamide is efficacious in sepsis models and suggests that gasdermin D inhibitors may be efficacious clinically in inflammatory diseases.

Phosphorylation of the E3 ubiquitin protein ligase ITCH diminishes binding to its cognate E2 ubiquitin ligase.

Heightened and extended inflammation underlies the pathogenesis of many disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, sepsis, and inflammatory arthritis. Ubiquitin networks help dictate the strength and duration of inflammatory signaling. In innate immunity, the itchy E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (ITCH)-A20 ubiquitin-editing complex inhibits receptor-interacting Ser/Thr kinase (RIPK) activation by removing Lys-63-linked polyubiquitinated chains from key proteins in the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. The complex then attaches polyubiquitinated chains to these proteins to target them for lysosomal or proteasomal destruction. ITCH is phosphorylated and thereby inhibited by inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase subunit beta (IKKß) to fine-tune the inflammatory response to the strength of the offending signal. However, the biochemical mechanism by which E3 ubiquitination is impaired by IKK-driven phosphorylation remains unclear. Here, we report that this phosphorylation impedes ITCH binding to its cognate E2 ubiquitin ligase, UbcH7. Using CRISPR-Cas9 genetic knockout to mimic the ITCH-UbcH7-inhibited state, we further show that genetic UbcH7 deficiency phenocopies ITCH phosphorylation in regulating RIPK2 ubiquitination. We conclude that phosphorylation can disrupt the binding of an E3 ubiquitin ligase to an E2-conjugating enzyme, leading to prolonged inflammatory signaling. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E3 ubiquitin ligase phosphorylation inhibiting E3 ligase activity by impairing E2-E3 complex formation.

Live-cell visualization of gasdermin D-driven pyroptotic cell death.

Pyroptosis is a form of cell death important in defenses against pathogens that can also result in a potent and sometimes pathological inflammatory response. During pyroptosis, GSDMD (gasdermin D), the pore-forming effector protein, is cleaved, forms oligomers, and inserts into the membranes of the cell, resulting in rapid cell death. However, the potent cell death induction caused by GSDMD has complicated our ability to understand the biology of this protein. Studies aimed at visualizing GSDMD have relied on expression of GSDMD fragments in epithelial cell lines that naturally lack GSDMD expression and also lack the proteases necessary to cleave GSDMD. In this work, we performed mutagenesis and molecular modeling to strategically place tags and fluorescent proteins within GSDMD that support native pyroptosis and facilitate live-cell imaging of pyroptotic cell death. Here, we demonstrate that these fusion proteins are cleaved by caspases-1 and -11 at Asp-276. Mutations that disrupted the predicted p30-p20 autoinhibitory interface resulted in GSDMD aggregation, supporting the oligomerizing activity of these mutations. Furthermore, we show that these novel GSDMD fusions execute inflammasome-dependent pyroptotic cell death in response to multiple stimuli and allow for visualization of the morphological changes associated with pyroptotic cell death in real time. This work therefore provides new tools that not only expand the molecular understanding of pyroptosis but also enable its direct visualization.