Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Protein supersaturation powers innate immune signaling.


ABSTRACT: Innate immunity protects us in youth but turns against us as we age. The reason for this tradeoff is unclear. Seeking a thermodynamic basis, we focused on death fold domains (DFDs), whose ordered polymerization has been stoichiometrically linked to innate immune signal amplification. We hypothesized that soluble ensembles of DFDs function as phase change batteries that store energy via supersaturation and subsequently release it through nucleated polymerization. Using imaging and FRET-based cytometry to characterize the phase behaviors of all 109 human DFDs, we found that the hubs of innate immune signaling networks encode large nucleation barriers that are intrinsically insulated from cross-pathway activation. We showed via optogenetics that supersaturation drives signal amplification and that the inflammasome is constitutively supersaturated in vivo. Our findings reveal that the soluble "inactive" states of adaptor DFDs function as essential, yet impermanent, kinetic barriers to inflammatory cell death, suggesting a thermodynamic driving force for aging.

SUBMITTER: Gama AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10055258 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Protein phase change batteries drive innate immune signaling and cell fate.

Gama Alejandro Rodriguez AR   Miller Tayla T   Venkatesan Shriram S   Lange Jeffrey J JJ   Wu Jianzheng J   Song Xiaoqing X   Bradford Dan D   Cook Malcolm M   Unruh Jay R JR   Halfmann Randal R  

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 20250606


How minute pathogenic signals trigger decisive immune responses is a fundamental question in biology. Classical signaling often relies on ATP-driven enzymatic cascades, but innate immunity frequently employs death fold domain (DFD) self-assembly. The energetic basis of this assembly is unknown. Here, we show that specific DFDs function as energy reservoirs through metastable supersaturation. Characterizing all 109 human DFDs, we identified sequence-encoded nucleation barriers specifically in the  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC5223230 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC3697849 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6026006 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7114407 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6028020 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2268590 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6710629 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7329141 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7306807 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4270792 | biostudies-literature