Perfluoroalkyl substance pollutants activate the innate immune system through the AIM2 inflammasome.

ABSTRACT: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used in various manufacturing processes. Accumulation of these chemicals has adverse effects on human health, including inflammation in multiple organs, yet how PFAS are sensed by host cells, and how tissue inflammation eventually incurs, is still unclear. Here, we show that the double-stranded DNA receptor AIM2 is able to recognize perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a common form of PFAS, to trigger IL-1β secretion and pyroptosis. Mechanistically, PFOS activates the AIM2 inflammasome in a process involving mitochondrial DNA release through the Ca²⁺-PKC-NF-κB/JNK-BAX/BAK axis. Accordingly, Aim2^-/- mice have reduced PFOS-induced inflammation, as well as tissue damage in the lungs, livers, and kidneys in both their basic condit

SUBMITTER: Wang LQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8131593 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature