Dataset Information

Environmental Amino Acid Sensing Regulates the Rate of ASC Translation and NLRP3 Inflammasome Assembly

ABSTRACT: The NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a multiprotein signaling complex that triggers pyroptotic cell death and interleukin (IL)-1 family cytokine release during infection and cell injury. Its assembly is driven by the adaptor protein, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), whose filamentation forms a supramolecular speck upon NLRP3 activation to amplify inflammasome signaling. While the NLRP3 inflammasome is well appreciated as a sensor of environmental danger and damage, little is known about how homeostatic environmental factors like dietary metabolites regulate its activity. Here, we find that environmental availability of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine, and valine, controls NLRP3 inflammasome assembly. While ASC is typically viewed as a constitutively expressed, unregulated inflammasome component, we find that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation triggers localization of ASC mRNA to the perinuclear space. Moreover, our data demonstrate that ASC undergoes TLR4-driven translational bursting from polyribosomes during inflammasome priming. This translational engagement is dependent on BCAA availability and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity, which regulate the kinetics of inflammasome assembly. In contrast, the translation of NLRP3 and caspase-1 is largely insensitive to these inputs. Furthermore, we find that BCAAs regulate NLRP3 inflammasome activation in both mouse and human macrophages, in the context of bacterial infection, and during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis in vivo. Altogether, this work unveils a novel inflammasome priming event governed by the amino acid environment. These findings further highlight how the activity of proteins maintained in equilibrium like ASC can be dynamically regulated through rapid changes in mRNA translation.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE316372 | GEO | 2026/02/05

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:The cellular stress response plays a vital role in regulating homeostasis by modulating cell survival and death. Stress granules (referred to as SGs) are cytoplasmic compartments that allow cells to survive various stressors. Defects in SG assembly and disassembly have been found to play important roles in neurodegenerative diseases, antiviral responses and cancer1–5. Inflammasomes are multi-protein heteromeric complexes that sense intracellular pathogen- and damage-associated molecular patterns and assemble into cytosolic compartments called ASC specks to facilitate caspase-1 (CASP1) activation. This activation of inflammasomes induces secretion of the leaderless proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 and also drives cell fate towards pyroptosis, a form of programmed inflammatory cell death that plays major role in health and disease6–12. Cellular stress sensing can trigger both SGs and inflammasomes; however, they drive contrasting cell fate decisions during stress conditions. Crosstalk between SGs and inflammasomes to decide cell fate has not been well studied. Here we show that the induction of SGs specifically inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation, ASC speck formation and pyroptosis. The SG protein DDX3X interacts with NLRP3 to drive inflammasome activation in the absence of SGs. Assembly of SGs leads to the sequestration of DDX3X to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome function. SGs and the NLRP3 inflammasome compete for DDX3X molecules to coordinate the activation of innate responses and subsequent cell fate decisions under stress conditions. Induction of SGs or loss of DDX3X in the myeloid compartment leads to decreased production of inflammasome-dependent cytokines in vivo. Our findings suggest that macrophages utilize DDX3X availability to interpret stress signals and choose between pro-survival SGs and pyroptotic ASC specks. Together, our data show the role of DDX3X in driving NLRP3 inflammasome and SG assembly, informing a new rheostat-like mechanistic paradigm for regulating live or die cell fate decisions under stress conditions.

Dataset Information

Environmental Amino Acid Sensing Regulates the Rate of ASC Translation and NLRP3 Inflammasome Assembly

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets