1. Influenza A Virus NS1 Protein Inhibits the NLRP3 Inflammasome.
- Author
-
Chung WC, Kang HR, Yoon H, Kang SJ, Ting JP, and Song MJ
- Subjects
- Adenosine Triphosphate metabolism, Blotting, Western, Cell Line, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Humans, Immunoprecipitation, Inflammasomes drug effects, Interleukin-18 metabolism, Interleukin-1beta metabolism, Lipopolysaccharides pharmacology, Microscopy, Confocal, NF-kappa B metabolism, NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Carrier Proteins metabolism, Inflammasomes metabolism, Influenza A virus metabolism, Viral Nonstructural Proteins metabolism
- Abstract
The inflammasome is a molecular platform that stimulates the activation of caspase-1 and the processing of pro-interleukin (IL)-1β and pro-IL-18 for secretion. The NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) protein is activated by diverse molecules and pathogens, leading to the formation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Recent studies showed that the NLRP3 inflammasome mediates innate immunity against influenza A virus (IAV) infection. In this study, we investigated the function of the IAV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) in the modulation of NLRP3 inflammasome. We found that NS1 proteins derived from both highly pathogenic and low pathogenic strains efficiently decreased secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 from THP-1 cells treated with LPS and ATP. NS1 overexpression significantly impaired the transcription of proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting transactivation of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a major transcription activator. Furthermore, NS1 physically interacted with endogenous NLRP3 and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome was abrogated in NS1-expressing THP-1 cells. These findings suggest that NS1 downregulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation by targeting NLRP3 as well as NF-κB, leading to a reduction in the levels of inflammatory cytokines as a viral immune evasion strategy.
- Published
- 2015
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