Denise M. Monack

Bio: Denise M. Monack is an academic researcher from Stanford University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Innate immune system & Inflammasome. The author has an hindex of 73, co-authored 145 publications receiving 22245 citations. Previous affiliations of Denise M. Monack include Rocky Mountain Laboratories & University of California, Los Angeles.

Cryopyrin activates the inflammasome in response to toxins and ATP

Abstract: A crucial part of the innate immune response is the assembly of the inflammasome, a cytosolic complex of proteins that activates caspase-1 to process the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18. The adaptor protein ASC is essential for inflammasome function, binding directly to caspase-1 (refs 3, 4), but the triggers of this interaction are less clear. ASC also interacts with the adaptor cryopyrin (also known as NALP3 or CIAS1). Activating mutations in cryopyrin are associated with familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome, Muckle-Wells syndrome and neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disease, diseases that are characterized by excessive production of IL-1beta. Here we show that cryopyrin-deficient macrophages cannot activate caspase-1 in response to Toll-like receptor agonists plus ATP, the latter activating the P2X7 receptor to decrease intracellular K+ levels. The release of IL-1beta in response to nigericin, a potassium ionophore, and maitotoxin, a potent marine toxin, was also found to be dependent on cryopyrin. In contrast to Asc-/- macrophages, cells deficient in the gene encoding cryopyrin (Cias1-/-) activated caspase-1 and secreted normal levels of IL-1beta and IL-18 when infected with Gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium or Francisella tularensis. Macrophages exposed to Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus or Listeria monocytogenes, however, required both ASC and cryopyrin to activate caspase-1 and secrete IL-1beta. Therefore, cryopyrin is essential for inflammasome activation in response to signalling pathways triggered specifically by ATP, nigericin, maitotoxin, S. aureus or L. monocytogenes.

Differential activation of the inflammasome by caspase-1 adaptors ASC and Ipaf.

Abstract: Specific adaptors regulate the activation of initiator caspases; for example, FADD and Apaf-1 engage caspases 8 and 9, respectively. The adaptors ASC, Ipaf and RIP2 have each been proposed to regulate caspase-1 (also called interleukin (IL)-1 converting enzyme), which is activated within the 'inflammasome', a complex comprising several adaptors. Here we show the impact of ASC-, Ipaf- or RIP2-deficiency on inflammasome function. ASC was essential for extracellular ATP-driven activation of caspase-1 in toll-like receptor (TLR)-stimulated macrophages. Accordingly, ASC-deficient macrophages exhibited defective maturation of IL-1beta and IL-18, and ASC-null mice were resistant to lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxic shock. Furthermore, activation of caspase-1 in response to an intracellular pathogen (Salmonella typhimurium) was abrogated severely in ASC-null macrophages. Unexpectedly, Ipaf-deficient macrophages activated caspase-1 in response to TLR plus ATP stimulation but not S. typhimurium. Caspase-1 activation was not compromised by loss of RIP2. These data show that whereas ASC is key to caspase-1 activation within the inflammasome, Ipaf provides a special conduit to the inflammasome for signals triggered by intracellular pathogens. Notably, cell death triggered by stimuli that engage caspase-1 was ablated in macrophages lacking either ASC or Ipaf, suggesting a coupling between the inflammatory and cell death pathways.

Inflammasome adaptors and sensors: intracellular regulators of infection and inflammation.

Abstract: The NOD-like receptors have important roles in innate immunity as intracellular sensors of microbial components and cell injury. It has been proposed that these cytosolic proteins regulate the cysteine protease caspase-1 within a multiprotein complex known as the 'inflammasome'. Activation of caspase-1 leads to the cleavage and activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-18, as well as host-cell death. The analysis of mice that are deficient in various inflammasome components has revealed that the inflammasome is a dynamic entity that is assembled from different adaptors in a stimulus-dependent manner. Here we review recent work on the activation of the inflammasome in response to various bacterial pathogens and tissue damage.

Microbiota-liberated host sugars facilitate post-antibiotic expansion of enteric pathogens

Abstract: The human intestine, colonized by a dense community of resident microbes, is a frequent target of bacterial pathogens. Undisturbed, this intestinal microbiota provides protection from bacterial infections. Conversely, disruption of the microbiota with oral antibiotics often precedes the emergence of several enteric pathogens. How pathogens capitalize upon the failure of microbiota-afforded protection is largely unknown. Here we show that two antibiotic-associated pathogens, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) and Clostridium difficile, use a common strategy of catabolizing microbiota-liberated mucosal carbohydrates during their expansion within the gut. S. typhimurium accesses fucose and sialic acid within the lumen of the gut in a microbiota-dependent manner, and genetic ablation of the respective catabolic pathways reduces its competitiveness in vivo. Similarly, C. difficile expansion is aided by microbiota-induced elevation of sialic acid levels in vivo. Colonization of gnotobiotic mice with a sialidase-deficient mutant of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a model gut symbiont, reduces free sialic acid levels resulting in C. difficile downregulating its sialic acid catabolic pathway and exhibiting impaired expansion. These effects are reversed by exogenous dietary administration of free sialic acid. Furthermore, antibiotic treatment of conventional mice induces a spike in free sialic acid and mutants of both Salmonella and C. difficile that are unable to catabolize sialic acid exhibit impaired expansion. These data show that antibiotic-induced disruption of the resident microbiota and subsequent alteration in mucosal carbohydrate availability are exploited by these two distantly related enteric pathogens in a similar manner. This insight suggests new therapeutic approaches for preventing diseases caused by antibiotic-associated pathogens.

The Salmonella invasin SipB induces macrophage apoptosis by binding to caspase-1

Abstract: Recently, Salmonella spp. were shown to induce apoptosis in infected macrophages. The mechanism responsible for this process is unknown. In this report, we establish that the Inv-Spa type III secretion apparatus target invasin SipB is necessary and sufficient for the induction of apoptosis. Purified SipB microinjected into macrophages led to cell death. Binding studies show that SipB associates with the proapoptotic protease caspase-1. This interaction results in the activation of caspase-1, as seen in its proteolytic maturation and the processing of its substrate interleukin-1β. Caspase-1 activity is essential for the cytotoxicity. Functional inhibition of caspase-1 activity by acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-chloromethyl ketone blocks macrophage cytotoxicity, and macrophages lacking caspase-1 are not susceptible to Salmonella-induced apoptosis. Taken together, the data demonstrate that SipB functions as an analog of the Shigella invasin IpaB.

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

Toll-like receptors.

Abstract: The innate immune system in drosophila and mammals senses the invasion of microorganisms using the family of Toll receptors, stimulation of which initiates a range of host defense mechanisms. In drosophila antimicrobial responses rely on two signaling pathways: the Toll pathway and the IMD pathway. In mammals there are at least 10 members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family that recognize specific components conserved among microorganisms. Activation of the TLRs leads not only to the induction of inflammatory responses but also to the development of antigen-specific adaptive immunity. The TLR-induced inflammatory response is dependent on a common signaling pathway that is mediated by the adaptor molecule MyD88. However, there is evidence for additional pathways that mediate TLR ligand-specific biological responses.

Origin and Physiological Roles of Inflammation

Abstract: Inflammation underlies a wide variety of physiological and pathological processes. Although the pathological aspects of many types of inflammation are well appreciated, their physiological functions are mostly unknown. The classic instigators of inflammation - infection and tissue injury - are at one end of a large range of adverse conditions that induce inflammation, and they trigger the recruitment of leukocytes and plasma proteins to the affected tissue site. Tissue stress or malfunction similarly induces an adaptive response, which is referred to here as para-inflammation. This response relies mainly on tissue-resident macrophages and is intermediate between the basal homeostatic state and a classic inflammatory response. Para-inflammation is probably responsible for the chronic inflammatory conditions that are associated with modern human diseases.

Gout-associated uric acid crystals activate the NALP3 inflammasome

Abstract: Development of the acute and chronic inflammatory responses known as gout and pseudogout are associated with the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) or calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystals, respectively, in joints and periarticular tissues. Although MSU crystals were first identified as the aetiological agent of gout in the eighteenth century and more recently as a 'danger signal' released from dying cells, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying MSU- or CPPD-induced inflammation. Here we show that MSU and CPPD engage the caspase-1-activating NALP3 (also called cryopyrin) inflammasome, resulting in the production of active interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18. Macrophages from mice deficient in various components of the inflammasome such as caspase-1, ASC and NALP3 are defective in crystal-induced IL-1beta activation. Moreover, an impaired neutrophil influx is found in an in vivo model of crystal-induced peritonitis in inflammasome-deficient mice or mice deficient in the IL-1beta receptor (IL-1R). These findings provide insight into the molecular processes underlying the inflammatory conditions of gout and pseudogout, and further support a pivotal role of the inflammasome in several autoinflammatory diseases.