Open AccessVirulent Mycobacterium bovis Beijing Strain Activates the NLRP7 Inflammasome in THP-1 Macrophages
Author(s) -
Yang Zhou,
Syed Qaiser Shah,
Lifeng Yang,
Zhongqiu Zhang,
Xiangmei Zhou,
Deming Zhao
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0152853
Subject(s) - thp1 cell line , microbiology and biotechnology , virulence , strain (injury) , inflammasome , biology , virology , immunology , cell culture , gene , inflammation , genetics , anatomy
Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of tuberculosis in a wide range of mammals, including humans. Macrophages are the first line of host defense. They secrete proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), in response to mycobacterial infection, but the underlying mechanisms by which human macrophages are activated and release IL-1β following M . bovis infection are poorly understood. Here we show that the ‘nucleotide binding and oligomerization of domain-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain containing 7 protein’ (NLRP7) inflammasome is involved in IL-1β secretion and caspase-1 activation induced by M . bovis infection in THP-1 macrophages. NLRP7 inflammasome activation promotes the induction of pyroptosis as well as the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 3 (CCL3) and IL-1β mRNAs. Thus, the NLRP7 inflammasome contributes to IL-1β secretion and induction of pyroptosis in response to M . bovis infection in THP-1 macrophages.