Gasdermin D restricts Burkholderia cenocepacia infection in vitro and in vivo

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-01, Vol.11 (1), p.855-855, Article 855
• Main Authors: Estfanous, Shady, Krause, Kathrin, Anne, Midhun N. K., Eltobgy, Mostafa, Caution, Kyle, Abu Khweek, Arwa, Hamilton, Kaitlin, Badr, Asmaa, Daily, Kylene, Carafice, Cierra, Baetzhold, Daniel, Zhang, Xiaoli, Li, Tianliang, Wen, Haitao, Gavrilin, Mikhail A., Haffez, Hesham, Soror, Sameh, Amer, Amal O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/250; 631/326; 631/337; 631/80; 692/699; Animals; Autophagy; Autophagy - physiology; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial infections; Burkholderia cenocepacia; Burkholderia cenocepacia - pathogenicity; Burkholderia Infections - metabolism; Burkholderia Infections - prevention & control; Caspases, Initiator - genetics; Caspases, Initiator - metabolism; Cell Death; Cystic fibrosis; Endotoxins; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; IL-1β; Infections; Inflammasomes; Inflammasomes - metabolism; Inflammation; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - genetics; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - metabolism; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - physiology; Lipopolysaccharides; Lipopolysaccharides - metabolism; Macrophages; Macrophages - cytology; Macrophages - metabolism; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - metabolism; multidisciplinary; Phagocytosis; Phosphate-Binding Proteins - genetics; Phosphate-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Phosphate-Binding Proteins - physiology; Reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79201-5

Burkholderia cenocepacia ( B. cenocepacia ) is an opportunistic bacterium; causing severe life threatening systemic infections in immunocompromised individuals including cystic fibrosis patients. The lack of gasdermin D (GSDMD) protects mice against endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) shock. On the other hand, GSDMD promotes mice survival in response to certain bacterial infections. However, the role of GSDMD during B. cenocepacia infection is not yet determined. Our in vitro study shows that GSDMD restricts B. cenocepacia replication within macrophages independent of its role in cell death through promoting mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) production. mROS is known to stimulate autophagy, hence, the inhibition of mROS or the absence of GSDMD during B. cenocepacia infections reduces autophagy which plays a critical role in the restriction of the pathogen. GSDMD promotes inflammation in response to B. cenocepacia through mediating the release of inflammasome dependent cytokine (IL-1β) and an independent one (CXCL1) (KC). Additionally, different B. cenocepacia secretory systems (T3SS, T4SS, and T6SS) contribute to inflammasome activation together with bacterial survival within macrophages. In vivo study confirmed the in vitro findings and showed that GSDMD restricts B. cenocepacia infection and dissemination and stimulates autophagy in response to B. cenocepacia . Nevertheless, GSDMD promotes lung inflammation and necrosis in response to B. cenocepacia without altering mice survival. This study describes the double-edged functions of GSDMD in response to B. cenocepacia infection and shows the importance of GSDMD-mediated mROS in restriction of B. cenocepacia.