PKM2-dependent glycolysis promotes NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27779186.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13280 and PMC identifier 5093342.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock are the main cause of mortality in non-cardiac intensive care units. Immunometabolism has been linked to sepsis; however, the precise mechanism by which metabolic reprogramming regulates the inflammatory response is unclear. Here we show that aerobic glycolysis contributes to sepsis by modulating inflammasome activation in macrophages. PKM2-mediated glycolysis promotes inflammasome activation by modulating EIF2AK2 phosphorylation in macrophages. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of PKM2 or EIF2AK2 attenuates NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes activation, and consequently suppresses the release of IL-1β, IL-18 and HMGB1 by macrophages. Pharmacological inhibition of the PKM2-EIF2AK2 pathway protects mice from lethal endotoxemia and polymicrobial sepsis. Moreover, conditional knockout of PKM2 in myeloid cells protects mice from septic death induced by NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation. These findings define an important role of PKM2 in immunometabolism and guide future development of therapeutic strategies to treat sepsis.
Medical subject headings
- Carrier Proteins
- Coinfection
- Glycolysis
- Inflammasomes
- Membrane Proteins
- Pyruvate Kinase
- Sepsis
- Thyroid Hormones