Defective DNA clearance in DNase II-/- mice leads to lethal inflammatory diseases that can be rescued by deleting cGAS or STING, but the role of distinct signaling pathways downstream of STING in the disease manifestation is not known. We found that the STING S365A mutation, which abrogates IRF3 binding and type I interferon induction, rescued the embryonic lethality of DNase II-/- mice. However, the STING S365A mutant retains the ability to recruit TBK1 and activate NF-κB, and DNase II-/-STING-S365A mice exhibited severe polyarthritis, which was alleviated by neutralizing antibodies against TNF-α or IL-6 receptor. In contrast, the STING L373A mutation or C-terminal tail truncation, which disrupts TBK1 binding and therefore prevents activation of both IRF3 and NF-κB, completely rescued the phenotypes of DNase II-/- mice. These results demonstrate that TBK1 recruitment to STING mediates autoinflammatory arthritis independently of type I interferons. Inhibiting TBK1 binding to STING may be a therapeutic strategy for certain autoinflammatory diseases instigated by self-DNA.
© 2021 Li et al.