Echovirus 11 infection induces pyroptotic cell death by facilitating NLRP3 inflammasome activation

PLoS Pathog. 2022 Aug 26;18(8):e1010787. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010787. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Echovirus 11 (ECHO 11) is a positive-strand RNA virus belonging to the genus Enterovirus of the family Picornaviridae. ECHO 11 infections can cause severe inflammatory illnesses in neonates, including severe acute hepatitis with coagulopathy. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is important for host defense against invading viruses, which also contributes to viral pathogenicity. However, whether and how ECHO 11 induces NLRP3 inflammasome activation remains unclear. In this study, we isolated a clinical strain of ECHO 11 from stools of an ECHO 11-infected newborn patient with necrotizing hepatitis. This virus shared 99.95% sequence identity with the previously published ECHO 11 sequence. The clinically isolated ECHO 11 can efficiently infect liver cells and strongly induces inflammation. Moreover, we showed that ECHO 11 induced IL-1β secretion and pyroptosis in cells and mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Furthermore, ECHO 11 infection triggered NLRP3 inflammasome activation, as evidenced by cleavages of GSDMD, pro-IL-1β and pro-caspase-1, and the release of LDH. ECHO 11 2B protein was required for NLRP3 inflammasome activation via interacting with NLRP3 to facilitate the inflammasome complex assembly. In vivo, expression of ECHO 11 2B also activated NLRP3 inflammasome in the murine liver. Besides, 2Bs of multiple EVs can also interact with NLRP3 and induce NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Together, our findings demonstrate a mechanism by which ECHO 11 induces inflammatory responses by activating NLRP3 inflammasome, providing novel insights into the pathogenesis of ECHO 11 infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Enterovirus B, Human
  • Inflammasomes* / metabolism
  • Interleukin-1beta / metabolism
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Mice
  • NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein / genetics
  • NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein / metabolism
  • Pyroptosis*

Substances

  • Inflammasomes
  • Interleukin-1beta
  • NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein
  • Nlrp3 protein, mouse

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2701800, 2021YFC2701801 to Y.X.), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (XDB29010300 to X.Z.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20423 and 31970169 to X.Z., and 82172269 and 81873964 to Y.Q.), the International Partnership Program of CAS (153B42KYSB20200004 to X.Z.), the Grant from the CAS Youth Innovation Promotion Association (2020332 to Y.Q.), the Hubei Province Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (2021CFA047 to Y.Q.), and the Young Top-notch Talent Cultivation Program of Hubei Province (Y.Q.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.