Scutellarin inhibits caspase-11 activation and pyroptosis in macrophages via regulating PKA signaling

Inflammatory caspase-11 senses and is activated by intracellular lipopolysaccharide(LPS)leading to pyroptosis that has critical role in defensing against bacterial infection,whereas its excess activation under pathogenic circumstances may cause various inflammatory diseases.However,there are few known drugs that can control caspase-11 activation.We report here that scutellarin,a flavonoid from Erigeron breviscapus,acted as an inhibitor for caspase-11 activation in macrophages.Scutellarin dosedependently inhibited intracellular LPS-induced release of caspase-11 p26(indicative of caspase-11 activation)and generation of N-terminal fragment of gasdermin D(GSDMD-NT),leading to reduced pyroptosis.It also suppressed the activation of non-canonical nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3(NLRP3)inflammasome as evidenced by reduced apoptosisassociated speck-like protein containing a CARD(ASC)speck formation and decreased interleukin-1 beta(IL-1 b)and caspase-1 p10 secretion,whereas the NLRP3-specific inhibitor MCC950 only inhibited IL-1 b and caspase-1 p10 release and ASC speck formation but not pyroptosis.Scutellarin also suppressed LPS-induced caspase-11 activation and pyroptosis in RAW 264.7 cells lacking ASC expression.Moreover,scutellarin treatment increased Ser/Thr phosphorylation of caspase-11 at protein kinase A(PKA)-specific sites,and its inhibitory action on caspase-11 activation was largely abrogated by PKAinhibitor H89 or by adenylyl cyclase inhibitor MDL12330 A.Collectively,our data indicate that scutellarin inhibited caspase-11 activation and pyroptosis in macrophages at least partly via regulating the PKA signaling pathway.

Insight into the antifungal mechanism of Neosartorya fischeri antifungal protein

Small, cysteine-rich, highly stable antifungal proteins secreted by filamentous Ascomycetes have great po- tential for the development of novel antifungal strate- gies. However, their practical application is still limited due to their not fully clarified mode of action. The aim of this work was to provide a deep insight into the anti-fungal mechanism of Neosartorya fischeri antifungal protein （NFAP）, a novel representative of this protein group. Within a short exposure time to NFAP, reduced cellular metabolism, apoptosis induction, changes in the actin distribution and chitin deposition at the hyphal tip were observed in NFAP-sensitive Aspergillus nidulans. NFAP did show neither a direct membrane disrupting- effect nor uptake by endocytosis. Investigation of A. nidulans signalling mutants revealed that NFAP acti- vates the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway via G-protein signalling which leads to apoptosis and inhibition of polar growth. In contrast, NFAP does not have any in- fluence on the cell wall integrity pathway, but an un- known cell wall integrity pathway-independent mitogen activated protein kinase A-activated target is assumed to be involved in the cell death induction. Taken to- gether, it was concluded that NFAP shows similarities, but also differences in its mode of antifungal action compared to two most investigated NFAP-related pro-teins from Aspergillus giganteus and Penicillium chrysogenum.