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Theranostics 2020; 10(16):7100-7110. doi:10.7150/thno.45939 This issue Cite

Research Paper

NLRP3 inflammasome via IL-1β regulates PCSK9 secretion

Zufeng Ding^1,2✉*, Xianwei Wang^1*, Shijie Liu^1,2, Sichang Zhou³, Rajshekhar A Kore², Shengyu Mu⁴, Xiaoyan Deng^5,6, Yubo Fan^5,6, Jawahar L Mehta^2✉

1. Henan Key Laboratory of Medical Tissue Regeneration, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
2. Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
3. Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA.
4. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
5. Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China.
6. Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering; Beihang University, Beijing, China.
*These authors contributed equally to this work.

✉ Corresponding authors: Zufeng Ding. Xinxiang Medical University; University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. Tel: (501) 257-4835, Fax: (501) 257-4822, E-mail: ZDingedu; Jawahar L Mehta. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. Tel: (501) 296-1426, E-mail: MehtaJLedu. More

Abstract

Background: Both PCSK9 and NLRP3 inflammasome play important roles in atherogenesis. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that NLRP3 inflammasome via IL-1β induces PCSK9 secretion. The inter-twined relationship between NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-1β and PCSK9 may be relevant in atherogenesis.

Methods: We studied NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated PCSK9 secretion in mouse peritoneal macrophages and in a variety of tissues, such as liver, kidney and small intestine. Macrophages were derived from wild-type (WT) and a variety of gene deletion mice to define the mechanistic basis of NLRP3 inflammasome -mediated PCSK9 secretion. Additional studies were performed in high-fat diet fed mice.

Results: We observed that NLRP3 and its downstream signals ASC, Caspase-1, IL-18, and IL-1β all participate in PCSK9 secretion. IL-1β seems to be more important than IL-18 in the induction of PCSK9 secretion. Further, there appears to be significant involvement of MAPKs in this process. Lastly, we observed that mice fed high fat diet have high expression of NLRP3 and a greater secretion of PCSK9 than mice fed a standard diet, and this increased secretion of PCSK9 in high fat diet-fed mice was attenuated in IL-1β^-/- mice.

Conclusions: This study based on extensive in vitro and in vivo data provides evidence that NLRP3 inflammasome via IL-1β plays an important role in determining PCSK9 secretion, particularly in the presence of high-fat diet.

Keywords: PCSK9, NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-1β, MAPKs, atherosclerosis

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