NLRP3 inflammasome activation during myocardial ischemia reperfusion is cardioprotective

Ø Sandanger; E Gao; T Ranheim; M Bliksøen; O J Kaasbøll; K Alfsnes; Ståle H Nymo; A Rashidi; I K Ohm; Håvard Attramadal; P Aukrust; L E Vinge; A Yndestad

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.12.051

NLRP3 inflammasome activation during myocardial ischemia reperfusion is cardioprotective

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016 Jan 22;469(4):1012-20. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.12.051. Epub 2015 Dec 17.

Authors

Ø Sandanger¹, E Gao², T Ranheim³, M Bliksøen⁴, O J Kaasbøll⁵, K Alfsnes³, Ståle H Nymo³, A Rashidi⁶, I K Ohm⁷, Håvard Attramadal⁸, P Aukrust⁹, L E Vinge⁷, A Yndestad¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; K.G.Jebsen Inflammation Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: oystein.sandanger@rr-research.no.
² Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States.
³ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; K.G.Jebsen Inflammation Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Physiology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Institute for Surgical Research, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; K.G.Jebsen Inflammation Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; K.G.Jebsen Inflammation Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Section of Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁰ Research institute for internal medicine, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Heart Failure Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; K.G.Jebsen Inflammation Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 26706279
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.12.051

Abstract

Background: The innate immune receptor NLRP3 recognizes tissue damage and initiates inflammatory processes through formation multiprotein complexes with the adaptor protein ASC and caspase-1, i.e. NLRP3 inflammasomes, which through cleavage of pro-IL-1β mediates release of bioactive IL-1β. We hypothesized that NLRP3 mediates tissue damage during acute myocardial infarction (MI) and sought to investigate the mechanisms herein in an experimental MI model in mice.

Methods and results: The left coronary artery (LCA) of WT, NLRP3(-/-) and ASC(-/-) mice of both genders was ligated for 30 min followed by 3 or 24 h reperfusion. For pre-conditioning studies, the TLR2 agonist Pam3CSK4 or PBS was injected intraperitoneally 60 min prior to LCA ligation. For mechanistic investigations, blood plasmas and left ventricle tissues were collected, and a hypothesis-driven selection of protein or mRNA targets was investigated. Surprisingly, hearts from NLRP3-deficient mice featured larger infarct size than WT mice (p = 0.0048). In general, there were only modest changes with no significant pattern in myocardial infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages and systemic and myocardial cytokine expression between the three genotypes. Preconditioning with the TLR2 agonist Pam3CSK4 induced Akt phosphorylation and reduced infarct size in WT but not NLRP3 -or ASC -deficient hearts.

Conclusion: Absence of NLRP3 results in increased myocardial infarct size after in vivo ischemia reperfusion, seemingly due to dysfunction of the cardioprotective RISK pathway. Our data imply that NLRP3 contributes to cardio-protection during I/R and do not support a role for NLRP3 or ASC inhibition in the management of acute MI including revascularization therapy.

Keywords: ASC; Acute coronary syndrome; Heart; Inflammasome; Inflammation; Ischemia-reperfusion; NLRP3; Revascularization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Carrier Proteins / immunology*
Cytokines / immunology*
Female
Immunity, Innate / immunology*
Inflammasomes / immunology*
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / immunology*
Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / pathology*
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein

Substances

Carrier Proteins
Cytokines
Inflammasomes
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein
Nlrp3 protein, mouse