Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain.
Department of Pharmacology, Paediatrics and Organic Chemistry, University Miguel Hernández (UMH), 03550 San Juan, Alicante, Spain.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Sep 7;21(18):6535. doi: 10.3390/ijms21186535.
Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) is a cytosolic receptor that recognizes double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and triggers the activation of the inflammasome cascade. Activation of the inflammasome results in the maturation of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1 β and IL-18, and a form of cell death known as pyroptosis. Owing to the conserved nature of its ligand, AIM2 is important during immune recognition of multiple pathogens. Additionally, AIM2 is also capable of recognizing host DNA during cellular damage or stress, thereby contributing to sterile inflammatory diseases. Inflammation, either in response to pathogens or due to sterile cellular damage, is at the center of the most prevalent and life-threatening liver diseases. Therefore, during the last 15 years, the study of inflammasome activation in the liver has emerged as a new research area in hepatology. Here, we discuss the known functions of AIM2 in the pathogenesis of different hepatic diseases, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), hepatitis B, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
缺失型黑色素瘤 2（AIM2）是一种胞质受体，可识别双链 DNA（dsDNA）并触发炎症小体级联的激活。炎症小体的激活导致炎症细胞因子（如白细胞介素（IL）-1β和 IL-18）的成熟和一种称为细胞焦亡的细胞死亡形式。由于其配体的保守性质，AIM2 在多种病原体的免疫识别中非常重要。此外，AIM2 还能够在细胞损伤或应激时识别宿主 DNA，从而导致无菌性炎症性疾病。炎症，无论是对病原体的反应还是由于无菌性细胞损伤，都是最常见和危及生命的肝脏疾病的核心。因此，在过去的 15 年中，炎症小体在肝脏中的激活研究已成为肝病学的一个新研究领域。在这里，我们讨论了 AIM2 在不同肝脏疾病（包括非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）和非酒精性脂肪性肝炎（NASH）、乙型肝炎、肝纤维化和肝细胞癌（HCC））发病机制中的已知功能。
