Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224.
International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1M9, Canada.
J Immunol. 2021 Jan 15;206(2):335-344. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000546. Epub 2020 Dec 7.
Granzyme B (GrB) is an immune protease implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases. In the current model of GrB activity, perforin determines whether the downstream actions of GrB occur intracellularly or extracellularly, producing apoptotic cytotoxicity or nonapoptotic effects, respectively. In the current study, we demonstrate the existence of a broad range of GrB-dependent signaling activities that 1) do not require perforin, 2) occur intracellularly, and 3) for which cell death is not the dominant outcome. In the absence of perforin, we show that GrB enzymatic activity still induces substoichiometric activation of caspases, which through nonlethal DNA damage response signals then leads to activity-associated phosphorylation of IFN regulatory factor-3. These findings illustrate an unexpected potential interface between GrB and innate immunity separate from the traditional role of GrB in perforin-dependent GrB-mediated apoptosis that could have mechanistic implications for human disease.
颗粒酶 B(GrB)是一种免疫蛋白酶,与多种人类疾病的发病机制有关。在当前的 GrB 活性模型中,穿孔素决定 GrB 的下游作用是在细胞内还是细胞外发生,分别产生凋亡细胞毒性或非凋亡作用。在本研究中,我们证明了存在广泛的 GrB 依赖性信号转导活性,1)不需要穿孔素,2)发生在细胞内,3)细胞死亡不是主要结果。在没有穿孔素的情况下,我们表明 GrB 酶活性仍然诱导半胱天冬酶的亚化学计量激活,然后通过非致死性 DNA 损伤反应信号导致干扰素调节因子-3 的活性相关磷酸化。这些发现说明了 GrB 与先天免疫之间的一个意想不到的潜在接口,与传统的 GrB 在穿孔素依赖性 GrB 介导的细胞凋亡中的作用分开,这可能对人类疾病具有机制意义。