Promotes BCG-Induced Pyroptosis of Macrophages by Activating the NF-κB/NLRP3 Inflammasome Signaling Pathway.

Pyroptosis is a host immune strategy to defend against (Mtb) infection. , a calcium-binding protein that plays an important role in promoting cancer progression as well as the pathophysiological development of various non-tumor diseases, has not been explored in Mtb-infected hosts. In this study, transcriptome analysis of the peripheral blood of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) revealed that and were significantly up-regulated in PTB patients' peripheral blood. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the expression of and . KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed genes between PTB patients and healthy controls were significantly related to inflammation, such as the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway and NF-κB signaling pathway. To investigate the regulatory effects of on macrophage pyroptosis, THP-1 macrophages infected with (BCG) were pre-treated with exogenous , inhibitor or si-. This research study has shown that promotes the pyroptosis of THP-1 macrophages caused by BCG infection and activates NLRP3 inflammasome and NF-κB signaling pathways, which can be inhibited by knockdown or inhibition of . In addition, inhibition of NF-κB or NLRP3 blocks the promotion effect of on BCG-induced pyroptosis of THP-1 macrophages. In conclusion, activates the NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway to promote macrophage pyroptosis induced by Mtb infection. These data provide new insights into how affects Mtb-induced macrophage pyroptosis.