Guanylate binding proteins regulate inflammasome activation in response to hyperinjected Yersinia translocon components

Abstract

Gram-negative bacterial pathogens utilize virulence-associated secretion systems to inject, or translocate, effector proteins into host cells to manipulate cellular processes and promote bacterial replication. However, translocated bacterial products are sensed by nucleotide binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing proteins (NLRs), which trigger the formation of a multiprotein complex called the inflammasome, leading to secretion of interleukin-1 (IL-1) family cytokines, pyroptosis, and control of pathogen replication. Pathogenic Yersinia bacteria inject effector proteins termed Yops, as well as pore-forming proteins that comprise the translocon itself, into target cells. The Yersinia translocation regulatory protein YopK promotes bacterial virulence by limiting hyperinjection of the translocon proteins YopD and YopB into cells, thereby limiting cellular detection of Yersinia virulence activity. How hyperinjection of translocon proteins leads to inflammasome activation is currently unknown. We found that translocated YopB and YopD colocalized with the late endosomal/ lysosomal protein LAMP1 and that the frequency of YopD and LAMP1 association correlated with the level of caspase-1 activation in individual cells. We also observed colocalization between YopD and Galectin-3, an indicator of endosomal membrane damage. Intriguingly, YopK limited the colocalization of Galectin-3 with YopD, suggesting that YopK limits the induction or sensing of endosomal membrane damage by components of the type III secretion system (T3SS) translocon. Furthermore, guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) encoded on chromosome 3 (GbpChr3), which respond to pathogen-induced damage or alteration of host membranes, were necessary for inflammasome activation in response to hyperinjected YopB/-D. Our findings indicate that lysosomal damage by Yersinia translocon proteins promotes inflammasome activation and implicate GBPs as key regulators of this process.