Millions of patients suffer from silicosis, but it remains an uncurable disease due to its unclear pathogenic mechanisms. Though the Nlrp3 inflammasome is involved in silicosis pathogenesis, inhibition of its classic downstream factors, Caspase-1 and Gsdmd, fails to block pyroptosis and cytokine release. To clarify the molecular mechanism of silicosis pathogenesis for new therapy, we examined samples from silicosis patients and genetic mouse models. We discovered an alternative pyroptotic pathway which requires cleavage of Gsdme by Caspases-3/8 in addition to Caspase-1/Gsdmd. Consistently, Gsdmd-/-Gsdme-/- mice showed markedly attenuated silicosis pathology, and Gsdmd-/-Gsdme-/- macrophages were resistant to silica-induced pyroptosis. Furthermore, we found that in addition to Caspase 1, Caspase-8 cleaved IL-1β in silicosis, explaining why Caspase-1-/- mice also suffered from silicosis. Finally, we found that inhibitors of Caspase-1, -3, -8 or an FDA approved drug, dimethyl fumarate, could dramatically alleviate silicosis pathology through blocking cleavage of Gsdmd and Gsdme. This study highlights that Caspase-1/Gsdmd and Caspase-3/8/Gsdme-dependent pyroptosis is essential for the development of silicosis, implicating new potential targets and drug for silicosis treatment.

Body weight regain often causes failure of obesity therapies while the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we report that immune cells, especially CD4+ T cells, mediate the 'memory' of previous obese status. In a weight gain-loss-regain model, we found that C57BL/6J mice with an obesity history showed a much faster rate of body weight regain. This obesity memory could last for at least 2 months after previously obese mice were kept at the same body weight as non-obese mice. Surprisingly, such obesity memory was abrogated by dexamethasone treatment, whereas immunodeficient Rag1-/- and H2A-/- mice failed to establish such memory. Rag1-/- mice repossessed the obesity memory when immune cells or CD4+ T cells isolated from previously obese mice were transferred. Furthermore, depletion of CD4+ T cells led to obesity memory ablation. Taken together, we conclude that CD4+ T cells mediate obesity memory and promote weight regain.

It has been proved that interleukin-10-knockout (IL-10 KO) mice display the most similar characteristics to that of human Crohn's disease (CD). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has well established beneficial effects on human and animal models health with potent anti-inflammatory effects with poorly understood mechanisms. This study was aimed at figuring out whether DHA could ameliorate the Crohn's colitis by activating GPR120 and whether GPR120 could be a potential therapeutic target for CD.16 week-old mice included in our present study were divided into three groups, WT group, IL-10 KO group and DHA group(IL-10 KO mice with DHA treatment, i.g., 35.5mg/kg/d), containing 8 mice in each group. The severity of colitis, pro-inflammatory cytokines concentrations, the expression/distribution of protein GPR120 and TAK1/IKK-α/IkB-α/p65 pathway in the proximal colons were evaluated at the end of the experiment. Administration of DHA showed promising results in the experimental chronic colitis (demonstrated by reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells, lowered inflammation scores, decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines) and body weight loss improvement. Moreover, in the DHA-treated mice, enhanced expression and improved distribution integrity of protein GPR120 were observed, which was probably associated with the regulation of TAK1/IKK-α/IkB-α/p65 pathway. Our results indicated that triggering GPR120 via the inhibition of TAK1/IKK-α/IkB-α/p65 pathway might be an important target for Crohn's colitis.

Changes in metabolic pathway preferences are key events in the reprogramming process of somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The optimization of metabolic conditions can enhance reprogramming; however, the detailed underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. By comparing the gene expression profiles of somatic cells, intermediate-phase cells, and iPSCs, we found that carnitine palmitoyltransferase (Cpt)1b, a rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation, was significantly upregulated in the early stage of the reprogramming process.

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a key negative regulator of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway. Previous study showed that, in the liver, the catalytic subunit of PP2A (PP2Ac) is closely associated with insulin resistance syndrome, which is characterized by glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia. Here we studied the role of liver PP2Ac in glucose metabolism and evaluated whether PP2Ac is a suitable therapeutic target for treating insulin resistance syndrome. Liver-specific Ppp2cα knockout mice (Ppp2cα(loxp/loxp): Alb) exhibited improved glucose homeostasis compared with littermate controls in both normal and high-fat diet conditions, despite no significant changes in body weight and liver weight under chow diet. Ppp2cα(loxp/loxp): Alb mice showed enhanced glycogen deposition, serum triglyceride, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein, activated insulin signaling, decreased expressions of gluconeogenic genes G6P and PEPCK, and lower liver triglyceride. Liver-specific Ppp2cα knockout mice showed enhanced glucose homeostasis and increased insulin sensitivity by activation of insulin signaling through Akt. These findings suggest that inhibition of hepatic Ppp2cα may be a useful strategy for the treatment of insulin resistance syndrome.

While apoptosis is essential for male germ cell development, improper activation of apoptosis in the testis can affect spermatogenesis and cause reproduction defects. Members of the MAGE-A (melanoma antigen family A) gene family are frequently clustered in mammalian genomes and are exclusively expressed in the testes of normal animals but abnormally activated in a wide variety of cancers. We investigated the potential roles of these genes in spermatogenesis by generating a mouse model with a 210-kb genomic deletion encompassing six members of the Magea gene cluster (Magea1, Magea2, Magea3, Magea5, Magea6 and Magea8). Male mice carrying the deletion displayed smaller testes from 2 months old with a marked increase in apoptotic germ cells in the first wave of spermatogenesis. Furthermore, we found that Magea genes prevented stress-induced spermatogenic apoptosis after N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) treatment during the adult stage. Mechanistically, deletion of the Magea gene cluster resulted in a dramatic increase in apoptotic germ cells, predominantly spermatocytes, with activation of p53 and induction of Bax in the testes. These observations demonstrate that the Magea genes are crucial in maintaining normal testicular size and protecting germ cells from excessive apoptosis under genotoxic stress.

Disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation are often associated with macrophage pyroptosis. It remains unclear how these forms of mitochondrial dysfunction relate to inflammasome activation and gasdermin-D (Gsdmd) cleavage, two central steps of the pyroptotic process. Here, we also found MMP collapse and ROS generation induced by Nlrp3 inflammasome activation as previous studies reported. The elimination of ROS alleviated the cleavage of Gsdmd, suggesting that Gsdmd cleavage occurs downstream of ROS release. Consistent with this result, hydrogen peroxide treatment augmented the cleavage of Gsdmd by caspase-1. Indeed, four amino acid residues of Gsdmd were oxidized under oxidative stress in macrophages. The efficiency of Gsdmd cleavage by inflammatory caspase-1 was dramatically reduced when oxidative modification was blocked by mutation of these amino acid residues. These results demonstrate that Gsdmd oxidation serves as a de novo mechanism by which mitochondrial ROS promote Nlrp3 inflammasome-dependent pyroptotic cell death.