Abstract
Regulated cell necrosis supports immune and anti-infectious strategies of the body; however, dysregulation of these processes drives pathological organ damage. Pseudomonas aeruginosa expresses a phospholipase, ExoU that triggers pathological host cell necrosis through a poorly characterized pathway. Here, we investigated the molecular and cellular mechanisms of ExoU-mediated necrosis. We show that cellular peroxidised phospholipids enhance ExoU phospholipase activity, which drives necrosis of immune and non-immune cells. Conversely, both the endogenous lipid peroxidation regulator GPX4 and the pharmacological inhibition of lipid peroxidation delay ExoU-dependent cell necrosis and improve bacterial elimination in vitro and in vivo. Our findings also pertain to the ExoU-related phospholipase from the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia thailandensis, suggesting that exploitation of peroxidised phospholipids might be a conserved virulence mechanism among various microbial phospholipases. Overall, our results identify an original lipid peroxidation-based virulence mechanism as a strong contributor of microbial phospholipase-driven pathology.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | e1009927 |
Journal | PLoS Pathogens |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2021 |
Keywords
- Animals
- Bacterial Proteins/metabolism
- Host-Pathogen Interactions/physiology
- Humans
- Lipid Peroxidation/physiology
- Mice
- Mice, Knockout
- Necrosis/metabolism
- Pseudomonas Infections/metabolism
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa/metabolism
- Virulence/physiology