Structural and mechanistic elucidation of non-canonical inflammasome signaling

Project Summary/Abstract Caspase-4/-5/-11 non-canonical inflammasomes have been known to play pivotal roles in various inflammatory and infectious diseases, such as sepsis. Current studies demonstrate that caspase-4/-5/-11 are activated by directly sensing intracellular microbial infections, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS, also known as endotoxin), or endogenous products, such as oxidized phospholipids (e.g., OxPAPC), through their N-terminal caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARDs) and C-terminal catalytic domains, respectively. However, the molecular mechanisms of how caspase-4/-5/-11 recognize their ligands and how caspase-4/-5/-11 are activated upon binding ligands remain unknown. In this proposal, we aim to elucidate the structural basis of non-canonical inflammasome signaling by characterizing the interactions between caspase-4/-5/-11 and ligands - LPS and OxPAPC, and determining the high-resolution structures of caspase/-4/-5/-11 in complex with ligands. Our structural findings will provide new therapeutic strategies for sepsis and other non-canonical inflammasome- associated diseases. We propose three specific aims to achieve our goal: 1) Biochemical characterization of the interactions between caspase-4/-5/-11 and LPS-including the identification of the essential structural elements in the LPS molecule and key residues on caspase-4/-5/-11 CARDs that are required for caspase-4/-5/-11 activation; 2) Determine high-resolution structures of caspase-4/-5/-11 CARDs both in their inactive form and in complex with LPS; 3) Characterize the interactions between caspase-4/-11 and OxPAPC, and determine the high resolution structures of caspase-4/-11 catalytic domains in complex with OxPAPC. We will pursue these aims using cutting-edge experimental approaches including biochemical and biophysical characterization, X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, and cellular experiments. The proposed studies will significantly expand our current knowledge on the mechanisms of non-canonical inflammasome signaling, and provide rationale and a structural basis for designing novel strategies to control the activation of the non- canonical inflammasome for better treatment of related diseases.