Ribonuclease L mediates the cell-lethal phenotype of the double-stranded RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 in a human cell line
Abstract
ADAR1 isoforms are adenosine deaminases that edit and destabilize double-stranded RNA reducing its immunostimulatory activities. Mutation of ADAR1 leads to a severe neurodevelopmental and inflammatory disease of children, Aicardi-Goutiéres syndrome. In mice, Adar1 mutations are embryonic lethal but are rescued by mutation of the Mda5 or Mavs genes, which function in IFN induction. However, the specific IFN regulated proteins responsible for the pathogenic effects of ADAR1 mutation are unknown. We show that the cell-lethal phenotype of ADAR1 deletion in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells is rescued by CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis of the RNASEL gene or by expression of the RNase L antagonist, murine coronavirus NS2 accessory protein. Our result demonstrate that ablation of RNase L activity promotes survival of ADAR1 deficient cells even in the presence of MDA5 and MAVS, suggesting that the RNase L system is the primary sensor pathway for endogenous dsRNA that leads to cell death.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI104887 to S.R.W. and R.H.S)
- Robert H Silverman
- Susan R Weiss
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01-NS-080081 to S.R.W.)
- Susan R Weiss
National Cancer Institute (R01CA044059 to R.H.S)
- Robert H Silverman
Burroughs Wellcome Fund (Grant 1013579 to A.K.)
- Alexei V Korennykh
Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research (AWD1004002 to A.K.)
- Alexei V Korennykh
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM110161 to A.K.)
- Alexei V Korennykh
Vallee Foundation (23307-G0002-10009-96)
- Alexei V Korennykh
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (T32AI007324)
- Stephen A Goldstein
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007388)
- Sneha Rath
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Timothy W Nilsen, Case Western Reserve University, United States
Version history
- Received: February 3, 2017
- Accepted: March 30, 2017
- Accepted Manuscript published: March 31, 2017 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: April 25, 2017 (version 2)
- Version of Record updated: June 5, 2017 (version 3)
Copyright
© 2017, Li et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Further reading
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- Cell Biology
- Immunology and Inflammation
Cytokine polyfunctionality is a well-established concept in immune cells, especially T cells, and their ability to concurrently produce multiple cytokines has been associated with better immunological disease control and subsequent effectiveness during infection and disease. To date, only little is known about the secretion dynamics of those cells, masked by the widespread deployment of mainly time-integrated endpoint measurement techniques that do not easily differentiate between concurrent and sequential secretion. Here, we employed a single-cell microfluidic platform capable of resolving the secretion dynamics of individual PBMCs. To study the dynamics of poly-cytokine secretion, as well as the dynamics of concurrent and sequential polyfunctionality, we analyzed the response at different time points after ex vivo activation. First, we observed the simultaneous secretion of cytokines over the measurement time for most stimulants in a subpopulation of cells only. Second, polyfunctionality generally decreased with prolonged stimulation times and revealed no correlation with the concentration of secreted cytokines in response to stimulation. However, we observed a general trend towards higher cytokine secretion in polyfunctional cells, with their secretion dynamics being distinctly different from mono-cytokine-secreting cells. This study provided insights into the distinct secretion behavior of heterogenous cell populations after stimulation with well-described agents and such a system could provide a better understanding of various immune dynamics in therapy and disease.
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- Immunology and Inflammation
- Medicine
Background:
Prinflammatory extracellular chromatin from neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and other cellular sources is found in COVID-19 patients and may promote pathology. We determined whether pulmonary administration of the endonuclease dornase alfa reduced systemic inflammation by clearing extracellular chromatin.
Methods:
Eligible patients were randomized (3:1) to the best available care including dexamethasone (R-BAC) or to BAC with twice-daily nebulized dornase alfa (R-BAC + DA) for seven days or until discharge. A 2:1 ratio of matched contemporary controls (CC-BAC) provided additional comparators. The primary endpoint was the improvement in C-reactive protein (CRP) over time, analyzed using a repeated-measures mixed model, adjusted for baseline factors.
Results:
We recruited 39 evaluable participants: 30 randomized to dornase alfa (R-BAC +DA), 9 randomized to BAC (R-BAC), and included 60 CC-BAC participants. Dornase alfa was well tolerated and reduced CRP by 33% compared to the combined BAC groups (T-BAC). Least squares (LS) mean post-dexamethasone CRP fell from 101.9 mg/L to 23.23 mg/L in R-BAC +DA participants versus a 99.5 mg/L to 34.82 mg/L reduction in the T-BAC group at 7 days; p=0.01. The anti-inflammatory effect of dornase alfa was further confirmed with subgroup and sensitivity analyses on randomised participants only, mitigating potential biases associated with the use of CC-BAC participants. Dornase alfa increased live discharge rates by 63% (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.01–2.61, p=0.03), increased lymphocyte counts (LS mean: 1.08 vs 0.87, p=0.02) and reduced circulating cf-DNA and the coagulopathy marker D-dimer (LS mean: 570.78 vs 1656.96 μg/mL, p=0.004).
Conclusions:
Dornase alfa reduces pathogenic inflammation in COVID-19 pneumonia, demonstrating the benefit of cost-effective therapies that target extracellular chromatin.
Funding:
LifeArc, Breathing Matters, The Francis Crick Institute (CRUK, Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust).
Clinical trial number: