DPP9 sequesters the C terminus of NLRP1 to repress inflammasome activation

L. Robert Hollingsworth, Humayun Sharif, Andrew R. Griswold, Pietro Fontana, Julian Mintseris, Kevin B. Dagbay, Joao A. Paulo, Steven P. Gygi, Daniel A. Bachovchin () and Hao Wu ()
Additional contact information
L. Robert Hollingsworth: Harvard Medical School
Humayun Sharif: Harvard Medical School
Andrew R. Griswold: Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Pietro Fontana: Harvard Medical School
Julian Mintseris: Harvard Medical School, Harvard University
Kevin B. Dagbay: Harvard Medical School
Joao A. Paulo: Harvard Medical School, Harvard University
Steven P. Gygi: Harvard Medical School, Harvard University
Daniel A. Bachovchin: Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Hao Wu: Harvard Medical School

Nature, 2021, vol. 592, issue 7856, 778-783

Abstract: Abstract Nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat pyrin-domain containing protein 1 (NLRP1) is an inflammasome sensor that mediates the activation of caspase-1 to induce cytokine maturation and pyroptosis1–4. Gain-of-function mutations of NLRP1 cause severe inflammatory diseases of the skin4–6. NLRP1 contains a function-to-find domain that auto-proteolyses into noncovalently associated subdomains7–9, and proteasomal degradation of the repressive N-terminal fragment of NLRP1 releases its inflammatory C-terminal fragment (NLRP1 CT)10,11. Cytosolic dipeptidyl peptidases 8 and 9 (hereafter, DPP8/DPP9) both interact with NLRP1, and small-molecule inhibitors of DPP8/DPP9 activate NLRP1 by mechanisms that are currently unclear10,12–14. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of the human NLRP1–DPP9 complex alone and with Val-boroPro (VbP), an inhibitor of DPP8/DPP9. The structures reveal a ternary complex that comprises DPP9, full-length NLRP1 and the NLRPT CT. The binding of the NLRP1 CT to DPP9 requires full-length NLRP1, which suggests that NLRP1 activation is regulated by the ratio of NLRP1 CT to full-length NLRP1. Activation of the inflammasome by ectopic expression of the NLRP1 CT is consistently rescued by co-expression of autoproteolysis-deficient full-length NLRP1. The N terminus of the NLRP1 CT inserts into the DPP9 active site, and VbP disrupts this interaction. Thus, VbP weakens the NLRP1–DPP9 interaction and accelerates degradation of the N-terminal fragment10 to induce inflammasome activation. Overall, these data demonstrate that DPP9 quenches low levels of NLRP1 CT and thus serves as a checkpoint for activation of the NLRP1 inflammasome.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03350-4

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