Differential expression of NLRP3 among hematopoietic cells

Greta Guarda, Manuel Zenger, Amir Yazdi, Kate Schroder, Isabel Ferrero, Phillipe Menu, Aubry Tardivel, Chantal Mattmann, Jurg Tschopp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

287 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although the importance of the NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in health and disease is well appreciated, a precise characterization of NLRP3 expression is yet undetermined. To this purpose, we generated a knock-in mouse in which the Nlrp3 coding sequence was substituted for the GFP (enhanced GFP [egfp]) gene. In this way, the expression of eGFP is driven by the endogenous regulatory elements of the Nlrp3 gene. In this study, we show that eGFP expression indeed mirrors that of NLRP3. Interestingly, splenic neutrophils, macrophages, and, in particular, monocytes and conventional dendritic cells showed robust eGFP fluorescence, whereas lymphoid subsets, eosinophils, and plasmacytoid dendritic cells showed negligible eGFP levels. NLRP3 expression was highly inducible in macrophages, both by MyD88- and Trif-dependent pathways. In vivo, when mice were challenged with diverse inflammatory stimuli, differences in both the number of eGFP-expressing cells and fluorescence intensity were observed in the draining lymph node. Thus, NLRP3 levels at the site of adaptive response initiation are controlled by recruitment of NLRP3-expressing cells and by NLRP3 induction.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2529 - 2534
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume186
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

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