Abstract
Septic shock is characterized by an excessive inflammatory response depicted in a cytokine storm that results from invasive bacterial, fungi, protozoa, and viral infections. Non-canonical inflammasome activation is crucial in the development of septic shock promoting pyroptosis and pro-inflammatory cytokine production via caspase-11 and Gasdermin-D (GSDMD). Here, we show that NAD+ treatment protected mice towards bacterial and LPS induced endotoxic shock by blocking the non-canonical inflammasome specifically. NAD+ administration impeded systemic IL-1β and IL-18 production and GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis of macrophages via the IFN-β/STAT-1 signaling machinery. More importantly, NAD+ administration not only improved casp-11-/- survival but rendered WT mice completely resistant to septic shock via the IL-10 signaling pathway that was independent from the non-canonical inflammasome. Here, we delineated a two-sided effect of NAD+ blocking septic shock through a specific inhibition of the non-canonical inflammasome and promoting immune homeostasis via IL-10, underscoring its unique therapeutic potential.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
This is a revised version of our manuscript for eLIFE adressing comments raised by the reviewers with an expanded discussion section and some updated figures showing p-values for survival curves. Moreover, Figure 1F has been expanded by two more ELISA experiments analysing IL-6 and TNF-alpha expression. At least figure legends have been updated with more detailed information and a novel supplementary figure 4 was included.