Aspergillus lentulus Activates the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Abstract Aspergillus lentulus (A.lentulus) as a sibling species of Aspergillus fumigatus can cause fatal invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. Innate immunity is the first line of anti-infection reactions. The NLRP3 inflammasome is an essential protein complex of innate immunity that controls the secretion of IL-1β. Previous studies have shown that NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in fungal infection. In present study, to clarify whether A.lentulus is able to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome, mouse dendritic cells (DCs) used as infection model and analyzed IL-1β production after incubating with A.lentulus strain isolated from a COPD patient. The result showed that A.lentulus-induced IL-β secretion is depend on NLRP3 inflammasome activation, it was determined by gene-specific siRNA. Further more, the effect of K+ efflux, Cathepsin B or ROS production to the IL-1β secretion were confirmed by competitive inhibitors. Our data indicates that A.lentulus activates NLRP3 inflammasome and induce IL-1β production from DCs.