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Host phospholipid peroxidation fuels ExoU-dependent cell necrosis and supports Pseudomonas aeruginosa-driven pathology.

Salimata BagayokoStephen Adonai Leon-IcazaMiriam PinillaAudrey HesselKarin SantoniDavid PéricatPierre-Jean BordignonFlavie MoreauElif ErenAurélien BoyancéEmmanuelle NaserLise LefèvreCéline BerroneNino IakobachviliArnaud MetaisYoann RomboutsGeanncarlo Lugo-VillarinoAgnès CosteIna AttréeDara W FrankHans CleversPeter J PetersCéline CougouleRémi PlanèsEtienne Meunier
Published in: PLoS pathogens (2021)
Regulated cell necrosis supports immune and anti-infectious strategies of the body; however, dysregulation of these processes drives pathological organ damage. Pseudomonas aeruginosa expresses a phospholipase, ExoU that triggers pathological host cell necrosis through a poorly characterized pathway. Here, we investigated the molecular and cellular mechanisms of ExoU-mediated necrosis. We show that cellular peroxidised phospholipids enhance ExoU phospholipase activity, which drives necrosis of immune and non-immune cells. Conversely, both the endogenous lipid peroxidation regulator GPX4 and the pharmacological inhibition of lipid peroxidation delay ExoU-dependent cell necrosis and improve bacterial elimination in vitro and in vivo. Our findings also pertain to the ExoU-related phospholipase from the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia thailandensis, suggesting that exploitation of peroxidised phospholipids might be a conserved virulence mechanism among various microbial phospholipases. Overall, our results identify an original lipid peroxidation-based virulence mechanism as a strong contributor of microbial phospholipase-driven pathology.
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