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Published on: November 2, 2018
CARDINAL, a novel caspase recruitment domain protein, is an inhibitor of multiple NF-kappa B activation pathways
L Bouchier-Hayes1, H Conroy, H Egan
1Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Smurfit Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Insights
A novel protein, CARDINAL, regulates inflammatory signals by suppressing NF-kappaB activation. It interacts with IKKgamma (NEMO), offering a new target for controlling inflammation.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Proteins with caspase recruitment domain (CARD) motifs are involved in apoptosis and inflammation.
- NF-kappaB activation is crucial in inflammatory responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize a novel CARD-containing protein.
- To investigate the role of CARDINAL in NF-kappaB signaling pathways.
Main Methods:
- Protein identification and homology analysis.
- Functional assays for apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation.
- Co-immunoprecipitation to determine protein interactions.
Main Results:
- CARDINAL, a novel CARD protein, was identified.
- CARDINAL suppressed NF-kappaB activation induced by various inflammatory stimuli.
- CARDINAL directly interacts with IKKgamma (NEMO).
Conclusions:
- CARDINAL acts as a negative regulator of NF-kappaB signaling.
- CARDINAL's interaction with IKKgamma provides a mechanism for its inhibitory function.
- CARDINAL is a novel regulator of pro-inflammatory signals.
Abstract:
Proteins possessing the caspase recruitment domain (CARD) motif have been implicated in pathways leading to activation of caspases or NF-kappaB in the context of apoptosis or inflammation, respectively. Here we report the identification of a novel protein, CARDINAL, that contains a CARD motif and also exhibits a high degree of homology to the C terminus of DEFCAP/NAC, a recently described member of the Apaf-1/Nod-1 family. In contrast with the majority of CARD proteins described to date, CARDINAL failed to promote apoptosis or NF-kappaB activation. Rather, CARDINAL potently suppressed NF-kappaB activation associated with overexpression of TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2, RIP, RICK, Bcl10, and TRADD, or through ligand-induced stimulation of the interleukin-1 or tumor necrosis factor receptors. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that CARDINAL interacts with the regulatory subunit of the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex, IKKgamma (NEMO), providing a molecular basis for CARDINAL function. Thus, CARDINAL is a novel regulator of NF-kappaB activation in the context of pro-inflammatory signals.
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