MicroRNA-133a-1 regulates inflammasome activation through uncoupling protein-2

Inflammasomes are multimeric protein complexes involved in the processing of IL-1β through Caspase-1 cleavage. NLRP3 is the most widely studied inflammasome, which has been shown to respond to a large number of both endogenous and exogenous stimuli. Although studies have begun to define basic pathways for the activation of inflammasome and have been instrumental in identifying therapeutics for inflammasome related disorders; understanding the inflammasome activation at the molecular level is still incomplete. Recent functional studies indicate that microRNAs (miRs) regulate molecular pathways and can lead to diseased states when hampered or overexpressed. Mechanisms involving the miRNA regulatory network in the activation of inflammasome and IL-1β processing is yet unknown. This report investigates the involvement of miR-133a-1 in the activation of inflammasome (NLRP3) and IL-1β production. miR-133a-1 is known to target the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). The role of UCP2 in inflammasome activation has remained elusive. To understand the role of miR-133a-1 in regulating inflammasome activation, we either overexpressed or suppressed miR-133a-1 in differentiated THP1 cells that express the NLRP3 inflammasome. Levels of Caspase-1 and IL-1β were analyzed by Western blot analysis. For the first time, we showed that overexpression of miR-133a-1 increases Caspase-1 p10 and IL-1β p17 cleavage, concurrently suppressing mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). Surprisingly, our results demonstrated that miR-133A-1 controls inflammasome activation without affecting the basal expression of the individual inflammasome components NLRP3 and ASC or its immediate downstream targets proIL-1β and pro-Caspase-1. To confirm the involvement of UCP2 in the regulation of inflammasome activation, Caspase-1 p10 and IL-1β p17 cleavage in UCP2 of overexpressed and silenced THP1 cells were studied. Suppression of UCP2 by siRNA enhanced the inflammasome activity stimulated by H2O2 and, conversely, overexpression of UCP2 decreased the inflammasome activation. Collectively, these studies suggest that miR-133a-1 suppresses inflammasome activation via the suppression of UCP2.