Germline NLRP1 Mutations Cause Skin Inflammatory and Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes via Inflammasome Activation PMID: 27662089

ADC Targets in Oncology

2026-04-10

Germline NLRP1 Mutations Cause Skin Inflammatory and Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes via Inflammasome Activation

Cell. 2016 Sep 22;167(1):187-202.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.09.001.

Franklin L Zhong ¹ , Ons Mamaï ² , Lorenzo Sborgi ³ , Lobna Boussofara ⁴ , Richard Hopkins ⁵ , Kim Robinson ⁶ , Ildikó Szeverényi ⁶ , Takuya Takeichi ⁷ , Reshmaa Balaji ⁶ , Aristotle Lau ⁶ , Hazel Tye ⁸ , Keya Roy ⁶ , Carine Bonnard ⁶ , Patricia J Ahl ⁵ , Leigh Ann Jones ⁵ , Paul J Baker ⁸ , Lukas Lacina ⁶ , Atsushi Otsuka ⁹ , Pierre R Fournie ¹⁰ , François Malecaze ¹⁰ , E Birgitte Lane ⁶ , Masashi Akiyama ¹¹ , Kenji Kabashima ¹² , John E Connolly ⁵ , Seth L Masters ⁸ , Vincent J Soler ¹⁰ , Salma Samir Omar ¹³ , John A McGrath ¹⁴ , Roxana Nedelcu ¹⁵ , Moez Gribaa ¹⁶ , Mohamed Denguezli ⁴ , Ali Saad ¹⁶ , Sebastian Hiller ³ , Bruno Reversade ¹⁷

Affiliations

1. Institute of Medical Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore; Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore. Electronic address: [email protected].
2. Institute of Medical Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore; Laboratory of Human Cytogenetic, Molecular Genetics and Reproductive Biology, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Rue Ibn El Jazzar, 4000 Sousse, Tunisia.
3. Biozentrum, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
4. Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Rue Ibn El Jazzar, 4000 Sousse, Tunisia.
5. Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore.
6. Institute of Medical Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore.
7. Department of Dermatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan; St John's Institute of Dermatology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 4XA, United Kingdom.
8. Inflammation Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
9. Department of Dermatology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
10. Ophthalmology Department, Hôpital Pierre-Paul Riquet, University Toulouse Hospital, TSA 40031, Place Baylac, 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9, France; Team Epithéliums, physiopathologie et génétique oculaires, Unité "Différenciation Epithéliale et Autoimmunité Rhumatoïde, UMR 1056 Inserm, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, FRE 3742 CNRS, Hôpital Purpan, 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9, France.
11. Department of Dermatology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
12. Institute of Medical Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore; Department of Dermatology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
13. Department of Dermatology, Venereology & Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21411, Egypt.
14. St John's Institute of Dermatology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 4XA, United Kingdom.
15. Department of Pathophysiology II, National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Matei Bals," "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest 050474, Romania.
16. Laboratory of Human Cytogenetic, Molecular Genetics and Reproductive Biology, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Rue Ibn El Jazzar, 4000 Sousse, Tunisia.
17. Institute of Medical Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore; Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, A(∗)STAR, Singapore 138632, Singapore; Medical Genetics Department, Koç University School of Medicine, 34010 Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Paediatrics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Inflammasome complexes function as key innate immune effectors that trigger inflammation in response to pathogen- and danger-associated signals. Here, we report that germline mutations in the inflammasome sensor NLRP1 cause two overlapping skin disorders: multiple self-healing palmoplantar carcinoma (MSPC) and familial keratosis lichenoides chronica (FKLC). We find that NLRP1 is the most prominent inflammasome sensor in human skin, and all pathogenic NLRP1 mutations are gain-of-function alleles that predispose to inflammasome activation. Mechanistically, NLRP1 mutations lead to increased self-oligomerization by disrupting the PYD and LRR domains, which are essential in maintaining NLRP1 as an inactive monomer. Primary keratinocytes from patients experience spontaneous inflammasome activation and paracrine IL-1 signaling, which is sufficient to cause skin inflammation and epidermal hyperplasia. Our findings establish a group of non-fever inflammasome disorders, uncover an unexpected auto-inhibitory function for the pyrin domain, and provide the first genetic evidence linking NLRP1 to skin inflammatory syndromes and skin Cancer predisposition.

Keywords

ASC; IL-1; MSPC; MSSE; NLRP1; cancer; gain-of-function; genodermatosis; germline; inflammasome; keratinocytes; keratosis lichenoides chronica; multiple self-healing squamous cell carcinoma; skin inflammation.