A genome-wide RNA interference screen identifies caspase 4 as a factor required for tumor necrosis factor alpha signaling

Mol Cell Biol. 2012 Sep;32(17):3372-81. doi: 10.1128/MCB.06739-11. Epub 2012 Jun 25.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a potent inflammatory cytokine secreted upon cellular stress as well as immunological stimuli and is implicated in the pathology of inflammatory diseases and cancer. The therapeutic potential of modifying TNF-α pathway activity has been realized in several diseases, and antagonists of TNF-α have reached clinical applications. While much progress in the understanding of signaling downstream of the TNF-α receptor complex has been made, the compendium of factors required for signal transduction is still not complete. In order to find novel regulators of proinflammatory signaling induced by TNF-α, we conducted a genome-wide small interfering RNA screen in human cells. We identified several new candidate modulators of TNF-α signaling, which were confirmed in independent experiments. Specifically, we show that caspase 4 is required for the induction of NF-κB activity, while it appears to be dispensable for the activation of the Jun N-terminal protein kinase signaling branch. Taken together, our experiments identify caspase 4 as a novel regulator of TNF-α-induced NF-κB signaling that is required for the activation of IκB kinase. We further provide the genome-wide RNA interference data set as a compendium in a format compliant with minimum information about an interfering RNA experiment (MAIRE).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Caspases, Initiator / genetics*
  • Caspases, Initiator / immunology*
  • Genomics / methods*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • I-kappa B Kinase / genetics
  • I-kappa B Kinase / immunology
  • NF-kappa B / genetics
  • NF-kappa B / immunology
  • RNA Interference*
  • Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I / genetics
  • Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I / immunology
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / genetics
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / immunology*

Substances

  • NF-kappa B
  • Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • I-kappa B Kinase
  • CASP4 protein, human
  • Caspases, Initiator