Ancient pyroptotic machinery via GSDMA/B cleavage by LPS-activated caspase-1 in cartilaginous fish

Abstract

Gasdermins are pore-forming effectors that mediate pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of programmed cell death characterized by membrane permeabilization and the release of intracellular contents. Phylogenetically, gasdermin members can be broadly divided into two major branches, the GSDME/PJVK branch and the GSDMA/B/C/D branch. Whereas the GSDME mediated pyroptosis was traced back to metazoans, the functional origins of GSDMA/B/C/D branch remain poorly understood. As a basal representative of the GSDMA-D lineage in cartilaginous fish, Callorhinchus milii GSDMA/B (CmiGSDMA/B) provides essential information for the ancestral state of this branch. Here, we functionally characterized CmiGSDMA/B and identified CmiCASP1 as its upstream protease. Mechanistically, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates CmiCASP1 via its CARD domain, leading to cleavage of CmiGSDMA/B into two functionally distinct products, N241 and N288. N241 binds cell membrane to drive pyroptosis, whereas N288 suppresses N241-triggered cell death. Interestingly, N241 exhibits bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria in vitro, suggesting that antimicrobial activity may have been an early feature of the GSDMA-D lineage. Collectively, these findings provide insight into a non-canonical, LPS-responsive, caspase-driven pyroptosis pathway in cartilaginous fish and reveal the dual-fragment antagonistic regulation within this branch.