Newcastle disease virus infection induces activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome

Abstract Inflammatory responses are important aspects of the innate immune system during virus infection. We found that Newcastle disease virus can induce inflammasome activation in the human macrophage-like cell line THP-1. Viral replication was required for inflammasome activation, and small hairpin RNA knockdown experiments indicated that IL-1β secretion was mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome. We also verified the results in LPS-primed bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from NLRP3-deficient and wild type mice. NDV is considered to be a promising oncolytic virus. Stimulating the immune system has been proposed as a key mechanism of oncolytic specificity, and the inflammasome appears to be an important mechanism by which NDV is controlled. Knockdown of inflammasome components or chemical inhibition of caspase-1 activity shows that cell survival was augmented and benefited NDV replication. This study shows that NLRP3 inflammasome activation is an innate cellular response to NDV infection and offers insights into the oncolytic specificity of NDV.