Sequestration of NF-kappaB signaling complexes in lipid rafts contributes to repression of NF-kappaB in T lymphocytes under hyperthermia stress

Sepsis causes extensive apoptosis of lymphocytes, a pathological condition that is frequently associated with hyperthermia. Heat stress has been implicated to repress the activation of an inflammatory mediator, nuclear factor of kappaB (NF-kappaB), which sensitizes cells to apoptosis mediated by inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha. However, the molecular mechanism of hyperthermia-associated loss of T cells remains unclear. We show that hyperthermia causes rapid translocation of IkappaB kinase (IKK) and NF-kappaB complexes into the plasma membrane-associated lipid rafts in T cells. Heat stress induces aggregation of Carma1 in lipid rafts, which in turn recruits protein kinase C theta (PKC theta) and Bcl10 to the microdomains, causing subsequent membrane translocation of the IKK and NF-kappaB signalosomes. Depletion of Carma1 and inhibition of PKC theta impair accumulation of NF-kappaB complexes in lipid rafts. Heat stress prohibits IkappaB kinase activity by sequestrating the IKK and NF-kappaB complexes in lipid rafts and by segregating the chaperone protein Hsp90, an essential cofactor for IKK, from the IKK complex. This process ultimately results in functional deficiency of NF-kappaB and renders T cells resistant to tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced activation of IKK, thereby contributing to the apoptotic loss of T lymphocytes in sepsis-associated hyperthermia.