Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (
NAFLD) is the most common
liver disease in many developed and developing countries worldwide. It has been well established that the chronic sterile
inflammation caused by the NLRP3
inflammasome is closely related to
NAFLD development. Kupffer cells (KCs) are involved in the pathogenesis of various
liver diseases. We used
methionine choline-deficient diets to establish a mouse
nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model. The expression and formation of the NLRP3
inflammasome in the KCs from the mouse and cell models were determined by Western blotting and co-immunoprecipitation. Evidence of
mitochondrial DNA (
mtDNA) release was determined by live cell labeling and imaging. KCs and the NLRP3
inflammasome exerted proinflammatory effects on the development and progression of NASH through secretion of the proinflammatory
cytokine IL-1β. NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1
protein expression levels in KCs from NASH mouse livers were significantly higher than those in KCs from NLRP3-/- mice, and the number of NLRP3
inflammasome protein complexes was significantly higher in KCs from NASH mouse livers, whereas these
protein complexes could not be formed in NLRP3-/- mice. In in vitro experiments,
palmitic acid (PA) decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and subsequently induced
mtDNA release from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm. NLRP3
inflammasome expression was substantially increased, and mtDNA-NLRP3
inflammasome complexes formed upon PA stimulation. Our data suggest that
mtDNA released from mitochondria during PA stimulation causes NLRP3
inflammasome activation, providing a missing link between NLRP3
inflammasome activation and NASH development, via binding of cytosolic
mtDNA to the NLRP3
inflammasome.