# Targeting gasdermin D to treat myelodysplastic syndromes

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $527,987

## Abstract

Summary
Bone marrow inflammation induced by the dysregulated innate immune system and inflammasome activation is
increasingly indicated to be critical in the pathogenesis and progression of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
Despite the significant progress in this field in the past few years, one of the key unresolved questions is: what
are the major regulators that mediate the development of bone marrow inflammation. Resolving this question
will be critical for the development of novel immunotherapies to treat MDS and prevent its progression, which
remains to be a critical unmet medical need. Using a mouse model of double knockout (DKO) of Diap1 and
miR146a, both are involved in the innate immune signaling and significantly downregulated in patients with MDS,
we revealed that the old DKO mice developed MDS due to the upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the
bone marrow. One of the unique features of the DKO model is that these mice are phenotypically normal at
younger age but develop MDS that eventually progress to leukemia with aging, which closely phenocopies the
development and progression of MDS in patients. More recently, we showed that genetic depletion of IL-6 in the
DKO mice significantly delayed MDS progression. However, IL-6 is one of the highly upregulated cytokines in
DKO mice and MDS patients. Loss of IL-6 failed to revert the inflammatory bone marrow microenvironment and
many MDS phenotypes in the DKO model. It is essential to reveal the common upstream regulator(s) that
mediate the release of inflammatory cytokines. In this respect, IL-6 is a well-known downstream target of IL-1,
which is released by inflammation induced pyroptotic cells. Pyroptosis is activated upon inflammasome assembly
including NLRP3, which is a downstream target of NF-b and upregulated by the activation of the innate immune
signaling. Activation of NLRP3 is a hall mark of MDS independent of mutation status. Upregulated and activated
NLRP3 inflammasome activates caspase 1, which in turn cleaves gasdermin D. The cleaved gasdermin D results
in increased cell permeability, pyroptosis, and the release of cytokines including IL-1 family. Given its central role
in pyroptosis, gasdermin D could also be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of MDS. We therefore
crossed DKO mice with gasdermin D knockout mice. Indeed, loss of gasdermin D markedly reverted MDS
phenotypes in the DKO mice. Gasdermin D is also highly upregulated in patients with MDS. Our preliminary
studies indicate that gasdermin D also mediates inflammation in bone marrow stromal cells. Based on these
data, we hypothesize that gasdermin D mediated inflammatory cues and dysregulation of innate immune
signaling in hematopoietic cells and bone marrow stromal cells are pivotal in facilitating MDS development and
progression. To test this hypothesis, we will perform experiments in the following three aims. In aim 1, we will
investigate the hematopoietic cell intrinsic mechanisms of gasdermin ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10894103
- **Project number:** 5R01HL169507-02
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Peng Ji
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $527,987
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10894103

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10894103, Targeting gasdermin D to treat myelodysplastic syndromes (5R01HL169507-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10894103. Licensed CC0.

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