News Releases & Research Results Mechanism of Salmonella infectious prevention mediated by short-chain fatty acid binding to a novel receptor protein

The results of the research project conducted by Assistant Professor Hitoshi Tsugawa, Associate Professor Yasuaki Kabe, and Professor Makoto Suematsu of the Department of Biochemistry, Keio University School of Medicine, and others.

• The research group successfully identified apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), a novel receptor protein for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are produced by gastrointestinal bacteria, and discovered that ASC mediates enhancement of innate immunity to prevent Salmonella infection leading to food poisoning.
• Specifically, SCFAs were found to enhance the innate immune response of macrophages and other effector cells in the immune system by activating ASC to form an inflammasome, thereby contributing to prevention of Salmonella infection leading to food poisoning. In addition, it was shown that the ingestion of soluble dietary fibers, which are fermented in the intestine to produce a large amount of SCFAs, substantially extended the survival of Salmonella-infected mice.
• The results of this research project suggests that ingestion of dietary fibers and other ingredients that generate SCFAs could contribute to the development of novel treatment and/or prophylaxis to prevent pathogenic infections.

This project was conducted with support from the Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation (AMED-CREST) by AMED.

The results of this research project were published in the online bulletin of PLoS Biology on September 30.

Tsugawa H., et al. Short-chain fatty acids bind to apoptosis-associated speck-like protein to activate inflammasome complex to prevent Salmonella infection PLoS Biology
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000813