Interrupting an IFN-γ-dependent Feedback Loop in the Syndrome of Pyogenic Arthritis with Pyoderma Gangrenosum and Acne

Objectives: To study the molecular pathogenesis of PAPA (pyogenic arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum and acne) syndrome, a debilitating hereditary autoinflammatory disease caused by dominant mutation in .

Methods: Gene knock-out and knock-in mice were generated to develop an animal model. THP1 and retrovirally transduced U937 human myeloid leukaemia cell lines, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, small interfering RNA (siRNA) knock-down, site-directed mutagenesis, cytokine immunoassays, coimmunoprecipitation and immunoblotting were used to study inflammasome activation. Cytokine levels in the skin were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Responsiveness to Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors was evaluated ex vivo with peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in vivo in five treatment-refractory PAPA patients.

Results: The knock-in mouse model of PAPA did not recapitulate the human disease. In a human myeloid cell line model, PAPA-associated mutations activated the pyrin inflammasome, but not the NLRP3, NLRC4 or AIM2 inflammasomes. Pyrin inflammasome activation was independent of the canonical pathway of pyrin serine dephosphorylation and was blocked by the p.W232A mutation, which disrupts pyrin-PSTPIP1 interaction. IFN-γ priming of monocytes from PAPA patients led to IL-18 release in a pyrin-dependent manner. IFN-γ was abundant in the inflamed dermis of PAPA patients, but not patients with idiopathic pyoderma gangrenosum. Ex vivo JAK inhibitor treatment attenuated IFN-γ-mediated pyrin induction and IL-18 release. In 5/5 PAPA patients, the addition of JAK inhibitor therapy to IL-1 inhibition was associated with clinical improvement.

Conclusion: PAPA-associated mutations trigger a pyrin-IL-18-IFN-γ positive feedback loop that drives PAPA disease activity and is a target for JAK inhibition.