Heightened NLRP3 inflammasome activation is associated with aging and CMML diseases severity

Aging causes chronic low-grade inflammation known as inflamm-aging. It is a risk factor for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), a hematological malignancy that is most prevalent in older people. Recent studies suggest a critical role for the NLRP3 inflammasome in inflamm-aging. However, the mechanisms involved in NLRP3 activation in aging and its involvement in CMML progression are not fully understood. Here, we report that aging increases interleukin-1β production upon NLRP3 activation in human CD14 + monocytes. Interestingly, we found that Toll-like receptor (TLR) 1/2 agonist Pam3Cysk4 directly activates NLRP3 inflammasome without the requirement of second activation signal in monocytes from older but not from younger healthy donors. Further, we observed a dichotomous response to NLRP3 inflammasome activation in monocytes from CMML patients. Intriguingly, CMML patients with heightened NLRP3 activation showed increased treatment dependency and disease severity. Collectively, our results suggest that aging causes increased sensitivity to NLRP3 inflammasome activation at cellular level, which may explain increased inflammation and immune dysregulation in older individuals. Furthermore, NLRP3 inflammasome activation was dysregulated in CMML and positively correlated with disease severity.