Melatonin alleviates inflammasome‐induced pyroptosis through inhibiting NF‐κB/GSDMD signal in mice adipose tissue

Pyroptosis is a proinflammatory form of cell death that is associated with pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory diseases. Melatonin is substantially reported to possess anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting inflammasome activation. However, the effects of melatonin on inflammasome-induced pyroptosis in adipocytes remain elusive. Here, we demonstrated that melatonin alleviated lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced inflammation and NLRP3 inflammasome formation in mice adipose tissue. The NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis was also inhibited by melatonin in adipocytes. Further analysis revealed that gasdermin D (GSDMD), the key executioner of pyroptosis, was the target for melatonin inhibition of adipocyte pyroptosis. Importantly, we determined that nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signal was required for the GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis in adipocytes. We also confirmed that melatonin alleviated adipocyte pyroptosis by transcriptional suppression of GSDMD. Moreover, GSDMD physically interacted with interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) and subsequently formed a complex to promote adipocyte pyroptosis. Melatonin also attenuated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis, which was induced by LPS or obesity. In summary, our results demonstrate that melatonin alleviates inflammasome-induced pyroptosis by blocking NF-κB/GSDMD signal in mice adipose tissue. Our data reveal a novel function of melatonin on adipocyte pyroptosis, suggesting a new potential therapy for melatonin to prevent and treat obesity caused systemic inflammatory response.