Triptolide induces PANoptosis in macrophages and causes organ injury in mice

Macrophages represent the first lines of innate defense against pathogenic infections and are poised to undergo multiple forms of regulated cell death (RCD) upon infections or toxic stimuli, leading to multiple organ injury. Triptolide, an active compound isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F., possesses various pharmacological activities including anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects, but its applications have been hampered by toxic adverse effects. It remains unknown whether and how triptolide induces different forms of RCD in macrophages. In this study, we showed that triptolide exhibited significant cytotoxicity on cultured macrophages in vitro, which was associated with multiple forms of lytic cell death that could not be fully suppressed by any one specific inhibitor for a single form of RCD. Consistently, triptolide induced the simultaneous activation of pyroptotic, apoptotic and necroptotic hallmarks, which was accompanied by the co-localization of ASC specks respectively with RIPK3 or caspase-8 as well as their interaction with each other, indicating the formation of PANoptosome and thus the induction of PANoptosis. Triptolide-induced PANoptosis was associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS production. PANoptosis was also induced by triptolide in mouse peritoneal macrophages in vivo. Furthermore, triptolide caused kidney and liver injury, which was associated with systemic inflammatory responses and the activation of hallmarks for PANoptosis in vivo. Collectively, our data reveal that triptolide induces PANoptosis in macrophages in vitro and exhibits nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity associated with induction of PANoptosis in vivo, suggesting a new avenue to alleviate triptolide’s toxicity by harnessing PANoptosis.