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Abstract

In this study, we report that cytoplasmic granules from in vivo and in vitro derived mouse mast cells (MCs) contain active granzyme B (gzmB) and caspase-3, which is consistent with recent findings. Studying WT and gzmB-deficient mice, we observed that BM-derived MCs (BMMCs) from both strains contain cytosolic pro-caspase-3, but only WT BMMCs expressed active caspase-3 limited to their secretory lysosomes. Confocal microscopy revealed colocalization of active caspase-3 and gzmB in these cytoplasmic granules. The combined data demonstrate that the generation and storage of active caspase-3 is gzmB-dependent. The finding that BMMCs secrete caspase-3 and gzmB after Ag stimulation suggests that both proteases contribute to extracellular MC-mediated proteolytic events. Although the extracellular function of MC-derived caspase-3 remains unclear, we show that BMMC-secreted caspase-3 cleaves IL-33, a cytokine that contributes to the development of asthma and arthritis. We also show that an in vitro propagated cytolytic T-lymphocyte line constitutively expresses gzmB together with active caspase-3, suggesting a novel interaction of these proteases in the execution of multiple innate and adaptive immune responses.