Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling is triggered by pathogen-associated molecular patterns that mediate well established cytokine-driven pathways, activating NF-κB together with IRF3/IRF7. In addition, TLR3 drives caspase 8-regulated programmed cell death pathways reminiscent of TNF family death receptor signaling. We find that inhibition or elimination of caspase 8 during stimulation of TLR2, TLR3, TLR4, TLR5, or TLR9 results in receptor interacting protein (RIP) 3 kinase-dependent programmed necrosis that occurs through either TIR domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-β (TRIF) or MyD88 signal transduction. TLR3 or TLR4 directly activates programmed necrosis through a RIP homotypic interaction motif-dependent association of TRIF with RIP3 kinase (also called RIPK3). In fibroblasts, this pathway proceeds independent of RIP1 or its kinase activity, but it remains dependent on mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) downstream of RIP3 kinase. Here, we describe two small molecule RIP3 kinase inhibitors and employ them to demonstrate the common requirement for RIP3 kinase in programmed necrosis induced by RIP1-RIP3, DAI-RIP3, and TRIF-RIP3 complexes. Cell fate decisions following TLR signaling parallel death receptor signaling and rely on caspase 8 to suppress RIP3-dependent programmed necrosis whether initiated directly by a TRIF-RIP3-MLKL pathway or indirectly via TNF activation and the RIP1-RIP3-MLKL necroptosis pathway.

Hematopoietic cells and their progenitors play important roles in human cytomegalovirus latency and reactivation. Latent infection has been evaluated in defined populations of myeloid-lineage-committed progenitor cells coexpressing CD33 and CD15 or CD33 and CD14 along with the dendritic cell markers CD1a and CD10. These CD33⁺cell populations were found to support latency and expression of viral latency-associated transcripts and to undergo reactivation of productive viral replication when differentiated in the presence of human fibroblasts. Reactivation was also observed when myeloid cells were carried in the presence of fibroblast-conditioned medium or medium supplemented with certain cytokines (interferon γ, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 4, or granulocyte–macrophage colony-simulating factor), suggesting that cell differentiation pathways act as determinants of reactivation. More primitive CD34⁺hematopoietic cells were also found to be susceptible to viral infection and latency was maintained as these cells differentiated into CD33⁺-lineage-committed populations. Between 0.01% and 0.001% of CD33⁺CD14⁺or CD33⁺CD15⁺bone marrow mononuclear cells isolated from naturally infected individuals were found to express latent transcripts. Thus, cytomegalovirus is carried within a small percentage of myeloid and dendritic cell progenitors in the healthy seropositive host. Virus reactivation may be triggered by factors associated with the inflammatory response.

The pronecrotic kinase, receptor interacting protein (RIP1, also called RIPK1) mediates programmed necrosis and, together with its partner, RIP3 (RIPK3), drives midgestational death of caspase 8 (Casp8)-deficient embryos. RIP1 controls a second vital step in mammalian development immediately after birth, the mechanism of which remains unresolved. Rip1^−/− mice display perinatal lethality, accompanied by gross immune system abnormalities. Here we show that RIP1 K45A (kinase dead) knockin mice develop normally into adulthood, indicating that development does not require RIP1 kinase activity. In the face of complete RIP1 deficiency, cells develop sensitivity to RIP3-mixed lineage kinase domain-like–mediated necroptosis as well as to Casp8-mediated apoptosis activated by diverse innate immune stimuli (e.g., TNF, IFN, double-stranded RNA). When either RIP3 or Casp8 is disrupted in combination with RIP1, the resulting double knockout mice exhibit slightly prolonged survival over RIP1-deficient animals. Surprisingly, triple knockout mice with combined RIP1, RIP3, and Casp8 deficiency develop into viable and fertile adults, with the capacity to produce normal levels of myeloid and lymphoid lineage cells. Despite the combined deficiency, these mice sustain a functional immune system that responds robustly to viral challenge. A single allele of Rip3 is tolerated in Rip1^−/−Casp8^−/−Rip3^+/− mice, contrasting the need to eliminate both alleles of either Rip1 or Rip3 to rescue midgestational death of Casp8-deficient mice. These observations reveal a vital kinase-independent role for RIP1 in preventing pronecrotic as well as proapoptotic signaling events associated with life-threatening innate immune activation at the time of mammalian parturition. Significance The protein kinase receptor interacting protein 1 controls signaling via death receptors, Toll-like receptors, and retinoic acid-inducible gene 1-like receptors, dictating inflammatory outcomes as broad as cytokine activation and cell death. RIP1 makes a vital contribution during development, evident from the fact that RIP1-deficient mice die soon after birth. Here, we show that a kinase-independent function of RIP1 dampens the consequences of innate immune cell death. During parturition, RIP1 prevents the lethal consequences of RIP3-dependent necroptosis as well as caspase 8 (Casp8)-dependent apoptosis. In contrast to the RIP1-deficient phenotype, mice lacking a combination of RIP1, RIP3, and Casp8 are born and mature into viable, fertile, and immunocompetent adults. These results demonstrate the important protective role of RIP1 against physiologic and microbial death cues encountered at birth.