Stomatology ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (4): 260-265.doi: 10.13591/j.cnki.kqyx.2026.04.004

• Basic and Clinical Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Highly alkali-resistant Enterococcus faecalis induces compromised PANoptosis of macrophage via ZBP1

XIAO Yifang1, LIU Runze1, OU Dongchen2(), FAN Wei1()   

  1. School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Oral & Maxillofacial Reconstruction and Regeneration, Wuhan 430079, China
  • Received:2025-11-10 Online:2026-04-28 Published:2026-04-17

Abstract:

Objective To investigate how highly alkali-resistant Enterococcus faecalis(HAR E. faecalis) regulates Z-DNA binding protein 1(ZBP1) and macrophage PANoptosis(pyroptosis, apoptosis, necrosis). Methods Highly alkali-resistant Enterococcus faecalis was constructed by continuous alkaline subculturing. RAW264.7 macrophages were infected with either the highly alkali-resistant or standard Enterococcus faecalis(E. faecalis). Flow cytometry, live/dead cell staining, confocal microscopy, and Western blot were employed to analyze ZBP1 expression levels and macrophage death pathways. Small interfering RNA(siRNA) was used to knock down ZBP1 expression in macrophages, followed by the same infection protocol. Western blot was used to analyze changes in the expression of PANoptosis markers after ZBP1 knockdown. Results The highly alkali-resistant Enterococcus faecalis exhibited a weaker ability to upregulate the expression of ZBP1 and PANoptosis markers in macrophages compared to the standard strain. Following ZBP1 knockdown, the expression of these markers decreased, with no significant differences observed between the two strains. Conclusion Highly alkali-resistant Enterococcus faecalis induces compromised macrophage PANoptosis by weak activation of ZBP1, which impairs the host’s ability to completely eradicate the bacteria, thereby possibly favoring the occurrence and development of persistent apical periodontitis.

Key words: Enterococcus faecalis, alkali-resistance, Z-DNA binding protein 1, PANoptosis

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