Affiliations: 1) Department of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH; 2) Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3) Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Keywords: k. glia; j. other signaling pathways
Elucidating signal transduction mechanisms of innate immune pathways is essential to defining how they elicit distinct cellular responses. Toll-like receptors (TLR) signal through cytoplasmic TIR domains that bind other TIR domain-containing adaptors. dSARM/SARM1 is one such TIR domain adaptor best known for its role as the central axon degeneration trigger after injury. In degeneration, SARM1’s domains have been assigned unique functions: the ARM domain is auto-inhibitory, SAM-SAM domain interactions mediate multimerization, and the TIR domain has intrinsic NAD+ hydrolase activity that precipitates axonal demise. Whether and how these distinct functions contribute to TLR signaling is unknown. Here we show divergent signaling requirements for dSARM in injury-induced axon degeneration and TLR-mediated developmental glial phagocytosis through analysis of new knock-in domain and point mutations. We demonstrate intragenic complementation between reciprocal pairs of domain mutants during development, providing evidence for separability of dSARM functional domains in TLR signaling. Surprisingly, dSARM’s NAD+ hydrolase activity is strictly required for both degenerative and developmental signaling, demonstrating that TLR signal transduction requires dSARM’s enzymatic activity. In contrast, while SAM domain-mediated dSARM multimerization is important for axon degeneration, it is dispensable for TLR signaling. Finally, we find that dSARM functions with the MAP3K Ask1 during development but not in degenerating axons. Thus, we propose that dSARM exists in distinct signaling states in developmental and pathological contexts.