Inflammation
Abstract
Pathologic lymphatic remodeling in lymphedema evolves during periods of tissue inflammation and hypoxia through poorly defined processes. In human and mouse lymphedema, there is a significant increase of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α, but a reduction of HIF-2α protein expression in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs). We questioned whether dysregulated expression of these transcription factors contributes to disease pathogenesis and found that LEC-specific deletion of Hif-2α exacerbated lymphedema pathology. Even without lymphatic vascular injury, the loss of LEC-specific Hif-2α caused anatomic pathology and a functional decline in fetal and adult mice. These findings suggest that HIF-2α is an important mediator of lymphatic health. HIF-2α promoted protective phosphorylated TIE2 (p-TIE2) signaling in LECs, a process also replicated by upregulating TIE2 signaling through adenovirus-mediated angiopoietin-1 (Angpt1) gene therapy. Our study suggests that HIF-2α normally promotes healthy lymphatic homeostasis and raises the exciting possibility that restoring HIF-2α pathways in lymphedema could mitigate long-term pathology and disability.
Authors
Xinguo Jiang, Wen Tian, Eric J. Granucci, Allen B. Tu, Dongeon Kim, Petra Dahms, Shravani Pasupneti, Gongyong Peng, Yesl Kim, Amber H. Lim, F. Hernan Espinoza, Matthew Cribb, J. Brandon Dixon, Stanley G. Rockson, Gregg L. Semenza, Mark R. Nicolls
Abstract
Characterization of the key cellular targets contributing to sustained microglial activation in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), and optimal modulation of these targets can provide potential treatments to halt disease progression. Here, we demonstrated that microglial Kv1.3, a voltage-gated potassium channel, was transcriptionally upregulated in response to aggregated α-synuclein (αSynAgg) stimulation in primary microglial cultures and animal models of PD, as well as in postmortem human PD brains. Patch-clamp electrophysiological studies confirmed that the observed Kv1.3 upregulation translated to increased Kv1.3 channel activity. The kinase Fyn, a risk factor for PD, modulated transcriptional upregulation and posttranslational modification of microglial Kv1.3. Multiple state-of-the-art analyses, including Duolink proximity ligation assay imaging, revealed that Fyn directly bound to Kv1.3 and posttranslationally modified its channel activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated the functional relevance of Kv1.3 in augmenting the neuroinflammatory response by using Kv1.3-KO primary microglia and the Kv1.3-specific small-molecule inhibitor PAP-1, thus highlighting the importance of Kv1.3 in neuroinflammation. Administration of PAP-1 significantly inhibited neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in multiple animal models of PD. Collectively, our results imply that Fyn-dependent regulation of Kv1.3 channels plays an obligatory role in accentuating the neuroinflammatory response in PD and identify Kv1.3 as a potential therapeutic target for PD.
Authors
Souvarish Sarkar, Hai M. Nguyen, Emir Malovic, Jie Luo, Monica Langley, Bharathi N. Palanisamy, Neeraj Singh, Sireesha Manne, Matthew Neal, Michelle Gabrielle, Ahmed Abdalla, Poojya Anantharam, Dharmin Rokad, Nikhil Panicker, Vikrant Singh, Muhammet Ay, Adhithiya Charli, Dilshan Harischandra, Lee-Way Jin, Huajun Jin, Srikant Rangaraju, Vellareddy Anantharam, Heike Wulff, Anumantha G. Kanthasamy
Abstract
Gasdermin D (GSDMD) induces pyroptosis via the pore-forming activity of its N-terminal domain, cleaved by activated caspases associated with the release of IL-1β. Here, we report a nonpyroptotic role of full-length GSDMD in guiding the release of IL-1β–containing small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). In response to caspase-8 inflammasome activation, GSDMD, chaperoned by Cdc37/Hsp90, recruits the E3 ligase, NEDD4, to catalyze polyubiquitination of pro–IL-1β, serving as a signal for cargo loading into secretory vesicles. GSDMD and IL-1β colocalize with the exosome markers CD63 and ALIX intracellularly, and GSDMD and NEDD4 are required for release of CD63+ sEVs containing IL-1β, GSDMD, NEDD4, and caspase-8. Importantly, increased expression of epithelial-derived GSDMD is observed both in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and those with experimental colitis. While GSDMD-dependent release of IL-1β–containing sEVs is detected in cultured colonic explants from colitic mice, GSDMD deficiency substantially attenuates disease severity, implicating GSDMD-mediated release of IL-1β sEVs in the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation, such as that observed in IBD.
Authors
Katarzyna Bulek, Junjie Zhao, Yun Liao, Nitish Rana, Daniele Corridoni, Agne Antanaviciute, Xing Chen, Han Wang, Wen Qian, William A. Miller-Little, Shadi Swaidani, Fangqiang Tang, Belinda B. Willard, Keith McCrae, Zizhen Kang, George R. Dubyak, Fabio Cominelli, Alison Simmons, Theresa T. Pizarro, Xiaoxia Li
Abstract
NF-kB transcription factors, driven by the IRAK-IKK cascade, confer treatment resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a cancer characterized by near universal KRAS mutation. Through reverse-phase protein array and RNAseq we discovered IRAK4 also contributes substantially to MAPK activation in KRAS-mutant PDAC. IRAK4 ablation completely blocked RAS-induced transformation of human and murine cells. Mechanistically, expression of mutant KRAS stimulated an inflammatory, autocrine IL-1b signaling loop that activated IRAK4 and MAPK pathway. Downstream of IRAK4, we uncovered TPL2/MAP3K8 as the essential kinase that propels both MAPK and NF-kB cascades. Inhibition of TPL2 blocked both MAPK and NF-kB signaling, and suppressed KRAS-mutant cell growth. To counter chemotherapy-induced genotoxic stress, PDAC cells upregulated TLR9, which activated pro-survival IRAK4-TPL2 signaling. Accordingly, TPL2 inhibitor synergized with chemotherapy to curb PDAC growth in vivo. Finally, from TCGA we characterized two MAP3K8 point mutations that hyperactivate MAPK and NF-kB cascades by impeding TPL2 protein degradation. Cancer cell lines naturally harboring these MAP3K8 mutations are strikingly sensitive to TPL2 inhibition, underscoring the need to identify these potentially targetable mutations in patients. Overall, our study establishes TPL2 as a promising therapeutic target in RAS- and MAP3K8-mutant cancers and strongly prompts development of TPL2 inhibitors for pre-clinical and clinical studies.
Authors
Paarth B. Dodhiawala, Namrata Khurana, Daoxiang Zhang, Yi Cheng, Lin Li, Qing Wei, Kuljeet Seehra, Hongmei Jiang, Patrick M. Grierson, Andrea Wang-Gillam, Kian-Huat Lim
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by amyloid-β-containing plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of aggregated, hyperphosphorylated tau. Beyond tau and Aβ, evidence suggests that microglia play an important role in AD pathogenesis. Rare variants in the microglial-expressed triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) gene increase AD risk 2-4-fold. It is likely that these TREM2 variants increase AD risk by decreasing the response of microglia to Aβ and its local toxicity. However, neocortical Aβ pathology occurs many years before neocortical tau pathology in AD. Thus, it will be important to understand the role of TREM2 in the context of tauopathy. We investigated the impact of the AD-associated TREM2 variant (R47H) on tau-mediated neuropathology in the PS19 mouse model of tauopathy. We assessed PS19 mice expressing human TREM2CV (common variant) or human TREM2R47H. PS19-T2R47H mice had significantly attenuated brain atrophy and synapse loss versus PS19-T2CV mice. Gene expression analyses and CD68 immunostaining revealed attenuated microglial reactivity in PS19-T2R47H versus PS19-T2CV mice. There was also a decrease in phagocytosis of postsynaptic elements by microglia expressing TREM2R47H in the PS19 mice and in human AD brains. These findings suggest that impaired TREM2 signaling reduces microglia-mediated neurodegeneration in the setting of tauopathy.
Authors
Maud Gratuze, Cheryl E.G. Leyns, Andrew D. Sauerbeck, Marie-Kim St-Pierre, Monica Xiong, Nayeon Kim, Javier Remolina Serrano, Marie-Ève Tremblay, Terrance T. Kummer, Marco Colonna, Jason D. Ulrich, David M. Holtzman
Abstract
T helper cells integrate signals from their microenvironment to acquire distinct specialization programs for efficient clearance of diverse pathogens or for immunotolerance. Ionic signals have recently been demonstrated to affect T cell polarization and function. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was proposed to accumulate in peripheral tissues upon dietary intake and to promote autoimmunity via the Th17 cell axis. Here we demonstrate that high NaCl conditions induced a stable, pathogen-specific, anti-inflammatory Th17 cell fate in human T cells in vitro. The p38/MAPK pathway, involving NFAT5 and SGK1, regulated FoxP3 and interleukin (IL)-17A-expression in high-NaCl conditions. The NaCl-induced acquisition of an anti-inflammatory Th17 cell fate was confirmed in vivo in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model, which demonstrated strongly reduced disease symptoms upon transfer of T cells polarized in high NaCl conditions. However, NaCl was coopted to promote murine and human Th17 cell pathogenicity, if T cell stimulation occurred in a pro-inflammatory and TGF-β-low cytokine microenvironment. Taken together, our findings reveal a context-dependent, dichotomous role for NaCl in shaping Th17 cell pathogenicity. NaCl might therefore prove beneficial for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases in combination with cytokine-blocking drugs.
Authors
Julia Matthias, Sylvia Heink, Felix S.R. Picard, Julia Zeiträg, Anna Kolz, Ying-Yin Chao, Dominik Soll, Gustavo P. de Almeida, Elke Glasmacher, Ilse D. Jacobsen, Thomas Riedel, Anneli Peters, Stefan Floess, Jochen Huehn, Dirk Baumjohann, Magdalena Huber, Thomas Korn, Christina E. Zielinski
Abstract
Despite recent advances in understanding chronic inflammation remission, global analyses have not been explored to systematically discover genes or pathways underlying the resolution dynamics of chronic inflammatory diseases. Here, we performed time-course gene expression profiling of mouse synovial tissues along progression and resolution of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and identified genes associated with inflammation resolution. Through network analysis of these genes, we predicted three key secretory factors responsible for the resolution of CIA: Itgb1, Rps3, and Ywhaz. These factors were predominantly expressed by regulatory T cells and anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, suppressing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In particular, Ywhaz was elevated in the sera of mice with arthritis resolution and in the urine of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with good therapeutic responses. Moreover, adenovirus-mediated transfer of the Ywhaz gene to the affected joints substantially inhibited arthritis progression in mice with CIA and suppressed expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in joint tissues, lymph nodes, and spleens, suggesting Ywhaz as an excellent target for RA therapy. Therefore, our comprehensive analysis of dynamic synovial transcriptomes provides previously unidentified anti-arthritic genes, Itgb1, Rps3, and Ywhaz, which can serve as molecular markers to predict disease remission, as well as therapeutic targets for chronic inflammatory arthritis.
Authors
Jin-Sun Kong, Ji-Hwan Park, Seung-Ah Yoo, Ki-Myo Kim, Yeung-Jin Bae, Yune-Jung Park, Chul-Soo Cho, Daehee Hwang, Wan-Uk Kim
Abstract
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetically heterogenous group of eye diseases in which initial degeneration of rods triggers secondary degeneration of cones, leading to significant loss of daylight, color, and high-acuity vision. Gene complementation with adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors is one strategy to treat RP. Its implementation faces substantial challenges, however — e.g., the tremendous number of loci with causal mutations. Gene therapy targeting secondary cone degeneration is an alternative approach that could provide a much-needed generic treatment for many RP patients. Here, we show that microglia are required for the upregulation of potentially neurotoxic inflammatory factors during cone degeneration in RP, creating conditions that might contribute to cone dysfunction and death. To ameliorate the effects of such factors, we used AAV vectors to express isoforms of the anti-inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β). AAV-mediated delivery of TGF-β1 rescued degenerating cones in three mouse models of RP carrying different pathogenic mutations. Treatment with TGF-β1 protected vision, as measured by two behavioral assays, and could be pharmacologically disrupted by either depleting microglia or blocking the TGF-β receptors. Our results suggest that TGF-β1 may be broadly beneficial for patients with cone degeneration, and potentially other forms of neurodegeneration, through a pathway dependent upon microglia.
Authors
Sean K. Wang, Yunlu Xue, Constance L. Cepko
Abstract
Unchecked inflammation is a hallmark of inflammatory tissue injury in diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Yet the mechanisms of inflammatory lung injury remain largely unknown. Here we showed that bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced polymicrobial sepsis decreased the expression of transcription factor cAMP Response Element Binding (CREB) in lung endothelial cells. We demonstrated that endothelial CREB was crucial for VE-cadherin transcription and the formation of the normal restrictive endothelial adherens junctions. The inflammatory cytokine IL-1β reduced cAMP generation and CREB-mediated transcription of VE-cadherin. Furthermore, endothelial cell-specific deletion of CREB induced lung vascular injury whereas ectopic expression of CREB in the endothelium prevented the injury. We also observed that rolipram, which inhibits PDE4-mediated hydrolysis of cAMP, prevented endotoxemia-induced lung vascular injury since it preserved CREB-mediated VE-cadherin expression. These data demonstrate the fundamental role of endothelial cAMP-CREB axis in promoting lung vascular integrity and suppressing inflammatory injury. Therefore, strategies aimed at enhancing endothelial CREB-mediated VE-cadherin transcription are potentially useful in preventing sepsis-induced lung vascular injury in ARDS.
Authors
Shiqin Xiong, Zhigang Hong, Long Shuang Huang, Yoshikazu Tsukasaki, Saroj Nepal, Anke Di, Ming Zhong, Wei Wu, Zhiming Ye, XiaoPei Gao, Gadiparthi Rao, Dolly Mehta, Jalees Rehman, Asrar B. Malik
Abstract
Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI), a complication that frequently occurs in hospital settings, is often associated with hemodynamic compromise, sepsis, cardiac surgery or exposure to nephrotoxicants. Here, using a murine renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) model we show that intercalated cells (ICs) rapidly adopted a pro-inflammatory phenotype post-IRI. During the early phase of AKI, we demonstrate that either blocking the pro-inflammatory P2Y14 receptor located on the apical membrane of ICs, or ablation of the gene encoding the P2Y14 receptor in ICs: 1) inhibited IRI-induced chemokine expression increase in ICs; 2) reduced neutrophil and monocyte renal infiltration; 3) reduced the extent of kidney dysfunction; and 4) attenuated proximal tubule (PT) damage. These observations indicate that the P2Y14 receptor participates in the very first inflammatory steps associated with ischemic AKI. In addition, we show that the concentration of the P2Y14 receptor ligand, uridine diphosphate-glucose (UDP-Glc), was higher in urine samples from intensive care unit patients who developed AKI compared to patients without AKI. In particular, we observed a strong correlation between UDP-Glc concentration and the development of AKI in cardiac surgery patients. Our study identifies the UDP-Glc/P2Y14 receptor axis as a potential target for the prevention and/or attenuation of ischemic-AKI.
Authors
Maria Agustina Battistone, Alexandra C. Mendelsohn, Raul German Spallanzani, Andrew S. Allegretti, Rachel N. Liberman, Juliana Sesma, Sahir Kalim, Susan M. Wall, Joseph V. Bonventre, Eduardo R. Lazarowski, Dennis Brown, Sylvie Breton
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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)