Influenza A viruses (IAV) can cause lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is characterized by accumulation of excessive fluid (edema) in the alveolar airspaces and leads to hypoxemia and death if not corrected. Clearance of excess edema fluid is driven mostly by the alveolar epithelial Na,K-ATPase and is crucial for survival of patients with ARDS. We therefore investigated whether IAV infection alters Na,K-ATPase expression and function in alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) and the ability of the lung to clear edema. IAV infection reduced Na,K-ATPase in the plasma membrane of human and murine AECs and in distal lung epithelium of infected mice. Moreover, induced Na,K-ATPase improved alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in IAV-infected mice. We identified a paracrine cell communication network between infected and noninfected AECs and alveolar macrophages that leads to decreased alveolar epithelial Na,K-ATPase function and plasma membrane abundance and inhibition of AFC. We determined that the IAV-induced reduction of Na,K-ATPase is mediated by a host signaling pathway that involves epithelial type I IFN and an IFN-dependent elevation of macrophage TNF-related apoptosis–inducing ligand (TRAIL). Our data reveal that interruption of this cellular crosstalk improves edema resolution, which is of biologic and clinical importance to patients with IAV-induced lung injury.
Christin Peteranderl, Luisa Morales-Nebreda, Balachandar Selvakumar, Emilia Lecuona, István Vadász, Rory E. Morty, Carole Schmoldt, Julia Bespalowa, Thorsten Wolff, Stephan Pleschka, Konstantin Mayer, Stefan Gattenloehner, Ludger Fink, Juergen Lohmeyer, Werner Seeger, Jacob I. Sznajder, Gökhan M. Mutlu, G.R. Scott Budinger, Susanne Herold
Cystic fibrosis (CF) disrupts respiratory host defenses, allowing bacterial infection, inflammation, and mucus accumulation to progressively destroy the lungs. Our previous studies revealed that mucus with abnormal behavior impaired mucociliary transport in newborn CF piglets prior to the onset of secondary manifestations. To further investigate mucus abnormalities, here we studied airway surface liquid (ASL) collected from newborn piglets and ASL on cultured airway epithelia. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching revealed that the viscosity of CF ASL was increased relative to that of non-CF ASL. CF ASL had a reduced pH, which was necessary and sufficient for genotype-dependent viscosity differences. The increased viscosity of CF ASL was not explained by pH-independent changes in HCO3– concentration, altered glycosylation, additional pH-induced disulfide bond formation, increased percentage of nonvolatile material, or increased sulfation. Treating acidic ASL with hypertonic saline or heparin largely reversed the increased viscosity, suggesting that acidic pH influences mucin electrostatic interactions. These findings link loss of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator–dependent alkalinization to abnormal CF ASL. In addition, we found that increasing Ca2+ concentrations elevated ASL viscosity, in part, independently of pH. The results suggest that increasing pH, reducing Ca2+ concentration, and/or altering electrostatic interactions in ASL might benefit early CF.
Xiao Xiao Tang, Lynda S. Ostedgaard, Mark J. Hoegger, Thomas O. Moninger, Philip H. Karp, James D. McMenimen, Biswa Choudhury, Ajit Varki, David A. Stoltz, Michael J. Welsh
Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) affects 55%–77% of children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and occurs even in the absence of asthma. While asthma increases SCD morbidity and mortality, the mechanisms underlying the high AHR prevalence in a hemoglobinopathy remain unknown. We hypothesized that placenta growth factor (PlGF), an erythroblast-secreted factor that is elevated in SCD, mediates AHR. In allergen-exposed mice, loss of
Marthe-Sandrine Eiymo Mwa Mpollo, Eric B. Brandt, Shiva Kumar Shanmukhappa, Paritha I. Arumugam, Swati Tiwari, Anastacia Loberg, Devin Pillis, Tilat Rizvi, Mark Lindsey, Bart Jonck, Peter Carmeliet, Vijay K. Kalra, Timothy D. Le Cras, Nancy Ratner, Marsha Wills-Karp, Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, Punam Malik
Regulation of neutrophil activity is critical for immune evasion among extracellular pathogens, yet the mechanisms by which many bacteria disrupt phagocyte function remain unclear. Here, we have shown that the respiratory pathogen
Christopher B. Hergott, Aoife M. Roche, Nikhil A. Naidu, Clementina Mesaros, Ian A. Blair, Jeffrey N. Weiser
Inflammasome activation and caspase-1–dependent (CASP1-dependent) processing and secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 are critical events at the interface of the bacterial pathogen
Katrin N. Koch, Mara L. Hartung, Sabine Urban, Andreas Kyburz, Anna S. Bahlmann, Judith Lind, Steffen Backert, Christian Taube, Anne Müller
Bone formation during fracture repair inevitably initiates within or around extravascular deposits of a fibrin-rich matrix. In addition to a central role in hemostasis, fibrin is thought to enhance bone repair by supporting inflammatory and mesenchymal progenitor egress into the zone of injury. However, given that a failure of efficient fibrin clearance can impede normal wound repair, the precise contribution of fibrin to bone fracture repair, whether supportive or detrimental, is unknown. Here, we employed mice with genetically and pharmacologically imposed deficits in the fibrin precursor fibrinogen and fibrin-degrading plasminogen to explore the hypothesis that fibrin is vital to the initiation of fracture repair, but impaired fibrin clearance results in derangements in bone fracture repair. In contrast to our hypothesis, fibrin was entirely dispensable for long-bone fracture repair, as healing fractures in fibrinogen-deficient mice were indistinguishable from those in control animals. However, failure to clear fibrin from the fracture site in plasminogen-deficient mice severely impaired fracture vascularization, precluded bone union, and resulted in robust heterotopic ossification. Pharmacological fibrinogen depletion in plasminogen-deficient animals restored a normal pattern of fracture repair and substantially limited heterotopic ossification. Fibrin is therefore not essential for fracture repair, but inefficient fibrinolysis decreases endochondral angiogenesis and ossification, thereby inhibiting fracture repair.
Masato Yuasa, Nicholas A. Mignemi, Jeffry S. Nyman, Craig L. Duvall, Herbert S. Schwartz, Atsushi Okawa, Toshitaka Yoshii, Gourab Bhattacharjee, Chenguang Zhao, Jesse E. Bible, William T. Obremskey, Matthew J. Flick, Jay L. Degen, Joey V. Barnett, Justin M.M. Cates, Jonathan G. Schoenecker
Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) comprises a group of inherited disorders caused by mutations that alter the function of lysosome-related organelles. Pulmonary fibrosis is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with subtypes HPS-1 and HPS-4, which both result from defects in biogenesis of lysosome-related organelle complex 3 (BLOC-3). The prototypic chitinase-like protein chitinase 3–like–1 (CHI3L1) plays a protective role in the lung by ameliorating cell death and stimulating fibroproliferative repair. Here, we demonstrated that circulating CHI3L1 levels are higher in HPS patients with pulmonary fibrosis compared with those who remain fibrosis free, and that these levels associate with disease severity. Using murine HPS models, we also determined that these animals have a defect in the ability of CHI3L1 to inhibit epithelial apoptosis but exhibit exaggerated CHI3L1-driven fibroproliferation, which together promote HPS fibrosis. These divergent responses resulted from differences in the trafficking and effector functions of two CHI3L1 receptors. Specifically, the enhanced sensitivity to apoptosis was due to abnormal localization of IL-13Rα2 as a consequence of dysfunctional BLOC-3–dependent membrane trafficking. In contrast, the fibrosis was due to interactions between CHI3L1 and the receptor CRTH2, which trafficked normally in BLOC-3 mutant HPS. These data demonstrate that CHI3L1-dependent pathways exacerbate pulmonary fibrosis and suggest CHI3L1 as a potential biomarker for pulmonary fibrosis progression and severity in HPS.
Yang Zhou, Chuan Hua He, Erica L. Herzog, Xueyan Peng, Chang-Min Lee, Tung H. Nguyen, Mridu Gulati, Bernadette R. Gochuico, William A. Gahl, Martin L. Slade, Chun Geun Lee, Jack A. Elias
Severe asthma (SA) is a challenge to control, as patients are not responsive to high doses of systemic corticosteroids (CS). In contrast, mild-moderate asthma (MMA) is responsive to low doses of inhaled CS, indicating that Th2 cells, which are dominant in MMA, do not solely orchestrate SA development. Here, we analyzed broncholalveolar lavage cells isolated from MMA and SA patients and determined that IFN-γ (Th1) immune responses are exacerbated in the airways of individuals with SA, with reduced Th2 and IL-17 responses. We developed a protocol that recapitulates the complex immune response of human SA, including the poor response to CS, in a murine model. Compared with WT animals,
Mahesh Raundhal, Christina Morse, Anupriya Khare, Timothy B. Oriss, Jadranka Milosevic, John Trudeau, Rachael Huff, Joseph Pilewski, Fernando Holguin, Jay Kolls, Sally Wenzel, Prabir Ray, Anuradha Ray
Cigarette smoke (CS) and viruses promote the inflammation and remodeling associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The MAVS/RIG-I–like helicase (MAVS/RLH) pathway and inflammasome-dependent innate immune pathways are important mediators of these responses. At baseline, the MAVS/RLH pathway is suppressed, and this inhibition must be reversed to engender tissue effects; however, the mechanisms that mediate activation and repression of the pathway have not been defined. In addition, the regulation and contribution of MAVS/RLH signaling in CS-induced inflammation and remodeling responses and in the development of human COPD remain unaddressed. Here, we demonstrate that expression of NLRX1, which inhibits the MAVS/RLH pathway and regulates other innate immune responses, was markedly decreased in 3 independent cohorts of COPD patients. NLRX1 suppression correlated directly with disease severity and inversely with pulmonary function, quality of life, and prognosis. In murine models, CS inhibited NLRX1, and CS-induced inflammation, alveolar destruction, protease induction, structural cell apoptosis, and inflammasome activation were augmented in NLRX1-deficient animals. Conversely, MAVS deficiency abrogated this CS-induced inflammation and remodeling. Restoration of NLRX1 in CS-exposed animals ameliorated alveolar destruction. These data support a model in which CS-dependent NLRX1 inhibition facilitates MAVS/RHL activation and subsequent inflammation, remodeling, protease, cell death, and inflammasome responses.
Min-Jong Kang, Chang Min Yoon, Bo Hye Kim, Chang-Min Lee, Yang Zhou, Maor Sauler, Rober Homer, Anish Dhamija, Daniel Boffa, Andrew Phillip West, Gerald S. Shadel, Jenny P. Ting, John R. Tedrow, Naftali Kaminski, Woo Jin Kim, Chun Geun Lee, Yeon-Mok Oh, Jack A. Elias
Epithelial cells that line the conducting airways provide the initial barrier and innate immune responses to the abundant particles, microbes, and allergens that are inhaled throughout life. The transcription factors SPDEF and FOXA3 are both selectively expressed in epithelial cells lining the conducting airways, where they regulate goblet cell differentiation and mucus production. Moreover, these transcription factors are upregulated in chronic lung disorders, including asthma. Here, we show that expression of SPDEF or FOXA3 in airway epithelial cells in neonatal mice caused goblet cell differentiation, spontaneous eosinophilic inflammation, and airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. SPDEF expression promoted DC recruitment and activation in association with induction of
Priya Rajavelu, Gang Chen, Yan Xu, Joseph A. Kitzmiller, Thomas R. Korfhagen, Jeffrey A. Whitsett