EMC3 coordinates surfactant protein and lipid homeostasis required for respiration

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Adaptation to respiration at birth depends upon the synthesis of pulmonary surfactant, a lipid-protein complex that reduces surface tension at the air-liquid interface in the alveoli and prevents lung collapse during the ventilatory cycle. Herein, we demonstrated that the gene encoding a subunit of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane complex, EMC3, also known as TMEM111 (Emc3/Tmem111), was required for murine pulmonary surfactant synthesis and lung function at birth. Conditional deletion of Emc3 in murine embryonic lung epithelial cells disrupted the synthesis and packaging of surfactant lipids and proteins, impaired the formation of lamellar bodies, and induced the unfolded protein response in alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells. EMC3 was essential for the processing and routing of surfactant proteins, SP-B and SP-C, and the biogenesis of the phospholipid transport protein ABCA3. Transcriptomic, lipidomic, and proteomic analyses demonstrated that EMC3 coordinates the assembly of lipids and proteins in AT2 cells that is necessary for surfactant synthesis and function at birth.

Authors

Xiaofang Tang, John M. Snowball, Yan Xu, Cheng-Lun Na, Timothy E. Weaver, Geremy Clair, Jennifer E. Kyle, Erika M. Zink, Charles Ansong, Wei Wei, Meina Huang, Xinhua Lin, Jeffrey A. Whitsett

Caspase-11–mediated endothelial pyroptosis underlies endotoxemia-induced lung injury

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Acute lung injury is a leading cause of death in bacterial sepsis due to the wholesale destruction of the lung endothelial barrier, which results in protein-rich lung edema, influx of proinflammatory leukocytes, and intractable hypoxemia. Pyroptosis is a form of programmed lytic cell death that is triggered by inflammatory caspases, but little is known about its role in EC death and acute lung injury. Here, we show that systemic exposure to the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes severe endothelial pyroptosis that is mediated by the inflammatory caspases, human caspases 4/5 in human ECs, or the murine homolog caspase-11 in mice in vivo. In caspase-11–deficient mice, BM transplantation with WT hematopoietic cells did not abrogate endotoxemia-induced acute lung injury, indicating a central role for nonhematopoietic caspase-11 in endotoxemia. Additionally, conditional deletion of caspase-11 in ECs reduced endotoxemia-induced lung edema, neutrophil accumulation, and death. These results establish the requisite role of endothelial pyroptosis in endotoxemic tissue injury and suggest that endothelial inflammatory caspases are an important therapeutic target for acute lung injury.

Authors

Kwong Tai Cheng, Shiqin Xiong, Zhiming Ye, Zhigang Hong, Anke Di, Kit Man Tsang, Xiaopei Gao, Shejuan An, Manish Mittal, Stephen M. Vogel, Edward A. Miao, Jalees Rehman, Asrar B. Malik

Expression of Piwi protein MIWI2 defines a distinct population of multiciliated cells

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

P-element–induced wimpy testes (Piwi) proteins are known for suppressing retrotransposon activation in the mammalian germline. However, whether Piwi protein or Piwi-dependent functions occur in the mammalian soma is unclear. Contrary to germline-restricted expression, we observed that Piwi-like Miwi2 mRNA is indeed expressed in epithelial cells of the lung in adult mice and that it is induced during pneumonia. Further investigation revealed that MIWI2 protein localized to the cytoplasm of a discrete population of multiciliated airway epithelial cells. Isolation and next-generation sequencing of MIWI2-positive multiciliated cells revealed that they are phenotypically distinct from neighboring MIWI2-negative multiciliated cells. Mice lacking MIWI2 exhibited an altered balance of airway epithelial cells, demonstrating fewer multiciliated cells and an increase in club cells. During pneumococcal pneumonia, Miwi2-deficient mice exhibited increased expression of inflammatory mediators and increased immune cell recruitment, leading to enhanced bacterial clearance. Taken together, our data delineate MIWI2-dependent functions outside of the germline and demonstrate the presence of distinct subsets of airway multiciliated cells that can be discriminated by MIWI2 expression. By demonstrating roles for MIWI2 in airway cell identity and pulmonary innate immunity, these studies elucidate unanticipated physiological functions for Piwi proteins in somatic tissues.

Authors

Gregory A. Wasserman, Aleksander D. Szymaniak, Anne C. Hinds, Kazuko Yamamoto, Hirofumi Kamata, Nicole M.S. Smith, Kristie L. Hilliard, Claudia Carrieri, Adam T. Labadorf, Lee J. Quinton, Xingbin Ai, Xaralabos Varelas, Felicia Chen, Joseph P. Mizgerd, Alan Fine, Dónal O’Carroll, Matthew R. Jones

Fibroblast-specific inhibition of TGF-β1 signaling attenuates lung and tumor fibrosis

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

TGF-β1 signaling is a critical driver of collagen accumulation and fibrotic disease but also a vital suppressor of inflammation and epithelial cell proliferation. The nature of this multifunctional cytokine has limited the development of global TGF-β1 signaling inhibitors as therapeutic agents. We conducted phenotypic screens for small molecules that inhibit TGF-β1–induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition without immediate TGF-β1 receptor (TβR) kinase inhibition. We identified trihydroxyphenolic compounds as potent blockers of TGF-β1 responses (IC50 ~50 nM), Snail1 expression, and collagen deposition in vivo in models of pulmonary fibrosis and collagen-dependent lung cancer metastasis. Remarkably, the functional effects of trihydroxyphenolics required the presence of active lysyl oxidase–like 2 (LOXL2), thereby limiting effects to fibroblasts or cancer cells, the major LOXL2 producers. Mechanistic studies revealed that trihydroxyphenolics induce auto-oxidation of a LOXL2/3–specific lysine (K731) in a time-dependent reaction that irreversibly inhibits LOXL2 and converts the trihydrophenolic to a previously undescribed metabolite that directly inhibits TβRI kinase. Combined inhibition of LOXL2 and TβRI activities by trihydrophenolics resulted in potent blockade of pathological collagen accumulation in vivo without the toxicities associated with global inhibitors. These findings elucidate a therapeutic approach to attenuate fibrosis and the disease-promoting effects of tissue stiffness by specifically targeting TβRI kinase in LOXL2-expressing cells.

Authors

Ying Wei, Thomas J. Kim, David H. Peng, Dana Duan, Don L. Gibbons, Mitsuo Yamauchi, Julia R. Jackson, Claude J. Le Saux, Cheresa Calhoun, Jay Peters, Rik Derynck, Bradley J. Backes, Harold A. Chapman

Calcium-binding protein S100A4 confers mesenchymal progenitor cell fibrogenicity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease with a prevalence of 1 million persons worldwide. The fibrosis spreads from affected alveoli into contiguous alveoli and leads to death by asphyxiation. We previously discovered that the IPF lung harbors fibrogenic mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) that serve as a cell of origin for disease-mediating myofibroblasts. In a prior genomewide transcriptional analysis, we found that IPF MPCs displayed increased expression of S100 calcium-binding A4 (S100A4), a protein linked to cancer cell proliferation and invasiveness. Here, we have examined whether S100A4 mediates MPC fibrogenicity. Ex vivo analysis revealed that IPF MPCs had increased levels of nuclear S100A4, which interacts with L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase to promote p53 degradation and MPC self-renewal. In vivo, injection of human IPF MPCs converted a self-limited bleomycin-induced mouse model of lung fibrosis to a model of persistent fibrosis in an S100A4-dependent manner. S100A4 gain of function was sufficient to confer fibrotic properties to non-IPF MPCs. In IPF tissue, fibroblastic foci contained cells expressing Ki67 and the MPC markers SSEA4 and S100A4. The expression colocalized in an interface region between myofibroblasts in the focus core and normal alveolar structures, defining this region as an active fibrotic front. Our findings indicate that IPF MPCs are intrinsically fibrogenic and that S100A4 confers MPCs with fibrogenicity.

Authors

Hong Xia, Adam Gilbertsen, Jeremy Herrera, Emilian Racila, Karen Smith, Mark Peterson, Timothy Griffin, Alexey Benyumov, Libang Yang, Peter B. Bitterman, Craig A. Henke

Disruption of lineage specification in adult pulmonary mesenchymal progenitor cells promotes microvascular dysfunction

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Pulmonary vascular disease is characterized by remodeling and loss of microvessels and is typically attributed to pathological responses in vascular endothelium or abnormal smooth muscle cell phenotypes. We have challenged this understanding by defining an adult pulmonary mesenchymal progenitor cell (MPC) that regulates both microvascular function and angiogenesis. The current understanding of adult MPCs and their roles in homeostasis versus disease has been limited by a lack of genetic markers with which to lineage label multipotent mesenchyme and trace the differentiation of these MPCs into vascular lineages. Here, we have shown that lineage-labeled lung MPCs expressing the ATP-binding cassette protein ABCG2 (ABCG2⁺) are pericyte progenitors that participate in microvascular homeostasis as well as adaptive angiogenesis. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, either autonomously or downstream of decreased BMP receptor signaling, enhanced ABCG2⁺ MPC proliferation but suppressed MPC differentiation into a functional pericyte lineage. Thus, enhanced Wnt/β-catenin signaling in ABCG2⁺ MPCs drives a phenotype of persistent microvascular dysfunction, abnormal angiogenesis, and subsequent exacerbation of bleomycin-induced fibrosis. ABCG2⁺ MPCs may, therefore, account in part for the aberrant microvessel function and remodeling that are associated with chronic lung diseases.

Authors

Christa F. Gaskill, Erica J. Carrier, Jonathan A. Kropski, Nathaniel C. Bloodworth, Swapna Menon, Robert F. Foronjy, M. Mark Taketo, Charles C. Hong, Eric D. Austin, James D. West, Anna L. Means, James E. Loyd, W. David Merryman, Anna R. Hemnes, Stijn De Langhe, Timothy S. Blackwell, Dwight J. Klemm, Susan M. Majka

Prospective isolation of NKX2-1–expressing human lung progenitors derived from pluripotent stem cells

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

It has been postulated that during human fetal development, all cells of the lung epithelium derive from embryonic, endodermal, NK2 homeobox 1–expressing (NKX2-1⁺) precursor cells. However, this hypothesis has not been formally tested owing to an inability to purify or track these progenitors for detailed characterization. Here we have engineered and developmentally differentiated NKX2-1^GFP reporter pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in vitro to generate and isolate human primordial lung progenitors that express NKX2-1 but are initially devoid of differentiated lung lineage markers. After sorting to purity, these primordial lung progenitors exhibited lung epithelial maturation. In the absence of mesenchymal coculture support, this NKX2-1⁺ population was able to generate epithelial-only spheroids in defined 3D cultures. Alternatively, when recombined with fetal mouse lung mesenchyme, the cells recapitulated epithelial-mesenchymal developing lung interactions. We imaged these progenitors in real time and performed time-series global transcriptomic profiling and single-cell RNA sequencing as they moved through the earliest moments of lung lineage specification. The profiles indicated that evolutionarily conserved, stage-dependent gene signatures of early lung development are expressed in primordial human lung progenitors and revealed a CD47^hiCD26^lo cell surface phenotype that allows their prospective isolation from untargeted, patient-specific PSCs for further in vitro differentiation and future applications in regenerative medicine.

Authors

Finn Hawkins, Philipp Kramer, Anjali Jacob, Ian Driver, Dylan C. Thomas, Katherine B. McCauley, Nicholas Skvir, Ana M. Crane, Anita A. Kurmann, Anthony N. Hollenberg, Sinead Nguyen, Brandon G. Wong, Ahmad S. Khalil, Sarah X.L. Huang, Susan Guttentag, Jason R. Rock, John M. Shannon, Brian R. Davis, Darrell N. Kotton

Somatic mutations in telomerase promoter counterbalance germline loss-of-function mutations

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Germline coding mutations in different telomere-related genes have been linked to autosomal-dominant familial pulmonary fibrosis. Individuals with these inherited mutations demonstrate incomplete penetrance of clinical phenotypes affecting the lung, blood, liver, skin, and other organs. Here, we describe the somatic acquisition of promoter mutations in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in blood leukocytes of approximately 5% of individuals with inherited loss-of-function coding mutations in TERT or poly(A)-specific ribonuclease (PARN), another gene linked to telomerase function. While these promoter mutations were initially identified as oncogenic drivers of cancer, individuals expressing the mutations have no history of cancer. Neither promoter mutation was found in population-based cohorts of similar or advanced age. The TERT promoter mutations were found more frequently in cis with the WT allele than was the TERT coding sequence mutation. EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid B cell lines (LCLs) derived from subjects with TERT promoter mutations showed increased telomerase expression and activity compared with cell lines from family members with identical coding mutations. TERT promoter mutations resulted in an increased proliferation of LCLs and demonstrated positive selection over time. The persistence and recurrence of noncoding gain-of-function mutations in these cases suggests that telomerase activation is not only safely tolerated but also advantageous for clonal expansion.

Authors

Lindley Maryoung, Yangbo Yue, Ashley Young, Chad A. Newton, Cindy Barba, Nicolai S. C. van Oers, Richard C. Wang, Christine Kim Garcia

Targeting integrin α₅β₁ ameliorates severe airway hyperresponsiveness in experimental asthma

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Treatment options are limited for severe asthma, and the need for additional therapies remains great. Previously, we demonstrated that integrin α_vβ₆-deficient mice are protected from airway hyperresponsiveness, due in part to increased expression of the murine ortholog of human chymase. Here, we determined that chymase protects against cytokine-enhanced bronchoconstriction by cleaving fibronectin to impair tension transmission in airway smooth muscle (ASM). Additionally, we identified a pathway that can be therapeutically targeted to mitigate the effects of airway hyperresponsiveness. Administration of chymase to human bronchial rings abrogated IL-13–enhanced contraction, and this effect was not due to alterations in calcium homeostasis or myosin light chain phosphorylation. Rather, chymase cleaved fibronectin, inhibited ASM adhesion, and attenuated focal adhesion phosphorylation. Disruption of integrin ligation with an RGD-containing peptide abrogated IL-13–enhanced contraction, with no further effect from chymase. We identified α₅β₁ as the primary fibronectin-binding integrin in ASM, and α₅β₁-specific blockade inhibited focal adhesion phosphorylation and IL-13–enhanced contraction, with no additional effect from chymase. Delivery of an α₅β₁ inhibitor into murine airways abrogated the exaggerated bronchoconstriction induced by allergen sensitization and challenge. Finally, α₅β₁ blockade enhanced the effect of the bronchodilator isoproterenol on airway relaxation. Our data identify the α₅β₁ integrin as a potential therapeutic target to mitigate the severity of airway contraction in asthma.

Authors

Aparna Sundaram, Chun Chen, Amin Khalifeh-Soltani, Amha Atakilit, Xin Ren, Wenli Qiu, Hyunil Jo, William DeGrado, Xiaozhu Huang, Dean Sheppard

Lung-resident eosinophils represent a distinct regulatory eosinophil subset

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Increases in eosinophil numbers are associated with infection and allergic diseases, including asthma, but there is also evidence that eosinophils contribute to homeostatic immune processes. In mice, the normal lung contains resident eosinophils (rEos), but their function has not been characterized. Here, we have reported that steady-state pulmonary rEos are IL-5–independent parenchymal Siglec-F^intCD62L⁺CD101^lo cells with a ring-shaped nucleus. During house dust mite–induced airway allergy, rEos features remained unchanged, and rEos were accompanied by recruited inflammatory eosinophils (iEos), which were defined as IL-5–dependent peribronchial Siglec-F^hiCD62L^–CD101^hi cells with a segmented nucleus. Gene expression analyses revealed a more regulatory profile for rEos than for iEos, and correspondingly, mice lacking lung rEos showed an increase in Th2 cell responses to inhaled allergens. Such elevation of Th2 responses was linked to the ability of rEos, but not iEos, to inhibit the maturation, and therefore the pro-Th2 function, of allergen-loaded DCs. Finally, we determined that the parenchymal rEos found in nonasthmatic human lungs (Siglec-8⁺CD62L⁺IL-3R^lo cells) were phenotypically distinct from the iEos isolated from the sputa of eosinophilic asthmatic patients (Siglec-8⁺CD62L^loIL-3R^hi cells), suggesting that our findings in mice are relevant to humans. In conclusion, our data define lung rEos as a distinct eosinophil subset with key homeostatic functions.

Authors

Claire Mesnil, Stéfanie Raulier, Geneviève Paulissen, Xue Xiao, Mark A. Birrell, Dimitri Pirottin, Thibaut Janss, Philipp Starkl, Eve Ramery, Monique Henket, Florence N. Schleich, Marc Radermecker, Kris Thielemans, Laurent Gillet, Marc Thiry, Maria G. Belvisi, Renaud Louis, Christophe Desmet, Thomas Marichal, Fabrice Bureau