NF-κB在调控肿瘤细胞凋亡中的作用

细胞凋亡在维持细胞动态平衡和机体稳定方面发挥重要作用。核转录因子κB(nuclear factors κB,NF-κB)参与细胞生长、分化及炎症反应等基因表达调控,同时参与了肿瘤的发生、发展及转移,一度被认为是肿瘤治疗的靶点之一。近年来研究发现,NF-κB活化在炎症诱发的肿瘤形成中发挥重要作用,但同时发现NF-κB活化也可发挥促凋亡作用,抑制肿瘤发生发展。对NF-κB在肿瘤形成中两方面作用的认识,为肿瘤临床治疗提供理论依据。     

TLR/NF-κB信号通路与肺部疾病

Toll样受体(Toll like receptor,TLR)是一种重要的模式识别受体,核转录因子-κB(nuclear factor-κB,NF-κB)处于TLR下游信号通路中的关键位置,当TLR受到病原微生物刺激后,激活NF-κB,诱导炎症因子释放,启动固有免疫。但TLR/NF-κB信号通路过度激活,有可能导致炎症反应失控。本文将介绍TLR/NF-κB信号通路及其在肺部炎症疾病例如急性肺损伤、慢性阻塞性肺疾病、肺癌、哮喘等发生发展中的作用。     

核转录因子-κB在缺氧导致的炎症中的作用

核转录因子-κB(nuclear factor-κB,NF-κB)是一种能控制DNA的转录、细胞因子合成以及细胞存活时间的蛋白复合物,是机体应对免疫、应激、细胞凋亡和分化的关键调节因子。缺氧导致的炎症反应一直是医学研究领域的热点,其研究成果可以为临床心血管疾病、炎性肠病、类风湿关节炎、器官移植等多种疾病提供基因水平的诊断依据和新的治疗靶点。NF-κB信号通路是如何调控缺氧导致的炎症被广泛关注,仍有许多问题亟待解决。本文重点阐述了NF-κB转录因子家族及生物作用、缺氧炎症过程中NF-κB与缺氧诱导因子-1(hypoxia-inducible factor-1,HIF-1)的关系及NF-κB信号通路与缺氧的炎症基因表达。这些研究可以为临床诊断、治疗提供基因水平的辅助和新的治疗方向。     

NF-κB在胰腺炎症及纤维化中的作用机制研究进展

胰腺纤维化是慢性胰腺炎病理过程的核心事件和防治靶标,但是其发病机制仍然不清楚。近来的研究提示NF-κB与胰腺炎症的进展密切相关,胰腺微环境中腺泡细胞、巨噬细胞和星状细胞中的NF-κB在炎症和纤维化进展中发挥不同的作用,深入研究NF-κB在胰腺纤维化中的作用及调控机制将为慢性胰腺炎的治疗提供新的思路。     

核因子-κB与炎症

NF-κB是近年来研究较多的一类重要的转录因子,它参与许多与免疫炎症有关的细胞因子、粘附分子的转录调控,在免疫反应、炎症的形成过程中起重要作用.抑制NF-κB的活性,可能有助于炎症的治疗.     

肿瘤防治新靶向:炎症和微生物

近年来,炎症逐渐成为相关肿瘤发生不可忽视的重要因素。研究发现:炎症诱导肿瘤的发生主要通路为NF-κB–IL6–STAT3途径,同时微生物和炎症介导的肿瘤发生之间也存在一定的联系。这些研究为癌症的治疗提供了新的理论基础,文章中阐述了NF-κB–IL6–STAT3通路在炎症诱导肿瘤发生中的重要作用以及引起相关炎症的微生物活动,提出了肿瘤治疗的新方向。     

脊髓损伤炎症中的NF-кB信号通路

脊髓损伤(spinal cord injury,SCI)是脊柱损伤最严重的并发症,致残率极高,不仅导致患者损伤节段以下肢体严重的功能障碍,同时也给整个社会造成巨大的经济负担。SCI后,中性粒细胞、巨噬细胞和T细胞等共同介导炎症反应,而核因子κB(NF-κB)通路是介导脊髓损伤后炎症反应的核心。NF-κB最早于1986年发现,其能与免疫球蛋白κ轻链基因增强子特异性结合。后续研究发现,其能与多种基因启动子部位的κB点发生特异性结合促进转录,是一类核因子DNA结合蛋白质的总称。NF-κB能够和许多基因启动子区域的固定核苷酸序列结合而启动基因转录。在机体的免疫应答、炎症反应及细胞的生长调控等方面发挥重要作用。大量研究证实,与SCI炎症密切相关的炎症细胞因子(IL-1、TNF-α、IL-6、IL-10等)、黏附分子(ICAM-1、VCAM-1、E选择素等)及趋化因子(CCL2、CCL3、CXCL8等)的基因启动部位均含有κB位点。SCI后,NF-κB信号通路被异常激活,大量炎症、趋化、黏附因子释放,加重SCI继发性炎症反应。因此,NF-κB在SCI病程中发挥的作用受到广泛重视。本文主要综述NF-кB的特性和其在脊髓损伤炎症中的研究进展和治疗前景,为后续SCI的炎症靶向治疗提供理论依据。     

NF-κB信号通路与骨骼肌萎缩研究进展

核因子κB(NF-κB)是一种核转录因子,在调控多种与细胞凋亡、肿瘤发生、炎症和多种自身免疫疾病相关的基因表达中具有重要作用。研究表明,NF-κB信号通路在骨骼肌萎缩的发生和发展中具有关键作用。本文就NF-κB信号通路和骨骼肌萎缩的研究进展进行综述,为更好地研究骨骼肌萎缩的发病机理、探索更加有效安全的治疗方法提供参考。     

NF-κB信号通路与骨骼肌萎缩

骨骼肌萎缩发生于多种生理和疾病状态下,如废用、衰老和慢性病。核因子-κB(NFκB)信号通路包括NF-κB、抑制蛋白-κB(IκB)和IκB激酶(IKK),它们在肌萎缩中起着重要作用,能够引起肌肉蛋白质降解、诱导炎症、阻断损伤/萎缩后肌纤维的再生。NF-κB转录靶包括MuRF-1、YY1和MMP-9,还可通过转录后机制调节MyoD。而且,应用遗传操作小鼠模型已证明NF-κB还是防止骨骼肌萎缩的重要分子靶标。该文将综述NF-κB在骨骼肌萎缩中的作用,为开发新的方法治疗肌萎缩提供参考。     

NF-κB的负性调控机制在肿瘤发展与治疗的研究进展

有观点认为肿瘤是一种慢性炎症性疾病。NF-κB作为自然免疫和炎症的重要调节因子及内源性促肿瘤因子,其激活与许多恶性肿瘤的发生和发展密切相关。本文通过对有关NF-κB与肿瘤的文献进行分析,综述了NF-κB信号通路及其负性调控因子对肿瘤的影响的研究进展,从而论证NF-κB与肿瘤的关系以及NF-κB抑制剂在临床治疗中的意义。     

Effect of acetylsalicylic acid on endogenous I kappa B kinase activity in lung epithelial cells

The anti-inflammatory effect of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) has been thought to be secondary to the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. Because doses of ASA necessary to treat chronic inflammatory diseases are much higher than those needed to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, a prostaglandin-independent pathway has been emerging as the new anti-inflammatory mechanism of ASA. Here, we examined the effect of ASA on the interleukin (IL)-1 beta- and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced proinflammatory cytokine expression and evaluated whether this effect is closely linked to the nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B/I kappa B-alpha pathway. A high dose of ASA blocked IL-1 beta- and TNF-alpha-induced TNF-alpha and IL-8 expression, respectively. ASA inhibited TNF-alpha-induced activation of NF-kappa B by preventing phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of I kappa B-alpha in a prostanoid-independent manner. TNF-alpha-induced activation of I kappa B kinase was also suppressed by ASA pretreatment. These observations suggest that the anti-inflammatory effect of ASA in lung epithelial cells may be due to suppression of I kappa B kinase activity, which thereby inhibits subsequent phosphorylation and degradation of I kappa B-alpha, activation of NF-kappa B, and proinflammatory cytokine expression in lung epithelial cells.     

The role of the kappa enhancer and its binding factor NF-kappa B in the developmental regulation of kappa gene transcription

We report here on a comparison of plasmacytoma cell lines that differ markedly in their ability to express kappa immunoglobulin genes introduced by transfection, but nevertheless express their endogenous kappa genes at comparable levels. The cell line that fails to express exogenous kappa genes is nonpermissive for kappa enhancer function, apparently because it lacks a specific kappa enhancer-binding nuclear factor (NF-kappa B). We show that this same nuclear factor is also lacking in pre-B cells and that treatment of these cells with bacterial lipopolysaccharide induces the appearance of NF-kappa B in nuclear extracts and concomitantly activates the kappa enhancer. These findings indicate that factor NF-kappa B controls kappa enhancer activity, and that this activity is only transiently required during B cell maturation.     

Respiratory epithelial cells regulate lung inflammation in response to inhaled endotoxin

To determine the role of respiratory epithelial cells in the inflammatory response to inhaled endotoxin, we selectively inhibited NF-kappa B activation in the respiratory epithelium using a mutant I kappa B-alpha construct that functioned as a dominant negative inhibitor of NF-kappa B translocation (dnI kappa B-alpha). We developed two lines of transgenic mice in which expression of dnI kappa B-alpha was targeted to the distal airway epithelium using the human surfactant apoprotein C promoter. Transgene expression was localized to the epithelium of the terminal bronchioles and alveoli. After inhalation of LPS, nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B was evident in bronchiolar epithelium of nontransgenic but not of transgenic mice. This defect was associated with impaired neutrophilic lung inflammation 4 h after LPS challenge and diminished levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, macrophage inflammatory protein-2, and KC in lung homogenates. Expression of TNF-alpha within bronchiolar epithelial cells and of VCAM-1 within peribronchiolar endothelial cells was reduced in transgenic animals. Thus targeted inhibition of NF-kappa B activation in distal airway epithelial cells impaired the inflammatory response to inhaled LPS. These data provide causal evidence that distal airway epithelial cells and the signals they transduce play a physiological role in lung inflammation in vivo.     

Molecular mechanisms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease associated with progressive airflow obstruction. Tobacco smoking is the main risk factor worldwide. In contrast to asthma, anti-inflammatory therapies are rather ineffective in improving chronic symptoms and reducing inflammation, lung function decline, and airway remodeling. Specific drugs that are directed against the remodeling and chronic inflammation, thereby preventing lung tissue damage and progressive lung function decline, must be developed. Experimental models and expression studies suggest that anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor strategies may be of use in patients with emphysema, whereas anti-HER1-directed strategies may be more useful in patients with pulmonary mucus hypersecretion, as seen in chronic bronchitis and asthma. Growth factors and cytokines including VEGF, fibroblast growth factors, transforming growth factor-β, tumor necrosis factor-α, CXCL1, CXCL8, and CCL2, and signal transduction proteins such as mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 and nuclear factor-⦊B, seem to be important pathogenetic molecules in COPD. Specific antagonists for these proteins may be effective for different inflammatory diseases. However, their efficacy for COPD therapy has not yet been demonstrated. Finally, other drugs such as retinoic acids may provide restoration of lung tissue structure. Such approaches, however, must await the first results of growth factor or cytokine antagonist therapy in chronic lung diseases.     

A disease-relevant high-content screening assay to identify anti-inflammatory compounds for use in cystic fibrosis

Chronic lung inflammation caused by bacterial pathogenesis through activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB)-responsive proinflammatory genes is a major hurdle in the management of lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The authors generated a disease-relevant cell-based high-content screen to identify novel anti-inflammatory compounds for treating lung inflammation in CF. The human bronchial epithelial cell line KKLEB, harboring the most common form of mutation that causes CF, was modified to express an NFκB-responsive green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. After creation, the cell line was tested for its ability to respond to disease-relevant inflammatory stimuli elicited by treatment of cells with filtrates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the airways of a CF patient. P. aeruginosa filtrates potently activated NFκB-responsive GFP reporter expression in cells. Subsequently, the assay was optimized for high-throughput screening (HTS) through generation of a Z factor (~0.5) and by testing its tolerance to the commonly used solvents ethanol and DMSO. A pilot library of clinically approved compounds was screened for assay validation. Several compounds with known NFκB inhibitory activity were identified, including several steroidal compounds that have been clinically tested in CF. Thus, the assay can be used in a broader HTS campaign to find anti-inflammatory agents for use in CF.