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.     

Recombinant TNF-alpha mediated regulation of the I kappa B-alpha/NF-kappa B signaling pathway: evidence for the enhancement of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in alveolar epithelial cells

The signaling transduction mechanism mediated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the alveolar epithelium is not well characterized. It was subsequently hypothesized that recombinant murine TNF-alpha (rmTNF-alpha) selectively regulates the inhibitory kappa B (I kappa B-alpha)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) pathway and interferes with the endogenous biosynthesis of pro-inflammatory (stimulatory) and anti-inflammatory (inhibitory) cytokines. The cytokine rmTNF-alpha induced, in a time- and dose-dependent manner, the degradation of I kappa B-alpha within the cytosolic compartment, an effect associated with up-regulating its phosphorylation. This allowed the biphasic regulation of selective NF-kappa B subunit nuclear translocation, thereby mediating a dual excitatory mechanism on NF-kappa B activation. The immunoregulatory effect of rmTNF-alpha was associated with a time-dependent induction of pro-inflammatory [interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha] and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine biosynthesis. These results indicate a novel involvement of an I kappa B-alpha/NF-kappa B-sensitive pathway mediating the effect of TNF-alpha, which is associated with an autocrine, endogenous mechanism mediating the regulation of cytokine signaling.     

NF-kappa B modulates TNF-alpha production by alveolar macrophages in asymptomatic HIV-seropositive individuals

Local TNF-alpha production in different organs may affect HIV replication and pathogenesis. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from asymptomatic HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative individuals did not spontaneously release TNF-alpha, but LPS stimulation of these cells significantly increased TNF-alpha production. We tested whether NF-kappa B affects TNF-alpha production by AMs using N-tosyl-l -phenylalanine chloromethylketone (TPCK) or N-benzoyl-l -tyrosine ethyl ester (BTEE), which inhibit the degradation of I kappa B, or tricyclodecan-9-yl-xanthogenate-potassium (D609), which inhibits phospholipase C. Alveolar macrophages were exposed to LPS alone and with the chemical protease inhibitors TPCK, BTEE, and D609. NF-kappa B DNA binding induced by LPS treatment of AMs was inhibited by TPCK, BTEE, and D609. These agents also inhibited TNF-alpha mRNA and TNF-alpha protein production. After 24 h, the levels of TNF-alpha mRNA reached equilibrium, as assessed by RT-PCR. The levels of NF-kappa B mRNA remained constant under all conditions. The levels of I kappa B-alpha mRNA were similar after 30, 60, and 180 min, but the I kappa B-beta mRNA concentration was initially low and increased over time under all conditions. I kappa B-alpha and I kappa B-beta protein production was not affected by the chemical protease inhibitors. Our data show that TNF-alpha production by LPS-stimulated AMs from asymptomatic HIV-seropositive and -seronegative individuals is regulated via the phospholipase C pathway and by NF-kappa B DNA binding activity without obvious changes in I kappa B-alpha or I kappa B-beta protein concentrations.     

TNF-alpha-dependent activation of NF-kappa B in human osteoblastic HOS-TE85 cells is repressed in vector-averaged gravity using clinostat rotation

Effects of vector-averaged gravity on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-dependent activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) in human osteoblastic HOS-TE85 cells were investigated by culturing the cells using clinostat rotation (clinorotation). Cell cultures were rotated for 72 h at 40 rpm in a clinostat. At the end of clinorotation, the cells were treated with TNF-alpha for 30 min under stationary conditions. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that TNF-alpha-dependent activation of NF-kappa B was markedly reduced in the clinorotated cells when compared with the cells in control stationary cultures or after horizontal rotation (motional controls). The NF-kappa B-dependent transactivation was also impaired in the clinorotated cells, as evidenced by a transient transfection assay with a reporter plasmid containing multimerized NF-kappa B sites. Consistent with these findings, the TNF-alpha-dependent induction of endogenous NF-kappa B-responsive genes p105, I kappa B-alpha, and IL-8, was significantly attenuate in clinorotated cells. These results demonstrate that vector-averaged gravity inhibits the responsiveness of osteoblasts to TNF-alpha by repressing NF-kappa B activation.     

Airway epithelium controls lung inflammation and injury through the NF-kappa B pathway

Although airway epithelial cells provide important barrier and host defense functions, a crucial role for these cells in development of acute lung inflammation and injury has not been elucidated. We investigated whether NF-kappaB pathway signaling in airway epithelium could decisively impact inflammatory phenotypes in the lungs by using a tetracycline-inducible system to achieve selective NF-kappaB activation or inhibition in vivo. In transgenic mice that express a constitutively active form of IkappaB kinase 2 under control of the epithelial-specific CC10 promoter, treatment with doxycycline induced NF-kappaB activation with consequent production of a variety of proinflammatory cytokines, high-protein pulmonary edema, and neutrophilic lung inflammation. Continued treatment with doxycycline caused progressive lung injury and hypoxemia with a high mortality rate. In contrast, inducible expression of a dominant inhibitor of NF-kappaB in airway epithelium prevented lung inflammation and injury resulting from expression of constitutively active form of IkappaB kinase 2 or Escherichia coli LPS delivered directly to the airways or systemically via an osmotic pump implanted in the peritoneal cavity. Our findings indicate that the NF-kappaB pathway in airway epithelial cells is critical for generation of lung inflammation and injury in response to local and systemic stimuli; therefore, targeting inflammatory pathways in airway epithelium could prove to be an effective therapeutic strategy for inflammatory lung diseases.     

Inhibition of I kappa B-alpha phosphorylation and degradation and subsequent NF-kappa B activation by glutathione peroxidase overexpression

We report here that both kappa B-dependent transactivation of a reporter gene and NF-kappa B activation in response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF alpha) or H2O2 treatments are deficient in human T47D cell transfectants that overexpress seleno-glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx). These cells feature low reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and decreased intracellular ROS burst in response to TNF alpha treatment. Decreased ROS levels and NF-kappa B activation were likely to result from GSHPx increment since these phenomena were no longer observed when GSHPx activity was reduced by selenium depletion. The cellular contents of the two NF-kappa B subunits (p65 and p50) and of the inhibitory subunit I kappa B-alpha were unaffected by GSHPx overexpression, suggesting that increased GSHPx activity interfered with the activation, but not the synthesis or stability, of Nf-kappa B. Nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B as well as I kappa B-alpha degradation were inhabited in GSHPx-overexpressing cells exposed to oxidative stress. Moreover, in control T47D cells exposed to TNF alpha, a time correlation was observed between elevated ROS levels and I kappa B- alpha degradation. We also show that, in growing T47D cells, GSHPx overexpression altered the isoform composition of I kappa B-alpha, leading to the accumulation of the more basic isoform of this protein. GSHPx overexpression also abolished the TNF alpha-mediated transient accumulation of the acidic and highly phosphorylated I kappa B-alpha isoform. These results suggest that intracellular ROS are key elements that regulate the phosphorylation of I kappa B-alpha, a phenomenon that precedes and controls the degradation of this protein, and then NF- kappa B activation.     

Adenoviral E3-14.7K protein in LPS-induced lung inflammation

The adenoviral E3-14.7K protein is a cytoplasmic protein synthesized after adenoviral infection. To assess the contribution of E3-14. 7K-sensitive pathways in the modulation of inflammation by the respiratory epithelium, inflammatory responses to intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were assessed in transgenic mice bearing the adenoviral E3-14.7K gene under the direction of the surfactant protein (SP) C promoter. When E3-14.7K transgenic mice were administered LPS intratracheally, lung inflammation as indicated by macrophage and neutrophil accumulation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was decreased compared with wild-type control mice. Lung inflammation and epithelial cell injury were decreased in E3-14.7K mice 24 and 48 h after LPS administration. Intracellular staining for surfactant proprotein (proSP) B, proSP-C, and SP-B was decreased and extracellular staining was markedly increased in wild-type mice after LPS administration, consistent with LPS-induced lung injury. In contrast, intense intracellular staining of proSP-B, proSP-C, and SP-B persisted in type II cells of E3-14.7K mice, whereas extracellular staining of proSP-B and proSP-C was absent. Inhibitory effects of intratracheal LPS on SP-C mRNA were ameliorated by expression of the E3-14.7K gene. Similar to the response to LPS, lung inflammation after intratracheal administration of TNF-alpha was decreased in E3-14.7K transgenic mice. Levels of TNF-alpha after LPS administration were similar in wild-type and E3-14.7K-bearing mice. Cell-selective expression of E3-14.7K in the respiratory epithelium inhibited LPS- and TNF-alpha-mediated lung inflammation, demonstrating the critical role of respiratory epithelial cells in LPS- and TNF-alpha-induced lung inflammation.     

Airway epithelial NF-kappaB activation modulates asbestos-induced inflammation and mucin production in vivo

To investigate the role of bronchiolar epithelial NF-kappaB activity in the development of inflammation and fibrogenesis in a murine model of asbestos inhalation, we used transgenic (Tg) mice expressing an IkappaBalpha mutant (IkappaBalphasr) resistant to phosphorylation-induced degradation and targeted to bronchial epithelium using the CC10 promoter. Sham and chrysotile asbestos-exposed CC10-IkappaBalphasr Tg(+) and Tg(-) mice were examined for altered epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, cytokine profiles, lung inflammation, and fibrogenesis at 3, 9, and 40 days. KC, IL-6 and IL-1beta were increased (p < or = 0.05) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from asbestos-exposed mice, but to a lesser extent (p < or = 0.05) in Tg(+) vs Tg(-) mice. Asbestos also caused increases in IL-4, MIP-1beta, and MCP-1 in BALF that were more elevated (p < or = 0.05) in Tg(+) mice at 9 days. Differential cell counts revealed eosinophils in BALF that increased (p < or = 0.05) in Tg(+) mice at 9 days, a time point corresponding with significantly increased numbers of bronchiolar epithelial cells staining positively for mucus production. At all time points, asbestos caused increased numbers of distal bronchiolar epithelial cells and peribronchiolar cells incorporating the proliferation marker, Ki-67. However, bronchiolar epithelial cell and interstitial cell labeling was diminished at 40 days (p < or = 0.05) in Tg(+) vs Tg(-) mice. Our findings demonstrate that airway epithelial NF-kappaB activity plays a role in orchestrating the inflammatory response as well as cell proliferation in response to asbestos.     

A functional role of I kappa B-epsilon in endothelial cell activation

The NF-kappa B inhibitor I kappa B-epsilon is a new member of the I kappa B protein family, but its functional role in regulating NF-kappa B-mediated induction of adhesion molecule expression is unknown. In vascular endothelial cells, I kappa B-epsilon associates predominantly with the NF-kappa B subunit Rel A and to a lesser extent with c-Rel, whereas I kappa B-alpha and I kappa B-beta associate with Rel A only. Following stimulation with TNF-alpha, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), N-acetylcysteine, and dexamethasone prevented I kappa B kinase-induced I kappa B-alpha, but not I kappa B-beta or I kappa B-epsilon phosphorylation and degradation. Since the activation of NF-kappa B is required for the induction of adhesion molecule expression, we examined the role of I kappa B-epsilon in the transactivation of promoters from VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and E-selectin. Using reporter gene constructs of adhesion molecule promoters, PDTC inhibited VCAM-1 and E-selectin, but to a lesser extent, ICAM-1 promoter activity. Subcloning of kappa B cis-acting elements of VCAM-1, E-selectin, and ICAM-1 into a heterologous promoter construct revealed that PDTC inhibited VCAM-1 and E-selectin, but to a lesser extent, ICAM-1 kappa B promoter activity. By electrophoretic mobility shift assay, NF-kappa B heterodimers containing c-Rel specifically bind to the kappa B motif in the ICAM-1, but not VCAM-1 or E-selectin promoter. Indeed, overexpression of c-Rel induced ICAM-1 kappa B promoter activity to a greater extent than that of E-selectin and overexpression of I kappa B-epsilon inhibited ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 promoter activity in endothelial cells. These findings indicate that c-Rel-associated I kappa B-epsilon is involved in the induction of ICAM-1 expression.