Cerebral microvascular IL15 is a novel mediator of TNF action

The blood-brain barrier is a gatekeeper and modulatory interface for the CNS. Cerebral endothelial cells are the major component of the blood-brain barrier, and they modify inflammatory signals from the circulation to the CNS by production and secretion of secondary substances. The inflammatory mediators induced by tumor necrosis factor α (TNF) were determined by microarray analysis of RBE4 cerebral endothelial cells, at 0, 6, 12, or 24 h after TNF treatment. Interleukin (IL)-15 and its receptors were among the most robustly up-regulated genes. This was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and western blotting. The three subunits of the IL15 receptor complex (IL15Rα, IL2Rβ, and IL2Rγ) showed differential regulation by TNF in their time course and amplitude of increased expression. Consistent with increased expression of the specific high affinity receptor IL15Rα, TNF increased cellular uptake of ¹²⁵I-IL15 and enhanced the fluorescent intensity of Alexa568-IL15 in RBE4 cells. TNF treatment in mice also increased the level of expression of IL15 receptors in enriched cerebral microvessels. We conclude that the cerebral microvascular IL15 system is a novel inflammatory mediator that transduces the actions of TNF.     

Oxidative inactivation of lactonase activity of purified human paraoxonase 1 (PON1)

Paraoxonase1 (PON1), one of HDL-associated antioxidant proteins, is known to lose its activity in vivo systems under oxidative stress. Here, we examined the effect of various oxidants on lactonase activity of PON1, and tried to protect the lactonase activity from oxidative inactivation. Among the oxidative systems tested, the ascorbate/Cu²⁺ system was the most potent in inactivating the lactonase activity of purified PON1; in contrast to a limited role of Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺ (0.05–1.0 µM) remarkably enhanced the inactivation of PON1 in the presence of ascorbate (0.02–0.1 mM). Moreover, Cu²⁺ alone inhibited the lactonase activity at concentrations as low as 1 µM. The ascorbate/Cu²⁺-mediated inactivation of PON1 lactonase activity was prevented by catalase, but not general hydroxyl radical scavengers, suggesting the implication of Cu²⁺-bound hydroxyl radicals in the oxidative inactivation. Compared to arylesterase activity, lactonase activity appears to be more sensitive to Cu²⁺-catalyzed oxidation. Separately, ascorbate/Cu²⁺-mediated inactivation of lactonase activity was prevented by oleic acid as well as phoshatidylcholine. Taken together, our data demonstrate that Cu²⁺-catalyzed oxidation may be a primary factor to cause the decrease of PON1 lactonase activity under oxidative stress and that lactonase activity of PON1 is most susceptible to ascorbate/Cu²⁺ among PON1 activities. In addition, we have showed that radical-induced inactivation of lactonase activity is prevented by some lipids.     

Low-dose radiation enhances therapeutic HPV DNA vaccination in tumor-bearing hosts

Current therapeutic approaches to treatment of patients with bulky cervical cancer are based on conventional in situ ablative modalities including cisplatin-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The 5-year survival of patients with nonresectable disease is dismal. Because over 99% of squamous cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with an oncogenic strain of human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly type 16 and viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 are functionally required for disease initiation and persistence, HPV-targeted immune strategies present a compelling opportunity in which to demonstrate proof of principle. Sublethal doses of radiation and chemotherapeutic agents have been shown to have synergistic effect in combination with either vaccination against cancer-specific antigens, or with passive transfer of tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Here, we explored the combination of low-dose radiation therapy with DNA vaccination with calreticulin (CRT) linked to the mutated form of HPV-16 E7 antigen (E7(detox)), CRT/E7(detox) in the treatment of E7-expressing TC-1 tumors. We observed that TC-1 tumor-bearing mice treated with radiotherapy combined with CRT/E7(detox) DNA vaccination generated significant therapeutic antitumor effects and the highest frequency of E7-specific CD8⁺ T cells in the tumors and spleens of treated mice. Furthermore, treatment with radiotherapy was shown to render the TC-1 tumor cells more susceptible to lysis by E7-specific CTLs. In addition, we observed that treatment with radiotherapy during the second DNA vaccination generated the highest frequency of E7-specific CD8⁺ T cells in the tumors and spleens of TC-1 tumor-bearing mice. Finally, TC-1 tumor-bearing mice treated with the chemotherapy in combination with radiation and CRT/E7(detox) DNA vaccination generate significantly enhanced therapeutic antitumor effects. The clinical implications of the study are discussed. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Delayed Treatment with Carboxy-PTIO Permits a 4-h Therapeutic Window of Opportunity and Prevents Against Ischemia-Induced Energy Depletion Following Permanent Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Mice

We examined whether a nitric oxide scavenger, 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-l-oxyl-3-oxide (carboxy-PTIO), could offer neuroprotective actions and improve cerebral energy metabolism in a model of stroke. Sixty C57BL/10J mice were given either carboxy-PTIO (0.3–1.2 mg/kg) or vehicle intraperitoneally, 0.5 h after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, to evaluate the dose–response effects. An additional 70 animals received carboxy-PTIO (0.6 mg/kg) or vehicle, 2–6 h post-ischemia, for establishing the therapeutic window. Subgroups of animals, treated with carboxy-PTIO (0.6 mg/kg) or vehicle, were used for measuring cerebral bioenergetic metabolites (ATP, ADP, AMP, adenosine). Mice treated with carboxy-PTIO (0.6 mg/kg) had dose-specifically reduced brain infarction, significantly by 27–30% (P < 0.05), even when therapy was delayed up to 4 h after the ischemic insult (P < 0.05). Four hour post-ischemia, ATP depleted in the ischemic hemisphere (P < 0.05). Administration with carboxy-PTIO not only improved the recovery of ATP in the ischemic hemisphere (P < 0.05), but also enhanced adenosine content across the ischemic and non-ischemic hemispheres (P < 0.05). The neuroprotection of carboxy-PTIO may be partly attributed to the beneficial effects of improving cerebral energy metabolism.     

Rescue of ��F508-CFTR by the SGK1/Nedd4-2 Signaling Pathway

The most common mutation in cystic fibrosis (CF) is ΔF508, which is associated with failure of the mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) to traffic to the plasma membrane. By a still unknown mechanism, the loss of correctly trafficked ΔF508-CFTR results in an excess of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) on the apical plasma membrane. ENaC trafficking is known to be regulated by a signaling pathway involving the glucocorticoid receptor, the serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase SGK1, and the ubiquitin E3 ligase Nedd4-2. We show here that dexamethasone rescues functional expression of ΔF508-CFTR. The half-life of ΔF508-CFTR is also dramatically enhanced. Dexamethasone-activated ΔF508-CFTR rescue is blocked either by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU38486 or by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"LY294002","term_id":"1257998346","term_text":"LY294002"}}LY294002. Co-immunoprecipitation studies indicate that Nedd4-2 binds to both wild-type- and ΔF508-CFTR. These complexes are inhibited by dexamethasone treatment, and CFTR ubiquitination is concomitantly decreased. We further show that knockdown of Nedd4-2 by small interfering RNA also corrects ΔF508-CFTR trafficking. Conversely, knockdown of SGK1 by small interfering RNA completely blocks dexamethasone-activated ΔF508-CFTR rescue. These data suggest that the SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway regulates both CFTR and ENaC trafficking in CF epithelial cells.Cystic fibrosis (CF)² is the most common life-limiting genetic disease in the United States and is due to mutations in the CFTR gene. The most common mutation, ΔF508-CFTR, results in a failure of the mutant protein to traffic properly to the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells in the lung and other organs (1, 2). By a still unknown mechanism, the loss of correctly trafficked ΔF508-CFTR results in an excess of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) on the apical plasma membrane (3–5). In the CF lung, such high levels of ENaC activity are believed to cause dehydration of the airway, and the consequent proinflammatory condition that characterizes CF lung pathophysiology. Similar proinflammatory pathophysiology has been reported to characterize the lung of transgenic mice which overexpress β-ENaC (6). Operationally, it seems that when membrane-localized CFTR decreases in CF, ENaC activity at the plasma membrane increases; CF-related morbidity and mortality follow.In the case of ENaC trafficking, the process is known to be regulated by a glucocorticoid receptor/SGK1 signaling pathway affecting phosphorylation of the ubiquitin ligase E3 protein Nedd4-2 (7, 8). Fig. 1 illustrates how surface expression of ENaC is controlled by the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase SGK1, the upstream signal, and the ubiquitin E3 ligase Nedd4-2, the downstream signal. Under default conditions, Nedd4-2 suppresses ENaC surface expression by binding to ENaC via the interaction between the PPXY motifs of ENaC and WW domains on Nedd4-2. Nedd4-2 then catalyzes the ubiquitination of bound ENaC. This step targets ENaC for proteasomal degradation (9, 10). However, when Nedd4-2 is phosphorylated by SGK1, the default interaction between Nedd4-2 and ENaC is reduced, and ENaC is maintained at the plasma membrane (7, 8). The requirement for Nedd4-2 for destruction of ENaC is supported by the recent observation that siRNA against Nedd4-2 is sufficient to permit ENaC to be expressed at the plasma membrane (10). Importantly, both glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) signaling pathways must be present for high levels of Na⁺ transport to occur. For example, treatment with the GR antagonist RU38486 (11–13) or the PI 3-kinase inhibitor {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"LY294002","term_id":"1257998346","term_text":"LY294002"}}LY294002 (14–16) results in a complete loss of glucocorticoid-activated ENaC activity.Open in a separate windowFIGURE 1.Schematic diagram of regulation of ENaC and CFTR by SGK1/Nedd4-2. The surface expression of ENaC is controlled by the serum/glucocorticoid inducible kinase SGK1, the upstream signal, and the neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated isoform 2 (Nedd4-2), the downstream signal. The solid black arrows trace the signal to a point where phospho-Nedd4-2 releases ENaC, thereby saving it from default ubiquitination and proteasomal destruction. ENaC is then maintained at the plasma membrane. Glucocorticoid-activated ENaC membrane trafficking is blocked by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU38486 and the PI 3-kinase inhibitor {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"LY294002","term_id":"1257998346","term_text":"LY294002"}}LY294002. Alternatively, silencing of endogenous Nedd4-2 by siRNA enhances ENaC trafficking to the plasma membrane. (+) indicates positive regulation, and (−) indicates negative regulation.The placement of the parenthetical (CFTR) in the SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway (Fig. 1) serves to underscore our hypothesis that CFTR itself could play an interactive or parallel role in the SGK1/Nedd4-2/ENaC-trafficking mechanism. This hypothesis seems reasonable because the regulatory effects of SGK1 and Nedd4-2 are not limited to trafficking of ENaC but also regulate several other epithelial channels and transporters (17, 18). Additionally, co-expression studies in Xenopus oocytes (19, 20) have shown that SGK1 appears to greatly enhance the functional activity of CFTR.In this report we have shown that activation of the SGK1 signaling pathway by the glucocorticoid dexamethasone results in the rescue of ΔF508-CFTR. The half-life of ΔF508-CFTR, once it reaches the plasma membrane, is also dramatically enhanced. Consistently, glucocorticoid-activated ΔF508-CFTR rescue is blocked by the GR antagonist RU38486 and by the PI 3-kinase inhibitor {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"LY294002","term_id":"1257998346","term_text":"LY294002"}}LY294002 as well as by knockdown of endogenous SGK1 by siRNA. We have further shown that at the downstream end of the SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway, knockdown of Nedd4-2 by siRNA also results in ΔF508-CFTR rescue. Finally, co-immunoprecipitation studies indicated that Nedd4-2 binds to both WT- and ΔF508-CFTR and that treatment with either glucocorticoid or Nedd4-2 siRNA reduces formation of Nedd4-2·CFTR complexes as well as ubiquitination of ΔF508-CFTR. Consistently, chloride transport is well correlated with the level of plasma membrane expression of ΔF508-CFTR protein. These data suggest that the glucocorticoid receptor-dependent SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway regulates both CFTR and ENaC trafficking in CF epithelial cells. We interpret these results to indicate that drugs affecting the SGK1/Nedd4-2 signaling pathway may be promising targets for cystic fibrosis therapeutic development.     

The autonomous notch signal pathway is activated by baicalin and baicalein but is suppressed by niclosamide in K562 cells

The Notch signaling pathway plays important roles in a variety of cellular processes. Aberrant transduction of Notch signaling contributes to many diseases and cancers in humans. The Notch receptor intracellular domain, the activated form of Notch receptor, is extremely difficult to detect in normal cells. However, it can activate signaling at very low protein concentration to elicit its biological effects. In the present study, a cell based luciferase reporter gene assay was established in K562 cells to screen drugs which could modulate the endogenous CBF1‐dependent Notch signal pathway. Using this system, we found that the luciferase activity of CBF1‐dependent reporter gene was activated by baicalin and baicalein but suppressed by niclosamide in both dose‐ and time‐dependent manners. Treatment with these drugs modulated endogenous Notch signaling and affected mRNA expression levels of Notch1 receptor and Notch target genes in K562 cells. Additionally, erythroid differentiation of K562 cells was suppressed by baicalin and baicalein yet was promoted by niclosamide. Colony‐forming ability in soft agar was decreased after treatment with baicalin and baicalein, but was not affected in the presence of niclosamide. Thus, modulation of Notch signaling after treatment with any of these three drugs may affect tumorigenesis of K562 cells suggesting that these drugs may have therapeutic potential for those tumors associated with Notch signaling. Taken together, this system could be beneficial for screening of drugs with potential to treat Notch signal pathway‐associated diseases. J. Cell. Biochem. 106: 682–692, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.