Regulation of avoidant behaviors and pain by the anti-inflammatory tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1

The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 is a critical regulator of cytokine signaling and inflammation. Mice homozygous for a null allele at the SHP-1 locus have a phenotype of severe inflammation and are hyper-responsive to the TLR4 ligand LPS. TLR4 stimulation in the CNS has been linked to both neuropathic pain and sickness behaviors. To determine if reduction in SHP-1 expression affects LPS-induced behaviors, responses of heterozygous SHP-1-deficient (me/+) and wild-type (+/+) mice to LPS were measured. Chronic (4-week) treatment with LPS induced avoidant behaviors indicative of fear/anxiety in me/+, but not +/+, mice. These behaviors were correlated with a LPS-induced type 2 cytokine, cytokine receptor, and immune effector arginase profile in the brains of me/+ mice not found in +/+ mice. Me/+ mice also had a constitutively greater level of TLR4 in the CNS than +/+ mice. Additionally, me/+ mice displayed constitutively increased thermal sensitivity compared to +/+ mice, measured by the tail-flick test. Moreover, me/+ glial cultures were more responsive to LPS than +/+ glia. Therefore, the reduced expression of SHP-1 in me/+ imparts haploinsufficiency with respect to the control of CNS TLR4 and pain signaling. Furthermore, type 2 cytokines become prevalent during chronic TLR4 hyperstimulation in the CNS and are associated positively with behaviors that are usually linked to type 1 pro-inflammatory cytokines. These findings question the notion that type 2 immunity is solely anti-inflammatory in the CNS and indicate that type 2 immunity induces/potentiates CNS inflammatory processes.