Role for TAK1 in cigarette smoke-induced proinflammatory signaling and IL-8 release by human airway smooth muscle cells

Pera T, Atmaj C, van der Vegt M, Halayko AJ, Zaagsma J, Meurs H. Role for TAK1 in cigarette smoke-induced proinflammatory signaling and IL-8 release by human airway smooth muscle cells. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 303: L272-L278, 2012. First published April 20, 2012; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00291.2011.-Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease, characterized by a progressive decline in lung function. Airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass may be increased in COPD, contributing to airflow limitation and proinflammatory cytokine production. Cigarette smoke (CS), the major risk factor of COPD, causes ASM cell proliferation, as well as interleukin-8 (IL-8)-induced neutrophilia. In various cell types, transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) plays a crucial role in MAP kinase and NF-kappa B activation, as well as IL-8 release induced by IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, and lipopolysaccharide. The role of TAK1 in CS-induced IL-8 release is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of TAK1 in CS-induced NF-kappa B and MAP kinase signaling and IL-8 release by human ASM cells. Stimulation of these cells with CS extract (CSE) increased IL-8 release and ERK-1/2 phosphorylation, as well as I kappa-B alpha degradation and p65 NF-kappa B subunit phosphorylation. CSE-induced ERK-1/2 phosphorylation and I kappa-B alpha degradation were both inhibited by pretreatment with the specific TAK1 inhibitor LL-Z-1640-2 (5Z-7-oxozeaenol; 100 nM). Similarly, expression of dominant-negative TAK1 inhibited CSE-induced ERK-1/2 phosphorylation. In addition, inhibitors of TAK1 and the NF-kappa B (SC-514; 50 mu M) and ERK-1/2 (U-0126; 3 mu M) signaling inhibited the CSE-induced IL-8 release by ASM cells. These data indicate that TAK1 plays a major role in CSE-induced ERK-1/2 and NF-kappa B signaling and in IL-8 release by human ASM cells. Furthermore, they identify TAK1 as a novel target for the inhibition of CS-induced inflammatory responses involved in the development and progression of COPD

The relationship between childhood leukaemia and childhood asthma: A pharmacoepidemiological study from the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that childhood asthma lowers the risk of childhood leukaemia. Studies have found an inverse association between these conditions. However, most studies on this relationship are based on questionnaires and telephone interviews, introducing recall bias. Therefore, we conducted a matched case-control study based on drug prescription data to assess the relationship between both conditions. METHODS: In a large database, covering more than one million individuals, we identified cases of children who had been prescribed 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP). This drug is used in the outpatient maintenance therapy of childhood leukaemia. We matched every child with leukaemia on sex and age (±6 months) to children without leukaemia (controls). The variable of having had asthma was defined as receiving at least two prescriptions for an inhaled corticosteroid within 12 months. RESULTS: We identified 59 children aged 2-18 who had been prescribed 6-MP (cases), and they were matched to 21,918 controls. Of the children with childhood leukaemia, three (5%) had childhood asthma, whereas in the control group 4889 (22%) had childhood asthma (odds ratio [OR] 0.19; 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.60). CONCLUSION: In this study on the relationship between childhood asthma and childhood leukaemia, we found a strong inverse association

Exploring the surface of the ectodomain of the PD-L1 immune checkpoint with small-molecule fragments.

Development of small molecules targeting the PD-L1/PD-1 interface is advancing both in industry and academia, but only a few have reached early-stage clinical trials. Here, we take a closer look at the general druggability of PD-L1 using in silico hot spot mapping and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based characterization. We found that the conformational elasticity of the PD-L1 surface strongly influences the formation of hot spots. We deconstructed several generations of known inhibitors into fragments and examined their binding properties using differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) and protein-based nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). These biophysical analyses showed that not all fragments bind to the PD-L1 ectodomain despite having the biphenyl scaffold. Although most of the binding fragments induced PD-L1 oligomerization, two compounds, TAH35 and TAH36, retain the monomeric state of proteins upon binding. Additionally, the presence of the entire ectodomain did not affect the binding of the hit compounds and dimerization of PD-L1. The data demonstrated here provide important information on the PD-L1 druggability and the structure-activity relationship of the biphenyl core moiety and therefore may aid in the design of novel inhibitors and focused fragment libraries for PD-L1