Elastin Receptor (Spliced Galactosidase) Occupancy by Elastin Peptides Counteracts Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Human Monocytes through NF-κB Down-Regulation

International audienceIn inflammatory diseases, strong release of elastinolytic proteases results in elastin fiber degradation generating elastin peptides (EPs). Chemotactic activity for inflammatory cells was, among wide range of properties, the former identified biological activity exerted by EPs. Recently, we demonstrated the ability of EPs to favor a Th1 cytokine (IL-2, IFN-gamma) cell response in lymphocytes and to regulate IL-1beta expression in melanoma cells. We hypothesized that EPs might also influence inflammatory cell properties by regulating cytokine expression by these cells. Therefore, we investigated the influence of EPs on inflammatory cytokine synthesis by human monocytes. We evidenced that EPs down-regulated both at the mRNA and protein levels the proinflammatory TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 expression in LPS-activated monocytes. Such negative feedback loop could be accounted solely for EP-mediated effects on proinflammatory cytokine production because EPs did not affect anti-inflammatory IL-10 or TGF-beta secretion by LPS-activated monocytes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EP effect on proinflammatory cytokine expression by LPS-stimulated monocytes could not be due either to a decrease of LPS receptor expression or to an alteration of LPS binding to its receptor. The inhibitory effects of EPs on cytokine expression were found to be mediated by receptor (spliced galactosidase) occupancy, as being suppressed by lactose, and to be associated with the decrease of NF-kappaB-DNA complex formation. As a whole, these results demonstrated that EP/spliced galactosidase interaction on human monocytes down-regulated NF-kappaB-dependent proinflammatory cytokine expression and pointed out the critical role of EPs in the regulation of inflammatory response

Structural Characterization of Mouse Neutrophil Serine Proteases and Identification of Their Substrate Specificities: RELEVANCE TO MOUSE MODELS OF HUMAN INFLAMMATORY DISEASES*

It is widely accepted that neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs) play a critical role in neutrophil-associated lung inflammatory and tissue-destructive diseases. To investigate NSP pathogenic role(s), various mouse experimental models have been developed that mimic acutely or chronically injured human lungs. We and others are using mouse exposure to cigarette smoke as a model for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with or without exacerbation. However, the relative contribution of NSPs to lung disease processes as well as their underlying mechanisms remains still poorly understood. And the lack of purified mouse NSPs and their specific substrates have hampered advances in these studies. In this work, we compared mouse and human NSPs and generated three-dimensional models of murine NSPs based on three-dimensional structures of their human homologs. Analyses of these models provided compelling evidence that peptide substrate specificities of human and mouse NSPs are different despite their conserved cleft and close structural resemblance. These studies allowed us to synthesize for the first time novel sensitive fluorescence resonance energy transfer substrates for individual mouse NSPs. Our findings and the newly identified substrates should better our understanding about the role of NSPs in the pathogenesis of cigarette-associated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as other neutrophils-associated inflammatory diseases

Proteinase 3 and neutrophil elastase enhance inflammation in mice by inactivating antiinflammatory progranulin

Neutrophil granulocytes form the body’s first line of antibacterial defense, but they also contribute to tissue injury and noninfectious, chronic inflammation. Proteinase 3 (PR3) and neutrophil elastase (NE) are 2 abundant neutrophil serine proteases implicated in antimicrobial defense with overlapping and potentially redundant substrate specificity. Here, we unraveled a cooperative role for PR3 and NE in neutrophil activation and noninfectious inflammation in vivo, which we believe to be novel. Mice lacking both PR3 and NE demonstrated strongly diminished immune complex–mediated (IC-mediated) neutrophil infiltration in vivo as well as reduced activation of isolated neutrophils by ICs in vitro. In contrast, in mice lacking just NE, neutrophil recruitment to ICs was only marginally impaired. The defects in mice lacking both PR3 and NE were directly linked to the accumulation of antiinflammatory progranulin (PGRN). Both PR3 and NE cleaved PGRN in vitro and during neutrophil activation and inflammation in vivo. Local administration of recombinant PGRN potently inhibited neutrophilic inflammation in vivo, demonstrating that PGRN represents a crucial inflammation-suppressing mediator. We conclude that PR3 and NE enhance neutrophil-dependent inflammation by eliminating the local antiinflammatory activity of PGRN. Our results support the use of serine protease inhibitors as antiinflammatory agents

Modifying the Protease, Antiprotease Pattern by Elafin Overexpression Protects Mice From Colitis

International audienceBACKGROUND & AIMS:: Colon tissues of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported to have increased proteolytic activity, but no studies have clearly addressed the protease to anti-protease balance in the pathogenesis of colitis. We investigated the role of Elafin, a serine protease inhibitor expressed by skin and mucosal surfaces in human inflammatory conditions, and the proteases neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase-3 (PR-3), in mice with colitis. METHODS:: We studied mice with heterozygous disruptions in NE and PR-3and 2 strains of mice that express transgenic human elafin (an inhibitor of NE and PR-3). Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) or dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) was used to induce colitis. Protease and cytokine levels were measured in colonic tissues collected from the mice. CaCO(2) and HT29 cells were studied in assays for cytokine expression and permeability. RESULTS:: Mice that expressed transgenic elafin developed less colitis and had reduced levels of proteases than wild-type mice following administration of TNBS or DSS. Expression of elafin did not modify activities of elastase or PR-3, but inhibited their increase upon the induction of colitis. Mice that expressed reduced levels of NE and PR-3 were protected against DSS-induced colitis. Elafin expression altered the patterns of inflammatory mediators and strengthened intestinal epithelial barrier functions in cells and colonic tissues from mice. CONCLUSIONS:: The protease inhibitor Elafin prevents intestinal inflammation in a mouse model of colitis and might be developed as a therapeutic agent for IBD