Interaction of Model Lipid Vesicles with Alveolar Macrophages

Macrophages are a type of white blood cells that play key roles in host defense by recognizing and engulfing foreign and apoptotic bodies. To accomplish this task, they rely on complex molecular interactions involving both lipids and proteins. Previous studies have shown that surface exposure of phosphatidylserine by apoptotic cells is required for their successful clearance, suggesting specific lipid-protein interactions at least for the initiation of phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. However, macrophages can engulf foreign and apoptotic bodies that substantially vary in size suggesting that non-specific interactions over a range of length scales may be relevant. The purpose of our study is to investigate the correlation between physical properties of lipid bilayers and their engulfment by macrophages. We modify bilayer properties systematically as a function of phospholipid headgroup composition and by addition of ceramide and cholesterol. We use a combination of scattering and spectroscopic methods to quantify lipid interactions and flow cytometry to measure engulfment rates. This study can help distinguish between the role of lipids and proteins in clearance of apoptotic and foreign particles

Therapeutic targets in myeloma bone disease

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second‐most‐common hematologic malignancy and is characterized by a clonal proliferation of neoplastic plasma cells within the bone marrow. MM is the most frequent cancer involving the skeleton, causing osteolytic lesions, bone pain, and pathological fractures that dramatically decrease MM patients’ quality of life and survival. MM bone disease (MBD) results from uncoupling of bone remodelling in which excessive bone resorption is not compensated by new bone formation, due to a persistent suppression of osteoblast activity. Current management of MBD includes anti‐resorptive agents i.e. bisphosphonates and denosumab that are only partially effective due to their inability to repair the existing lesions. Thus, research into agents that prevent bone destruction and more importantly repair existing lesions by inducing new bone formation, is of the utmost importance. This review discusses the mechanisms regulating the uncoupled bone remodelling in MM, and summarizes current advances in the treatment of MBD

Impact of alginate-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa on alveolar macrophage apoptotic cell clearance

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is a hallmark of lung disease in cystic fibrosis. Acute infection with P. aeruginosa profoundly inhibits alveolar macrophage clearance of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) via direct effect of virulence factors. During chronic infection, P. aeruginosa evades host defense by decreased virulence, which includes the production or, in the case of mucoidy, overproduction of alginate. The impact of alginate on innate immunity, in particular on macrophage clearance of apoptotic cells is not known. We hypothesized that P. aeruginosa strains that exhibit reduced virulence impair macrophage clearance of apoptotic cells and we investigated if the polysaccharide alginate produced by mucoid P. aeruginosa is sufficient to inhibit alveolar macrophage efferocytosis. Rat alveolar or human peripheral blood monocyte (THP-1)-derived macrophage cell lines were exposed in vitro to exogenous alginate or to wild type or alginate-overproducing mucoid P. aeruginosa prior to challenge with apoptotic human Jurkat T-lymphocytes. The importance of LPS contamination and that of structural integrity of alginate polymers was tested using alginate of different purities and alginate lyase, respectively. Alginate inhibited alveolar macrophage efferocytosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This effect was augmented but not exclusively attributed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) present in alginates. Alginate-producing P. aeruginosa inhibited macrophage efferocytosis by more than 50%. A mannuronic-specific alginate lyase did not restore efferocytosis inhibited by exogenous guluronic-rich marine alginate, but had a marked beneficial effect on efferocytosis of alveolar macrophages exposed to mucoid P. aeruginosa. Despite decreased virulence, mucoid P. aeruginosa may contribute to chronic airway inflammation through significant inhibition of alveolar clearance of apoptotic cells and debris. The mechanism by which mucoid bacteria inhibit efferocytosis may involve alginate production and synergy with LPS, suggesting that alginate lyase may be an attractive therapeutic approach to airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis and other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases characterized by P. aeruginosa colonization

Smoking exposure induces human lung endothelial cell adaptation to apoptotic stress

Prolonged exposure to cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for emphysema, a component of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPDs) characterized by destruction of alveolar walls. Moreover, smoking is associated with pulmonary artery remodeling and pulmonary hypertension, even in the absence of COPD, through as yet unexplained mechanisms. In murine models, elevations of intra- and paracellular ceramides in response to smoking have been implicated in the induction of lung endothelial cell apoptosis, but the role of ceramides in human cell counterparts is yet unknown. We modeled paracrine increases (outside-in) of palmitoyl ceramide (Cer16) in primary human lung microvascular cells. In naive cells, isolated from nonsmokers, Cer16 significantly reduced cellular proliferation and induced caspase-independent apoptosis via mitochondrial membrane depolarization, apoptosis-inducing factor translocation, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. In these cells, caspase-3 was inhibited by ceramide-induced Akt phosphorylation, and by the induction of autophagic microtubule-associated protein-1 light-chain 3 lipidation. In contrast, cells isolated from smokers exhibited increased baseline proliferative features associated with lack of p16(INK4a) expression and Akt hyperphosphorylation. These cells were resistant to Cer16-induced apoptosis, despite presence of both endoplasmic reticulum stress response and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. In cells from smokers, the prominent up-regulation of Akt pathways inhibited ceramide-triggered apoptosis, and was associated with elevated sphingosine and high-mobility group box 1, skewing the cell's response toward autophagy and survival. In conclusion, the cell responses to ceramide are modulated by an intricate cross-talk between Akt signaling and sphingolipid metabolites, and profoundly modified by previous cigarette smoke exposure, which selects for an apoptosis-resistant phenotype

Increased S1P expression in osteoclasts enhances bone formation in an animal model of Paget's disease

Paget's disease (PD) is characterized by increased numbers of abnormal osteoclasts (OCLs) that drive exuberant bone formation, but the mechanisms responsible for the increased bone formation remain unclear. We previously reported that OCLs from 70% of PD patients express measles virus nucleocapsid protein (MVNP), and that transgenic mice with targeted expression of MVNP in OCLs (MVNP mice) develop bone lesions and abnormal OCLs characteristic of PD. In this report, we examined if OCL-derived sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) contributed to the abnormal bone formation in PD, since OCL-derived S1P can act as a coupling factor to increase normal bone formation via binding S1P-receptor-3 (S1PR3) on osteoblasts (OBs). We report that OCLs from MVNP mice and PD patients expressed high levels of sphingosine kinase-1 (SphK-1) compared with wild-type (WT) mouse and normal donor OCLs. SphK-1 production by MVNP-OCLs was interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent since OCLs from MVNP/IL-6-/- mice expressed lower levels of SphK-1. Immunohistochemistry of bone biopsies from a normal donor, a PD patient, WT and MVNP mice confirmed increased expression levels of SphK-1 in OCLs and S1PR3 in OBs of the PD patient and MVNP mice compared with normal donor and WT mice. Further, MVNP-OCLs cocultured with OBs from MVNP or WT mice increased OB-S1PR3 expression and enhanced expression of OB differentiation markers in MVNP-OBs precursors compared with WT-OBs, which was mediated by IL-6 and insulin-like growth factor 1 secreted by MVNP-OCLs. Finally, the addition of an S1PR3 antagonist (VPC23019) to WT or MVNP-OBs treated with WT and MVNP-OCL-conditioned media (CM) blocked enhanced OB differentiation of MVNP-OBs treated with MVNP-OCL-CM. In contrast, the addition of the SIPR3 agonist, VPC24191, to the cultures enhanced osterix and Col-1A expression in MVNP-OBs treated with MVNP-OCL-CM compared with WT-OBs treated with WT-OCL-CM. These results suggest that IL-6 produced by PD-OCLs increases S1P in OCLs and S1PR3 on OBs, to increase bone formation in PD

Structural and functional characterization of endothelial microparticles released by cigarette smoke

Circulating endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are emerging as biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in individuals exposed to cigarette smoke (CS), but their mechanism of release and function remain unknown. We assessed biochemical and functional characteristics of EMPs and circulating microparticles (cMPs) released by CS. CS exposure was sufficient to increase microparticle levels in plasma of humans and mice, and in supernatants of primary human lung microvascular endothelial cells. CS-released EMPs contained predominantly exosomes that were significantly enriched in let-7d, miR-191; miR-126; and miR125a, microRNAs that reciprocally decreased intracellular in CS-exposed endothelium. CS-released EMPs and cMPs were ceramide-rich and required the ceramide-synthesis enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (aSMase) for their release, an enzyme which was found to exhibit significantly higher activity in plasma of COPD patients or of CS-exposed mice. The ex vivo or in vivo engulfment of EMPs or cMPs by peripheral blood monocytes-derived macrophages was associated with significant inhibition of efferocytosis. Our results indicate that CS, via aSMase, releases circulating EMPs with distinct microRNA cargo and that EMPs affect the clearance of apoptotic cells by specialized macrophages. These targetable effects may be important in the pathogenesis of diseases linked to endothelial injury and inflammation in smokers

Regulation of cellular sterol homeostasis by the oxygen responsive noncoding RNA lincNORS

We hereby provide the initial portrait of lincNORS, a spliced lincRNA generated by the MIR193BHG locus, entirely distinct from the previously described miR-193b-365a tandem. While inducible by low O2 in a variety of cells and associated with hypoxia in vivo, our studies show that lincNORS is subject to multiple regulatory inputs, including estrogen signals. Biochemically, this lincRNA fine-tunes cellular sterol/steroid biosynthesis by repressing the expression of multiple pathway components. Mechanistically, the function of lincNORS requires the presence of RALY, an RNA-binding protein recently found to be implicated in cholesterol homeostasis. We also noticed the proximity between this locus and naturally occurring genetic variations highly significant for sterol/steroid-related phenotypes, in particular the age of sexual maturation. An integrative analysis of these variants provided a more formal link between these phenotypes and lincNORS, further strengthening the case for its biological relevance

Osteocyte Vegf-a contributes to myeloma-associated angiogenesis and is regulated by Fgf23

Multiple Myeloma (MM) induces bone destruction, decreases bone formation, and increases marrow angiogenesis in patients. We reported that osteocytes (Ocys) directly interact with MM cells to increase tumor growth and expression of Ocy-derived factors that promote bone resorption and suppress bone formation. However, the contribution of Ocys to enhanced marrow vascularization in MM is unclear. Since the MM microenvironment is hypoxic, we assessed if hypoxia and/or interactions with MM cells increases pro-angiogenic signaling in Ocys. Hypoxia and/or co-culture with MM cells significantly increased Vegf-a expression in MLOA5-Ocys, and conditioned media (CM) from MLOA5s or MM-MLOA5 co-cultured in hypoxia, significantly increased endothelial tube length compared to normoxic CM. Further, Vegf-a knockdown in MLOA5s or primary Ocys co-cultured with MM cells or neutralizing Vegf-a in MM-Ocy co-culture CM completely blocked the increased endothelial activity. Importantly, Vegf-a-expressing Ocy numbers were significantly increased in MM-injected mouse bones, positively correlating with tumor vessel area. Finally, we demonstrate that direct contact with MM cells increases Ocy Fgf23, which enhanced Vegf-a expression in Ocys. Fgf23 deletion in Ocys blocked these changes. These results suggest hypoxia and MM cells induce a pro-angiogenic phenotype in Ocys via Fgf23 and Vegf-a signaling, which can promote MM-induced marrow vascularization