Concurrent expression of procoagulant and plasminogen activator activities by rabbit alveolar macrophages in vitro: Opposite modulating effects of prostaglandin E2

We examined the effects of arachidonic acid metabolites on the simultaneous expression of procoagulant (PC) and plasminogen activator (PA) activities by rabbit alveolar macrophages. Incubation with lymphocyte-conditioned medium (LCM) caused a significant increase in cell-associated PC activity. Co-treatment with indomethacin (1 [mu]M) reduced this augmentation in PC activity by 33% (p 2 in concentrations as low as 1 nM. Addition of 100 nM PGE2 to these cells caused an increase in PC activity 2.7-fold greater than that achieved by LCM alone, while PGE2 suppressed released PA activity by 62%. PGE2 and indomethacin had similar but less pronounced effects on phorbol myristate acetate-treated cells. These effects of PGE2 could be duplicated by PGE1, but not by any other arachidonic acid metabolite (PGF2[alpha], PGI2, PGD2, ddPGF2[alpha], LTB4, or LTC4). While PGE2 increases intracellular levels of cAMP, the observed effects on PC and PA activities could not be reproduced fully by treatment with dibutyryl cAMP. We conclude that PGE2 amplifies the augmentation of PC activity by stimulated alveolar macrophages while concurrently inhibiting expression of plasminogen activator. This suggests that PGE2 may be a significant mediator in regulating the highly interactive processes of inflammation and coagulation/fibrinolysis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27166/1/0000161.pd

First-in-Class Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase p38α: MAPK-Activated Protein Kinase-2 (MK2) Dual Signal Modulator with Anti-inflammatory and Endothelial-stabilizing Properties.

We previously identified a small molecule, UM101, predicted to bind to the substrate-binding groove of p38aMitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) near the binding site of its proinflammatory substrate, MAPK-activated protein kinase (MK2). UM101 exhibited anti-inflammatory, endothelial-stabilizing, and lung-protective effects. To overcome its limited aqueous solubility and p38a binding affinity, we designed an analog of UM101, GEn-1124, with improved aqueous solubility, stability, and p38a binding affinity. Compared with UM101, GEn-1124 has 18-fold greater p38a-binding affinity as measured by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), 11-fold greater aqueous solubility, enhanced barrier-stabilizing activity in thrombin-stimulated human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (hPAEC) in vitro, and greater lung protection in vivo GEn-1124 improved survival from 10% to 40% in murine acute lung injury (ALI) induced by combined exposure to intratracheal bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) instillation and febrile-range hyperthermia (FRH) and from 0% to 50% in a mouse influenza pneumonia model. Gene expression analysis by RNASeq in TNFa-treated hPAEC showed that the gene-modifying effects of GEn-1124 were much more restricted to TNFa-inducible genes than the catalytic site p38 inhibitor, SB203580. Gene expression pathway analysis, confocal immunofluorescence analysis of p38aand MK2 subcellular trafficking, and SPR analysis of phosphorylated p38a:MK2 binding affinity supports a novel mechanism of action. GEn-1124 destabilizes the activated p38a:MK2 complex, dissociates nuclear export of MK2 and p38a, thereby promoting intranuclear retention and enhanced intranuclear signaling by phosphorylated p38a retention, and accelerated inactivation of p38-free cytosolic MK2 by unopposed phosphatases. Significance Statement We describe an analog of our first-in-class small molecule modulator of p38a/MK2 signaling targeted to a pocket near the ED substrate binding domain of p38a, which destabilizes the p38a:MK2 complex without blocking p38 catalytic activity or ablating downstream signaling. The result is a rebalancing of downstream pro- and anti-inflammatory signaling, yielding anti-inflammatory, endothelial-stabilizing, and lung-protective effects with therapeutic potential in ARDS

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide augments febrile-range hyperthermia-induced heat shock protein 70 expression and extracellular release in human THP1 cells.

Sepsis, a devastating and often lethal complication of severe infection, is characterized by fever and dysregulated inflammation. While infections activate the inflammatory response in part through Toll-like receptors (TLRs), fever can partially activate the heat shock response with generation of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Since extracellular HSPs, especially HSP70 (eHSP70), are proinflammatory TLR agonists, we investigated how exposure to the TLR4 agonist, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and febrile range hyperthermia (FRH; 39.5°C) modify HSP70 expression and extracellular release. Using differentiated THP1 cells, we found that concurrent exposure to FRH and LPS as well as TLR2 and TLR3 agonists synergized to activate expression of inducible HSP72 (HSPA1A) mRNA and protein via a p38 MAP kinase-requiring mechanism. Treatment with LPS for 6 h stimulated eHSP70 release; levels of eHSP70 released at 39.5°C were higher than at 37°C roughly paralleling the increase in intracellular HSP72 in the 39.5°C cells. By contrast, 6 h exposure to FRH in the absence of LPS failed to promote eHSP70 release. Release of eHSP70 by LPS-treated THP1 cells was inhibited by glibenclamide, but not brefeldin, indicating that eHSP70 secretion occurred via a non-classical protein secretory mechanism. Analysis of eHSP70 levels in exosomes and exosome-depleted culture supernatants from LPS-treated THP1 cells using ELISA demonstrated similar eHSP70 levels in unfractionated and exosome-depleted culture supernatants, indicating that LPS-stimulated eHSP70 release did not occur via the exosome pathway. Immunoblot analysis of the exosome fraction of culture supernatants from these cells showed constitutive HSC70 (HSPA8) to be the predominant HSP70 family member present in exosomes. In summary, we have shown that LPS stimulates macrophages to secrete inducible HSP72 via a non-classical non-exosomal pathway while synergizing with FRH exposure to increase both intracellular and secreted levels of inducible HSP72. The impact of increased macrophage intracellular HSP70 levels and augmented secretion of proinflammatory eHSP70 in the febrile, infected patient remains to be elucidated

Characterization of Tumor Binding by the IC-21 Macrophage Cell Line

The purpose of this study was to determine if the SV40-transformed murine macrophage cell line IC-21 is a suitable model to study the selective high avidity binding of tumor cells by subpopulations of activated macrophages. IC-21 macrophages bound P815, RBL5, and EL-4 murine tumor cells with high avidity, as measured by the inverted centrifugation method. Tumor binding by IC-21 macrophages was competitively inhibited by crude membrane vesicles prepared from tumor cells but not by cell membranes prepared from nontransformed splenic leukocytes, suggesting that this process was mediated by tumor-specific binding sites. IC-21 macrophages and primary cultures of pyran copolymer-elicited peritoneal macrophages demonstrated similar tumor binding avidity, kinetics, saturability, and metabolic requirements for optimal high avidity tumor binding. However, compared with primary cultures of pyran copolymer-elicited peritoneal macrophages, IC-21 macrophages bound 4-fold more tumor cells and were more homogeneous for tumor binding capability. Finally, one third of maximal tumor cell binding by IC-21 macrophages was completed within 5 min of contact with tumor, suggesting that IC-21 macrophages constituitively expressed some high avidity tumor binding sites. Their stable and homogeneous capability for binding tumor cells and their ease of growth make the IC-21 macrophage cell line a potentially valuable model for elucidating the molecular mechanisms responsible for selective high avidity tumor binding by subpopulations of activated macrophages. © 1990, American Association for Cancer Research. All rights reserved

Role of Caspase 1 in Murine Antibacterial Host Defenses and Lethal Endotoxemia

Sepsis is thought to result from an exaggerated innate immune response to microbial components such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but the involvement of a specific mechanism(s) has not been identified. We studied the role of caspase 1 (Cas-1) in the murine innate immune response to infection with gram-negative bacteria and to nonlethal and lethal doses of LPS. cas-1(−/−) and Cas-1 inhibitor (Ac-YVAD-CHO)-treated cas-1(+/+) mice were two- to threefold more susceptible to lethal Escherichia coli infection than cas-1(+/+) mice. Administration of Cas-1 products, interleukin-18 (IL-18) or IL-1β, protected three of three and six of seven mice, respectively, from lethal infection with E. coli compared to none of six of untreated mice (P = 0.0082). Therefore, cas-1 is essential for antibacterial host defense. Nonlethal (75 μg) and lethal (500 μg) doses of LPS induce different patterns of gamma interferon, IL-1β, and IL-18 expression. Consequently, the role of Cas-1, which cleaves pro-IL-18 and pro-IL-1β to their active forms, was investigated in these disparate conditions by using enzymatic assay and reverse transcription-PCR. At 75 μg, LPS induced a transient increase in IL-1β and IL-18 levels in serum, whereas at 500 μg it induced a 1.5-fold-higher IL-18 level in serum, which increased till death. At 75 μg of LPS, splenic cas-1 mRNA expression remained unchanged at all time points, but activity increased transiently at 3 h. In lethally treated mice, Cas-1 activity remained elevated until death; however, cas-1 mRNA levels increased at 3 h and decreased to basal levels by 8 h. Treatment with Cas-1 inhibitor protected mice from lethal endotoxemia. Thus, Cas-1 is essential for innate antibacterial host defenses and may represent a mechanism of innate immunity that upon excessive stimulation by microbial components may lead to endotoxic shock