TGF-β inhibits lipopolysaccharide-stimulated activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in mouse macrophages

AbstractTransforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. Although this cytokine inhibits lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated septic shock, the molecular mechanism of TGF-β is not well known. Since recent studies showed that c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), one of the mitogen-activated protein kinases, plays an important role in LPS signalling, we focused here on the inhibitory action of TGF-β1 on LPS-stimulated JNK activity in mouse macrophages. TGF-β1 inhibited LPS-stimulation of phosphorylated JNK1 and JNK2 and consequently of JNK activity in the cells. This JNK activity resulted in a decreased level of phosphorylated c-Jun protein. Using Western blotting, we also observed TGF-β1 inhibition of newly synthesized c-Jun protein in LPS-stimulated cells. These results demonstrate that TGF-β1 inhibits LPS-stimulated JNK activity in mouse macrophages. Also, our present study suggests a possible inhibitory mechanism of TGF-β in signalling of LPS-induced inflammatory responses

Sphingomyelinase and ceramide inhibit formation of F-actin ring in and bone resorption by rabbit mature osteoclasts

AbstractRecent studies have demonstrated that ceramide plays an important role as a second messenger in many kinds of cells. However, it is not known whether apoptosis of and bone resorption by mature osteoclasts are mediated via sphingomyelinase (SMase) and ceramide. Thus, we examined the possible involvement of SMase and ceramide in the induction of apoptosis in and bone resorption by rabbit mature osteoclasts. SMase and C2-ceramide inhibited strongly F-actin ring formation of and bone resorption by the osteoclasts. However, the osteoclast apoptosis was not induced by C2-ceramide. The ceramide inhibition of the bone resorption was suppressed by dl-threo-dihydrosphingosine, an inhibitor of sphingosine kinase. In addition, we observed that sphingosine-1-phosphate is able to inhibit bone resorption by the osteoclasts. These results suggest an important role of the sphingomyelin pathway in bone resorption by rabbit mature osteoclasts

Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Enhances Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Leukotoxin-Induced HL-60 Cell Apoptosis by Stimulating Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen 1 Expression

We demonstrated previously that Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin (Ltx) is greatly able to induce apoptotic signaling in cells that are positive for lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), a cell receptor of Ltx. We investigated in this study whether inflammatory cytokines can regulate apoptosis of human leukemic HL-60 cells induced by Ltx. Of the cytokines tested, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) significantly enhanced the Ltx-induced cell apoptosis. Northern and Western blotting analyses showed that TNF-α enhanced the expression of CD11a in the cells at both the mRNA and protein levels but did not do so for CD18 expression. TNF-α also enhanced the binding of Ltx to the cells. We also observed by measuring the mitochondrial transmembrane potential and the generation of superoxide anion that the cytokine enhanced Ltx-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells. In addition, interleukin-1β significantly enhanced Ltx-induced cell apoptosis, although the enhancing activity was lower than that of TNF-α. These stimulatory effects of both cytokines were also observed for human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The ability of TNF-α to increase cell susceptibility to Ltx could be inhibited by preincubation of the cells with a monoclonal antibody against TNF receptor 1 but not by preincubation of the cells with a monoclonal antibody against anti-TNF receptor 2. Furthermore, the results of an assay of caspase 3 intracellular activity (PhiPhiLuxG(1)D(2)) showed that Ltx-induced caspase 3 activation was completely neutralized by CD18 antibody treatment, although significant neutralization was also observed with anti-CD11a antibody. Taken together, the results of the present study indicate that TNF-α acts as a potent stimulator of Ltx-induced HL-60 cell apoptosis via TNF receptor 1-mediated upregulation of LFA-1 expression