Chemokine fractalkine attenuates overactivation and apoptosis of BV-2 microglial cells induced by extracellular ATP

Effects of Stromal Cell Conditioned Medium and Antipurinergic Treatment on Macrophage Phenotype

The immunomodulatory capacity of the human mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) secretome has been a critical driver for the development of cell-free MSC products, such as conditioned medium (CM), for regenerative medicine applications. This is particularly true as cell-free MSC products present several advantages over direct autologous or allogeneic MSC delivery with respect to safety, manufacturability, and defined potency. Recently, significant effort has been placed into creating novel MSC CM formulations with an immunomodulatory capacity tailored for specific regenerative contexts. For instance, the immunoregulatory nature of MSC CM has previously been tuned through a number of cytokine-priming strategies. Herein, we propose an alternate method to tailor the immunomodulatory "phenotype" of cytokine-primed MSC CM through coupling with the pharmacological agent, suramin. Suramin interferes with the signaling of purines including extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which plays a critical role in the activation of the innate immune system after injury. Toward this end, human THP-1-derived macrophages were activated to a proinflammatory phenotype and treated with (1) unprimed/native MSC CM, (2) interferon-γ/tumor necrosis factor α-primed MSC CM (primed CM), (3) suramin alone, or (4) primed MSC CM and suramin (primed CM/suramin). Markers of key macrophage functions-cytokine secretion, autophagy, oxidative stress modulation, and activation/migration-were assessed. Consistent with previous literature, primed CM elevated macrophage secretion of several proinflammatory and pleiotropic cytokines relative to native CM; whereas addition of suramin imparted consistent shifts in terms of TNFα (↓), interleukin-10 (↓), and hepatocyte growth factor (↑) irrespective of CM. In addition, both primed CM and suramin, individually and combined, increased reactive oxygen species production relative to native CM, and addition of suramin to primed CM shifted levels of CX3CL1, a factor involved in ATP-associated macrophage regulation. Varimax rotation assessment of the secreted cytokine profiles confirmed that primed CM/suramin resulted in a THP-1 phenotypic shift away from the lipopolysaccharide-activated proinflammatory state that was distinct from that of primed CM or native CM alone. This altered primed CM/suramin-associated phenotype may prove beneficial for healing in certain regenerative contexts. These results may inform future work coupling antipurinergic treatments with MSC-derived therapies in regenerative medicine applications.

Modulation of inflammatory responses by fractalkine signaling in microglia

Reactive microglia are suggested to be involved in neurological disorders, and the mechanisms underlying microglial activity may provide insights into therapeutic strategies for neurological diseases. Microglia produce immunological responses to various stimuli, which include fractalkine (FKN or CX3CL1). CX3CR1, a FKN receptor, is present in microglial cells, and when FKN is applied before lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, LPS-induced inflammatory responses are inhibited, suggesting that the activation of the FKN signal is beneficial. Considering the practical administration for treatment, we investigated the influence of FKN on immunoreactive microglia using murine primary microglia and BV-2, a microglial cell line. The administration of LPS leads to nitric oxide (NO) production. NO was reduced when FKN was administered 4 h after LPS administration without a change in inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. In contrast, morphological changes, migratory activity, and proliferation were not altered by delayed FKN treatment. LPS decreases the CX3CR1 mRNA concentration, and the overexpression of CX3CR1 restores the FKN-mediated decrease in NO. CX3CR1 overexpression decreased the NO production that is mediated by LPS even without the application of FKN. ATP and ethanol also reduced CX3CR1 mRNA concentrations. In conclusion, the delayed FKN administration modified the LPS-induced microglial activation. The FKN signals were attenuated by a reduction in CX3CR1 by some inflammatory stimuli, and this modulated the inflammatory response of microglial cells, at least partially.

Kinase-Based Taming of Brain Microglia Toward Disease-Modifying Therapy

Microglia are the primary immune cells residing in the central nervous system (CNS), where they play essential roles in the health and disease. Depending on the CNS inflammatory milieu, they exist in either resting or activated states. Chronic neuroinflammation mediated by activated microglia is now considered to be a common characteristic shared by many neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which currently pose a significant socioeconomic burden to the global healthcare system. Accumulating evidence has indicated protein kinases (PKs) as important drug targets for therapeutic interventions of these detrimental diseases. Here, we review recent findings suggesting that selected PKs potentially participate in microglia-mediated neuroinflammation. Taming microglial phenotypes by modulating the activity of these PKs holds great promise for the development of disease-modifying therapies for many neurodegenerative diseases.

Induction of Cell Death by Betulinic Acid through Induction of Apoptosis and Inhibition of Autophagic Flux in Microglia BV-2 Cells

Betulinic acid (BA), a natural pentacyclic triterpene found in many medicinal plants is known to have various biological activity including tumor suppression and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the cell-death induction effect of BA was investigated in BV-2 microglia cells. BA was cytotoxic to BV-2 cells with IC₅₀ of approximately 2.0 μM. Treatment of BA resulted in a dose-dependent chromosomal DNA degradation, suggesting that these cells underwent apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis further confirmed that BA-treated BV-2 cells showed hypodiploid DNA content. BA treatment triggered apoptosis by decreasing Bcl-2 levels, activation of capase-3 protease and cleavage of PARP. In addition, BA treatment induced the accumulation of p62 and the increase in conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II, which are important autophagic flux monitoring markers. The increase in LC3-II indicates that BA treatment induced autophagosome formation, however, accumulation of p62 represents that the downstream autophagy pathway is blocked. It is demonstrated that BA induced cell death of BV-2 cells by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting autophagic flux. These data may provide important new information towards understanding the mechanisms by which BA induce cell death in microglia BV-2 cells.

Inhibition of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter inhibits Aβ-induced apoptosis by reducing reactive oxygen species-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress in cultured microglia

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) has been shown to induce microglial apoptosis, which is itself sensitive to disturbed mitochondrial calcium (Ca²⁺) homeostasis. The mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) plays an important regulatory role in mitochondrial Ca²⁺ homeostasis, but its role in Aβ-induced microglia apoptosis is unknown. In this study, we found increased mitochondrial Ca²⁺ concentration in Aβ-treated primary microglia and BV-2 cells; also, the MCU inhibitor Ru360 significantly attenuated Aβ-induced microglial apoptosis, whereas the MCU activator spermine augmented it. In addition, Ru360 significantly attenuated Aβ-induced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, as well as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress characterized by glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/-EBP homologous protein (CHOP) expression. Spermine, however, exerted the opposite effects on mitochondrial ROS production and ER stress. We also found that mitochondria-targeted antioxidant (Mito-TEMPO) treatment decreased GRP78 and CHOP expression in Aβ-treated microglia. Moreover, blocking endogenous CHOP expression using a CHOP small interfering RNA (siRNA) attenuated Aβ-induced cell death. Altogether, our data suggested that 1) inhibition of MCU exerts a neuroprotective effect on Aβ-induced microglia apoptosis, and 2) that the underlying mechanism may be related to reducing mitochondrial ROS-mediated ER stress.

Effect of naringin on gp120-induced injury mediated by P2X7 receptors in rat primary cultured microglia

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein 120 has been shown to activate microglia, causing release of inflammatory and toxic factors. The P2X₇ receptor, primarily expressed on microglia, is closely associated with inflammation. Naringin, a plant bioflavonoid, has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. We hypothesized that P2X₇ receptor mediated gp120-induced injury in primary cultured microglia, and that naringin would have a protective effect. We showed that HIV-1 gp120 peptide (V3 loop, fragment 308–331) appeared to induce apoptosis of primary cultured microglia. However, there was a decrease of microglia apoptosis in gp120+naringin group compared with gp120 group. Using qPCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence, we showed that gp120 stimulated expression of P2X₇ mRNA and receptor protein, and this stimulation was inhibited by naringin. Treatment with gp120 increased concentrations of eATP, TNFα and IL-1β, and these effects were inhibited by naringin. Taken together, these results suggested that gp120 contributed to microglial cell injury and neurotoxic activity by up-regulating expression of P2X₇, in a naringin-protective manner.

The adenosine generating enzymes CD39/CD73 control microglial processes ramification in the mouse brain

Microglial cells invade the brain as amoeboid precursors and acquire a highly ramified morphology in the postnatal brain. Microglia express all essential purinergic elements such as receptors, nucleoside transporters and ecto-enzymes, including CD39 (NTPDase1) and CD73 (5'-nucleotidase), which sequentially degrade extracellular ATP to adenosine. Here, we show that constitutive deletion of CD39 and CD73 or both caused an inhibition of the microglia ramified phenotype in the brain with a reduction in the length of processes, branching frequency and number of intersections with Sholl spheres. In vitro, unlike wild-type microglia, cd39^-/- and cd73^-/- microglial cells were less complex and did not respond to ATP with the transformation into a more ramified phenotype. In acute brain slices, wild-type microglia retracted approximately 50% of their processes within 15 min after slicing of the brain, and this phenomenon was augmented in cd39^-/- mice; moreover, the elongation of microglial processes towards the source of ATP or towards a laser lesion was observed only in wild-type but not in cd39^-/- microglia. An elevation of extracellular adenosine 1) by the inhibition of adenosine transport with dipyridamole, 2) by application of exogenous adenosine or 3) by degradation of endogenous ATP/ADP with apyrase enhanced spontaneous and ATP-induced ramification of cd39^-/- microglia in acute brain slices and facilitated the transformation of cd39^-/- and cd73^-/- microglia into a ramified process-bearing phenotype in vitro. These data indicate that under normal physiological conditions, CD39 and CD73 nucleotidases together with equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1) control the fate of extracellular adenosine and thereby the ramification of microglial processes.

Plasma levels of eight different mediators and their potential as biomarkers of various clinical malaria conditions in African children

BACKGROUND

Plasmodium falciparum infection can lead to several clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infections (AM) and uncomplicated malaria (UM) to potentially fatal severe malaria (SM), including cerebral malaria (CM). Factors implicated in the progression towards severe disease are not fully understood.

METHODS

In the present study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to investigate the plasma content of several biomarkers of the immune response, namely Neopterin, sCD163, suPAR, Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), sCD14, Fractalkine (CX3CL1), sTREM-1 and MIG (CXCL9), in patients with distinct clinical manifestations of malaria. The goal of this study was to determine the relative involvement of these inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of malaria and test their relevance as biomarkers of disease severity.

RESULTS

ROC curve analysis show that children with AM were characterized by high levels of Fractalkine and sCD163 whereas children with UM were distinguishable by the presence of PTX3 in their plasma. Furthermore, principal component analysis indicated that the combination of Fractalkine, MIG, and Neopterin was the best predictor of AM condition, while suPAR, PTX3 and sTREM-1 combination was the best indicator of UM when compared to AM. The association of Neopterin, suPAR and Fractalkine was strongly predictive of SM or CM compared to UM.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the simultaneous evaluation of these bioactive molecules as quantifiable blood parameters may be helpful to get a better insight into the clinical syndromes in children with malaria.

The narcotic bowel syndrome: a recent update

OBJECTIVES

The paradoxical development of chronic abdominal pain is an underrecognized side effect of opioid use. Narcotic bowel syndrome (NBS), occurring in a small proportion of chronic opioid users, consists of chronic or intermittent abdominal pain, which often increases in severity despite continued or escalating dosages of opioids prescribed to relieve pain.

METHODS

A PubMed search was conducted using terms such as "narcotic bowel syndrome" and "opioid hyperalgesia" through January 2014.

RESULTS

Abdominal pain is the defining symptom of NBS and is thought to be mediated by central nervous system dysfunction; it should be distinguished from the peripheral side effects of opioids, such as nausea, bloating, intermittent vomiting, abdominal distension, and constipation. This latter cluster of symptoms is called opioid bowel dysfunction, although it may co-occur with NBS. Hypothesized mechanisms of the central effects of opioids on nociception in NBS include spinal cord inflammation and dysfunction in opioid receptor activity and related neuroanatomical substrates. With continued use, ∼6% of patients taking narcotics chronically will develop NBS, with profound consequences in terms of daily function. The primary management paradigm for NBS is a structured opioid withdrawal program accompanied by centrally acting adjunctive therapy comprising antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and clonidine to target pain, anxiety, and depression, and prevent withdrawal effects, in addition to peripherally acting agents such as laxatives (e.g., osmotic laxatives and chloride channel activators) to control transient constipation. Such structured withdrawal programs have been prospectively evaluated in small clinical trials and have met with considerable success in the short term.

CONCLUSIONS

Because rates of NBS are likely to rise, integrated intensive pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions are needed to help patients with NBS go off and stay off opioids. These programs will likely also reduce comorbid psychopathology and lead to adequate pain control and improved quality of life.

Purinergic Signaling During Immune Cell Trafficking

Migration and positioning of immune cells is fundamental for their differentiation and recruitment at sites of infection. Besides the fundamental role played by chemokines and their receptors, recent studies demonstrate that a complex network of purinergic signaling events plays a key role in these trafficking events. This process includes the release of nucleotides (such as ATP and ADP) and subsequent autocrine and paracrine signaling events through nucleotide receptors. At the same time, surface-expressed ectoapyrases and nucleotidases convert extracellular nucleotides to adenosine, and adenosine signaling events play additional functional roles in leucocyte trafficking. In this review we revisit classical paradigms of inflammatory cell trafficking in the context of recent studies implicating purinergic signaling events in this process.

Igf1 and Pacap rescue cerebellar granule neurons from apoptosis via a common transcriptional program

A shift of the delicate balance between apoptosis and survival-inducing signals determines the fate of neurons during the development of the central nervous system and its homeostasis throughout adulthood. Both pathways, promoting or protecting from apoptosis, trigger a transcriptional program. We conducted whole-genome expression profiling to decipher the transcriptional regulatory elements controlling the apoptotic/survival switch in cerebellar granule neurons following the induction of apoptosis by serum and potassium deprivation or their rescue by either insulin-like growth factor-1 (Igf1) or pituitary adenylyl cyclase-activating polypeptide (Pacap). Although depending on different upstream signaling pathways, the survival effects of Igf1 and Pacap converged into common transcriptional cascades, thus suggesting the existence of a general transcriptional program underlying neuronal survival.

Transcriptional analysis of apoptotic cerebellar granule neurons following rescue by gastric inhibitory polypeptide

Apoptosis triggered by exogenous or endogenous stimuli is a crucial phenomenon to determine the fate of neurons, both in physiological and in pathological conditions. Our previous study established that gastric inhibitory polypeptide (Gip) is a neurotrophic factor capable of preventing apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs), during its pre-commitment phase. In the present study, we conducted whole-genome expression profiling to obtain a comprehensive view of the transcriptional program underlying the rescue effect of Gip in CGNs. By using DNA microarray technology, we identified 65 genes, we named survival related genes, whose expression is significantly de-regulated following Gip treatment. The expression levels of six transcripts were confirmed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The proteins encoded by the survival related genes are functionally grouped in the following categories: signal transduction, transcription, cell cycle, chromatin remodeling, cell death, antioxidant activity, ubiquitination, metabolism and cytoskeletal organization. Our data outline that Gip supports CGNs rescue via a molecular framework, orchestrated by a wide spectrum of gene actors, which propagate survival signals and support neuronal viability.

Effect of methamphetamine on the microglial damage: role of potassium channel Kv1.3

Methamphetamine (Meth) abusing represents a major public health problem worldwide. Meth has long been known to induce neurotoxicity. However, the mechanism is still remained poorly understood. Growing evidences indicated that the voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv) were participated in neuronal damage and microglia function. With the whole cell patch clamp, we found that Meth significantly increased the outward K⁺ currents, therefore, we explored whether Kv1.3, one of the major K⁺ channels expressed in microglia, was involved in Meth-induced microglia damage. Our study showed that Meth significantly increased the cell viability in a dose dependent manner, while the Kv blocker, tetraethylamine (TEA), 4-Aminopyridine (4-AP) and Kv1.3 specific antagonist margatoxin (MgTx), prevented against the damage mediated by Meth. Interestingly, treatment of cells with Meth resulted in increasing expression of Kv1.3 rather than Kv1.5, at both mRNA and protein level, which is partially blocked by MgTx. Furthermore, Meth also stimulated a significant increased expression of IL-6 and TNF-α at protein level, which was significantly inhibited by MgTx. Taken together, these results demonstrated that Kv1.3 was involved in Meth-mediated microglial damage, providing the potential target for the development of therapeutic strategies for Meth abuse.