Isolation and characterization of hemopoietic cells from lungs of allergic mice. Chest. 2003;123:345S-348S. [PMID: 12628969 DOI: 10.1016/s0012-3692(15)35201-6]

Odd couple: The unexpected partnership of glucocorticoid hormones and cysteinyl-leukotrienes in the extrinsic regulation of murine bone-marrow eosinopoiesis

Granulopoiesis in murine bone-marrow is regulated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors (including hormones, drugs, inflammatory mediators and cytokines). Eosinophils, a minor subpopulation of circulating leukocytes, which remains better understood in its contributions to tissue injury in allergic disease than in its presumably beneficial actions in host defense, provide a striking example of joint regulation of granulopoiesis within murine bone-marrow by all of these classes of extrinsic factors. We first described the upregulation of eosinopoiesis in bone-marrow of allergen-sensitized mice following airway allergen challenge. Over the last decade, we were able to show a critical role for endogenous glucocorticoid hormones and cytokines in mediating this phenomenon through modification of cytokine effects, thereby supporting a positive association between stress hormones and allergic reactions. We have further shown that cysteinyl-leukotrienes (CysLT), a major proinflammatory class of lipid mediators, generated through the 5-lipoxygenase pathway, upregulate bone-marrow eosinopoiesis in vivo and in vitro. CysLT mediate the positive effects of drugs (indomethacin and aspirin) and of proallergic cytokines (eotaxin/CCL11 and interleukin-13) on in vitro eosinopoiesis. While these actions of endogenous GC and CysLT might seem unrelated and even antagonistic, we demonstrated a critical partnership of these mediators in vivo, shedding light on mechanisms linking stress to allergy: GC are required for CysLT-mediated upregulation of bone-marrow eosinopoiesis in vivo, but also attenuate subsequent ex vivo responses to CysLT. GC and CysLT therefore work together to induce eosinophilia, but through subtle regulatory mechanisms also limit the magnitude of subsequent bone-marrow responses to allergen.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase/CD95L-dependent suppression of pulmonary and bone marrow eosinophilia by diethylcarbamazine

RATIONALE

The mechanism of action of diethylcarbamazine (DEC), an antifilarial drug effective against tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, remains controversial. DEC effects on microfilariae depend on inducible NO synthase (iNOS). In eosinophilic pulmonary inflammation, its therapeutic mechanism has not been established. We previously described the rapid up-regulation of bone marrow eosinophilopoiesis in ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice by airway allergen challenge, and further evidenced the down-regulation of eosinophilopoiesis by iNOS- and CD95L-dependent mechanisms.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated whether: (1) DEC can prevent the effects of airway challenge of sensitized mice on lungs and bone marrow, and (2) its effectiveness depends on iNOS/CD95L.

METHODS

OVA-sensitized BALB/c mice were intranasally challenged for 3 consecutive days, with DEC administered over a 12-, 3-, or 2-day period, ending at the day of the last challenge. We evaluated: (1) airway resistance, cytokine (IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5, and eotaxin) production, and pulmonary eosinophil accumulation; and (2) bone marrow eosinophil numbers in vivo and eosinophil differentiation ex vivo.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

DEC effectively prevented the effects of subsequent challenges on: (1) airway resistance, Th1/Th2 cytokine production, and pulmonary eosinophil accumulation; and (2) eosinophilopoiesis in vivo and ex vivo. Recovery from unprotected challenges included full responses to DEC during renewed challenges. DEC directly suppressed IL-5-dependent eosinophilopoiesis in naive bone marrow. DEC was ineffective in CD95L-deficient gld mice and in mice lacking iNOS activity because of gene targeting or pharmacological blockade.

CONCLUSIONS

DEC has a strong impact on pulmonary eosinophilic inflammation in allergic mice, as well as on the underlying hemopoietic response, suppressing the eosinophil lineage by an iNOS/CD95L-dependent mechanism.

CXCR2 mediates the recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells during allergic airways remodeling

Airway remodeling is a central feature of asthma and includes the formation of new peribronchial blood vessels, which is termed angiogenesis. In a number of disease models, bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been shown to contribute to the angiogenic response. In this study we set out to determine whether EPCs were recruited into the lungs in a model of allergic airways disease and to identify the factors regulating EPC trafficking in this model. We observed a significant increase in the number of peribronchial blood vessels at day 24, during the acute inflammatory phase of the model. This angiogenic response was associated with an increase in the quantity of EPCs recoverable from the lung. These EPCs formed colonies after 21 days in culture and were shown to express CD31, von Willebrand factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2, but were negative for CD45 and CD14. The influx in EPCs was associated with a significant increase in the proangiogenic factors VEGF-A and the CXCR2 ligands, CXCL1 and CXCL2. However, we show directly that, while the CXCL1 and CXCL2 chemokines can recruit EPCs into the lungs of allergen-sensitized mice, VEGF-A was ineffective in this respect. Further, the blockade of CXCR2 significantly reduced EPC numbers in the lungs after allergen exposure and led to a decrease in the numbers of peribronchial blood vessels after allergen challenge with no effect on inflammation. The data presented here provide in vivo evidence that CXCR2 is critical for both EPC recruitment and the angiogenic response in this model of allergic inflammation of the airways.

Haemopoietic processes in allergic disease: eosinophil/basophil development

Haemopoietic myeloid progenitors contribute to the ongoing recruitment of pro-inflammatory cells, such as eosinophils and basophils (Eo/B), to target tissue sites in allergic diseases. It is apparent that the development of allergic inflammation is critically dependent on the ability of the bone marrow to support the proliferation, differentiation and mobilization of haemopoietic progenitors. The haemopoietic inductive microenvironment in the bone marrow is crucial for providing signals necessary for maintenance of progenitor populations at varying stages of lineage commitment and permitting these cells to circulate in the bloodstream. Progenitors demonstrate responsiveness to specific cytokines, which varies with stage of differentiation. Pro-inflammatory signals, Th2 cytokines in particular, generated following allergen challenge, can impact on haemopoietic progenitor differentiation and mobilization, leading to accelerated Eo/B production. Allergen inhalation by allergic asthmatics induces a time-dependent change in cytokine levels within the bone marrow compartment, influencing differentiation of Eo/B progenitors, as evidenced by the relationship between increased bone marrow IL-5 levels and Eo/B production. It is proposed that inhaled allergen induces trafficking of IL-5-producing T lymphocytes to the bone marrow, further promoting eosinophilopoiesis through IL-5R signalling. In this manner, Th2 lymphocyte trafficking from the airway may regulate events occurring in the bone marrow. Negative regulators of Eo/B differentiation, including Th1 cytokines, may prove to be important for restoring homeostasis. Eo/B progenitors are also altered in cord blood of infants at risk of atopy and asthma, offering a potential biomarker for, and raising the possibility that Eo/B progenitors are directly involved in the development of allergic disease. For example, changes in the expression of haemopoietic cytokine receptors on cord blood progenitor cells are associated with maternal allergic sensitization, atopic risk and its development, suggesting that haemopoietic processes underlying the allergic phenotype may begin to evolve in the perinatal period.

Cells isolated from bone-marrow and lungs of allergic BALB/C mice and cultured in the presence of IL-5 are respectively resistant and susceptible to apoptosis induced by dexamethasone

We have previously reported that, in IL-5-stimulated bone-marrow cultures, dexamethasone upregulates eosinophil differentiation and protects developing eosinophils from apoptosis induced by a variety of agents. Recently developed procedures for the isolation of hemopoietic cells from allergic murine lungs have enabled us to evaluate how these cells respond to dexamethasone in IL-5-stimulated cultures, when compared with bone-marrow-derived cells isolated from the same donors, and whether differences in response patterns were linked to apoptosis. Ovalbumin challenge of sensitized mice increased significantly the numbers of mature leukocytes as well as hemopoietic cells recovered from digested lung fragments, relative to saline-challenged, sensitized controls. Both mature eosinophils and cells capable of differentiating into eosinophils in the presence of IL-5 were present in lungs from sensitized mice 24 h after airway challenge. Dexamethasone strongly inhibited eosinophil differentiation in IL-5-stimulated cultures of lung hemopoietic cells. By contrast, dexamethasone enhanced eosinophil differentiation in cultures of allergic bone-marrow cells, in identical conditions. Hemopoietic cells from lungs and bone-marrow were respectively susceptible and resistant to induction of apoptosis by dexamethasone. The dexamethasone-sensitive step was the response to IL-5 in culture, while accumulation of IL-5 responsive cells in allergen-challenged lungs was dexamethasone-resistant. Cells from lungs and bone-marrow, cultured for 3 days with IL-5 in the absence of dexamethasone, did not respond to a subsequent exposure to dexamethasone in the presence of IL-5. These findings confirm that IL-5-responsive hemopoietic cells found in challenged, sensitized murine lungs differ from those in bone-marrow, with respect to the cellular responses induced by dexamethasone, including apoptosis.