Neutrophil-related factors as biomarkers in EAE and MS.

A major function of T helper (Th) 17 cells is to induce the production of factors that activate and mobilize neutrophils. Although Th17 cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), little attention has been focused on the role of granulocytes in those disorders. We show that neutrophils, as well as monocytes, expand in the bone marrow and accumulate in the circulation before the clinical onset of EAE, in response to systemic up-regulation of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and the ELR(+) CXC chemokine CXCL1. Neutrophils comprised a relatively high percentage of leukocytes infiltrating the central nervous system (CNS) early in disease development. G-CSF receptor deficiency and CXCL1 blockade suppressed myeloid cell accumulation in the blood and ameliorated the clinical course of mice that were injected with myelin-reactive Th17 cells. In relapsing MS patients, plasma levels of CXCL5, another ELR(+) CXC chemokine, were elevated during acute lesion formation. Systemic expression of CXCL1, CXCL5, and neutrophil elastase correlated with measures of MS lesion burden and clinical disability. Based on these results, we advocate that neutrophil-related molecules be further investigated as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in MS.

The lymphoid chemokine, CXCL13, is dispensable for the initial recruitment of B cells to the acutely inflamed central nervous system.

Cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy can occur in patients treated with the B cell depleting anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, highlighting the importance of B cell surveillance of the central nervous system (CNS). The lymphoid chemokine, CXCL13, is critical for B cell recruitment and functional organization of peripheral lymphoid tissues, and CXCL13 levels are often elevated in the inflamed CNS. To more directly investigate the role of CXCL13 in CNS B cell migration, its role in animal models of infectious and inflammatory demyelinating disease was examined. During acute alphavirus encephalitis where viral clearance depends on the local actions of anti-viral antibodies, CXCL13 levels and B cell numbers increased in brain tissue over time. Surprisingly, however, CXCL13-deficient animals showed normal CNS B cell recruitment, unaltered CNS virus replication and clearance, and intact peripheral anti-viral antibody responses. During experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), CNS levels of CXCL13 increased as symptoms emerged and equivalent numbers of B cells were identified among the CNS infiltrates of CXCL13-deficient mice compared to control animals. However, CXCL13-deficient mice did not sustain pathogenic anti-myelin T cell responses, consistent with their known propensity to develop more self-limited EAE. These data show that CXCL13 is dispensable for CNS B cell recruitment in both models. The disease course is unaffected by CXCL13 in a CNS infection paradigm that depends on a pathogen-specific B cell response, while it is heightened and prolonged by CXCL13 when myelin-specific CD4+ T cells drive CNS pathology. Thus, CXCL13 could be a therapeutic target in certain neuroinflammatory diseases, but not by blocking B cell recruitment to the CNS.

Phenotypic differences between mice deficient in XIAP and SAP, two factors targeted in X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP).

Mutations in the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) have recently been identified in patients with the rare genetic disease, X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP), which was previously thought to be solely attributable to mutations in a distinct gene, SAP. To further understand the roles of these two factors in the pathogenesis of XLP, we have compared mice deficient in Xiap with known phenotypes of Sap-null mice. We show here that in contrast to Sap-deficient mice, animals lacking Xiap have apparently normal NKT cell development and no apparent defect in humoral responses to T cell-dependent antigens. However, Xiap-deficient cells were more susceptible to death upon infection with the murine herpesvirus MHV-68 and gave rise to more infectious virus. These differences could be rescued by restoration of XIAP. These data provide insight into the differing roles of XIAP and SAP in the pathogenesis of XLP.

Cytoprotective effects of IAPs revealed by a small molecule antagonist.

Deregulated expression of members of the IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis) family has been identified in a wide variety of neoplastic cells, and synthetic IAP antagonists represent a promising novel class of chemotherapeutic agents. Early work focused on the ability of these compounds to block the caspase-inhibitory function of XIAP (X-linked IAP). However, recent studies have shown that IAP antagonists, although primarily designed to target XIAP, trigger ubiquitin-mediated degradation of two related proteins, c-IAP (cellular IAP) 1 and c-IAP2, and through this process potentiates the death of tumour cells via autocrine cellular-signalling pathways. In this context, the relative contribution of XIAP as a target of this class of compounds is unclear. In the present study, we examine the involvement of XIAP using a recently described synthetic IAP antagonist, AEG40730, and through comparison of a human XIAP-depleted tumour cell line with its isogenic wild-type control line. Treatment with nanomolar concentrations of AEG40730 resulted in the loss of both XIAP and c-IAP1 proteins, albeit with different kinetics. Although XIAP-deficient HCT116 cells retained some sensitivity to external apoptotic stimuli, the results suggest that IAP antagonists, such as AEG40730, exert their apoptosis-enhancing effects through XIAP in addition to the c-IAPs. These results indicate that IAP antagonists can target multiple IAPs to augment distinct pro-apoptotic signalling pathways, thereby revealing the potential for these compounds in cancer therapy and underscoring the promise of IAP-targeted therapies.

Apoptotic sensitivity of murine IAP-deficient cells.

Although numerous studies have implicated the IAPs (inhibitor of apoptosis proteins) in the control of apoptotic cell death, analyses of murine Iap-targeted cells have not revealed significant differences in their susceptibility to apoptosis. In the present study, we show that, under defined conditions, murine cells lacking XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis) and c-IAP (cellular IAP) 2, but not c-IAP1, exhibit heightened apoptotic sensitivity to both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic stimuli.

CD30 activates both the canonical and alternative NF-kappaB pathways in anaplastic large cell lymphoma cells.

CD30 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily whose expression is up-regulated on anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) cells. Many different outcomes of CD30 stimulation have been reported, including cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and activation of the prosurvival transcription factor, NF-kappaB, although this last activity is much less well defined in ALCL cells. In order to better understand the signaling properties of CD30 in cancer, we established a system for the stimulation of CD30 with its physiological ligand. Using this system, CD30 was stimulated on ALCL and HL cells, and the subsequent CD30 signaling properties were characterized. We show that a fraction of ALCL cells rapidly underwent apoptosis following CD30 stimulation, whereas HL cells were unaffected. The surviving ALCL cells exhibited robust activation of both the canonical and alternative NF-kappaB pathways as measured by nuclear translocation of RelA, p50, RelB, and p52, and this culminated in the transactivation of classical NF-kappaB-responsive genes. With prolonged CD30 stimulation, ALCL cells underwent cell cycle arrest that correlated with expression of the cell cycle inhibitor p21(waf1). Furthermore, p21(waf1) expression and cell cycle arrest were found to depend predominantly on the canonical NF-kappaB pathway, since it was reversed by RNA interference-mediated suppression of RelA. In contrast, suppression of the p100/p52 NF-kappaB subunit had little effect on p21(waf1). These data reveal that in ALCL cells, in contrast to other cell types, CD30 stimulation elicits p21(waf1)-mediated arrest through the canonical but not the alternative NF-kappaB pathway.

COMMD proteins, a novel family of structural and functional homologs of MURR1.

MURR1 is a multifunctional protein that inhibits nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), a transcription factor with pleiotropic functions affecting innate and adaptive immunity, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, and oncogenesis. Here we report the discovery of a new family of proteins with homology to MURR1. These proteins form multimeric complexes and were identified in a biochemical screen for MURR1-associated factors. The family is defined by the presence of a conserved and unique motif termed the COMM (copper metabolism gene MURR1) domain, which functions as an interface for protein-protein interactions. Like MURR1, several of these factors also associate with and inhibit NF-kappaB. The proteins designated as COMMD or COMM domain containing 1-10 are extensively conserved in multicellular eukaryotic organisms and define a novel family of structural and functional homologs of MURR1. The prototype of this family, MURR1/COMMD1, suppresses NF-kappaB not by affecting nuclear translocation or binding of NF-kappaB to cognate motifs; rather, it functions in the nucleus by affecting the association of NF-kappaB with chromatin.

VIAF, a conserved inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP)-interacting factor that modulates caspase activation.

Inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins are involved in the suppression of apoptosis, signal transduction, cell cycle control and gene regulation. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of viral IAP-associated factor (VIAF), a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed phosphoprotein with limited homology to members of the phosducin family that associates with baculovirus Op-IAP. VIAF bound Op-IAP both in vitro and in intact cells, with each protein displaying a predominantly cytoplasmic localization. VIAF lacks a consensus IAP binding motif, and overexpression of VIAF failed to prevent Op-IAP from protecting human cells from a variety of apoptotic stimuli, suggesting that VIAF does not function as an IAP antagonist. VIAF was unable to directly inhibit caspase activation in vitro and a reduction of VIAF protein levels by RNA interference led to a decrease in Bax-mediated caspase activation, suggesting that VIAF functions to co-regulate the apoptotic cascade. Finally, VIAF is a substrate for ubiquitination mediated by Op-IAP. Thus, VIAF is a novel IAP-interacting factor that functions in caspase activation during apoptosis.

Catecholamines in a macrophage cell line.

This study provides the first evidence for catecholamine synthesis and release in the RAW264.7 cell line, an important macrophage model. Although catecholamines were low in unstimulated cells, activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA and increased extracellular norepinephrine and intracellular dopamine within 48 h. The catecholamine synthesis inhibitor alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (alpha-mpt) decreased extracellular norepinephrine levels, suggesting release and rapid turnover of newly synthesized norepinephrine. High concentrations of dopamine or norepinephrine (>/=100 microM) decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis of macrophages. These anti-proliferative effects were prevented by simultaneous treatment with the anti-oxidant ascorbic acid. Pre-incubation with a glutathione synthesis inhibitor (L-buthionine-[S,R]-sulfoximine [L-BSO]) increased sensitivity to catecholamine-stimulated apoptosis, suggesting that glutathione protects macrophages from both endogenous and exogenous catecholamines.