Modulating in vitro lung fibroblast activation via senolysis of senescent human alveolar epithelial cells.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an age-related disease with poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Activation of lung fibroblasts and differentiation to myofibroblasts are the principal effectors of disease pathology, but damage and senescence of alveolar epithelial cells, specifically type II (ATII) cells, has recently been identified as a potential trigger event for the progressive disease cycle. Targeting ATII senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) is an attractive therapeutic strategy; however, translatable primary human cell models that enable mechanistic studies and drug development are lacking. Here, we describe a novel system of conditioned medium (CM) transfer from bleomycin-induced senescent primary alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) onto normal human lung fibroblasts (NHLF) that demonstrates an enhanced fibrotic transcriptional and secretory phenotype compared to non-senescent AEC CM treatment or direct bleomycin damage of the NHLFs. In this system, the bleomycin-treated AECs exhibit classical hallmarks of cellular senescence, including SASP and a gene expression profile that resembles aberrant epithelial cells of the IPF lung. Fibroblast activation by CM transfer is attenuated by pre-treatment of senescent AECs with the senolytic Navitoclax and AD80, but not with the standard of care agent Nintedanib or senomorphic JAK-targeting drugs (e.g., ABT-317, ruxolitinib). This model provides a relevant human system for profiling novel senescence-targeting therapeutics for IPF drug development.

Utilizing a human TLR selective ligand in a humanized immune system mouse model to investigate human TLR4 signaling.

Mouse models with humanized immune systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in pharmaceutical research as a platform for preclinical testing with potential for greater translatability to clinical applications. However, the presence of both mouse and human cells that respond to TLR ligands poses a challenge for investigating therapeutic modalities targeting TLR signaling. AZ617 is a human TLR4 agonist, which has been shown in vitro to preferentially induce human cytokines via the TLR4 signaling pathway. We sought to examine the ability of AZ617 to preferentially induce human cytokines in CD34+ stem cell-engrafted NOG-EXL mice (huNOG-EXL), to determine its suitability as an in vivo human functional readout. AZ617 elicited a strong human TNFα and IL-6 response in vivo that demonstrated a 10- and 5-fold preference, respectively, over the mouse TNFα and IL-6. To assess efficacy of inhibiting a key protein in the TLR4 signaling pathway, PF-06650833, a small molecule inhibitor of IRAK4, was used as a tool molecule. PF-0660833 was found to effectively inhibit AZ617-induced human TNFα release in vitro. Likewise, PF-06650833 reduced AZ617-induced human TNFα in the huNOG-EXL mouse model, with a weaker effect on human IL-6. A longitudinal study tracking functionality of monocytes revealed that the ability of monocytes to respond to ex vivo stimuli was increased by 21 weeks after engraftment. Taken together, our data suggests that human selective TLR ligands could preferentially drive cytokine production from human cells in huNOG-EXL mice. This model will allow for investigation of pharmacological inhibition of human TLR signaling pathways in an in vivo model system.

Itaconate and itaconate derivatives target JAK1 to suppress alternative activation of macrophages.

The Krebs cycle-derived metabolite itaconate and its derivatives suppress the inflammatory response in pro-inflammatory "M1" macrophages. However, alternatively activated "M2" macrophages can take up itaconate. We therefore examined the effect of itaconate and 4-octyl itaconate (OI) on M2 macrophage activation. We demonstrate that itaconate and OI inhibit M2 polarization and metabolic remodeling. Examination of IL-4 signaling revealed inhibition of JAK1 and STAT6 phosphorylation by both itaconate and OI. JAK1 activation was also inhibited by OI in response to IL-13, interferon-ß, and interferon-γ in macrophages and in T helper 2 (Th2) cells. Importantly, JAK1 was directly modified by itaconate derivatives at multiple residues, including cysteines 715, 816, 943, and 1130. Itaconate and OI also inhibited JAK1 kinase activity. Finally, OI treatment suppressed M2 macrophage polarization and JAK1 phosphorylation in vivo. We therefore identify itaconate and OI as JAK1 inhibitors, suggesting a new strategy to inhibit JAK1 in M2 macrophage-driven diseases.

The Doubletime Homolog KIN-20 Mainly Regulates let-7 Independently of Its Effects on the Period Homolog LIN-42 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) heterochronic pathway, which regulates developmental timing, is thought to be an ancestral form of the circadian clock in other organisms. An essential member of this clock is the Period protein whose homolog, lin-42, in C. elegans is an important heterochronic gene. LIN-42 functions as a transcriptional repressor of multiple genes including the conserved lin-4 and let-7 microRNAs. Like other Period proteins, levels of LIN-42 oscillate throughout development. In other organisms this cycling is controlled in part by phosphorylation. KIN-20 is the C. elegans homolog of the Drosophila Period protein kinase Doubletime. Worms containing a large deletion in kin-20 have a significantly smaller brood size and develop slower than wild type C. elegans Here we analyze the effect of kin-20 on lin-42 phenotypes and microRNA expression. We find that kin-20 RNAi enhances loss-of-function lin-42 mutant phenotypes and that kin-20 mutant worms express lower levels of LIN-42 We also show that kin-20 is important for post-transcriptional regulation of mature let-7 and lin-4 microRNA expression. In addition, the increased level of let-7 found in lin-42(n1089) mutant worms is not maintained after kin-20 RNAi treatment. Instead, let-7 is further repressed when levels of kin-20 and lin-42 are both decreased. Altogether these results suggest that though kin-20 regulates lin-42 and let-7 microRNA, it mainly affects let-7 microRNA expression independently of lin-42 These findings further our understanding of the mechanisms by which these conserved circadian rhythmic genes interact to ultimately regulate rhythmic processes, developmental timing and microRNA biogenesis in C. elegans.

Circulating MicroRNAs: Association with Lung Function in Asthma.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs are key transcriptional and network regulators previously associated with asthma susceptibility. However, their role in relation to asthma severity has not been delineated. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that circulating microRNAs could serve as biomarkers of changes in lung function in asthma patients. METHODS: We isolated microRNAs from serum samples obtained at randomization for 160 participants of the Childhood Asthma Management Program. Using a TaqMan microRNA array containing 754 microRNA primers, we tested for the presence of known asthma microRNAs, and assessed the association of the individual microRNAs with lung function as measured by FEV1/FVC, FEV1% and FVC%. We further tested the subset of FEV1/FVC microRNAs for sex-specific and lung developmental associations. RESULTS: Of the 108 well-detected circulating microRNAs, 74 (68.5%) had previously been linked to asthma susceptibility. We found 22 (20.3%), 4 (3.7%) and 8 (7.4%) microRNAs to be associated with FEV1/FVC, FEV1% and FVC%, respectively. 8 (of 22) FEV1/FVC, 3 (of 4) FEV1% and 1 (of 8) FVC% microRNAs had functionally validated target genes that have been linked via genome wide association studies to asthma and FEV1 change. Among the 22 FEV1/FVC microRNAs, 9 (40.9%) remain associated with FEV1/FVC in boys alone in a sex-stratified analysis (compared with 3 FEV1/FVC microRNAs in girls alone), 7 (31.8%) were associated with fetal lung development, and 3 (13.6%) in both. Ontology analyses revealed enrichment for pathways integral to asthma, including PPAR signaling, G-protein coupled signaling, actin and myosin binding, and respiratory system development. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating microRNAs reflect asthma biology and are associated with lung function differences in asthmatics. They may represent biomarkers of asthma severity.

SinR is a mutational target for fine-tuning biofilm formation in laboratory-evolved strains of Bacillus subtilis.

BACKGROUND: Bacteria often form multicellular, organized communities known as biofilms, which protect cells from a variety of environmental stresses. During biofilm formation, bacteria secrete a species-specific matrix; in Bacillus subtilis biofilms, the matrix consists of protein polymers and exopolysaccharide. Many domesticated strains of B. subtilis have a reduced ability to form biofilms, and we conducted a two-month evolution experiment to test whether laboratory culturing provides selective pressure against biofilm formation in B. subtilis. RESULTS: Bacteria grown in two-month-long batch culture rapidly diversified their biofilm-forming characteristics, exhibiting highly diverse colony morphologies on LB plates in the initial ten days of culture. Generally, this diversity decreased over time; however, multiple types of colony morphology remained in our final two-month-old populations, both under shaking and static conditions. Notably, while our final populations featured cells that produce less biofilm matrix than did the ancestor, cells overproducing biofilm matrix were present as well. We took a candidate-gene approach to identify mutations in the strains that overproduced matrix and found point mutations in the biofilm-regulatory gene sinR. Introducing these mutations into the ancestral strain phenocopied or partially phenocopied the evolved biofilm phenotypes. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that standard laboratory culturing conditions do not rapidly select against biofilm formation. Although biofilm matrix production is often reduced in domesticated bacterial strains, we found that matrix production may still have a fitness benefit in the laboratory. We suggest that adaptive specialization of biofilm-forming species can occur through mutations that modulate biofilm formation as in B. subtilis.