Rapid Up-regulation of IkappaBbeta and abrogation of NF-kappaB activity in peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration to mice elicited the activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in several tissues including liver and macrophages. Maximal activation was observed 1 h after treatment but declined at 3 and 6 h. The levels of IkappaBalpha and IkappaBbeta were analyzed during this period in an attempt to correlate NF-kappaB activity with IkappaB resynthesis. Degradation of IkappaBalpha was very rapid and was followed by recovery 1 h after LPS administration. IkappaBbeta degradation, which has been associated with persistent NF-kappaB activation, was complete at 1 h. However, a rapid recovery of IkappaBbeta in these tissues was observed at 3 h in parallel with the abrogation of NF-kappaB activity. Immunolocalization of newly synthesized IkappaBbeta by confocal microscopy revealed its preferential accumulation in the cytosol. Analysis of IkappaBbeta by Western blot using high resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed the presence of two bands in cytosolic extracts of LPS-treated macrophages at 3 h, but only one band with the same mobility as the control was detected at 6 h. Moreover, treatment of extracts of resynthesized IkappaBbeta with alkaline phosphatase resulted in the accumulation of the protein of slightly higher electrophoretic mobility, indicating the prevalence of a rapid phosphorylation of the newly synthesized IkappaBbeta. At the mRNA level, up-regulation of IkappaBbeta was observed in macrophages stimulated for 1 h with LPS. When the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines was investigated, tumor necrosis factor alpha, but not interleukin-1 or interferon-gamma, promoted an important degradation of IkappaBbeta followed by an increase in the mRNA at 1 h. These results suggest the existence of LPS- and tumor necrosis factor alpha- specific pathways involved in a rapid IkappaBbeta degradation and resynthesis and might explain the transient period of activation of NF-kappaB in these tissues upon stimulation with these factors. This rapid control of NF-kappaB function may contribute to the attenuation of the inflammatory response of these cells.     

Lipopolysaccharide inhibition of rat hepatic microsomal epoxide hydrolase and glutathione S-transferase gene expression irrespective of nuclear factor-kappaB activation

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an endotoxin involved in septic shock syndrome and potentiates toxicant-induced liver injury. The effects of LPS on the constitutive and inducible expression of hepatic microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes were studied in rats. Northern blot analysis showed that treatment of rats with LPS caused suppression in mEH and GST gene expression. The mEH mRNA level was decreased in a time-dependent manner following a single dose of LPS (1 mg/kg, i.v.), resulting in levels of 52%, 22%, 17%, and 94% of those in untreated animals at 2, 6, 12, and 24 hr, respectively. The levels of rGSTA2 and rGSTA3 mRNA were suppressed in response to an LPS injection to the similar extents as observed in mEH mRNA, whereas rGSTM1 and rGSTM2 mRNA levels were less affected. LPS inhibited mEH gene expression at the doses of 1 microg or greater. Whereas treatment of rats with allyl disulfide (ADS), oltipraz (OZ) or pyrazine (PZ) at the dose of 50 mg/kg caused increases in the mEH mRNA level at 12 hr, a concomitant LPS injection (1 mg/kg) resulted in 80%-95% suppression of the inducible gene expression. The inducible rGSTA2, rGSTA3, rGSTM1, and rGSTM2 mRNA levels were also 50%-90% decreased at 12 hr after LPS treatment, with the relative change in rGSTA being greater than that in rGSTM. Three consecutive daily treatments with LPS (10 microg/kg/day) resulted in significant decreases of the constitutive and PZ (50 mg/kg/day, i.p. for 3 days)-inducible mEH and GST mRNA levels, which were consistent with those in the protein levels. Gel shift retardation analysis showed that LPS substantially activated the hepatic nuclear p65/p50 nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) complex with the maximal effect observed at 1 hr at the doses of 1 microg/kg or greater. LPS-induced activation of nuclear NF-kappaB (1 microg/kg, i.v.) failed to be inhibited by concomitant treatment with the mEH and GST inducers, including ADS (300 mg/kg, p.o.), OZ (300 mg/kg, p.o.), and PZ (300 mg/kg, i.p.), indicating that NF-kappaB activation was not required for suppression of the gene expression by LPS. In contrast, GdCl3, an inhibitor of mEH and GST expression, inhibited LPS-induced activation of the p65/p50 NF-kappaB. These gel shift analyses provided evidence that LPS-induced activation of the NF-kappaB was not responsible for alterations in the gene expression. In summary, the results of this research demonstrate that LPS effectively inhibits constitutive and inducible mEH and GST expression with decreases in their mRNA levels, and that LPS suppression in the expression of the detoxifying enzymes is not mediated with its activation of NF-kappaB.     

Superoxide mediates cigarette smoke-induced infiltration of neutrophils into the airways through nuclear factor-kappaB activation and IL-8 mRNA expression in guinea pigs in vivo

We examined the hypothesis that superoxide mediates infiltration of neutrophils to the airways through nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and interleukin-8 (IL-8) after acute exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) in vivo. Male Hartley strain guinea pigs were exposed to air or 20 puffs of CS and killed 5 h after the exposure. The differential cell count of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and specific myeloperoxidase enzyme assay demonstrated that acute exposure to CS caused neutrophil accumulation to the airways and parenchyma, respectively. Acute exposure to CS increased DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB in the lung. Acute exposure to CS also increased IL-8 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the lung. Pretreatment of guinea pigs with recombinant human superoxide dismutase (rhSOD) aerosols reduced the CS-induced neutrophil accumulation to the airways. Both activation of NF-kappaB and increased IL-8 mRNA expression were also inhibited by the pretreatment of rhSOD aerosols. Strong immunoreactivities for p65 and p50 were detected in the nuclei of alveolar macrophages after acute exposure to CS. The signal for IL-8 mRNA expression was demonstrated in the alveolar space after acute exposure to CS. Neither significant immunoreactivities for p65 and p50 nor IL-8 mRNA signals were observed in airway epithelium. These observations suggest that acute exposure to CS initiates superoxide-dependent mechanism that, through NF-kappaB activation and IL-8 mRNA expression, produces infiltration of neutrophils to the airways in vivo. It was also suggested that the alveolar macrophage is one potential source of NF-kappaB activation and IL-8 mRNA expression after acute exposure to CS.     

The pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms of the involvement of the serotonin of the amygdaloid body in the reproduction of the conditioned passive avoidance reaction in rats

A previous study reported that intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression by human vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) is augmented by intracellular signal transmission mainly through the protein kinase C (PKC) system stimulated by TXA2 receptors. In the present study, we show that a TXA2 receptor agonist, U46619, augments the expression of not only ICAM-1, but also vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) or endothelial leucocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) in HUVEC both at protein and mRNA levels. Pretreatment with SQ29,548 (a TXA2 receptor antagonist) or PKC inhibitors greatly diminished the extent of U46619-induced mRNA accumulation and surface expression of the adhesion molecules. An inhibitor of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation, PDTC, diminishes U46619-induced VCAM-1 mRNA accumulation. NAC, which inhibits NF-kappaB and activation protein 1 (AP-1) binding activity, inhibits the expression of ICAM-1 or ELAM-1 at protein and mRNA levels. These findings suggest that ICAM-1 or ELAM-1 expression of HUVEC stimulated via TXA2 receptors is augmented by induction of NF-kappaB and AP-1 binding activity through the PKC system, and that VCAM-1 expression is augmented by induction of NF-kappaB binding activity.     

Differential regulation of endothelial cell adhesion molecule expression by nitric oxide donors and antioxidants

Although nitric oxide (NO) and antioxidants inhibit adhesion molecule expression, their inhibitory effects on nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation may differ. The NO donors, but not 8-bromo-cGMP, decreased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and E-selectin expression by 11-70%. In contrast, NAC completely abolished VCAM-1 and E-selectin expression and decreased ICAM-1 expression by 56%. Gel shift assays demonstrate that NF-kappaB activation was inhibited by both NO and antioxidants. The activation of NF-kappaB involves the phosphorylation and degradation of its cytoplasmic inhibitor IkappaB-alpha by 26S proteasomes. The 26S proteasome inhibitor MG132 prevented the degradation of phosphorylated IkappaB-alpha. NAC inhibited IkappaB kinase (IKK) activity and prevented IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation and degradation. In contrast, NO did not inhibit IKK activity, IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation, or IkappaB-alpha degradation. However, NO, but not antioxidants, induced IkappaB-alpha promoter activity. The inhibitory effects of NO on adhesion molecule expression, therefore, differs from that of antioxidants in terms of the mechanism by which NF-kappaB is inactivated.