技术资料

Increasing evidence suggests that the deposition of amyloid plaques,composed primarily of the amyloid-beta protein (Abeta),within the cerebrovasculature is a frequent occurrence in Alzheimer's disease and may play a significant role in disease progression. Accordingly,the pathogenic mechanisms by which Abeta can alter vascular function may have therapeutic implications. Despite observations that Abeta elicits a number of physiological responses in endothelial cells,ranging from alteration of protein expression to cell death,the Abeta species accountable for these responses remains unexplored. In the current study,we show that isolated soluble Abeta aggregation intermediates activate human brain microvascular endothelial cells for both adhesion and subsequent transmigration of monocyte cells in the absence of endothelial cell death and monolayer disruption. In contrast,unaggregated Abeta monomer and mature Abeta fibril fail to induce any change in endothelial adhesion or transmigration. Correlations between average Abeta aggregate size and observed increases in adhesion illustrate that smaller soluble aggregates are more potent activators of endothelium. These results support previous studies demonstrating heightened neuronal activity of soluble Abeta aggregates,including Abeta-derived diffusible ligands,oligomers,and protofibrils,and further show that soluble aggregates also selectively exhibit activity in a vascular cell model. View Publication

Definitive erythropoiesis occurs in islands composed of a central macrophage in contact with differentiating erythroblasts. Erythroid maturation including enucleation can also occur in the absence of macrophages both in vivo and in vitro. We reported previously that loss of Rb induces cell-autonomous defects in red cell maturation under stress conditions,while other reports have suggested that the failure of Rb-null erythroblasts to enucleate is due to defects in associated macrophages. Here we show that erythropoietic islands are disrupted by hypoxic stress,such as occurs in the Rb-null fetal liver,that Rb(-/-) macrophages are competent for erythropoietic island formation in the absence of exogenous stress and that enucleation defects persist in Rb-null erythroblasts irrespective of macrophage function. View Publication

Dendritic cells (DCs) act as a portal for invasion by human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1). Here,we investigated whether virion-incorporated host cell membrane proteins can affect virus replication in DC-T-cell cocultures. Using isogenic viruses either devoid of or bearing host-derived leukocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1),we showed that HIV-1 production is augmented when LFA-1-bearing virions are used compared to that for viral entities lacking this adhesion molecule. This phenomenon was observed in immature monocyte-derived DCs (IM-MDDCs) only and not in DCs displaying a mature phenotype. The increase is not due to higher virus production in responder CD4(+) T cells but rather is linked with a more important productive infection of IM-MDDCs. We provided evidence that virus-associated host LFA-1 molecules do not affect a late event in the HIV-1 life cycle but rather exert an effect on an early step in virus replication. We demonstrated that the enhancement of productive infection of IM-MDDCs that is conferred by virus-anchored host LFA-1 involves the protein kinase A (PKA) and PKC signal transduction pathways. The biological significance of this phenomenon was established by performing experiments with virus stocks produced in primary human cells and anti-LFA-1 antibodies. Together,our results indicate that the association between some virus-bound host proteins and their natural cognate ligands can modulate de novo HIV-1 production by IM-MDDCs. Therefore,the additional interactions between virus-bound host cell membrane constituents and counter receptors on the surfaces of DCs can influence HIV-1 replication in IM-MDDC-T-cell cocultures. View Publication

Mice lacking the zinc finger transcriptional repressor protein GFI-1 are neutropenic. These mice generate abnormal immature myeloid cells exhibiting characteristics of both macrophages and granulocytes. Furthermore,Gfi-1(-/-) mice are highly susceptible to bacterial infection. Interestingly,Gfi-1(-/-) myeloid cells overexpress target genes of the PU.1 transcription factor such as the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor and PU.1 itself. We therefore determined whether GFI-1 modulates the transcriptional activity of PU.1. Our data demonstrate that GFI-1 physically interacts with PU.1,repressing PU.1-dependent transcription. This repression is functionally significant,as GFI-1 blocked PU.1-induced macrophage differentiation of a multipotential hematopoietic progenitor cell line. Retroviral expression of GFI-1 in primary murine hematopoietic progenitors increased granulocyte differentiation at the expense of macrophage differentiation. We interbred Gfi-1(+/-) and PU.1(+/-) mice and observed that heterozygosity at the PU.1 locus partially rescued the Gfi-1(-/-) mixed myeloid lineage phenotype,but failed to restore granulocyte differentiation. Our data demonstrate that GFI-1 represses PU.1 activity and that lack of this repression in Gfi-1(-/-) myeloid cells contributes to the observed mixed lineage phenotype. View Publication

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP-1B) is a ubiquitously expressed cytosolic phosphatase with the ability to dephosphorylate JAK2 and TYK2,and thereby down-regulate cytokine receptor signaling. Furthermore,PTP-1B levels are up-regulated in certain chronic myelogenous leukemia patients,which points to a potential role for PTP-1B in myeloid development. The results presented here show that the absence of PTP-1B affects murine myelopoiesis by modifying the ratio of monocytes to granulocytes in vivo. This bias toward monocytic development is at least in part due to a decreased threshold of response to CSF-1,because the PTP-1B -/- bone marrow presents no abnormalities at the granulocyte-monocyte progenitor level but produces significantly more monocytic colonies in the presence of CSF-1. This phenomenon is not due to an increase in receptor levels but rather to enhanced phosphorylation of the activation loop tyrosine. PTP-1B -/- cells display increased inflammatory activity in vitro and in vivo through the constitutive up-regulation of activation markers as well as increased sensitivity to endotoxin. Collectively,our data indicate that PTP-1B is an important modulator of myeloid differentiation and macrophage activation in vivo and provide a demonstration of a physiological role for PTP-1B in immune regulation. View Publication

IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex plays a key regulatory role in macrophages for NF-kappaB activation during both innate and adaptive immune responses. Because IKK1-/- mice died at birth,we differentiated functional macrophages from embryonic day 15.5 IKK1 mutant embryonic liver. The embryonic liver-derived macrophage (ELDM) showed enhanced phagocytotic clearance of bacteria,more efficient antigen-presenting capacity,elevated secretion of several key proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines,and known NFkappaB target genes. Increased NFkappaB activity in IKK1 mutant ELDM was the result of prolonged degradation of IkappaBalpha in response to infectious pathogens. The delayed restoration of IkappaBalpha in pathogen-activated IKK1-/- ELDM was a direct consequence of uncontrolled IKK2 kinase activity. We hypothesize that IKK1 plays a checkpoint role in the proper control of IkappaBalpha kinase activity in innate and adaptive immunity. View Publication

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH),an iron overload disease associated with mutations in the HFE gene,is characterized by increased intestinal iron absorption and consequent deposition of excess iron,primarily in the liver. Patients with HH and Hfe-deficient (Hfe-/-) mice manifest inappropriate expression of the iron absorption regulator hepcidin,a peptide hormone produced by the liver in response to iron loading. In this study,we investigated the contribution of Hfe expression in macrophages to the regulation of liver hepcidin levels and iron loading. We used bone marrow transplantation to generate wild-type (wt) and Hfe-/- mice chimeric for macrophage Hfe gene expression. Reconstitution of Hfe-deficient mice with wt bone marrow resulted in augmented capacity of the spleen to store iron and in significantly decreased liver iron loading,accompanied by a significant increase of hepatic hepcidin mRNA levels. Conversely,wt mice reconstituted with Hfe-deficient bone marrow had a diminished capacity to store iron in the spleen but no significant alterations of liver iron stores or hepcidin mRNA levels. Our results suggest that macrophage Hfe participates in the regulation of splenic and liver iron concentrations and liver hepcidin expression. View Publication

Through the regulation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DM (DM) in B cells,HLA-DO (DO) modulates positively or negatively the presentation of specific peptides. Transduction of DO into human blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) has been proposed as a mean of modifying the peptide repertoire of major histocompatibility complex class II molecules. However,maturation of DC induced by inflammatory stimuli or possibly the adenoviral vector itself triggers acidification of vesicles and shuts down transcription of the class II transactivator gene as well as de novo biosynthesis of class II-related molecules and DM activity. In these conditions,it is unclear that transduced DO could alter the peptide repertoire. Our Western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that human DC derived from blood monocytes express small amounts of DOalpha. Transduction of DObeta alone resulted in the accumulation of a small pool of DO in DM(+) CD63(+) vesicles and at the plasma membrane of mature DC. The cell-surface increase in class II-associated invariant chain peptide (CLIP)/class II complexes is in line with an inhibitory role of DO on DM. Cotransduction of DOalpha and DObeta only slightly increased CLIP and DO levels at the cell surface. Together with the fact that a large fraction of transduced DO remains in the endoplasmic reticulum,this suggests that DM is limiting in these conditions. DO expression did not affect a mixed lymphocyte reaction but reduced presentation of the exogenous gp100 antigen to a specific T cell clone. These results show that transduced DO modulates antigen presentation in human mature MoDC,evoking the possible use of this chaperone for immunotherapy. View Publication

Mammalian presenilins (PS) consist of two highly homologous proteins,PS1 and PS2. Because of their indispensable activity in the gamma-secretase cleavage of amyloid precursor protein to generate Abeta peptides,inhibition of PS gamma-secretase activity is considered a potential therapy for Abeta blockage and Alzheimer's disease intervention. However,a variety of other substrates are also subject to PS-dependent processing,and it is thus imperative to understand the consequences of PS inactivation in vivo. Here we report a pivotal role of PS in hematopoiesis. Mice heterozygous for PS1 and homozygous for PS2 (PS1(+/)(-)PS2(-)(/)(-)) developed splenomegaly with severe granulocyte infiltration. This was preceded by an overrepresentation of granulocytic cells in the bone marrow and a greatly increased multipotent granulocyte-monocyte progenitor in the spleen. In contrast,hematopoietic stem cells and T- and B-lymphocytes were not affected. Importantly,treatment of wild-type splenocytes with a gamma-secretase inhibitor directly promoted the granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming unit (GM-CFU). These results establish a critical role of PS in myelopoiesis. Our finding that this activity can be directly modulated by its gamma-secretase activity has important safety implications concerning these inhibitors. View Publication

We have generated mice null for IFN-beta and report the diverse consequences of IFN-beta for both the innate and adaptive arms of immunity. Despite no abnormalities in the proportional balance of CD4 and CD8 T cell populations in the peripheral blood,thymus,and spleen of IFN-beta-/- mice,activated lymph node and splenic T lymphocytes exhibit enhanced T cell proliferation and decreased tumor necrosis factor alpha production,relative to IFN-beta+/+ mice. Notably,constitutive and induced expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha is reduced in the spleen and bone marrow (BM) macrophages,respectively,of IFN-beta-/- mice. We also observe an altered splenic architecture in IFN-beta-/- mice and a reduction in resident macrophages. We identify a potential defect in B cell maturation in IFN-beta-/- mice,associated with a decrease in B220+ve/high/CD43-ve BM-derived cells and a reduction in BP-1,IgM,and CD23 expression. Circulating IgM-,Mac-1-,and Gr-1-positive cells are also substantially decreased in IFN-beta-/- mice. The decrease in the numbers of circulating macrophages and granulocytes likely reflects defective maturation of primitive BM hematopoiesis in mice,shown by the reduction of colony-forming units,granulocyte-macrophage. We proceeded to evaluate the in vivo growth of malignant cells in the IFN-beta-/- background and give evidence that Lewis lung carcinoma-specific tumor growth is more aggressive in IFN-beta-/- mice. Taken altogether,our data suggest that,in addition to the direct growth-inhibitory effects on tumor cells,IFN-beta is required during different stages of maturation in the development of the immune system. View Publication