Search

Sepsis claims an estimated 30 million episodes and 6 million deaths per year, and treatment options are rather limited. Human neutrophil peptides 1-3 (HNP1-3) are the most abundant neutrophil granule proteins but their neutrophil content varies because of unusually extensive gene copy number polymorphism. A genetic association study found that increased copy number of the HNP-encoding gene DEFA1/DEFA3 is a risk factor for organ dysfunction during sepsis development. However, direct experimental evidence demonstrating that these risk alleles are pathogenic for sepsis is lacking because the genes are present only in some primates and humans. Here, we generate DEFA1/DEFA3 transgenic mice with neutrophil-specific expression of the peptides. We show that mice with high copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 genes have more severe sepsis-related vital organ damage and mortality than mice with low copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 or wild-type mice, resulting from more severe endothelial barrier dysfunction and endothelial cell pyroptosis after sepsis challenge. Mechanistically, HNP-1 induces endothelial cell pyroptosis via P2X7 receptor-mediating canonical caspase-1 activation in a NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent manner. Based on these findings, we engineered a monoclonal antibody against HNP-1 to block the interaction with P2X7 and found that the blocking antibody protected mice carrying high copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 from lethal sepsis. We thus demonstrate that DEFA1/DEFA3 copy number variation strongly modulates sepsis development in vivo and explore a paradigm for the precision treatment of sepsis tailored by individual genetic information.

Sepsis claims an estimated 30 million episodes and 6 million deaths per year, and treatment options are rather limited. Human neutrophil peptides 1-3 (HNP1-3) are the most abundant neutrophil granule proteins but their neutrophil content varies because of unusually extensive gene copy number polymorphism. A genetic association study found that increased copy number of the HNP-encoding gene DEFA1/DEFA3 is a risk factor for organ dysfunction during sepsis development. However, direct experimental evidence demonstrating that these risk alleles are pathogenic for sepsis is lacking because the genes are present only in some primates and humans. Here, we generate DEFA1/DEFA3 transgenic mice with neutrophil-specific expression of the peptides. We show that mice with high copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 genes have more severe sepsis-related vital organ damage and mortality than mice with low copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 or wild-type mice, resulting from more severe endothelial barrier dysfunction and endothelial cell pyroptosis after sepsis challenge. Mechanistically, HNP-1 induces endothelial cell pyroptosis via P2X7 receptor-mediating canonical caspase-1 activation in a NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent manner. Based on these findings, we engineered a monoclonal antibody against HNP-1 to block the interaction with P2X7 and found that the blocking antibody protected mice carrying high copy number of DEFA1/DEFA3 from lethal sepsis. We thus demonstrate that DEFA1/DEFA3 copy number variation strongly modulates sepsis development in vivo and explore a paradigm for the precision treatment of sepsis tailored by individual genetic information.

Weitao Fu,1,* Lingfeng Chen,1,* Zhe Wang,1 Chengwei Zhao,1 Gaozhi Chen,1 Xing Liu,1 Yuanrong Dai,2 Yuepiao Cai,1 Chenglong Li,1,3 Jianmin Zhou,1 Guang Liang1 1Chemical Biology Research Center, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 3Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: It is recognized that myeloid differentiation protein 2 (MD-2), a coreceptor of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) for innate immunity, plays an essential role in activation of the lipopolysaccharide signaling pathway. MD-2 is known as a neoteric and suitable therapeutical target. Therefore, there is great interest in the development of a potent MD-2 inhibitor for anti-inflammatory therapeutics. Several studies have reported that xanthohumol (XN), an anti-inflammatory natural product from hops and beer, can block the TLR4 signaling by binding to MD-2 directly. However, the interaction between MD-2 and XN remains unknown. Herein, our work aims at characterizing interactions between MD-2 and XN. Using a combination of experimental and theoretical modeling analysis, we found that XN can embed into the hydrophobic pocket of MD-2 and form two stable hydrogen bonds with residues ARG-90 and TYR-102 of MD-2. Moreover, we confirmed that ARG-90 and TYR-102 were two necessary residues during the recognition process of XN binding to MD-2. Results from this study identified the atomic interactions between the MD-2 and XN, which will contribute to future structural design of novel MD-2-targeting molecules for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Keywords: myeloid differentiation 2, xanthohumol, binding mode, inflammation, molecular dynamics simulation&nbsp