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Objective: A recent study from our research group showed that repeated exposure to low-level formaldehyde (FA) increases the production of nerve growth factor, involving the survival and maintenance of neurons, in the hippocampus of immunized mice. In the present study, we examined the effects of FA on apoptotic mechanisms regulating survival and death of cells and on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors related to hippocampal functions in the mouse hippocampus., Methods: Western blot analyses were performed for Bcl-2, Bax and NMDA receptor subtypes 2A and 2B of the hippocampus taken from C3H mice exposed to 0 or 400 ppb of FA with or without ovalbumin (OVA) immunization. Immunohistochemical analysis for active caspase-3 was also carried out for these mice., Results: The ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax expression levels significantly increased with 400-ppb FA exposure in OVA-immunized mice but not in mice without OVA immunization, although differences in each protein level were not significant among groups. Active caspase- 3-immunoreactive cells were found in the hippocampus. However, the number was only a few and not significantly affected by FA exposure and OVA immunization. NMDA receptor type 2A and 2B expression levels of FA-exposed mice were sustained at comparative levels with those for the control mice with or without OVA immunization., Conclusions: These results indicate that changes in the Bcl-2/Bax expression ratio, which occurs with low-level FA exposure and immunization and may follow enhancement of nerve growth factor production, exerts a protective effect against cell death by apoptosis.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, provides a way to remove redundant cells at the end of their lifespan and thus acts as a homeostatic mechanism, maintaining the correct number of cells in the body by balancing their production and death. In the testis, this process seemed to play a pivotal role in spermatogenesis. It is generally accepted that Sertoli cells control the germ cell population through one of the best-known apoptotic pathways, the Fas/Fas L paracrine signal transduction system, in which a Fas ligand (Fas L) expressed by Sertoli cells induces apoptosis when it binds with its receptor, Fas, expressed by the germ cells. Recently, we demonstrated the presence of Fas antigen in normal ejaculated spermatozoa from fertile bulls and suggested that this molecule might have a non-apoptotic, defensive role against injuries, especially oxidative stress. We have now investigated whether bull mature, fertile spermatozoa express not only the Fas receptor but also its natural ligand Fas L. Our results indicate that the whole sperm population expresses Fas L. We suggest that Fas L in bull spermatozoa, like in murine spermatozoa, might be able to kill activated lymphocytes and protect the male gamete from damage by the self-immune system or the cytotoxic activity of leukocytes in the female genital tract.

Background: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is crucial for the control of mycobacterial infection as TNF deficient (KO) die rapidly of uncontrolled infection with necrotic pneumonia. Here we investigated the role of membrane TNF for host resistance in knock-in mice with a non-cleavable and regulated allele (mem-TNF)., Methods: C57BL/6, TNF KO and mem-TNF mice were infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb at 100 CFU by intranasal administration) and the survival, bacterial load, lung pathology and immunological parameters were investigated. Bone marrow and lymphocytes transfers were used to test the role of membrane TNF to confer resistance to TNF KO mice., Results: While TNF-KO mice succumbed to infection within 4-5 weeks, mem-TNF mice recruited normally T cells and macrophages, developed mature granuloma in the lung and controlled acute Mtb infection. However, during the chronic phase of infection mem-TNF mice succumbed to disseminated infection with necrotic pneumonia at about 150 days. Reconstitution of irradiated TNF-KO mice with mem-TNF derived bone marrow cells, but not with lymphocytes, conferred host resistance to Mtb infection in TNF-KO mice., Conclusion: Membrane expressed TNF is sufficient to allow cell-cell signalling and control of acute Mtb infection. Bone marrow cells, but not lymphocytes from mem-TNF mice confer resistance to infection in TNF-KO mice. Long-term infection control with chronic inflammation likely disrupting TNF mediated cell-cell signalling, additionally requires soluble TNF.

Acute or chronic glaucoma is often associated with an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP). In many patients, however, therapeutic pressure reduction does not halt disease progression. Neuroprotection has been proposed as a complementary therapeutic approach. We previously demonstrated effective T-cell-based neuroprotection in experimental animals vaccinated with the synthetic copolymer glatiramer acetate (copolymer-1, Cop-1), a weak agonist of self-antigens. This study was undertaken to test different routes and modes of vaccination with Cop-1 as treatment modalities for protection against retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death caused by chronic elevation of IOP in rats, and to determine whether anatomical neuroprotection is accompanied by functional neuroprotection. In a chronic model of unilaterally high IOP, Cop-1 vaccination, with or without an adjuvant, protected rats against IOP-induced loss of RGCs by eliciting a systemic T-cell-mediated response capable of cross-reacting with self-antigens residing in the eye. In rats deprived of T cells, Cop-1 (unlike treatment with alpha2-adrenoreceptor agonists) was not protective of RGCs, substantiating the contention that its beneficial effect is not conferred directly but is T-cell-mediated. Pattern electroretinography provided evidence of functional protection. Thus, vaccination with adjuvant-free Cop-1 can protect RGCs from the consequences of elevated IOP in rats. This protection is manifested both morphologically and functionally. These findings can be readily implemented for the development of a therapeutic vaccination to arrest the progression of glaucoma.

Complement is implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and trauma. The anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a are thought to be the major contributors to complement-mediated inflammation in the CNS, likely mediating their effects via their ability to attract and activate leukocytes and common capacity to augment inflammation. For example, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the animal model of multiple sclerosis, CNS-specific expression of C3a in C3a/GFAP transgenic mice renders them prone to massive cellular infiltration of the CNS and increases their mortality. In contrast, other studies have suggested that C3a can function in an anti-inflammatory fashion in the CNS, by inducing neurotrophin production and preventing NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity. To further investigate the seemingly paradoxical role of C3a in acute inflammation of the brain, we studied the pathogenesis of endotoxin shock in C3a/GFAP transgenic, C3a receptor-deficient (C3aR-/-) and C3a/GFAPxC3aR-/- mutant mice. Here we report that C3a/GFAP mice were significantly more resistant to endotoxin-induced lethality than wild-type and C3aR-/- mice. Surprisingly, C3a/GFAPxC3aR-/- hybrids were also significantly protected, indicating that C3a exerts its protective anti-inflammatory effect either directly or via an as yet unidentified non-canonical C3aR.

Background: Reactive oxygen species and tissue remodeling regulators, such as metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs), are thought to be involved in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. We investigated these factors in the fibrotic response to bleomycin of p47phox -/- (KO) mice, deficient for ROS production through the NADPH-oxidase pathway., Methods: Mice are administered by intranasal instillation of 0.1 mg bleomycin. Either 24 h or 14 days after, mice were anesthetized and underwent either bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) or lung removal., Results: BAL cells from bleomycin treated WT mice showed enhanced ROS production after PMA stimulation, whereas no change was observed with BAL cells from p47phox -/- mice. At day 1, the bleomycin-induced acute inflammatory response (increased neutrophil count and MMP-9 activity in the BAL fluid) was strikingly greater in KO than wild-type (WT) mice, while IL-6 levels increased significantly more in the latter. Hydroxyproline assays in the lung tissue 14 days after bleomycin administration revealed the absence of collagen deposition in the lungs of the KO mice, which had significantly lower hydroxyproline levels than the WT mice. The MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio did not change at day 1 after bleomycin administration in WT mice, but increased significantly in the KO mice. By day 14, the ratio fell significantly from baseline in both strains, but more in the WT than KO strains., Conclusions: These results suggest that NADPH-oxidase-derived ROS are essential to the development of pulmonary fibrosis. The absence of collagen deposition in KO mice seems to be associated with an elevated MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio in the lungs. This finding highlights the importance of metalloproteinases and protease/anti-protease imbalances in pulmonary fibrosis.

Bioprospecting and natural products drug development for cancer treatment has become an important area. Most of the cancer chemotherapeutic agents are associated with toxicity towards normal cells and tissues. Optimal dosing of cancer chemotherapeutic agents is often limited because of severe non-myelosuppressive and myelosuppressive toxicities. It is a continuing challenge to design therapy that is safer, effective and selective. Cytoprotective agents offer opportunities to reduce treatment related toxicity of anticancer therapy without diminution of efficacy. None of the available agents satisfy criteria for an ideal cytoprotection. This has stimulated research for discovering natural resources with immunomodulatory and cytoprotective activities. This article describes chemical agents presently employed in clinical practice and reviews ethnopharmacological agents reported to have chemoprotective, radioprotective, immunomodulating, adaptogenic and antitumour activities.

Inflammation and oxidative stress play important roles in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. Inflammatory/oxidant-mediated induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is believed to be a cytoprotective response. This study examined HO-1 expression in lung samples from patients with CF using immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In addition, we evaluated myeloperoxidase staining as a marker of acute inflammation and potentially an increase in oxidant stress and Prussian blue and ferritin staining to assess iron status of the lung. Macrophage HO-1 staining was increased in diseased lungs as compared with normal control subjects and correlated with myeloperoxidase staining. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction further supported an increase in HO-1 expression in CF lung disease. Although iron staining was minimal, ferritin staining was increased in diseased lungs in concert with HO-1 staining. To determine whether HO-1 induction was cytoprotective, we evaluated a CF airway epithelial cell line, IB3.1, in response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa-induced injury/apoptosis in cells overexpressing HO-1 by either transient or stable transfection of pcDNA3.1/HO-1 construct. Overexpression of HO-1 resulted in protection against P. aeruginosa-induced injury/apoptosis. This suggests that the induction of HO-1 in patients with CF is a cytoprotective event and that augmenting its expression is a potential therapy against bacterial injury.

Our laboratory discovered that CD4-positive (CD4+) T cells of the immune system convey transitory neuroprotection to injured mouse facial motoneurons (FMNs) (Serpe et al., 1999, 2000, 2003). A fundamental question in the mechanisms responsible for neuroprotection concerns the identity of the cell(s) that serves as the antigen-presenting cell (APC) to activate the CD4+ T cells. Here, we first establish that CD4+ T cells reactive to non-CNS antigen fail to support FMN survival and, second, demonstrate a two-compartment model of CD4+ T cell activation. Mouse bone marrow (BM) chimeras were developed that discriminate between resident antigen-presenting host cell and BM-derived antigen-presenting donor cell expression of major histocompatibility complex II within central and peripheral compartments, respectively. After facial nerve transection, neither compartment alone is sufficient to result in activated CD4+ T cell-mediated FMN survival. Rather, CD4+ T cell-mediated neuroprotection appears to depend on both resident microglial cells in the central compartment and a BM-derived APC in the peripheral compartment. This is the first in vivo report demonstrating a neuroprotective mechanism requiring APC functions by resident (i.e., parenchymal) microglial cells.

IL-11 can reduce tissue injury in animal models of inflammation but the mechanism(s) is unknown. When C.B-17 SCID/beige mice bearing human skin grafts are injected i.p. with human PBMC allogeneic to the donor skin, infiltrating T cells destroy human microvessels by day 21. Intradermal injection of human IL-11 (500 ng/day) delays the time course of graft microvessel loss without reducing the extent of T cell infiltration. Protective actions of IL-11 are most pronounced on day 15. IL-11 has no effect on T cell activation marker, effector molecule, cytokine expression, or endothelial ICAM-1 expression. IL-11 up-regulates the expression of survivin, a cytoprotective protein, in graft keratinocytes and endothelial cells. Topical application of survivin antisense oligonucleotide down-regulates survivin expression in both cell types and largely abrogates the protective effect of IL-11. We conclude that in this human transplant model, IL-11 exerts a cytoprotective rather than anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory effect mediated through induction of survivin.

Background and Purpose: Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier during stroke allows central nervous system antigens to leak into the systemic circulation and allows circulating leukocytes access to the brain. Encounter of central nervous system antigens by the peripheral immune system can be capitalized on to modulate the postischemic inflammatory response and potentially improve outcome from stroke., Methods: Male Lewis rats were tolerized to myelin basic protein (MBP) or ovalbumin (OVA) and subjected to 3 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or used as splenocyte donors for immunologically naive animals undergoing MCAO. Infarct size was determined at 24 hours by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. In separate studies, mononuclear cells were removed from the brains of animals after MCAO for enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay and flow cytometry., Results: Median infarct volume in animals tolerized to MBP and those receiving splenocytes from MBP-tolerized donors was less than in animals tolerized to OVA and those receiving splenocytes from OVA-tolerized donors (87.7+/-54.9 versus 148+/-61.6 mm3 [P=0.01] and 89.2+/-77.5 versus 153+/-77.1 mm3 [P=0.05], respectively). There was an increase in the number of transforming growth factor-beta1-secreting mononuclear cells in MBP-tolerized animals undergoing sham surgery (P=0.001) as well as in ischemic animals 48 hours (P=0.02) and 336 hours (P=0.04) after stroke. A distinct subset of gammadelta T cells was present in the brains of MBP-tolerized but not control animals after stroke., Conclusions: Immunologic tolerance and its neuroprotective effects can be transferred to naive animals and appear to be related to antigen-specific induction of transforming growth factor-beta1.

Transplantation of an excessive number of islets of Langerhans (two to four pancreata per recipient) into patients with type I diabetes is required to restore euglycemia. Hypoxia, nutrient deprivation, local inflammation, and the beta cell inflammatory response (up-regulation of NF-kappaB-dependent genes such as inos) result in beta cell destruction in the early post-transplantation period. Genetic engineering of islets with anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic genes may prevent beta cell loss and primary nonfunction. We have shown in vitro that A20 inhibits NF-kappaB activation in islets and protects from cytokine- and death receptor-mediated apoptosis. In vivo, protection of newly transplanted islets would reduce the number of islets required for successful transplantation. Transplantation of 500 B6/AF(1) mouse islets into syngeneic, diabetic recipients resulted in a cure rate of 100% within 5 days. Transplantation of 250 islets resulted in a cure rate of only 20%. Transplantation of 250 islets overexpressing A20 resulted in a cure rate of 75% with a mean time to cure of 5.2 days, comparable to that achieved with 500 islets. A20-expressing islets preserve functional beta cell mass and are protected from cell death. These data demonstrate that A20 is an ideal cytoprotective gene therapy candidate for islet transplantation.

Background: Intestinal ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury may result in development of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). The interactions between activated leukocytes and endothelial cells, mediated by adhesion molecules, seem to be pivotal in these conditions, leading as they do to extravasation of circulating leukocytes within the inflamed tissue. The intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) mediating firm adhesion of activated leukocytes is upregulated in many organs after I/R injury, but the regulatory mechanisms are complex and have not been fully investigated., Methods: We evaluated whether ICAM-1 expression was linked with a potential protective effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and the platelet activating factor (PAF) inhibitor (Lexipafant), administered 15 min after the start of reperfusion, in a model of intestinal ischemia (40 min) and reperfusion (12 h) in the rat., Results: ICAM-1 expression increased significantly in the ileum, colon, lungs and pancreas after intestinal I/R. Treatments with NAC and the PAF inhibitor did not affect this response. An increased endothelial albumin-leakage was observed in the same organs after I/R. Treatment with NAC reduced the endothelial leakage of albumin in the ileum, colon and lungs, whereas administration of the PAF inhibitor alone demonstrated a protective effect only in the ileum. Furthermore, neutrophil sequestration in the lungs and IL-1beta levels in plasma increased significantly after I/R, and these changes were markedly reduced by both treatment regimes., Conclusion: The protective effect of NAC and the PAF inhibitor Lexipafant in intestinal I/R injury is not due to a decreased expression of ICAM-1.

Objective: Life-threatening conditions cause severe changes in the organization and conformation of macromolecules, creating urgent requirements for protein repair to ensure survival. As molecular chaperones, heat shock proteins (HSP) that have specialized functions in protein folding are now well established to restore homeostasis in cells and organisms. Augmentation of HSP synthesis is tightly regulated by stress-inducible heat shock factors (HSF), which are part of a transcriptional signaling cascade with both positive (e.g., HSP) and negative (e.g., proinflammatory cytokines) properties. In this review, we discuss the biological roles and mechanisms of HSP-mediated protection in pathophysiologic conditions (ischemia, sepsis, and preeclampsia) and the regulation for stress-dependent HSP synthesis and speculate about future applications for harnessing HSF and HSP partners as cytoprotective agents., Data Sources: Reactive oxygen species are major pathogenic factors in cell death pathways (e.g., necrosis, apoptosis), in part, because of proteotoxic effects. In intact organisms, forced overexpression of HSP per se affords effective counterbalance against ischemia challenges (e.g., heart and brain) and systemic conditions (e.g., sepsis). Besides stressful conditions, gene-targeting studies have uncovered new functions for heat shock transcription factors (e.g., maintenance of intrauterine pregnancy) in mammals. In parallel, pharmacologic studies using small molecules are paving the way for future prospects to exploit the beneficial properties of HSP, albeit an important but presently elusive goal., Conclusions: Together, HSF and HSP partners are attractive targets in therapeutic strategies designed to stimulate endogenous protective mechanisms against deleterious consequences of oxidative stress. With further technological advances, it is anticipated that the spotlight on HSP, alone or in combination with other stress response pathways, could, ultimately, reduce injury and accelerate functional recovery of susceptible organs in living organisms including humans.

Heat and a variety of other stressors cause mammalian cells and tissues to acquire cytoprotection. This transient state of altered cellular physiology is nonproliferative and antiapoptotic. In this study, male Wistar rats were stress conditioned with either stannous chloride or gallium nitrate, which have immunosuppressive effects in vivo and in vitro, or heat shock, the most intensively studied inducer of cytoprotection. The early stages of inflammation in response to topical suffusion of mesentery tissue with formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) were monitored using intravital microscopy. Microvascular hemodynamics (venular diameter, red blood cell velocity [Vrbc], white blood cell [WBC] flux, and leukocyte-endothelial adhesion [LEA]) were used as indicators of inflammation, and tissue levels of inducible Hsp70, determined using immunoblot assays, provided a marker of cytoprotection. None of the experimental treatments blocked decreases in WBC flux during FMLP suffusion, an indicator of increased low-affinity interactions between leukocytes and vascular endothelium known as rolling adhesion. During FMLP suffusion LEA, an indicator of firm attachment between leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells increased in placebo and gallium nitrate-treated animals but not in heat- and stannous chloride-treated animals, an anti-inflammatory effect. Hsp70 was not detected in aortic tissue from placebo and gallium nitrate-treated animals, indicating that Hsp70-dependent cytoprotection was not present. In contrast, Hsp70 was detected in aortic tissues from heat- and stannous chloride-treated animals, indicating that these tissues were in a cytoprotected state that was also an anti-inflammatory state.

In vitro and ex vivo tissue models provide a useful level of biological organization for cytoprotection studies positioned between cultured cells and intact animals. We have used 2 such models, primary tissue cultures of winter flounder renal secretory epithelium and ex vivo preparations of rat intestinal tissues, the latter to access the microcirculation of exposed mesentery tissues. Herein we discuss studies indicating that differentiated functions are altered in thermotolerant or cytoprotected tissues. These functions include transepithelial transport in renal epithelium and attachment and transmigration of leukocytes across vascular endothelium in response to mediators of inflammation. Evidence pointing to inflammation as a major venue for the heat shock response in vertebrates continues to mount. One such venue is wound healing. Heat shock proteins are induced early in wound responses, and some are released into the extracellular wound fluid where they appear to function as proinflammatory cytokines. However, within responding cells in the wound, heat shock proteins contribute to the acquisition of a state of cytoprotection that protects cells from the hostile environment of the wound, an environment created to destroy pathogens and essentially sterilize the wound. We propose that the cytoprotected state is an anti-inflammatory state that contributes to limiting the inflammatory response; that is, it serves as a brake on inflammation.

GluR3 autoantibodies have been implicated in the development of Rasmussen's encephalitis, a rare neurodegenerative disease of humans characterized by epilepsy and degeneration of a single cerebral hemisphere. GluR3 autoantibodies are found in some Rasmussen's encephalitis patients, and GluR3 antibodies raised in rabbits destroy cultured cortical cells in a complement-dependent manner. In this study, the cellular targets of anti-GluR3 antisera-mediated cytotoxicity were examined in mixed primary neuronal-glial cultures of rat cortex. Unexpectedly, astrocytes were the principal target of the cytotoxic effects as assessed by immunohistochemistry and lactate dehydrogenase activity; neurons were destroyed to a lesser extent. Astrocyte vulnerability was rescued by transfection with complement regulatory proteins, and neuronal resistance was defeated by impairing complement regulatory protein function. Astrocyte death may occur in Rasmussen's encephalitis, and destruction of this cell type may play a critical role in the progression of this disorder. The present findings suggest complement regulatory protein expression may in part determine the nature and severity of Rasmussen's encephalitis and other complement-dependent nervous system diseases and thus underscore the need for a systematic investigation of the expression of all known complement regulatory proteins in healthy and diseased nervous system tissues.

The immunomodulatory potential of thymulin in the perinatal epithelium is not well characterized. In an in vitro model of fetal alveolar type II epithelial cells, we investigated the exhibition of an anti-inflammatory activity of this peptide hormone. Thymulin selectively ameliorated, in a dose-dependent manner, the endotoxin-induced release of IL-1 beta (IC(50) = 657 ng. ml(-1)), but showed no inhibitory effect on IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Zinc, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant, which is required for the biological activity of thymulin, reduced the secretion of IL-1 beta (IC(50) = 62 microM), TNF-alpha (IC(50) = 1000 microM), and, to a lesser extent, IL-6. This cation (100 microM) amplified the effect of thymulin on IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha (IC(50) < 0.1 ng. ml(-1)), but not on IL-6. Analysis of whether thymulin is up-regulating a counterpart anti-inflammatory signaling loop revealed the involvement of an IL-10-sensitive pathway. These results indicate that thymulin acts as a novel dual immunoregulator by enhancing an anti-inflammatory cytoprotective response and depressing an inflammatory signal, an effect synergistically amplified, in part, by cationic zinc., (Copyright 2000 Academic Press.)

In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), CD4(+) self-reactive T cells target myelin components of the CNS. However, the consequences of an autoaggressive T cell response against myelin for neurons are currently unknown. We herein demonstrate that EAE induced by active immunization with an encephalitogenic myelin basic protein peptide dramatically reduces the loss of spinal motoneurons after ventral root avulsion in rats. Both brain-derived neurotophic factor (BDNF)- and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3)-like immunoreactivities were detected in mainly T and natural killer (NK) cells in the spinal cord. In addition, very high levels of BDNF, NT-3, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor mRNAs were present in T and NK cell populations infiltrating the CNS. Interestingly, bystander recruited NK and T cells displayed similar or higher neurotrophic factor levels compared with the EAE disease-driving encephalitogenic T cell population. High levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) mRNAs were also detected, and both these cytokines can be harmful to several types of CNS cells, including neurons. However, treatment of embryonic motoneuron cultures with TNF-alpha or IFN-gamma only had a deleterious effect in cultures deprived of neurotrophic factors. These results suggest that the potentially neurodamaging consequences of severe CNS inflammation are curbed by the production of several potent neurotrophic factors in leukocytes.

High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment has become a promising immune therapy that can modulate the immune system at several levels, including the complement cascade. In relation to inflammatory demyelinating disease, there is some clinical evidence for the suppression of disease activity by IVIg, while a role in promoting remyelination after experimental myelin damage has been described. Antibody and complement deposition have been implicated in the immune attack in some cases of multiple sclerosis (MS), and to investigate the mechanisms of action of IVIg, we studied the effect of IVIg using the model of complement-mediated cell injury on oligodendroglia in vitro. There was no effect on direct complement lysis of the oligodendroglial cell line CG4, but antibody-dependent complement damage was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by IVIg. These results were confirmed with primary cultures of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC) and oligodendrocytes. The addition of excess C1, C3, and C4 did not influence the inhibitory effect of IVIg, implying that binding of these complement components does not play a role, in contrast to other experimental models of complement damage. F(ab')2 immunoglobulin fragments were at least partially responsible for the effect. We conclude that IVIg may be protective in antibody-mediated complement injury of oligodendrocytes and their progenitors, and that this effect is likely to be mediated via antibody binding, rather than interference with complement activation. Inhibition of inflammatory mechanisms, as opposed to a direct effect on remyelinating cells, may underlie the role of IVIg in promoting myelin repair in experimental models.

IL-15 shares many biological properties with IL-2, a cytokine whose administration to HIV-infected individuals has been effective in enhancing depleted CD4 T lymphocyte numbers. The present study examined whether exogenous IL-15 could protect lymphocytes of HIV-infected individuals from spontaneous apoptosis, associated with growth factor deprivation, and CD95-induced apoptosis, which is believed to play a major role in T lymphocyte loss and HIV pathogenesis. Although IL-15, like IL-2, failed to inhibit CD95-induced lymphocyte apoptosis in vitro, IL-15 was found to act as a potent survival factor in the prevention of spontaneous apoptosis. The greater enhancement of lymphocyte survival, promoted by IL-15 as compared with IL-2 when used at an equivalent concentration, was associated with higher up-regulation of bcl-2 expression. In addition, IL-15 was more potent than IL-2 in stimulating lymphocyte proliferation. Despite the strong ability of IL-15 to promote both lymphocyte survival and proliferation, the increases in representation and total numbers of viable cells induced by IL-15 were not higher than those induced by IL-2. This appears to be associated with the greater ability of IL-15 to activate lymphocytes and increase their apoptosis-susceptibility. Therefore, lymphocyte loss occurring by growth factor deprivation in HIV infection may be potentially prevented by IL-15, although its benefits for survival need to be closely assessed against its ability to augment lymphocyte activation.

Membrane cofactor protein (MCP; CD46) is a type 1 membrane glycoprotein that inhibits complement activation on host cells. It also is a measles virus (MV) receptor, an adherence factor for group A Streptococcus pyogenes, and a cellular pilus receptor for pathogenic Neisseria. The amino terminus of MCP consists of four complement control protein (CCP) repeats, three of which (CCP-1, -2, and -4) possess N-glycans. Immediately following the CCP modules is an alternatively spliced region for extensive O-glycosylation (termed the STP domain). Previous studies established that the N-glycan of CCP-2 is essential for MV binding and infection and that the splicing variants of the STP domain not only affect MV binding and fusion, but also differentially protect against complement-mediated cytolysis. In this report, we dissect the role of these carbohydrates on complement regulatory function. We constructed, expressed, and characterized proteins deleting these carbohydrates. For MCP-mediated protection against cytolysis, the N-glycans of CCP-2 and -4 were necessary, the STP segment influenced but was not essential, and the N-glycan of CCP-1 was not required. In addition, the rate and magnitude of cell surface cleavage of C4b to C4c and C4d by MCP and factor I correlated with cytoprotection. These studies expand the structure-function understanding of the active sites of MCP and elucidate an important role for carbohydrates in its function, a finding consistent with their conservation in the MCP of other species.

In endotoxin-exposed rat livers, G-CSF caused a reduction of CINC gene transcripts in the nonparenchymal cell fraction, which might be the mechanism for attenuation of microvascular leukocyte adherence and leukocyte-dependent tissue injury, as observed upon G-CSF application in a model of endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity.