Project description:Clinically significant radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and a common toxicity in patients administered thoracic radiotherapy. While the molecular etiology of RILI is poorly understood, we previously characterized a murine model of RILI in which alterations in lung endothelial barrier integrity surfaced as a potentially important pathobiologic event. In these studies, inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity (simvastatin) reduced murine RILI-associated lung inflammation and vascular leak and attenuated radiation-induced dysregulation of sphingolipid metabolic pathway genes identified by genome-wide lung gene expression profiling. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that sphingolipid signaling components serve as important modulators of RILI pathobiology and novel therapeutic targets. Sphingolipid involvement in murine RILI was confirmed by radiation-induced increases in lung expression of sphingosine kinase (SphK) isoforms 1 and 2 and increases in the ratio of ceramide to cumulative sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and dihydro-S1P (DHS1P) levels in plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue following 25 Gy exposure (6 weeks). Moreover, genetically-engineered mice with either targeted deletion of SphK1 (SphK1-/-), or with reduced expression of selective members of the S1P receptor family (S1PR1+/-, S1PR2-/-, S1PR3-/-,), exhibited marked susceptibility to RILI-mediated lung inflammation. Finally, we assessed the efficacy of three potent vascular barrier-protective S1P analogues FTY720 (FTY), fTysiponate (fTyS) and SEW-2871 (SEW) in attenuating indices of RILI. The phosphonate analogue, fTyS, and to a lesser degree SEW, exhibited significant attenuation of RILI and RILI-induced gene dysregulation compared to control RILI-challenged mice (6 weeks). In contrast, FTY failed to significantly alter physiologic or genomic changes compared to RILI-challenged controls. Together, these results support the targeting of sphingolipid components as a novel and effective therapeutic strategy in RILI. Four mice were treated with PBS as a control. Three mice were treated with (S)-FTY-phosphonate (0.1mg/kg) as a drug control. Three mice were treated with SEW-2871 (0.1mg/kg) as a drug control. Three mice were treated with FTY720 (0.1mg/kg) as a drug control. Three mice were treated with administered radiation (25 Gy) alone. Three mice were treated with both administered radiation (25 Gy) and (S)-FTY-phosphonate (0.1mg/kg). Three mice were treated with both administered radiation (25 Gy) and SEW-2871 (0.1mg/kg). Three mice were treated with both administered radiation (25 Gy) and FTY720 (0.1mg/kg).

Project description:Clinically significant radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and a common toxicity in patients administered thoracic radiotherapy. While the molecular etiology of RILI is poorly understood, we previously characterized a murine model of RILI in which alterations in lung endothelial barrier integrity surfaced as a potentially important pathobiologic event. In these studies, inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity (simvastatin) reduced murine RILI-associated lung inflammation and vascular leak and attenuated radiation-induced dysregulation of sphingolipid metabolic pathway genes identified by genome-wide lung gene expression profiling. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that sphingolipid signaling components serve as important modulators of RILI pathobiology and novel therapeutic targets. Sphingolipid involvement in murine RILI was confirmed by radiation-induced increases in lung expression of sphingosine kinase (SphK) isoforms 1 and 2 and increases in the ratio of ceramide to cumulative sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and dihydro-S1P (DHS1P) levels in plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue following 25 Gy exposure (6 weeks). Moreover, genetically-engineered mice with either targeted deletion of SphK1 (SphK1-/-), or with reduced expression of selective members of the S1P receptor family (S1PR1+/-, S1PR2-/-, S1PR3-/-,), exhibited marked susceptibility to RILI-mediated lung inflammation. Finally, we assessed the efficacy of three potent vascular barrier-protective S1P analogues FTY720 (FTY), fTysiponate (fTyS) and SEW-2871 (SEW) in attenuating indices of RILI. The phosphonate analogue, fTyS, and to a lesser degree SEW, exhibited significant attenuation of RILI and RILI-induced gene dysregulation compared to control RILI-challenged mice (6 weeks). In contrast, FTY failed to significantly alter physiologic or genomic changes compared to RILI-challenged controls. Together, these results support the targeting of sphingolipid components as a novel and effective therapeutic strategy in RILI.

Project description:Purpose Immune reactions following corneal transplantation are the most common cause of transplant failure. However, the underlying mechanisms of corneal graft rejection are not yet fully understood but increasing evidence points to a crucial role of the innate immune system in this context. Using a human in vitro model, we aimed to assess the response of human macrophages to stimulation with human corneal tissue and whether corneal endothelial cells (CEC) have immune-modulating properties. Methods Human monocytes were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and differentiated into monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). A standardized protocol was used for disintegration of human corneas into fragments of defined sizes. MDMs were stimulated using processed corneal material with or without CEC. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or interferon-gamma (IFNγ) served as controls. RNA sequencing was applied to analyze the impact of differential stimulation of MDMs on their transcriptional profile. Results The transcriptional profile of MDMs was significantly modulated by the type of stimulus used for MDM activation as well as by the individual donor. LPS- or IFNγ-stimulation resulted in distinct transcriptional alterations compared to unstimulated MDMs including an upregulation of various cytokines such as CXCL9 and CCL3, 4, 5 and 19. Corneal tissue induced the differential expression of 45 genes when compared to unstimulated MDMs, with several metallothioneins (MTs) among the upregulated factors (MT1A, MT1E, MT1F, MT1G, MT1H, MT1L, MT1M, MT1X, MT2A). This effect was independent of the presence or absence of CEC. Conclusions The MDM in vitro model proved to be a robust tool to study the effects of LPS, IFNγ and corneal tissue homogenates on the transcriptional activity of MDM. Human macrophages showed a distinct upregulation of various MTs when challenged with human corneal allogen with or without corneal endothelium, which might have an immune-modulatory effect. As a general observation, it appears that in MDM-based studies a significant donor-dependent effect on the transcriptional profile of MDMs needs to be considered and adjusted before downstream analysis.

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Macrophage response and lung injury from thoacic RT is enhanced by subsequent influenza infection II

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