Project description:Innate defense regulator (IDR) peptide-1002 is a synthetic host defense peptide derivative with strong anti-inflammatory properties.To investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of IDR-1002 in vivo, the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced mouse ear inflammation model was used. Topical IDR-1002 treatment successfully dampened PMA-induced ear edema, proinflammatory cytokine production, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species release, and neutrophil recruitment in the ears of CD1 mice. Advanced RNA-Seq analysis on the mouse ear transcriptome revealed that IDR-1002 reduced sterile inflammation by suppressing the expression of transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors (Class A/1 rhodopsin-like), including receptors for chemokines, prostaglandins, histamine, platelet activating factor and anaphylatoxin. IDR-1002 also dampened IFNγ response and repressed the Interferon regulatory factor (Irf) 8-regulated network that controls central inflammatory pathways.
Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial pneumonia and infects patients with cystic fibrosis. P. aeruginosa lung infections are difficult to treat due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and strains with multi-drug resistance are becoming more prevalent. Here we examined the use of a small host defense peptide, innate defense regulator 1002 (IDR-1002), in an acute P. aeruginosa lung infection in vivo. IDR-1002 significantly reduced the bacterial burden in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as well as MCP-1 in the BALF and serum, KC in the serum, and IL-6 in the BALF. RNA-Seq was conducted on lungs and whole blood and the effects of P. aeruginosa, IDR-1002, or the combination of P. aeruginosa and IDR-1002 were evaluated. Differential gene expression analysis showed that P. aeruginosa increased multiple inflammatory and innate immune pathways as well as affected hemostasis, matrix metalloproteinases, collagen biosynthesis, and various metabolism pathways in the lungs and/or blood. Infected mice treated with IDR-1002 had significant changes in gene expression compared to untreated infected mice, with fewer differentially expressed genes associated with the inflammatory and innate immune responses to microbial infection, and treatment also affected morphogenesis, certain metabolic pathways, and lymphocyte activation. Overall, these results show that IDR-1002 was effective in treating P. aeruginosa acute lung infections and associated inflammation.
Project description:Severe malaria encompasses a range of syndromes manifesting systemically or in diverse organs. These are believed to represent the end-stage processes of local parasite sequestration and inflammatory cascades. Classical anti-malarial drugs target parasites only. In treatment of severe disease, adjunctive therapies capable of controlling the inflammatory processes could be beneficial. Innate defense regulator (IDR) peptides display multiple immune modulatory activities. In this study, we assessed peptide IDR-1018, which shows promise as an anti-inflammatory drug, as a lead candidate for adjunctive host-directed therapy of established disease in the P. berghei ANKA model of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). Intravenously administered IDR-1018 partially protected mice from ECM both prophylactically and in adjunctive treatment with classical anti-malarial drugs. We used transcriptional data from spleens and brains taken early in infection (day 3) of prophylactically treated mice to investigate the protective mechanisms. The microarrays compared spleens and brains from nine IDR-1018 i.v. treated, infected mice (IDR-1018-treated infected) with three saline i.v. treated infected mice (saline-treated infected) and three uninfected untreated control mice (controls). RNA samples were hybridized in randomized order to five Illumina WG-6 v2 BeadChips . No technical replicates were performed.
Project description:Severe malaria encompasses a range of syndromes manifesting systemically or in diverse organs. These are believed to represent the end-stage processes of local parasite sequestration and inflammatory cascades. Classical anti-malarial drugs target parasites only. In treatment of severe disease, adjunctive therapies capable of controlling the inflammatory processes could be beneficial. Innate defense regulator (IDR) peptides display multiple immune modulatory activities. In this study, we assessed peptide IDR-1018, which shows promise as an anti-inflammatory drug, as a lead candidate for adjunctive host-directed therapy of established disease in the P. berghei ANKA model of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). Intravenously administered IDR-1018 partially protected mice from ECM both prophylactically and in adjunctive treatment with classical anti-malarial drugs. We used transcriptional data from spleens and brains taken early in infection (day 3) of prophylactically treated mice to investigate the protective mechanisms.
Project description:SPARC is a member of matricellular protein, and emerging evidence suggests that it plays a critical role in integrated metabolic and inflammatory responses. However, the mechanism how SPARC activates inflammation is still unanswered. Here we showed that excess SPARC induced sterile inflammation, and converted anti-inflammatory macrophage to pro-inflammatory macrophage. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that SPARC elicits interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) by transcription factor IRF7. SPARC also dampened mitochondrial respiration that induced pro-glycolytic inflammatory macrophage. Altogether, we discovered a mechanism how SPARC triggers sterile inflammatory response in anti-inflammatory macrophage, and this implicates the potential role of SPARC as a modulator of anti-inflammatory macrophages to maintain tissue homeostasis.
Project description:Baker2017 - The role of cytokines, MMPs and
fibronectin fragments osteoarthritis
This model is described in the article:
Mathematical modelling of
cytokines, MMPs and fibronectin fragments in osteoarthritic
cartilage.
Baker M, Brook BS, Owen MR.
J Math Biol 2017 Feb; :
Abstract:
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease which causes
pain and stiffness in joints. OA progresses through excessive
degradation of joint cartilage, eventually leading to
significant joint degeneration and loss of function. Cytokines,
a group of cell signalling proteins, present in raised
concentrations in OA joints, can be classified into
pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory groups. They mediate
cartilage degradation through several mechanisms, primarily the
up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a group of
collagen-degrading enzymes. In this paper we show that the
interactions of cytokines within cartilage have a crucial role
to play in OA progression and treatment. We develop a
four-variable ordinary differential equation model for the
interactions between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, MMPs
and fibronectin fragments (Fn-fs), a by-product of cartilage
degradation and up-regulator of cytokines. We show that the
model has four classes of dynamic behaviour: homoeostasis,
bistable inflammation, tristable inflammation and persistent
inflammation. We show that positive and negative feedbacks
controlling cytokine production rates can determine either a
pre-disposition to OA or initiation of OA. Further, we show
that manipulation of cytokine, MMP and Fn-fs levels can be used
to treat OA, but we suggest that multiple treatment targets may
be essential to halt or slow disease progression.
This model is hosted on
BioModels Database
and identified by:
MODEL1704120000.
To cite BioModels Database, please use:
BioModels Database:
An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published
quantitative kinetic models.
To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or
neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to
the public domain worldwide. Please refer to
CC0
Public Domain Dedication for more information.
Project description:Innate anti-inflammatory mechanisms are essential for immune homeostasis and can present opportunities to intervene inflammatory diseases. In this report, we found that YAP isoform 9 (YAP9) is an essential negative regulator of the potent inflammatory stimuli such as TNFα, IL-1β, and LPS. YAP9 constitutively interacts with another anti-inflammatory regulator A20 (TNFAIP3) to suppress inflammatory responses, but A20 and YAP can function only in the presence of the other. YAP9 uses a short stretch of amino acids in the proline-rich domain (PRD) and transactivation domain (TAD) suppress the inflammatory signaling while A20 mainly uses the zinc finger domain 7 (ZF7). Cell-penetrating synthetic PRD, TAD, and ZF7 peptides act as YAP9 and A20 mimetics respectively to suppress the proinflammatory responses at the cellular level and in mice. Our data uncover a novel anti-inflammatory axis and anti-inflammatory agents that can be developed to treat acute or chronic conditions where TNFα, IL-1β, or LPS plays a key role in initiating and/or perpetuating inflammation.
Project description:Synthetic, innate defense regulators (IDR) peptides, designed based on natural host defenses peptides, have enhanced immunomodulatory activities and reduced toxicity leading to protection in infection and inflammation models that is dependent on macrophages/monocytes. Here we measured the effect of IDR-1018 on macrophage gene expression during differentiation. Differentiation in the presence of IDR-1018 induced a unique signature of immune responses suggesting that IDR-1018 drives macrophage differentiation towards an intermediate M1-M2 state, enhancing anti-inflammatory functions while maintaining certain pro-inflammatory activities important to the resolution of infection. RNA-seq was performed using the Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx platform. Monocytes were isolated from 3 healthy donors, and left unstimulated or stimulated for 4 hours with 20 μg/ml IDR-1018. For library preparation, 500 ng of total RNA was processed according to the Illumina TruSeq RNA sample preparation guide (Illumina catalogue number FC-122-1002). Briefly, mRNA was purified using poly-dT beads, followed by synthesis of the first and second cDNA strands, end repair addition of an poly-A overhang, and ligation of adapters and unique barcodes, as per the manufacturer’s instructions. DNA enrichment was carried out via a 15-cycle PCR. Following quantification, 8 pM of dsDNA was used for cluster generation on a CBOT instrument (Illumina, San Diego, CA). RNA sequencing was done on a GAIIx instrument (Illumina), performed as a single read run with 51 amplification cycles. Data processing was carried out in house, using CASAVA to convert raw data and demultiplex to FASTQ sequence files. Reads were aligned to the reference genome using TOPHAT, and then mapped to genes using the Bioconductor package GenomeRanges.
Project description:Dunster2014 - WBC Interactions (Model1)
This is a sub-model of a three-step
inflammatory response modelling study. The model includes distinct
populations of white blood cells namely, macrophages and active and
apoptotic neutrophil populations. Neutrophil apoptosis rate is
predicted to be crucial for the qualitative nature of the
system.
This model is described in the article:
The resolution of
inflammation: a mathematical model of neutrophil and macrophage
interactions.
Dunster JL, Byrne HM, King JR.
Bull. Math. Biol. 2014 Aug; 76(8):
1953-1980
Abstract:
There is growing interest in inflammation due to its
involvement in many diverse medical conditions, including
Alzheimer's disease, cancer, arthritis and asthma. The
traditional view that resolution of inflammation is a passive
process is now being superceded by an alternative hypothesis
whereby its resolution is an active, anti-inflammatory process
that can be manipulated therapeutically. This shift in mindset
has stimulated a resurgence of interest in the biological
mechanisms by which inflammation resolves. The
anti-inflammatory processes central to the resolution of
inflammation revolve around macrophages and are closely related
to pro-inflammatory processes mediated by neutrophils and their
ability to damage healthy tissue. We develop a spatially
averaged model of inflammation centring on its resolution,
accounting for populations of neutrophils and macrophages and
incorporating both pro- and anti-inflammatory processes. Our
ordinary differential equation model exhibits two outcomes that
we relate to healthy and unhealthy states. We use bifurcation
analysis to investigate how variation in the system parameters
affects its outcome. We find that therapeutic manipulation of
the rate of macrophage phagocytosis can aid in resolving
inflammation but success is critically dependent on the rate of
neutrophil apoptosis. Indeed our model predicts that an
effective treatment protocol would take a dual approach,
targeting macrophage phagocytosis alongside neutrophil
apoptosis.
This model is hosted on
BioModels Database
and identified by:
BIOMD0000000616.
To cite BioModels Database, please use:
BioModels Database:
An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published
quantitative kinetic models.
To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or
neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to
the public domain worldwide. Please refer to
CC0
Public Domain Dedication for more information.
Project description:Innate immunity provides the first line of defense through key mechanisms, including pyrogen and cytokine production and cell death. While elevated body temperature during infection is beneficial, heat stress (HS) can lead to inflammation and pathology. Links between HS, cytokine release, and inflammation have been observed, but fundamental innate immune mechanisms driving pathology during HS remain unclear. Here, we use diverse genetic approaches to elucidate innate immune pathways in HS. Our results show that bacteria and LPS robustly increase inflammatory cell death, PANoptosis, during HS. NINJ1 is the key executioner of this cell death to release inflammatory molecules, independent of other pore-forming executioners. In an in vivo HS model, mortality is reduced by deleting NINJ1 and fully rescued by deleting key PANoptosis molecules. Our findings suggest that therapeutic strategies blocking NINJ1 or its upstream regulators to prevent PANoptosis may reduce the release of inflammatory mediators and benefit patients experiencing HS.