scholarly journals Toll-Like Receptor 4-Dependent Early Elicited Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Expression Is Critical for Innate Host Defense against Bordetella bronchiseptica

2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 6650-6658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. Mann ◽  
Kelly D. Elder ◽  
Mary J. Kennett ◽  
Eric T. Harvill

ABSTRACT Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mediates the response to lipopolysaccharide, and its activation induces the expression of a large number of inflammatory genes, many of which are also induced by other pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Interestingly, the subset of genes that are dependent on TLR4 for optimal expression during gram-negative bacterial infection has not been determined. We have previously shown that TLR4-deficient mice rapidly develop acute pneumonia after inoculation with Bordetella bronchiseptica, suggesting that TLR4 is required for expression of early elicited gene products in this model. Microarray analysis with macrophages derived from wild-type and TLR4-deficient mice was used to identify genes whose expression, within 1 h of bacterial exposure, is dependent on TLR4. The results of this investigation suggest that TLR4 is not required for the majority of the transcriptional response to B. bronchiseptica. However, early tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) mRNA expression is primarily dependent on TLR4 and in vitro and in vivo protein levels substantiate this finding. TLR4-deficient mice and TNF-α−/− mice are similarly susceptible to infection with relatively low doses of B. bronchiseptica and in vivo neutralization studies indicate that it is the TLR4-dependent early elicited TNF-α response that is critical for preventing severe pneumonia and limiting bacterial growth. These results suggest that one critical role for TLR4 is the generation of a robust but transient TNF-α response that is critical to innate host defense during acute gram-negative respiratory infection.

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingzhao Ji ◽  
Xiujuan Zhang ◽  
Heqiao Li ◽  
Lina Sun ◽  
Xuexin Hou ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of Nocardia is not fully known. The Nfa34810 protein of Nocardia farcinica has been predicted to be a virulence factor. However, relatively little is known regarding the interaction of Nfa34810 with host cells, specifically invasion and innate immune activation. In this study, we aimed to determine the role of recombinant Nfa34810 during infection. We demonstrated that Nfa34810 is an immunodominant protein located in the cell wall. Nfa34810 protein was able to facilitate the uptake and internalization of latex beads coated with Nfa34810 protein into HeLa cells. Furthermore, the deletion of the nfa34810 gene in N. farcinica attenuated the ability of the bacteria to infect both HeLa and A549 cells. Moreover, stimulation with Nfa34810 triggered macrophages to produce tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and it also activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways by inducing the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, JNK, p65, and AKT in macrophages. Specific inhibitors of ERK1/2, JNK, and NF-κB significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α, which demonstrated that Nfa34810-mediated TNF-α production was dependent upon the activation of these kinases. We further found that neutralizing antibodies against Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) significantly inhibited TNF-α secretion. Taken together, our results indicated that Nfa34810 is a virulence factor of N. farcinica and plays an important role during infection. Nfa34810-induced production of TNF-α in macrophages also involves ERK, JNK, and NF-κB via the TLR4 pathway.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (16) ◽  
pp. 7790-7798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlynne Q. Nicol ◽  
Jean-Marie Mathys ◽  
Albertina Pereira ◽  
Kevin Ollington ◽  
Michael H. Ieong ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive persons are predisposed to pulmonary infections, even after receiving effective highly active antiretroviral therapy. The reasons for this are unclear but may involve changes in innate immune function. HIV type 1 infection of macrophages impairs effector functions, including cytokine production. We observed decreased constitutive tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) concentrations and increased soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (sTNFRII) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from HIV-positive subjects compared to healthy controls. Moreover, net proinflammatory TNF-α activity, as measured by the TNF-α/sTNFRII ratio, decreased as HIV-related disease progressed, as manifested by decreasing CD4 cell count and increasing HIV RNA (viral load). Since TNF-α is an important component of the innate immune system and is produced upon activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways, we hypothesized that the mechanism associated with deficient TNF-α production in the lung involved altered TLR expression or a deficit in the TLR signaling cascade. We found decreased Toll-like receptor 1 (TLR1) and TLR4 surface expression in HIV-infected U1 monocytic cells compared to the uninfected parental U937 cell line and decreased TLR message in alveolar macrophages (AMs) from HIV-positive subjects. In addition, stimulation with TLR1/2 ligand (Pam3Cys) or TLR4 ligand (lipopolysaccharide) resulted in decreased intracellular phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase and subsequent decreased transcription and expression of TNF-α in U1 cells compared to U937 cells. AMs from HIV-positive subjects also showed decreased TNF-α production in response to these TLR2 and TLR4 ligands. We postulate that HIV infection alters expression of TLRs with subsequent changes in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling and cytokine production that ultimately leads to deficiencies of innate immune responses that predispose HIV-positive subjects to infection.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 4856-4867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Okot Nyormoi ◽  
Zhi Wang ◽  
Dao Doan ◽  
Maribelis Ruiz ◽  
David McConkey ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Several reports have linked activating protein 2α (AP-2α) to apoptosis, leading us to hypothesize that AP-2α is a substrate for caspases. We tested this hypothesis by examining the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) on the expression of AP-2 in breast cancer cells. Here, we provide evidence that TNF-α downregulates AP-2α and AP-2γ expression posttranscriptionally during TNF-α-induced apoptosis. Both a general caspase antagonist (zVADfmk) and a caspase 6-preferred antagonist (zVEIDfmk) inhibited TNF-α-induced apoptosis and AP-2α downregulation. In vivo tests showed that AP-2α was cleaved by caspases ahead of the DNA fragmentation phase of apoptosis. Recombinant caspase 6 cleaved AP-2α preferentially, although caspases 1 and 3 also cleaved it, albeit at 50-fold or higher concentrations. Activated caspase 6 was detected in TNF-α-treated cells, thus confirming its involvement in AP-2α cleavage. All three caspases cleaved AP-2α at asp19 of the sequence asp-arg-his-asp (DRHD19). Mutating D19 to A19abrogated AP-2α cleavage by all three caspases. TNF-α-induced cleavage of AP-2α in vivo led to AP-2α degradation and loss of DNA-binding activity, both of which were prevented by pretreatment with zVEIDfmk. AP-2α degradation but not cleavage was inhibited in vivo by PS-431 (a proteasome antagonist), suggesting that AP-2α is degraded subsequent to cleavage by caspase 6 or caspase 6-like enzymes. Cells transfected with green fluorescent protein-tagged mutant AP-2α are resistant to TNF-α-induced apoptosis, further demonstrating the link between caspase-mediated cleavage of AP-2α and apoptosis. This is the first report to demonstrate that degradation of AP-2α is a critical event in TNF-α-induced apoptosis. Since the DRHD sequence in vertebrate AP-2 is widely conserved, its cleavage by caspases may represent an important mechanism for regulating cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis.


2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 5234-5240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Newton ◽  
Shannon McHugh ◽  
Ray Widen ◽  
Noriya Nakachi ◽  
Thomas Klein ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Infection of BALB/c mice with a sublethal concentration ofLegionella pneumophila causes an acute disease that is resolved by innate immune responses. The infection also initiates the development of adaptive Th1 responses that protect the mice from challenge infections. To study the early responses, cytokines induced during the first 24 h after infection were examined. In the serum, interleukin-12 (IL-12) was detectable by 3 h and peaked at 10 h, while gamma interferon was discernible by 5 h and peaked at 8 h. Similar patterns were observed in ex vivo cultures of splenocytes. A transient IL-4 response was also detected by 3 h postinfection in ex vivo cultures. BALB/c IL-4-deficient mice were more susceptible to L. pneumophila infection than were wild-type mice. The infection induced higher serum levels of acute-phase cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], IL-1β, and IL-6), and reducing TNF-α levels with antibodies protected the mice from death. Moreover, the addition of IL-4 to L. pneumophila-infected macrophage cultures suppressed the production of these cytokines. Thus, the lack of IL-4 in the deficient mice resulted in unchecked TNF-α production, which appeared to cause the mortality. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a chemokine that is induced by IL-4 during Listeria monocytogenesinfection, was detected at between 2 and 30 h after infection. However, MCP-1 did not appear to be induced by IL-4 or to be required for the TNF-α regulation by IL-4. The data suggest that the early increase in IL-4 serves to regulate the mobilization of acute phase cytokines and thus controls the potential harmful effects of these cytokines.


2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 2025-2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhua Yang ◽  
Shunji Sugawara ◽  
Toshihiko Monodane ◽  
Masahiro Nishijima ◽  
Yoshiyuki Adachi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Teichuronic acid (TUA), a component of the cell walls of the gram-positive organism Micrococcus luteus (formerlyMicrococcus lysodeikticus), induced inflammatory cytokines in C3H/HeN mice but not in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-resistant C3H/HeJ mice that have a defect in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene, both in vivo and in vitro, similarly to LPS (T. Monodane, Y. Kawabata, S. Yang, S. Hase, and H. Takada, J. Med. Microbiol. 50:4–12, 2001). In this study, we found that purified TUA (p-TUA) induced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in murine monocytic J774.1 cells but not in mutant LR-9 cells expressing membrane CD14 at a lower level than the parent J774.1 cells. The TNF-α-inducing activity of p-TUA in J774.1 cells was completely inhibited by anti-mouse CD14 monoclonal antibody (MAb). p-TUA also induced interleukin-8 (IL-8) in human monocytic THP-1 cells differentiated to macrophage-like cells expressing CD14. Anti-human CD14 MAb, anti-human TLR4 MAb, and synthetic lipid A precursor IVA, an LPS antagonist, almost completely inhibited the IL-8-inducing ability of p-TUA, as well as LPS, in the differentiated THP-1 cells. Reduced p-TUA did not exhibit any activities in J774.1 or THP-1 cells. These findings strongly suggested that M. luteus TUA activates murine and human monocytic cells in a CD14- and TLR4-dependent manner, similar to LPS.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1638-1646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália B. Carvalho ◽  
Fernanda S. Oliveira ◽  
Fernanda V. Durães ◽  
Leonardo A. de Almeida ◽  
Manuela Flórido ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTo investigate the role of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in innate immunity toMycobacteriumavium, TLR9, TLR2, and MyD88 knockout (KO) mice were infected with this bacterium. Bacterial burdens were higher in the spleens, livers, and lungs of infected TLR9 KO mice than in those of C57BL/6 mice, indicating that TLR9 is required for efficient control ofM.aviuminfection. However, TLR9 KO or TLR2 KO spleen cells displayed normalM.avium-induced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) responses. This finding was confirmed by determining the number of splenic CD4+T cells producing IFN-γ by flow cytometry. Furthermore, TLR2 and MyD88, but not TLR9, played a major role in interleukin-12 and TNF-α production byM.avium-infected macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). We also found that major histocompatibility complex class II molecule expression on DCs is regulated by TLR2 and MyD88 signaling but not by TLR9. Finally, lack of TLR9, TLR2, or MyD88 reduced the numbers of macrophages, epithelioid cells, and lymphocytes inM.avium-induced granulomas but only MyD88 deficiency affected the number of liver granulomas. In summary, our data demonstrated that the involvement of TLR9 in the control ofM.aviuminfection is not related to the induction of Th1 responses.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woorim Kim ◽  
Tae Hyeok Kim ◽  
Su Jin Oh ◽  
Hyun Jeong Kim ◽  
Joo Hee Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Studies that investigate the association between toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 or TLR9 gene polymorphisms and remission from the disease in RA patients taking tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors have yet to be conducted. In this context, this study was designed to investigate the effects of polymorphisms in TLR4 and TLR9 on response to TNF-α inhibitor and develop various machine learning approaches to predict remission. A total of six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were investigated. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms and response to treatment. Various machine learning methods were utilized for prediction of remission. After adjusting for covariates, the rate of remission of T-allele carriers of TLR9 rs352139 was about 5 times that of the CC-genotype carriers (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.325–19.231, p = 0.018). Among machine learning algorithms, multivariate logistic regression and elastic net showed the best prediction with the AUROC value of 0.71 (95% CI 0.597 - 0.823 for both models). This study showed an association between a TLR9 polymorphism (rs352139) and treatment response in RA patients receiving TNF-α inhibitors. Moreover, this study developed various machine learning methods for prediction, among which the elastic net provided the best model for remission prediction.


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