scholarly journals The Induction of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin by Vitamin D in Human T Cells Is TGF-β Dependent: A Proposed Anti-inflammatory Role in Airway Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin-Huai Chen ◽  
Charlotte E. Cheadle ◽  
Louise V. Rice ◽  
Paul E. Pfeffer ◽  
Sarah Dimeloe ◽  
...  

Background: Vitamin D upregulates anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial pathways that promote respiratory health. Vitamin D synthesis is initiated following skin exposure to sunlight, however nutritional supplementation can be required to address deficiency, for example during the winter months or due to cultural constraints. We recently reported that 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) treatment induced alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) expression in CD4+, but not CD8+ T cells, with evidence supporting an immunoregulatory role.Research Question: To understand the relationship between vitamin D, lung AAT levels and T lymphocytes further we investigated whether TGF-β is required as a co-factor for 1,25(OH)2D3-induced upregulation of AAT by vitamin D in CD8+ T cells in vitro and correlated circulating vitamin D levels with lung AAT levels in vivo.Results: 1,25(OH)2D3 in combination with TGF-β1 increased AAT expression by CD8+ T cells, as well as VDR and RXRα gene expression, which may partly explain the requirement for TGF-β. CD4+ T cells may also require autocrine stimulation with TGF-β as a co-factor since 1,25(OH)2D3 was associated with increased TGF-β bioactivity and neutralisation of TGF-β partially abrogated 1,25(OH)2D3-induced SERPINA1 gene expression. Neither CD4+ nor CD8+ T cells responded to the circulating vitamin D precursor, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 for induction of SERPINA1, suggesting that local generation of 1,25(OH)2D3 is required. Transcriptional gene profiling studies previously demonstrated that human bronchial epithelial cells rapidly increased TGF-β2 gene expression in response to 1,25(OH)2D3. Here, human epithelial cells responded to precursor 25(OH)D3 to increase bioactive TGF-β synthesis. CD8+ T cells responded comparably to TGF-β1 and TGF-β2 to increase 1,25(OH)2D3-induced AAT. However, CD8+ T cells from adults with AAT-deficiency, homozygous for the Z allele of SERPINA1, were unable to mount this response. AAT levels in the airways of children with asthma and controls correlated with circulating 25(OH)D3.Conclusions: Vitamin D increases AAT expression in human T cells and this response is impaired in T cells from individuals homozygous for the Z allele of SERPINA1 in a clinic population. Furthermore, a correlation between circulating vitamin D and airway AAT is reported. We propose that vitamin D-induced AAT contributes to local immunomodulation and airway health effects previously attributed to vitamin D.

Author(s):  
Kocak Ayse

Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor family. 1,25(OH)2D, a form of metabolically active vitamin D3 form, is the ligand of VDR. When VDR and 1,25(OH)2D are connected, many genes start to molecular interaction reactions that will modulate the transcription. VDR has been shown to be a negative regulator of the transforming growth factor beta-1 / Smad (TGF-β1 / Smad) signalling pathway. TGF-β1 / Smad signalling is important in the pathogenesis of scleroderma (SSc). Vitamin D has pleiotropic effects including immunomodulatory and antifibrotic properties in scleroderma pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of VDR and the levels of vitamin D in scleroderma subtypes and study the possible correlation between the two parameters. 28 SSc patients and 30 healthy controls were included in the study and they were classified according to the 2013 ACR / EULAR criteria and Rodnan Scores were calculated. 14 were of the limited type and 14 were of the diffuse type of scleroderma. Vitamin D levels were determined in serum. Vitamin D level was measured by chemiluminescence immunometric assay. VDR gene expression was determined by quantitative PCR in isolated RNAs from the blood. Changes in mRNA levels were analysed and beta-actin was used as the housekeeping gene. Also, TGF-β1 gene expressions were determined. VDR gene expressions in diffuse type scleroderma patients were significantly decreased compared to the control. TGF-β1 gene expressions were increased in diffuse type scleroderma. It was found that VDR gene expression in limited type scleroderma patients did not show any significant difference when compared to control. Vitamin D levels and VDR gene expressions showed no correlation in scleroderma subtypes. VDR gene expression decreased in patients with diffuse type scleroderma and showed negative correlation with the Rodnan score and TGF-β1 gene expressions. There was no significant difference between vitamin D and VDR levels.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Remondini ◽  
Stefano Salvioli ◽  
Mirko Francesconi ◽  
Michela Pierini ◽  
Dawn J. Mazzatti ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. K. Schæbel ◽  
E. C. Bonefeld-Jørgensen ◽  
P. Laurberg ◽  
H. Vestergaard ◽  
S. Andersen

AbstractThe traditional Inuit diet in Greenland consists mainly of fish and marine mammals, rich in vitamin D. Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory capacity but markers of inflammation have been found to be high in Inuit living on a marine diet. Yet, the effect of vitamin D on inflammation in Inuit remains unsettled. This led us to investigate the association between vitamin D and markers of inflammation in a population with a high intake of a marine diet. We studied 535 Inuit and non-Inuit living in West and East Greenland. Information concerning dietary habits was obtained by interview-based FFQ. Blood samples were drawn for analysis of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and chitinase-3-like protein 1(YKL-40). Participants were divided into three groups based on degree of intake of the traditional Inuit diet. The diet groups (Inuit diet/mixed diet/imported foods) were associated with vitamin D levels in serum (74·2, 69·8 and 52·9 nm; P < 0·001), hsCRP (1·6, 1·4 and 1·3 mg/l; P = 0·002) and YKL-40 (130, 95 and 61 ng/ml; P < 0·001), respectively. YKL-40 level decreased with rising vitamin D level in Inuit (Inuit diet P = 0·002; mixed diet P = 0·011). YKL-40 was lower in groups with higher vitamin D levels after adjusting for other factors known to influence inflammation (P < 0·001). This was not seen for hsCRP. In conclusion, vitamin D and markers of inflammation vary in parallel with the intake of the marine Inuit diet. Vitamin D levels were inversely associated with YKL-40 levels, but no association with hsCRP was found. The hypothesised anti-inflammatory effect of vitamin D was not supported. Other factors in the marine diet may be speculated to influence inflammation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. e0006823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itu Singh ◽  
Mallika Lavania ◽  
Vinay Kumar Pathak ◽  
Madhvi Ahuja ◽  
Ravindra P. Turankar ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A673-A673
Author(s):  
Rhodes Ford ◽  
Natalie Rittenhouse ◽  
Nicole Scharping ◽  
Paolo Vignali ◽  
Greg Delgoffe ◽  
...  

BackgroundCD8+ T cells are a fundamental component of the anti-tumor response; however, tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells (TIL) are rendered dysfunctional by the tumor microenvironment. CD8+ TIL display an exhausted phenotype with decreased cytokine expression and increased expression of co-inhibitory receptors (IRs), such as PD-1 and Tim-3. The acquisition of IRs mark the progression of dysfunctional TIL from progenitors (PD-1Low) to terminally exhausted (PD-1+Tim-3+). How the chromatin landscape changes during this progression has not been described.MethodsUsing a low-input ChIP-based assay called Cleavage Under Targets and Release Using Nuclease (CUT&RUN), we have profiled the histone modifications at the chromatin of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cell subsets to better understand the relationship between the epigenome and the transcriptome as TIL progress towards terminal exhaustion.ResultsWe have identified two epigenetic characteristics unique to terminally exhausted cells. First, we have identified a unique set of genes, characterized by active histone modifications that do not have correlated gene expression. These regions are enriched for AP-1 transcription factor motifs, yet most AP-1 family factors are actively downregulated in terminally exhausted cells, suggesting signals that promote downregulation of AP-1 expression negatively impacts gene expression. We have shown that inducing expression of AP-1 factors with a 41BB agonist correlates with increased expression of these anticorrelated genes. We have also found a substantial increase in the number of genes that exhibit bivalent chromatin marks, defined by the presence of both active (H3K4me3) and repressive (H3K27me3) chromatin modifications that inhibit gene expression. These bivalent genes in terminally exhausted T cells are not associated with plasticity and represent aberrant hypermethylation in response to tumor hypoxia, which is necessary and sufficient to promote downregulation of bivalent genes.ConclusionsOur study defines for the first time the roles of costimulation and the tumor microenvironment in driving epigenetic features of terminally exhausted tumor-infiltrating T cells. These results suggest that terminally exhausted T cells have genes that are primed for expression, given the right signals and are the basis for future work that will elucidate that factors that drive progression towards terminal T cell exhaustion at the epigenetic level and identify novel therapeutic targets to restore effector function of tumor T cells and mediate tumor clearance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1291
Author(s):  
Deni Ramljak ◽  
Martina Vukoja ◽  
Marina Curlin ◽  
Katarina Vukojevic ◽  
Maja Barbaric ◽  
...  

Healthy and controlled immune response in COVID-19 is crucial for mild forms of the disease. Although CD8+ T cells play important role in this response, there is still a lack of studies showing the gene expression profiles in those cells at the beginning of the disease as potential predictors of more severe forms after the first week. We investigated a proportion of different subpopulations of CD8+ T cells and their gene expression patterns for cytotoxic proteins (perforin-1 (PRF1), granulysin (GNLY), granzyme B (GZMB), granzyme A (GZMA), granzyme K (GZMK)), cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and apoptotic protein Fas ligand (FASL) in CD8+ T cells from peripheral blood in first weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sixteen COVID-19 patients and nine healthy controls were included. The absolute counts of total lymphocytes (p = 0.007), CD3+ (p = 0.05), and CD8+ T cells (p = 0.01) in COVID-19 patients were significantly decreased compared to healthy controls. In COVID-19 patients in CD8+ T cell compartment, we observed lower frequency effector memory 1 (EM1) (p = 0.06) and effector memory 4 (EM4) (p < 0.001) CD8+ T cells. Higher mRNA expression of PRF1 (p = 0.05) and lower mRNA expression of FASL (p = 0.05) at the fifth day of the disease were found in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. mRNA expression of PRF1 (p < 0.001) and IFN-γ (p < 0.001) was significantly downregulated in the first week of disease in COVID-19 patients who progressed to moderate and severe forms after the first week, compared to patients with mild symptoms during the entire disease course. GZMK (p < 0.01) and FASL (p < 0.01) mRNA expression was downregulated in all COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. Our results can lead to a better understanding of the inappropriate immune response of CD8+ T cells in SARS-CoV2 with the faster progression of the disease.


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