Aicha Saadane

Parthenolide inhibits ERK and AP-1 which are dysregulated and contribute to excessive IL-8 expression and secretion in cystic fibrosis cells

BackgroundExcessive secretion of IL-8 characterizes cystic fibrosis (CF). This has been attributed to excessive activation of epithelial cell I-κB Kinase and/or NFκB. Maximum IL-8 production requires 3 cooperative mechanisms: 1) release of the promoter from repression; 2) activation of transcription by NFκB and AP-1; 3) stabilization of mRNA by p38-MAPK. Little is known about regulation of IL-8 by MAPKs or AP-1 in CF.MethodsWe studied our hypothesis in vitro using 3-cellular models. Two of these models are transformed cell lines with defective versus normal cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) expression: an antisense/sense transfected cell line and the patient derived IB3-1/S9. In the third series of studies, we studied primary necropsy human tracheal epithelial cells treated with an inhibitor of CFTR function. All cell lines were pretreated with parthenolide and then stimulated with TNFα and/or IL-1β.ResultsIn response to stimulation with TNFα and/or IL-1β, IL-8 production and mRNA expression was greater in CF-type cells than in non-CF controls. This was associated with enhanced phosphorylation of p38, ERK1/2 and JNK and increased activation of AP-1. Since we previously showed that parthenolide inhibits excessive IL-8 production by CF cells, we evaluated its effects on MAPK and AP-1 activation and showed that parthenolide inhibited ERK and AP-1 activation. Using a luciferase promoter assay, our studies showed that parthenolide decreased activation of the IL-8 promoter in CF cells stimulated with TNFα/IL-1β.ConclusionsIn addition to NFκB MAPKs ERK, JNK and p38 and the transcription factor AP-1 are also dysregulated in CF epithelial cells. Parthenolide inhibited both NFκB and MAPK/AP-1 pathways contributing to the inhibition of IL-8 production.

Pathways of cholesterol homeostasis in mouse retina responsive to dietary and pharmacologic treatments

Effects of serum cholesterol on cholesterol content in the retina are currently unknown. It is also unclear how cholesterol levels are controlled in the retina. High-cholesterol diet and oral administrations of simvastatin were used to modulate serum cholesterol in mice. These treatments only modestly affected cholesterol content in the retina and had no significant effect on retinal expression of the major cholesterol- and vision-related genes; the sterol-regulatory element binding protein pathway of transcriptional regulation does not seem to be operative in the retina under the experimental conditions used. Evidence is obtained that posttranslational mechanisms play a role in the control of retinal cholesterol. Retinal genes were only upregulated by oral administrations of TO901317 activating liver X receptors. Three of the upregulated genes could be of particular importance (apoD, Idol, and Rpe65) and have not yet been considered in the context of cholesterol homeostasis in the retina. Collectively, the data obtained identify specific features of retinal cholesterol maintenance and suggest additional therapies for age-related macular degeneration, a blinding disease characterized by cholesterol and lipid accumulations in chorioretinal tissues.

Photoreceptor Cells Influence Retinal Vascular Degeneration in Mouse Models of Retinal Degeneration and Diabetes.

Purpose Loss of photoreceptor cells is associated with retinal vascular degeneration in retinitis pigmentosa, whereas the presence of photoreceptor cells is implicated in vascular degeneration in diabetic retinopathy. To investigate how both the absence and presence of photoreceptors could damage the retinal vasculature, we compared two mouse models of photoreceptor degeneration (opsin−/− and RhoP23H/P23H ) and control C57Bl/5J mice, each with and without diabetes. Methods Retinal thickness, superoxide, expression of inflammatory proteins, ERG and optokinetic responses, leukocyte cytotoxicity, and capillary degeneration were evaluated at 1 to 10 months of age using published methods. Results Retinal photoreceptor cells degenerated completely in the opsin mutants by 2 to 4 months of age, and visual function subsided correspondingly. Retinal capillary degeneration was substantial while photoreceptors were still present, but slowed after the photoreceptors degenerated. Diabetes did not further exacerbate capillary degeneration in these models of photoreceptor degeneration, but did cause capillary degeneration in wild-type animals. Photoreceptor cells, however, did not degenerate in wild-type diabetic mice, presumably because the stress responses in these cells were less than in the opsin mutants. Retinal superoxide and leukocyte damage to retinal endothelium contributed to the degeneration of retinal capillaries in diabetes, and leukocyte-mediated damage was increased in both opsin mutants during photoreceptor cell degeneration. Conclusions Photoreceptor cells affect the integrity of the retinal microvasculature. Deterioration of retinal capillaries in opsin mutants was appreciable while photoreceptor cells were present and stressed, but was less after photoreceptors degenerated. This finding proves relevant to diabetes, where persistent stress in photoreceptors likewise contributes to capillary degeneration.

Pretreatment with pyridoxamine mitigates isolevuglandin-associated retinal effects in mice exposed to bright light.

Background: Current antioxidant therapies do not directly target lipid peroxidation products. Results: Pyridoxamine treatment scavenges lipid peroxides in mouse retina, as exemplified by isolevuglandins, and improves retinal mitochondrial morphology after animal exposure to bright light. Conclusion: Pyridoxamine reduces deleterious effects of lipid peroxidation in the retina. Significance: Pyridoxamine supplementation should be considered for inclusion in antioxidant vitamin formulations. The benefits of antioxidant therapy for treating age-related macular degeneration, a devastating retinal disease, are limited. Perhaps species other than reactive oxygen intermediates should be considered as therapeutic targets. These could be lipid peroxidation products, including isolevuglandins (isoLGs), prototypical and extraordinarily reactive γ-ketoaldehydes that avidly bind to proteins, phospholipids, and DNA and modulate the properties of these biomolecules. We found isoLG adducts in aged human retina but not in the retina of mice kept under dim lighting. Hence, to test whether scavenging of isoLGs could complement or supplant antioxidant therapy, we exposed mice to bright light and found that this insult leads to retinal isoLG-adduct formation. We then pretreated mice with pyridoxamine, a B6 vitamer and efficient scavenger of γ-ketoaldehydes, and found that the levels of retinal isoLG adducts are decreased, and morphological changes in photoreceptor mitochondria are not as pronounced as in untreated animals. Our study demonstrates that preventing the damage to biomolecules by lipid peroxidation products, a novel concept in vision research, is a viable strategy to combat oxidative stress in the retina.

Cholesterol-metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 46A1 as a pharmacologic target for Alzheimer's disease

&NA; Cytochrome P450 46A1 (CYP46A1 or cholesterol 24‐hydroxylase) controls cholesterol elimination from the brain and plays a role in higher order brain functions. Genetically enhanced CYP46A1 expression in mouse models of Alzheimers disease mitigates the manifestations of this disease. We enhanced CYP46A1 activity pharmacologically by treating 5XFAD mice, a model of rapid amyloidogenesis, with a low dose of the anti‐HIV medication efavirenz. Efavirenz was administered from 1 to 9 months of age, and mice were evaluated at specific time points. At one month of age, cholesterol homeostasis was already disturbed in the brain of 5XFAD mice. Nevertheless, efavirenz activated CYP46A1 and mouse cerebral cholesterol turnover during the first four months of administration. This treatment time also reduced amyloid burden and microglia activation in the cortex and subiculum of 5XFAD mice as well as protein levels of amyloid precursor protein and the expression of several genes involved in inflammatory response. However, mouse short‐term memory and long‐term spatial memory were impaired, whereas learning in the context‐dependent fear test was improved. Additional four months of drug administration (a total of eight months of treatment) improved long‐term spatial memory in the treated as compared to the untreated mice, further decreased amyloid‐&bgr; content in 5XFAD brain, and also decreased the mortality rate among male mice. We propose a mechanistic model unifying the observed efavirenz effects. We suggest that CYP46A1 activation by efavirenz could be a new anti‐Alzheimers disease treatment and a tool to study and identify normal and pathological brain processes affected by cholesterol maintenance. HighlightsCYP46A1 activity was enhanced pharmacologically by the anti‐HIV drug efavirenz.CYP46A1 activation promoted cholesterol turnover in the brain of 5XFAD mice.CYP46A1 activation reduced amyloid‐&bgr; burden in the brain of 5XFAD mice.CYP46A1 activation reduced microglial immunoreactivity in the brain of 5XFAD mice.Efavirenz effects on behavior of 5XFAD mice were task‐ and treatment time‐specific.

Retinal hypercholesterolemia triggers cholesterol accumulation and esterification in photoreceptor cells

The process of vision is impossible without the photoreceptor cells, which have a unique structure and specific maintenance of cholesterol. Herein we report on the previously unrecognized cholesterol-related pathway in the retina discovered during follow-up characterizations of Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− mice. These animals have retinal hypercholesterolemia and convert excess retinal cholesterol into cholesterol esters, normally present in the retina in very small amounts. We established that in the Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− retina, cholesterol esters are generated by and accumulate in the photoreceptor outer segments (OS), which is the retinal layer with the lowest cholesterol content. Mouse OS were also found to express the cholesterol-esterifying enzyme acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT1), but not lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), and to differ from humans in retinal expression of ACAT1. Nevertheless, cholesterol esters were discovered to be abundant in human OS. We suggest a mechanism for cholesterol ester accumulation in the OS and that activity impairment of ACAT1 in humans may underlie the development of subretinal drusenoid deposits, a hallmark of age-related macular degeneration, which is a common blinding disease. We generated Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/−Acat1−/− mice, characterized their retina by different imaging modalities, and confirmed that unesterified cholesterol does accumulate in their OS and that there is photoreceptor apoptosis and OS degeneration in this line. Our results provide insights into the retinal response to local hypercholesterolemia and the retinal significance of cholesterol esterification, which could be cell-specific and both beneficial and detrimental for retinal structure and function.

N,N-Dimethyl-3β-hydroxycholenamide Reduces Retinal Cholesterol via Partial Inhibition of Retinal Cholesterol Biosynthesis Rather Than its Liver X Receptor Transcriptional Activity

N,N-dimethyl-3β-hydroxycholenamide (DMHCA) is an experimental pharmaceutical and a steroidal liver X receptor (LXR) agonist, which does not induce undesired hepatic lipogenesis. Herein, DMHCA was evaluated for its retinal effects on normal C57BL/6J and Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− mice; the latter having higher retinal total and esterified cholesterol in addition to retinal vascular abnormalities. Different doses and two formulations were used for DMHCA delivery either via drinking water (C57BL/6J mice) or by oral gavage (Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− mice). The duration of treatment was 1 week for C57BL/6J mice and 2 or 4 weeks for Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− mice. In both genotypes, the higher DMHCA doses (37–80 mg/kg of body weight/day) neither increased serum triglycerides nor serum cholesterol but altered the levels of retinal sterols. Total retinal cholesterol was decreased in the DMHCA-treated mice, mainly due to a decrease in retinal unesterified cholesterol. In addition, retinal levels of cholesterol precursors lanosterol, zymosterol, desmosterol, and lathosterol were changed in Cyp27a1−/−Cyp46a1−/− mice. In both genotypes, DMHCA effect on retinal expression of the LXR target genes was only moderate and gender-specific. Collectively, the data obtained provide evidence for a decrease in retinal cholesterol as a result of DMHCA acting in the retina as an enzyme inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis rather than a LXR transcriptional activator. Specifically, DMHCA appears to partially inhibit the cholesterol biosynthetic enzyme Δ24-dehydrocholesterol reductase rather than upregulate the expression of LXR target genes involved in reverse cholesterol transport. The identified DMHCA dosages, formulations, and routes of delivery as well as the observed effects on the retina should be considered in future studies using DMHCA as a potential therapeutic for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.