Haitao Wen

TLR3 is an endogenous sensor of tissue necrosis during acute inflammatory events

Ligands from dying cells are a source of Toll-like receptor (TLR) activating agents. Although TLR3 is known to respond to RNA from necrotic cells, the relative importance of this response in vivo during acute inflammatory processes has not been fully explored. We observed the involvement of TLR3 activation during experimental polymicrobial septic peritonitis and ischemic gut injury in the absence of an exogenous viral stimulus. In TLR3-deficient mice, increased chemokine/cytokine levels and neutrophil recruitment characterized the initial inflammatory responses in both injury models. However, the levels of inflammatory chemokines and tumor necrosis factor α quickly returned to baseline in tlr3−/− mice, and these mice were protected from the lethal effects of sustained inflammation. Macrophages from tlr3−/− mice responded normally to other TLR ligands but did not respond to RNA from necrotic neutrophils. Importantly, an immunoneutralizing antibody directed against TLR3 attenuated the generation of inflammatory chemokines evoked by byproducts from necrotic neutrophils cultured with wild-type macrophages. In vivo, anti-TLR3 antibody attenuated the tissue injury associated with gut ischemia and significantly decreased sepsis-induced mortality. Collectively, these data show that TLR3 is a regulator of the amplification of immune response and serves an endogenous sensor of necrosis, independent of viral activation.

Epigenetic regulation of the alternatively activated macrophage phenotype.

Alternatively activated (M2) macrophages play critical roles in diverse chronic diseases, including parasite infections, cancer, and allergic responses. However, little is known about the acquisition and maintenance of their phenotype. We report that M2-macrophage marker genes are epigenetically regulated by reciprocal changes in histone H3 lysine-4 (H3K4) and histone H3 lysine-27 (H3K27) methylation; and the latter methylation marks are removed by the H3K27 demethylase Jumonji domain containing 3 (Jmjd3). We found that continuous interleukin-4 (IL-4) treatment leads to decreased H3K27 methylation, at the promoter of M2 marker genes, and a concomitant increase in Jmjd3 expression. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IL-4-dependent Jmjd3 expression is mediated by STAT6, a major transcription factor of IL-4-mediated signaling. After IL-4 stimulation, activated STAT6 is increased and binds to consensus sites at the Jmjd3 promoter. Increased Jmjd3 contributes to the decrease of H3K27 dimethylation and trimethylation (H3K27me2/3) marks as well as the transcriptional activation of specific M2 marker genes. The decrease in H3K27me2/3 and increase in Jmjd3 recruitment were confirmed by in vivo studies using a Schistosoma mansoni egg-challenged mouse model, a well-studied system known to support an M2 phenotype. Collectively, these data indicate that chromatin remodeling is mechanistically important in the acquisition of the M2-macrophage phenotype.

The post sepsis-induced expansion and enhanced function of regulatory T cells create an environment to potentiate tumor growth

One of the more insidious outcomes of patients who survive severe sepsis is profound immunosuppression. In this study, we addressed the hypothesis that post septic immune defects were due, in part, to the presence and/or expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs). After recovery from severe sepsis, mice exhibited significantly higher numbers of Tregs, which exerted greater in vitro suppressive activity compared with controls. The expansion of Tregs was not limited to CD25(+) cells, because Foxp3 expression was also detected in CD25(-) cells from post septic mice. This latter group exhibited a significant increase of chromatin remodeling at the Foxp3 promoter, because a marked increase in acetylation at H3K9 was associated with an increase in Foxp3 transcription. Post septic splenic dendritic cells promoted Treg conversion in vitro. Using a solid tumor model to explore the function of Tregs in an in vivo setting, we found post septic mice showed an increase in tumor growth compared with sham-treated mice with a syngeneic tumor model. This observation could mechanistically be related to the ability of post septic Tregs to impair the antitumor response mediated by CD8(+) T cells. Together, these data show that the post septic immune system obstructs tumor immunosurveillance, in part, by augmented Treg expansion and function.

Role of CCR4 ligands, CCL17 and CCL22, during Schistosoma mansoni egg-induced pulmonary granuloma formation in mice.

Controversy persists pertaining to the role of CCR4 ligands, namely CCL17 (or thymus and activation regulated chemokine; TARC) and CCL22 (or macrophage-derived chemokine; MDC), in Th2-type cytokine-dominated responses in the lung. Accordingly, the present study addressed the relative role of each of these CC chemokines during an evolving pulmonary granulomatous response elicited by the intrapulmonary embolization of live Schistosoma mansoni eggs into S. mansoni-sensitized mice. CCL22 protein expression peaked at day 4, but CCL17 levels were not increased significantly at any time after egg challenge. CCR4 transcript and protein expression were highest at day 8 after egg embolization and CCR4 protein was prominently expressed in macrophages surrounding S. mansoni eggs. Systemic immunoneutralization of CCL22 from the time of egg injection into S. mansoni-sensitized mice for 8 days significantly decreased CCR4 protein expression, the eosinophil content, the overall size of the egg granuloma, and its hydroxyproline content. Whole lung levels of interferon-gamma were also significantly increased at day 8 in anti-CCL22-treated mice. The systemic immunoneutralization of CCL17 had a lesser effect on all of the granuloma parameters listed above, but this antibody treatment significantly decreased granuloma hydroxyproline content to a greater extent than the anti-CCL22 antibody treatment. In addition, the immunoneutralization of CCL17 significantly increased whole lung levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, transforming growth factor-beta, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha at day 8 after egg infusion. Thus, these studies demonstrate a major role for CCL22 and a lesser role for CCL17 during an evolving S. mansoni egg granuloma in the lung.

Dendritic cells at the interface of innate and acquired immunity: the role for epigenetic changes

Dendritic cells (DC) are known to be essential immune cells in innate immunity and in the initiation of adaptive immunity. The shaping of adaptive immunity by innate immunity is dependent on DC unique cellular functions and DC‐derived effector molecules such as cytokines and chemokines. Thus, it is not surprising that numerous studies have identified alterations in DC number, function, and subset ratios in various diseases, such as infections, cancers, and autoimmune diseases. Recent evidence has also identified that immunosuppression occurring after severe systemic inflammation, such as found in sepsis, is a result of depletion in DC numbers and a later dysfunction in DC activity. This correlation suggests that the sustained DC dysfunction initiated by life‐threatening inflammation may contribute to the subsequent immunoparalysis, potentially as a result of the long‐term maintenance of an abnormal gene expression pattern. In this review, we summarized the present information regarding altered DC function after a severe, acute inflammatory response and propose a mechanism, whereby epigenetic changes can influence long‐term gene expression patterns by DC, thus supporting an immunosuppression phenotype.

IRAK-M regulates chromatin remodeling in lung macrophages during experimental sepsis.

Sepsis results in a profound state of immunosuppression, which is temporally associated with impaired leukocyte function. The mechanism of leukocyte reprogramming in sepsis is incompletely understood. In this study, we explored mechanisms contributing to dysregulated inflammatory cytokine expression by pulmonary macrophages during experimental sepsis. Pulmonary macrophages (PM) recovered from the lungs of mice undergoing cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) display transiently reduced expression of some, but not all innate genes in response to LPS. Impaired expression of TNF-α and iNOS was associated with reduced acetylation and methylation of specific histones (AcH4 and H3K4me3) and reduced binding of RNA polymerase II to the promoters of these genes. Transient impairment in LPS-induced cytokine responses in septic PM temporally correlated with induction of IRAK-M mRNA and protein, which occurred in a MyD88-dependent fashion. PM isolated from IRAK-M−/− mice were largely refractory to CLP-induced impairment in cytokine expression, chromatin remodeling, recruitment of RNA polymerase II, and induction of histone deacetylase-2 observed during sepsis. Our findings indicate that systemic sepsis induces epigenetic silencing of cytokine gene expression in lung macrophages, and IRAK-M appears to be a critical mediator of this response.

The chemokine receptor CCR6 is an important component of the innate immune response

In our initial studies we found that naïve CCR6‐deficient (CCR6–/–) C57BL/6 mice possessed significantly lower number of both F4/80+ macrophages and dendritic cells (DC), but higher number of B cells in the peritoneal cavity, as compared to naïve wild type (WT) controls. Furthermore, peritoneal macrophages isolated from CCR6–/– mice expressed significantly lower levels of inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide following lipopolysaccharide (LPS)stimulation, as compared to WT macrophages. In a severe experimental peritonitis model induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), CCR6–/– mice were protected when compared with WT controls. At 24 h following the induction of peritonitis, CCR6–/– mice exhibited significantly lower levels of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in both the peritoneal cavity and blood. Interestingly, DC recruitment into the peritoneal cavity was impaired in CCR6–/– mice during the evolution of CLP‐induced peritonitis. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from surviving CCR6–/– mice 3 days after CLP‐induced peritonitis exhibited an enhanced LPS response compared with similarly treated WT peritoneal macrophages. These data illustrate that CCR6 deficiency alters the innate response via attenuating the hyperactive local and systemic inflammatory response during CLP‐induced peritonitis.