Pedro Mejia

Biological activities of C1 inhibitor.

Broadly speaking, C1 inhibitor plays important roles in the regulation of vascular permeability and in the suppression of inflammation. Vascular permeability control is exerted largely through inhibition of two of the proteases involved in the generation of bradykinin, factor XIIa and plasma kallikrein (the plasma kallikrein-kinin system). Anti-inflammatory functions, however, are exerted via several activities including inhibition of complement system proteases (C1r, C1s, MASP2) and the plasma kallikrein-kinin system proteases, in addition to interactions with a number of different proteins, cells and infectious agents. These more recently described, as yet incompletely characterized, activities serve several potential functions, including concentration of C1 inhibitor at sites of inflammation, inhibition of alternative complement pathway activation, inhibition of the biologic activities of gram negative endotoxin, enhancement of bacterial phagocytosis and killing, and suppression of the influx of leukocytes into a site of inflammation. C1 inhibitor has been shown to be therapeutically useful in a variety of animal models of inflammatory diseases, including gram negative bacterial sepsis and endotoxin shock, suppression of hyperacute transplant rejection, and treatment of a variety of ischemia-reperfusion injuries (heart, intestine, skeletal muscle, liver, brain). In humans, early data appear particularly promising in myocardial reperfusion injury. The mechanism (or mechanisms) of the effect of C1 inhibitor in these conditions is (are) not completely clear, but involve inhibition of complement and contact system activation, in addition to variable contributions from other C1 inhibitor activities that do not involve protease inhibition.

C1 inhibitor, a multi-functional serine protease inhibitor

C1 inhibitor (C1INH) is a serpin that regulates both complement and contact (kallikrein-kinin) system activation. It consists of a serpin domain that is highly homologous to other serpins and an amino terminal non-serpin mucin-like domain. Deficiency of C1INH results in hereditary angioedema, a disease characterised by episodes of angioedema of the skin or the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract or the oropharynx. Although early data suggested that angioedema was mediated via complement system activation, the preponderance of the data indicate that bradykinin is the mediator. In the past few years, it has become apparent that C1INH has additional anti-inflammatory functions independent of protease inhibition. These include interactions with leukocytes that may result in enhanced phagocytosis, with endothelial cells via E- and P-selectins that interfere with leukocyte rolling and in turn results in suppression of transmigration of leukocytes across the endothelium, and interactions with extracellular matrix components that may serve to concentrate C1INH at sites of inflammation. In addition, C1INH suppresses gram negative sepsis and endotoxin shock, partly via direct interaction with endotoxin that interferes with its interaction with macrophages, thereby suppressing tumour necrosis factor-a and other inflammatory mediators. C1INH treatment improves outcome in a number of disease models, including sepsis and other bacterial infections, possibly malaria, ischaemia-reperfusion injury (intestinal, hepatic, muscle, cardiac, brain), hyper-acute transplant rejection, and other inflammatory disease models. Recent data suggest that this effectiveness is the result of mechanisms that do not require protease inhibition, in addition to both complement and contact system activation.

Surgical Stress Resistance Induced by Single Amino Acid Deprivation Requires Gcn2 in Mice

A protein-free diet or one missing certain amino acids can protect against kidney and liver damage due to ischemia in mice. Stress Relief from Eating Right Following in the footsteps of Ponce de Leon, scientists have found that tweaking certain signaling pathways can prolong life. These manipulations not only increase life span but also alter metabolism so that the organism is healthier and can better withstand stress. Peng et al. have probed deeply into these signaling pathways and found that the stress-fighting system can be triggered by a diet low in protein or even by the absence of the amino acid tryptophan. Moreover, they have identified a key signaling node, Gcn2, that can be dialed up or down to render mice resistant to tissue damage caused by oxygen deprivation. To mimic in mice the sort of general stress experienced by patients undergoing surgery, the authors temporarily deprived the kidney of oxygen and nutrients by clamping incoming blood vessels. They pretreated the animals for a week or two with a normal diet or one formulated to be protein-free or missing specific amino acids. The counterintuitive result was that depriving the mice of protein or the amino acid tryptophan before the ischemic treatment was good for them, protecting their kidneys, preserving their ability to clear waste products from the blood. About 40% of the mice that were allowed to eat as usual ultimately died from the kidney injury; the protein-free mice all survived. Because Gcn2 is known to sense low levels of any given amino acid, the authors tested whether it was necessary for the protective effect. Indeed, deletion of the gene for Gcn2 completely eliminated the ability of tryptophan-free diets to ameliorate ischemic injury. Further, the drug halofuginone, which acts through the Gcn2 pathway, could mimic the beneficial effect of amino acid deprivation. Although these results are in mice, primates (including humans) also show metabolic improvements upon dietary restriction. Further testing will determine whether dietary manipulations similar to those explored here can improve human resistance to the kinds of stress imposed on the body during and after surgery. Whether through diet or agents like halofuginone, improving our body’s ability to withstand hardship moves us a bit closer toward fulfilling Ponce de Leon’s dream of immortality. Dietary restriction, or reduced food intake without malnutrition, increases life span, health span, and acute stress resistance in model organisms from yeast to nonhuman primates. Although dietary restriction is beneficial for human health, this treatment is not widely used in the clinic. Here, we show that short-term, ad libitum feeding of diets lacking essential nutrients increased resistance to surgical stress in a mouse model of ischemia reperfusion injury. Dietary preconditioning by 6 to 14 days of total protein deprivation, or removal of the single essential amino acid tryptophan, protected against renal and hepatic ischemic injury, resulting in reduced inflammation and preserved organ function. Pharmacological treatment with halofuginone, which activated the amino acid starvation response within 3 days by mimicking proline deprivation, was also beneficial. Both dietary and pharmacological interventions required the amino acid sensor and eIF2α (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α) kinase Gcn2 (general control nonderepressible 2), implicating the amino acid starvation response and translational control in stress protection. Thus, short-term dietary or pharmacological interventions that modulate amino acid sensing can confer stress resistance in models of surgical ischemia reperfusion injury.

Analysis of innate defences against Plasmodium falciparum in immunodeficient mice

BackgroundMice with genetic deficiencies in adaptive immunity are used for the grafting of human cells or pathogens, to study human diseases, however, the innate immune responses to xenografts in these mice has received little attention. Using the NOD/SCID Plasmodium falciparum mouse model an analysis of innate defences responsible for the substantial control of P. falciparum which remains in such mice, was performed.MethodsNOD/SCID mice undergoing an immunomodulatory protocol that includes, clodronate-loaded liposomes to deplete macrophages and an anti-polymorphonuclear leukocytes antibody, were grafted with human red blood cells and P. falciparum. The systematic and kinetic analysis of the remaining innate immune responses included the number and phenotype of peripheral blood leukocytes as well as inflammatory cytokines/chemokines released in periphery. The innate responses towards the murine parasite Plasmodium yoelii were used as a control.ResultsResults show that 1) P. falciparum induces a strong inflammation characterized by an increase in circulating leukocytes and the release of inflammatory cytokines; 2) in contrast, the rodent parasite P. yoelii, induces a far more moderate inflammation; 3) human red blood cells and the anti-inflammatory agents employed induce low-grade inflammation; and 4) macrophages seem to bear the most critical function in controlling P. falciparum survival in those mice, whereas polymorphonuclear and NK cells have only a minor role.ConclusionsDespite the use of an immunomodulatory treatment, immunodeficient NOD/SCID mice are still able to mount substantial innate responses that seem to be correlated with parasite clearance. Those results bring new insights on the ability of innate immunity from immunodeficient mice to control xenografts of cells of human origin and human pathogens.

Dietary restriction protects against experimental cerebral malaria via leptin modulation and T-cell mTORC1 suppression

Host nutrition can affect the outcome of parasitic diseases through metabolic effects on host immunity and/or the parasite. Here we show that modulation of mouse immunometabolism through brief restriction of food intake (dietary restriction, DR) prevents neuropathology in experimental cerebral malaria (ECM). While no effects are detected on parasite growth, DR reduces parasite accumulation in peripheral tissues including brain, and increases clearance in the spleen. Leptin, a host-derived adipokine linking appetite, energy balance and immune function, is required for ECM pathology and its levels are reduced upon DR. Recombinant leptin abrogates DR benefits, while pharmacological or genetic inhibition of leptin signaling protects against ECM. DR reduces mTORC1 activity in T cells, and this effect is abrogated upon leptin administration. Furthermore, mTORC1 inhibition with rapamycin prevents ECM pathology. Our results suggest that leptin and mTORC1 provide a novel mechanistic link between nutrition, immunometabolism and ECM pathology, with potential therapeutic implications for cerebral malaria.

Protein and Calorie Restriction Contribute Additively to Protection from Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury Partly via Leptin Reduction in Male Mice

BACKGROUND Short-term dietary restriction (DR) without malnutrition preconditions against surgical stress in rodents; however, the nutritional basis and underlying nutrient/energy-sensing pathways remain poorly understood. OBJECTIVES We investigated the relative contribution of protein restriction (PR) vs. calorie restriction (CR) to protection from renal ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and changes in organ-autonomous nutrient/energy-sensing pathways and hormones underlying beneficial effects. METHODS Mice were preconditioned on experimental diets lacking total calories (0-50% CR) or protein/essential amino acids (EAAs) vs. complete diets consumed ad libitum (AL) for 1 wk before IRI. Renal outcome was assessed by serum markers and histology and integrated over a 2-dimensional protein/energy landscape by geometric framework analysis. Changes in renal nutrient/energy-sensing signal transduction and systemic hormones leptin and adiponectin were also measured. The genetic requirement for amino acid sensing via general control non-derepressible 2 (GCN2) was tested with knockout vs. control mice. The involvement of the hormone leptin was tested by injection of recombinant protein vs. vehicle during the preconditioning period. RESULTS CR-mediated protection was dose dependent up to 50% with maximal 2-fold effect sizes. PR benefits were abrogated by EAA re-addition and additive with CR, with maximal benefits at any given amount of CR occurring with a protein-free diet. GCN2 was not required for functional benefits of PR. Activation and repression of nutrient/energy-sensing kinases, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), respectively, on PR reflected a state of negative energy balance, paralleled by 13% weight loss and an 87% decrease in leptin, independent of calorie intake. Recombinant leptin administration partially abrogated benefits of dietary preconditioning against renal IRI. CONCLUSIONS In male mice, PR and CR both contributed to the benefits of short-term DR against renal IRI independent of GCN2 but partially dependent on reduced circulating leptin and coincident with AMPK activation and mTORC1 repression.

Increased oxidative phosphorylation in response to acute and chronic DNA damage

Accumulation of DNA damage is intricately linked to aging, aging-related diseases and progeroid syndromes such as Cockayne syndrome (CS). Free radicals from endogenous oxidative energy metabolism can damage DNA, however the potential of acute or chronic DNA damage to modulate cellular and/or organismal energy metabolism remains largely unexplored. We modeled chronic endogenous genotoxic stress using a DNA repair-deficient Csa−/−|Xpa−/− mouse model of CS. Exogenous genotoxic stress was modeled in mice in vivo and primary cells in vitro treated with different genotoxins giving rise to diverse spectrums of lesions, including ultraviolet radiation, intrastrand crosslinking agents and ionizing radiation. Both chronic endogenous and acute exogenous genotoxic stress increased mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) on the organismal level, manifested by increased oxygen consumption, reduced respiratory exchange ratio, progressive adipose loss and increased FAO in tissues ex vivo. In multiple primary cell types, the metabolic response to different genotoxins manifested as a cell-autonomous increase in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) subsequent to a transient decline in steady-state NAD+ and ATP levels, and required the DNA damage sensor PARP-1 and energy-sensing kinase AMPK. We conclude that increased FAO/OXPHOS is a general, beneficial, adaptive response to DNA damage on cellular and organismal levels, illustrating a fundamental link between genotoxic stress and energy metabolism driven by the energetic cost of DNA damage. Our study points to therapeutic opportunities to mitigate detrimental effects of DNA damage on primary cells in the context of radio/chemotherapy or progeroid syndromes.

Human C1-Inhibitor Suppresses Malaria Parasite Invasion and Cytoadhesion via Binding to Parasite Glycosylphosphatidylinositol and Host Cell Receptors.

Plasmodium falciparum-induced severe malaria remains a continuing problem in areas of endemicity, with elevated morbidity and mortality. Drugs targeting mechanisms involved in severe malaria pathology, including cytoadhesion of infected red blood cells (RBCs) to host receptors and production of proinflammatory cytokines, are still necessary. Human C1-inhibitor (C1INH) is a multifunctional protease inhibitor that regulates coagulation, vascular permeability, and inflammation, with beneficial effects in inflammatory disease models, including septic shock. We found that human C1INH, at therapeutically relevant doses, blocks severe malaria pathogenic processes by 2 distinct mechanisms. First, C1INH bound to glycan moieties within P. falciparum glycosylphosphatidylinositol (PfGPI) molecules on the parasite surface, inhibiting parasite RBC invasion and proinflammatory cytokine production by parasite-stimulated monocytes in vitro and reducing parasitemia in a rodent model of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) in vivo. Second, C1INH bound to host CD36 and chondroitin sulfate A molecules, interfering with cytoadhesion of infected RBCs by competitive binding to these receptors in vitro and reducing sequestration in specific tissues and protecting against ECM in vivo. This study reveals that C1INH is a potential therapeutic antimalarial molecule able to interfere with severe-disease etiology at multiple levels through specific interactions with both parasite PfGPIs and host cell receptors.

Bone Marrow Is a Major Parasite Reservoir in Plasmodium vivax Infection

ABSTRACT Plasmodium vivax causes heavy burdens of disease across malarious regions worldwide. Mature P. vivax asexual and transmissive gametocyte stages occur in the blood circulation, and it is often assumed that accumulation/sequestration in tissues is not an important phase in their development. Here, we present a systematic study of P. vivax stage distributions in infected tissues of nonhuman primate (NHP) malaria models as well as in blood from human infections. In a comparative analysis of the transcriptomes of P. vivax and Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage parasites, we found a conserved cascade of stage-specific gene expression despite the greatly different gametocyte maturity times of these two species. Using this knowledge, we validated a set of conserved asexual- and gametocyte-stage markers both by quantitative real-time PCR and by antibody assays of peripheral blood samples from infected patients and NHP (Aotus sp.). Histological analyses of P. vivax parasites in organs of 13 infected NHP (Aotus and Saimiri species) demonstrated a major fraction of immature gametocytes in the parenchyma of the bone marrow, while asexual schizont forms were enriched to a somewhat lesser extent in this region of the bone marrow as well as in sinusoids of the liver. These findings suggest that the bone marrow is an important reservoir for gametocyte development and proliferation of malaria parasites. IMPORTANCE Plasmodium vivax malaria continues to cause major public health burdens worldwide. Yet, significant knowledge gaps in the basic biology and epidemiology of P. vivax malaria remain, largely due to limited available tools for research and diagnostics. Here, we present a systematic examination of tissue sequestration during P. vivax infection. Studies of nonhuman primates and malaria patients revealed enrichment of developing sexual stages (gametocytes) and mature replicative stages (schizonts) in the bone marrow and liver, relative to those present in peripheral blood. Identification of the bone marrow as a major P. vivax tissue reservoir has important implications for parasite diagnosis and treatment. Plasmodium vivax malaria continues to cause major public health burdens worldwide. Yet, significant knowledge gaps in the basic biology and epidemiology of P. vivax malaria remain, largely due to limited available tools for research and diagnostics. Here, we present a systematic examination of tissue sequestration during P. vivax infection. Studies of nonhuman primates and malaria patients revealed enrichment of developing sexual stages (gametocytes) and mature replicative stages (schizonts) in the bone marrow and liver, relative to those present in peripheral blood. Identification of the bone marrow as a major P. vivax tissue reservoir has important implications for parasite diagnosis and treatment.

Plasmodium gametocytes display homing and vascular transmigration in the host bone marrow.

In vivo visualization of Plasmodium parasites reveals sublocalization, deformability, and mobility of gametocytes in the bone marrow. Transmission of Plasmodium parasites to the mosquito requires the formation and development of gametocytes. Studies in infected humans have shown that only the most mature forms of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes are present in circulation, whereas immature forms accumulate in the hematopoietic environment of the bone marrow. We used the rodent model Plasmodium berghei to study gametocyte behavior through time under physiological conditions. Intravital microscopy demonstrated preferential homing of early gametocyte forms across the intact vascular barrier of the bone marrow and the spleen early during infection and subsequent development in the extravascular environment. During the acute phase of infection, we observed vascular leakage resulting in further parasite accumulation in this environment. Mature gametocytes showed high deformability and were found entering and exiting the intact vascular barrier. We suggest that extravascular gametocyte localization and mobility are essential for gametocytogenesis and transmission of Plasmodium to the mosquito.