Volker Burkart

Cutting edge: heat shock protein 60 is a putative endogenous ligand of the toll-like receptor-4 complex.

Human heat shock protein 60 (hsp60) elicits a potent proinflammatory response in cells of the innate immune system and therefore has been proposed as a danger signal of stressed or damaged cells. We report here that macrophages of C3H/HeJ mice, carrying a mutant Toll-like-receptor (Tlr) 4 are nonresponsive to hsp60. Both the induction of TNF-α and NO formation were found dependent on a functional Tlr4 whereas stimulation of macrophages by CpG DNA was Tlr4 independent. We conclude that Tlr4 mediates hsp60 signaling. This is the first report of a putative endogenous ligand of the Tlr4 complex.

Mice lacking the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene are resistant to pancreatic beta-cell destruction and diabetes development induced by streptozocin.

Human type 1 diabetes results from the selective destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells during islet inflammation. Cytokines and reactive radicals released during this process contribute to beta-cell death. Here we show that mice with a disrupted gene coding for poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP–/– mice) are completely resistant to the development of diabetes induced by the beta-cell toxin streptozocin. The mice remained normoglycemic and maintained normal levels of total pancreatic insulin content and normal islet ultrastructure. Cultivated PARP–/– islet cells resisted streptozocin-induced lysis and maintained intracellular NAD+ levels. Our results identify NAD+ depletion caused by PARP activation as the dominant metabolic event in islet-cell destruction, and provide information for the development of strategies to prevent the progression or manifestation of the disease in individuals at risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Activated macrophages kill pancreatic syngeneic islet cells via arginine-dependent nitric oxide generation

IL-1 and TNF alpha are assumed to be major mediators of islet cell destruction during the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. Here we show by neutralization of the two cytokines with excess antibody that IL-1 and TNF alpha do not contribute to the cytotoxic activity of activated macrophages towards isolated islet cells. However, islet cells can be protected from lysis by depleting the culture medium of L-arginine or by adding the antagonist NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, both of which inhibit the generation of nitric oxide by activated macrophages. These results indicate a role of nitric oxide or its equivalent, the endothelium-derived relaxing factor in the development of type 1 diabetes. This is the first report showing that nitric oxide may damage normal cells and thus may be a hitherto unrecognized pathogenetic factor in tissue inflammation and autoimmune disence.

The receptor for heat shock protein 60 on macrophages is saturable, specific, and distinct from receptors for other heat shock proteins.

Previous studies have shown that human heat shock protein (hsp) 60 elicits a strong proinflammatory response in cells of the innate immune system with CD14, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, and TLR4 as mediators of signaling, but probably not of binding. In the present study, we directly demonstrate binding of hsp60 to the macrophage surface and find the binding receptor for hsp60 different from the previously described common receptor for several other heat shock proteins, including hsp70, hsp90, and gp96. Fluorescence-labeled human hsp60 bound to cell surfaces of the murine macrophage lines J774 A.1 and RAW264.7 and to mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages. By flow cytometry, we could demonstrate for the first time that hsp60 binding to macrophages occurred at submicromolar concentrations, is saturable, and can be competed by unlabeled hsp60, but not by unrelated proteins, thus confirming the classic characteristics of specific ligand-receptor interactions. Binding of hsp60 at 4°C was followed by endocytosis at 37°C. Hsp60 binding to macrophages could not be competed by excess hsp70, hsp90, or gp96, all of which share the α2-macroglobulin receptor as binding site. Hsp60 binding occurred in the absence of surface TLR4. However, no cytokine response was induced by hsp60 in TLR4-deficient macrophages. We conclude that hsp60 binds to a stereo-specific receptor on macrophages, and that different surface molecules are engaged in binding and signal transduction. Furthermore, the binding site for hsp60 is separate from the common receptor for hsp70, hsp90, and gp96, which suggests an independent role of hsp60 as danger Ag and in immunoregulation.

Islet Cell DNA Is a Target of Inflammatory Attack by Nitric Oxide

NO has been identified recently as the prime islet-toxic product of inflammatory macrophages. The adverse effects of IL-1 on isolated islets also have been reported to involve NO. We now show that exposure of an islet cell suspension to the NO donor nitroprusside or to activated macrophages leads to DNA strand breaks. Macrophages did not induce DNA damage in the presence of the NO synthase inhibitor NG-methyl-L-arginine. DNA strand breaks were demonstrated at the level of single cells by a modified nick-translation procedure and confirmed by analysis of DNA fragmentation by gel electrophoresis. DNA strand breaks occurred within 1 h and preceded islet cell lysis. DNA damage could not be prevented by inhibitors of endogenous endonucleases. We conclude that islet cell DNA is an early target of NO action.

Heat shock protein hsp70 overexpression confers resistance against nitric oxide

Heat stress is known to render rat islet cells resistant against the toxic effects of nitric oxide, reactive oxygen intermediates and the islet cell toxin streptozotocin. We report here for the first time that protection against nitric oxide is mediated by the major heat shock protein, hsp70, even in the absence of heat stress. The human hsp70 gene was stably transfected into the rat insulinoma cell line RINm5F. Constitutive expression of hsp70 caused protection from NO‐induced cell lysis which was of the same extent as seen after heat stressing cells. Our results identify hsp70 as a defence molecule against nitric oxide.

Toxicity of chemically generated nitric oxide towards pancreatic islet cells can be prevented by nicotinamide

Previous studies have indicated that nitric oxide is involved in the lysis of pancreatic islet cells by inflammatory macrophages. Here we show that the incubation of islet cells with chemical NO-donors leads to cell lysis in a concentration and time dependent way. Islet cell death could be prevented by nicotinamide and 3-aminobenzamide, which are known to inhibit ADP-ribosylation, while several scavengers of oxygen radicals, N-acetylcysteine, dihydrolipoic acid, dimethylthiourea and citiolone, provided no protection.

Heat shock protein 60: specific binding of lipopolysaccharide.

Human heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) has been shown to bind to the surface of innate immune cells and to elicit a proinflammatory response. In this study we demonstrate that the macrophage stimulatory property of recombinant human HSP60 is tightly linked to the HSP60 molecule and is lost after protease treatment. However, inhibition of macrophage stimulation was reached by the LPS-binding peptide magainin II amide. Indeed, HSP60 specifically bound [3H]LPS. [3H]LPS binding to HSP60 was saturable and competable by the unlabeled ligand. To identify the epitope region of the HSP60 molecule responsible for specific LPS binding, we analyzed the effect of several anti-HSP60 mAbs on HSP60-induced production of inflammatory mediators from macrophages. We identified only one mAb, clone 4B9/89, which blocked the macrophage stimulatory activity of the chaperone. The epitope specificity of this mAb points to the region aa 335–366 of HSP60. Clone 4B9/89 also strongly inhibited [3H]LPS binding to HSP60. A more detailed analysis was performed by screening with selected overlapping 20-mer peptides of the HSP60 sequence, covering the region aa 331–380. Only one peptide blocked LPS binding to HSP60, thereby restricting the potential LPS-binding region to aa 351–370 of HSP60. Finally, analysis of selected 15-mer peptides and a 13-mer peptide of the HSP60 sequence revealed that most of the LPS-binding region was accounted for by aa 354–365 of HSP60, with the motif LKGK being critical for binding. Our studies identified a defined region of HSP60 involved in LPS binding, thereby implicating a physiological role of human HSP60 as LPS-binding protein.

Suppression of nitric oxide toxicity in islet cells by α-tocopherol

We show here that preincubation of pancreatic islet cells with α‐tocopherol significantly improves their resistance to toxic doses of nitric oxide (NO). No protection was afforded by other antioxidants such as vitamin C or glutathione‐monoethyl ester. The pathway of NO induced islet cell death involves DNA damage and excessive activation of poly(ADP‐ribose)polymerase leading to irreversible depletion of intracellular NAD+. α‐Tocopherol was found to interfere at early steps of this pathway, by preventing the occurrence of DNA strand breaks. This indicates that α‐tocopherol directly interacts with NO or its reactive intermediates. We conclude that α‐tocopherol is not only part of the cellular defence system against oxygen radicals but also protects eukaryotic cells from NO toxicity.

Oxygen radicals generated by the enzyme xanthine oxidase lyse rat pancreatic islet cells in vitro

SummaryThe endothelium-associated enzyme xanthine oxidase is known to generate reactive oxygen intermediates which may damage the surrounding tissue. We investigated whether reactive oxygen intermediates released by xanthine oxidase exert a toxic effect on isolated rat islet cells. The xanthine oxidase (25 mU/ml)/hypoxanthine (0.5 mmol/1) system released reactive oxygen intermediates in vitro as detected by luminol in a chemiluminescence analysing system. The addition of nicotinamide inhibited the release of reactive oxygen intermediates in a dose-dependent manner (50 % inhibition at 20 mmol/1). Exposure of islet cells to enzyme generated reactive oxygen intermediates caused lysis of 39% of the cells within 15 h. Monitoring the mitochondrial function of islet cells by the conversion of tetrazolium bromide to its formazan product revealed a significant reduction of the respiratory activity down to 51 % of that of the controls by 30 min after the initiation of the xanthine oxidase reaction. Mitochondrial dysfunction preceded plasma membrane damage. The addition of nicotinamide, a radical scavenger and inhibitor of the DNA repair enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase protected the islet cells from lysis and partially preserved their mitochondrial activity in the presence of reactive oxygen intermediates. We conclude that activation of the endothelial enzyme xanthine oxidase, known to be induced by mediators of immune cells or by episodes of ischaemia and reperfusion causes islet cell damage with subsequent cell death in early phases of pancreatic islet cell destruction.