| 1. |
- Akula, Srinivas, et al.
(författare)
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Quantitative Transcriptome Analysis of Purified Equine Mast Cells Identifies a Dominant Mucosal Mast Cell Population with Possible Inflammatory Functions in Airways of Asthmatic Horses
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 23:22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease and a serious health problem in horses as well as in humans. In humans and mice, mast cells (MCs) are known to be directly involved in asthma pathology and subtypes of MCs accumulate in different lung and airway compartments. The role and phenotype of MCs in equine asthma has not been well documented, although an accumulation of MCs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is frequently seen. To characterize the phenotype of airway MCs in equine asthma we here developed a protocol, based on MACS Tyto sorting, resulting in the isolation of 92.9% pure MCs from horse BALF. We then used quantitative transcriptome analyses to determine the gene expression profile of the purified MCs compared with total BALF cells. We found that the MCs exhibited a protease profile typical for the classical mucosal MC subtype, as demonstrated by the expression of tryptase (TPSB2) alone, with no expression of chymase (CMA1) or carboxypeptidase A3 (CPA3). Moreover, the expression of genes involved in antigen presentation and complement activation strongly implicates an inflammatory role for these MCs. This study provides a first insight into the phenotype of equine MCs in BALF and their potential role in the airways of asthmatic horses.
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| 2. |
- Allam, Venkata, et al.
(författare)
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Nafamostat has anti-asthmatic effects associated with suppressed pro-inflammatory gene expression, eosinophil infiltration and airway hyperreactivity
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-3224. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IntroductionAsthma is characterized by an imbalance between proteases and their inhibitors. Hence, an attractive therapeutic option could be to interfere with asthma-associated proteases. Here we exploited this option by assessing the impact of nafamostat, a serine protease inhibitor known to neutralize mast cell tryptase. MethodsNafamostat was administered in a mouse model for asthma based on sensitization by house dust mite (HDM) extract, followed by the assessment of effects on airway hyperreactivity, inflammatory parameters and gene expression. ResultsWe show that nafamostat efficiently suppressed the airway hyperreactivity in HDM-sensitized mice. This was accompanied by reduced infiltration of eosinophils and lymphocytes to the airways, and by lower levels of pro-inflammatory compounds within the airway lumen. Further, nafamostat had a dampening impact on goblet cell hyperplasia and smooth muscle layer thickening in the lungs of HDM-sensitized animals. To obtain deeper insight into the underlying mechanisms, a transcriptomic analysis was conducted. This revealed, as expected, that the HDM sensitization caused an upregulated expression of numerous pro-inflammatory genes. Further, the transcriptomic analysis showed that nafamostat suppressed the levels of multiple pro-inflammatory genes, with a particular impact on genes related to asthma. DiscussionTaken together, this study provides extensive insight into the ameliorating effect of nafamostat on experimental asthma, and our findings can thereby provide a basis for the further evaluation of nafamostat as a potential therapeutic agent in human asthma.
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| 3. |
- Alvarado-Vazquez, Perla Abigail, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating mast cell progenitors increase in frequency during natural birch pollen exposure in allergic asthma patients
- 2023
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Ingår i: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 78:11, s. 2959-2968
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Mast cells (MCs) develop from a rare population of peripheral blood circulating MC progenitors (MCps). Here, we investigated whether the frequency of circulating MCps is altered in asthma patients sensitized to birch pollen during pollen season, compared to out of season.Methods: Asthma patients were examined during birch pollen season in late April to early June (May), and out of season in November–January. Spirometry measurements, asthma and allergy-related symptoms, asthma control questionnaire (ACQ), and asthma control test (ACT) scores were assessed at both time points. The MCp frequency was determined by flow cytometry in ficoll-separated blood samples from patients with positive birch pollen-specific IgE, and analyzed in relation to basic and disease parameters.Results: The frequency of MCps per liter of blood was higher in May than in November (p = .004), particularly in women (p = .009). Patients that reported moderate to severe asthma symptoms (<.0001), nose or eye symptoms (p = .02; p = .01), or reduced asthma control (higher ACQ, p = .01) had higher MCp frequency in May than those that did not report this. These associations remained significant after adjusting for sex and BMI. The change in asthma control to a lower ACT score in May correlated with an increase in MCp frequency in May (p = .006, rho = 0.46).Conclusions: The data suggest that the frequency of MCps increases in symptomatic patients with allergic asthma. Our results unravel a link between asthma symptoms and circulating MCps, and bring new insight into the impact of natural allergen exposure on the expansion of MCs.
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| 4. |
- Bohman, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Transient beneficial effect of Exendin-4 treatment on the function of microencapsulated mouse pancreatic islets
- 2007
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Ingår i: Cell Transplantation. - 0963-6897 .- 1555-3892. ; 16:1, s. 15-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transplantation of microencapsulated islets may reduce hyperglycemia in the absence of immunosuppression. However, the efficiency of microencapsulated islet transplantation is low, requiring more islets to achieve normoglycemia than in vascularized islet transplantation. Exendin-4 (a glucagon-like receptor agonist) has been previously shown to improve islet transplantation outcome in rodents. We investigated whether this treatment would enhance the function of microencapsulated islets in vitro and in vivo. Encapsulated or naked islets were cultured with or without exendin-4 for 72 h. To test in vitro function, insulin release and glucose oxidation rates were measured in the absence or presence of exendin-4. In addition, in vivo function of a minimal mass of 350 microencapsulated islets was assessed by syngeneic transplantation into the peritoneal cavity of alloxan-diabetic mice. Glucose oxidation rates of microencapsulated islets were improved by 72-h pretreatment with exendin-4. Insulin release was increased both acutely after glucose stimulation and over a 40-h culture period by the presence of exendin-4. Transplantation outcome of microencapsulated islets cultured with exendin-4 was initially improved, but by day 7 there were no differences compared with control cultured microencapsulated islets. Culture of microencapsulated islets with exendin-4 increases glucose oxidation and insulin release rates, but the increased function seen in vitro was not enough to improve the long term outcome in a transplantation model.
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| 5. |
- Duelli, Annette, et al.
(författare)
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Mast cell differentiation and activation is closely linked to expression of genes coding for the serglycin proteoglycan core protein and a distinct set of chondroitin sulfate and heparin sulfotransferases
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 183:11, s. 7073-7083
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Serglycin (SG) proteoglycan consists of a small core protein to which glycosaminoglycans of chondroitin sulfate or heparin type are attached. SG is crucial for maintaining mast cell (MC) granule homeostasis through promoting the storage of various basic granule constituents, where the degree of chondroitin sulfate/heparin sulfation is essential for optimal SG functionality. However, the regulation of the SG core protein expression and of the various chondroitin sulfate/heparin sulfotransferases during MC differentiation and activation are poorly understood. Here we addressed these issues and show that expression of the SG core protein, chondroitin 4-sulfotransferase (C4ST)-1, and GalNAc(4S)-6-O-sulfotransferase (GalNAc4S6ST) are closely linked to MC maturation. In contrast, the expression of chondroitin 6-sulfotransferase correlated negatively with MC maturation. The expression of N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (NDST)-2, a key enzyme in heparin synthesis, also correlated strongly with MC maturation, whereas the expression of the NDST-1 isoform was approximately equal at all stages of maturation. MC activation by either calcium ionophore or IgE ligation caused an up-regulated expression of the SG core protein, C4ST-1, and GalNAc4S6ST, accompanied by increased secretion of chondroitin sulfate as shown by biosynthetic labeling experiments. In contrast, NDST-2 was down-regulated after MC activation, suggesting that MC activation modulates the nature of the glycosaminoglycan chains attached to the SG core protein. Taken together, these data show that MC maturation is associated with the expression of a distinct signature of genes involved in SG proteoglycan synthesis, and that MC activation modulates their expression.
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| 6. |
- Johnzon, Carl-Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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The Effect of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Experimental Bovine Mastitis on Clinical Parameters, Inflammatory Markers, and the Metabolome : A Kinetic Approach
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 1664-3224. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mastitis is an inflammatory condition of the mammary tissue and represents a major problem for the dairy industry worldwide. The present study was undertaken to study how experimentally induced acute bovine mastitis affects inflammatory parameters and changes in the metabolome. To this end, we induced experimental mastitis in nine cows by intramammary infusion of 100 pg purified Escherichia call lipopolysaccharide (LPS) followed by kinetic assessments of cytokine responses (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), changes in the metabolome (assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance), clinical parameters (heat, local pain perception, redness, swelling, rectal temperature, clot formation, and color changes in the milk), and milk somatic cell counts, at several time points post LPS infusion. Intramammary LPS infusion induced clinical signs of mastitis, which started from 2 h post infusion and had returned to normal levels within 24-72 h. Milk changes were seen with a delay compared with the clinical signs and persisted for a longer time. In parallel, induction of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were seen in milk, and there was also a transient elevation of plasma IL-6 whereas plasma TNF-alpha was not significantly elevated. In addition, a robust increase in CCL2 was seen in the milk of LPS-infused cows, whereas G-CSF, CXCL1, and histamine in milk were unaffected. By using a metabolomics approach, a transient increase of plasma lactose was seen in LPS-induced cows. In plasma, significant reductions in ketone bodies (3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate) and decreased levels of short-chain fatty acids, known to be major products released from the gut microbiota, were observed after LPS infusion; a profound reduction of plasma citrate was also seen. Intramammary LPS infusion also caused major changes in the milk metabolome, although with a delay in comparison with plasma, including a reduction of lactose. We conclude that the LPS-induced acute mastitis rapidly affects the plasma metabolome and cytokine induction with similar kinetics as the development of the clinical signs, whereas the corresponding effects in milk occurred with a delay.
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| 7. |
- Melo, Fabio rabelo, et al.
(författare)
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A role for serglycin proteoglycan in mast cell apoptosis induced by a secretory granule-mediated pathway
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 286:7, s. 5423-5433
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mast cell secretory granules (secretory lysosomes) contain large amounts of fully active proteases bound to serglycin proteoglycan. Damage to the granule membrane will thus lead to the release of serglycin and serglycin-bound proteases into the cytosol, which potentially could lead to proteolytic activation of cytosolic pro-apoptotic compounds. We therefore hypothesized that mast cells are susceptible to apoptosis induced by permeabilization of the granule membrane, and that this process is serglycin-dependent. Indeed, we show that wild type mast cells are highly sensitive to apoptosis induced by granule permeabilization, whereas serglycin-deficient cells are largely resistant. The reduced sensitivity of serglycin-/- cells to apoptosis was accompanied by reduced granule damage, reduced release of proteases into the cytosol and defective caspase-3 activation. Mechanistically, the apoptosis-promoting effect of serglycin involved serglycin-dependent proteases, as indicated by reduced sensitivity to apoptosis and reduced caspase-3 activation in cells lacking individual mast cell-specific proteases. Together, these findings implicate serglycin proteoglycan as a novel player in mast cell apoptosis.
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| 8. |
- Morris, Abigail, et al.
(författare)
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The Role of Heparanase in Pulmonary Cell Recruitment in Response to an Allergic but Not Non-Allergic Stimulus
- 2015
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heparanase is an endo-a-glucuronidase that specifically cleaves heparan sulfate proteoglycans in the extracellular matrix. Expression of this enzyme is increased in several pathological conditions including inflammation. We have investigated the role of heparanase in pulmonary inflammation in the context of allergic and non-allergic pulmonary cell recruitment using heparanase knockout (Hpa(-/-)) mice as a model. Following local delivery of LPS or zymosan, no significant difference was found in the recruitment of neutrophils to the lung between Hpa(-/-) and wild type (WT) control. Similarly neutrophil recruitment was not inhibited in WT mice treated with a heparanase inhibitor. However, in allergic inflammatory models, Hpa(-/-) mice displayed a significantly reduced eosinophil (but not neutrophil) recruitment to the airways and this was also associated with a reduction in allergen-induced bronchial hyperresponsiveness, indicating that heparanase expression is associated with allergic reactions. This was further demonstrated by pharmacological treatment with a heparanase inhibitor in the WT allergic mice. Examination of lung specimens from patients with different severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) found increased heparanase expression. Thus, it is established that heparanase contributes to allergen-induced eosinophil recruitment to the lung and could provide a novel therapeutic target for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of asthma and other allergic diseases.
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| 9. |
- Pejler, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Mast cell proteases: multifaceted regulators of inflammatory disease
- 2010
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Ingår i: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 115, s. 4981-4990
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mast cells (MCs) are currently receiving increased attention among the scientific community, largely because of the recent identification of crucial functions for MCs in a variety of disorders. However, it is in many cases not clear exactly how MCs contribute in the respective settings. MCs express extraordinarily high levels of a number of proteases of chymase, tryptase, and carboxypeptidase A type, and these are stored in high amounts as active enzymes in the MC secretory granules. Hence, MC degranulation leads to the massive release of fully active MC proteases, which probably have a major impact on any condition in which MC degranulation occurs. Indeed, the recent generation and evaluation of mouse strains lacking individual MC proteases have indicated crucial contributions of these to a number of different disorders. MC proteases may thus account for many of the effects ascribed to MCs and are currently emerging as promising candidates for treatment of MC-driven disease. In this review, we discuss these findings. (Blood.2010;115(24):4981-4990)
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| 10. |
- Põlajeva, Jelena, et al.
(författare)
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Mast Cell Accumulation in Glioblastoma with a Potential Role for Stem Cell Factor and Chemokine CXCL12
- 2011
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 6:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and malignant form of glioma with high mortality and no cure. Many human cancers maintain a complex inflammatory program triggering rapid recruitment of inflammatory cells, including mast cells (MCs), to the tumor site. However, the potential contribution of MCs in glioma has not been addressed previously. Here we report for the first time that MCs infiltrate KRas+Akt-induced gliomas, using the RCAS/TV-a system, where KRas and Akt are transduced by RCAS into the brains of neonatal Gtv-a- or Ntv-a transgenic mice lacking Ink4a or Arf. The most abundant MC infiltration was observed in high-grade gliomas of Arf-/- mice. MC accumulation could be localized to the vicinity of glioma-associated vessels but also within the tumor mass. Importantly, proliferating MCs were detected, suggesting that the MC accumulation was caused by local expansion of the MC population. In line with these findings, strong expression of stem cell factor (SCF), i.e. the main MC growth factor, was detected, in particular around tumor blood vessels. Further, glioma cells expressed the MC chemotaxin CXCL12 and MCs expressed the corresponding receptor, i.e. CXCR4, suggesting that MCs could be attracted to the tumor through the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis. Supporting a role for MCs in glioma, strong MC infiltration was detected in human glioma, where GBMs contained significantly higher MC numbers than grade II tumors did. Moreover, human GBMs were positive for CXCL12 and the infiltrating MCs were positive for CXCR4. In conclusion, we provide the first evidence for a role for MCs in glioma.
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