EGFR activation suppresses respiratory virus-induced IRF1-dependent CXCL10 production.

Airway epithelial cells are the primary cell type involved in respiratory viral infection. Upon infection, airway epithelium plays a critical role in host defense against viral infection by contributing to innate and adaptive immune responses. Influenza A virus, rhinovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) represent a broad range of human viral pathogens that cause viral pneumonia and induce exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These respiratory viruses induce airway epithelial production of IL-8, which involves epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation. EGFR activation involves an integrated signaling pathway that includes NADPH oxidase activation of metalloproteinase, and EGFR proligand release that activates EGFR. Because respiratory viruses have been shown to activate EGFR via this signaling pathway in airway epithelium, we investigated the effect of virus-induced EGFR activation on airway epithelial antiviral responses. CXCL10, a chemokine produced by airway epithelial cells in response to respiratory viral infection, contributes to the recruitment of lymphocytes to target and kill virus-infected cells. While respiratory viruses activate EGFR, the interaction between CXCL10 and EGFR signaling pathways is unclear, and the potential for EGFR signaling to suppress CXCL10 has not been explored. Here, we report that respiratory virus-induced EGFR activation suppresses CXCL10 production. We found that influenza virus-, rhinovirus-, and RSV-induced EGFR activation suppressed IFN regulatory factor (IRF) 1-dependent CXCL10 production. In addition, inhibition of EGFR during viral infection augmented IRF1 and CXCL10. These findings describe a novel mechanism that viruses use to suppress endogenous antiviral defenses, and provide potential targets for future therapies.

Endothelium-derived neuregulin protects the heart against ischemic injury.

BACKGROUND: Removal of cardiac endothelial cells (EC) has been shown to produce significant detrimental effects on the function of adjacent cardiac myocytes, suggesting that EC play a critical role in autocrine/paracrine regulation of the heart. Despite this important observation, the mediators of the protective function of EC remain obscure. Neuregulin (NRG, a member of the epidermal growth factor family) is produced by EC and cardiac myocytes contain receptors (erbB) for this ligand. We hypothesized that NRG is an essential factor produced by EC, which promotes cardioprotection against ischemic injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: We demonstrate that human cardiac EC express and release NRG in response to hypoxia-reoxygenation. Under conditions where hypoxia--reoxygenation causes significant cardiac myocyte cell death, NRG can significantly decrease apoptosis of isolated adult ventricular myocytes. Coculturing adult murine myocytes with human umbilical vein, murine lung microvascular, or human coronary artery EC can also protect myocytes against hypoxia--reoxygenation--induced apoptosis. These protective effects are abolished by NRG gene deletion or silencing of NRG expression in EC. Finally, endothelium-selective deletion of NRG in vivo leads to significantly decreased tolerance to ischemic insult, as demonstrated by impaired postischemic contractile recovery in a perfused whole-organ preparation and larger infarct sizes after coronary artery ligation. CONCLUSION: Together, these data demonstrate that EC-derived NRG plays an important role in cardiac myocyte protection against ischemic injury in the heart and supports the idea that manipulation of this signaling pathway may be an important clinical target in this setting.

Metalloproteinase-dependent cleavage of neuregulin and autocrine stimulation of vascular endothelial cells.

Inflammation is often accompanied by robust angiogenesis. Vascular endothelial cells (ECs) express erbB receptors and their ligand, neuregulin-1, and can respond to neuregulin by proliferation and angiogenesis. We hypothesized that some growth factor-like responses of ECs to inflammatory cytokines can be explained by cleavage of transmembrane neuregulin with subsequent release of its extracellular epidermal growth factor-like-containing domain and autocrine activation. Using a model of cultured human ECs, we found that interleukin-6 or interferon-gamma causes rapid cleavage and release of transmembrane neuregulin. Inhibitors of metalloproteinases abolish this effect. The addition of an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) blocks cytokine-induced neuregulin release. Silencing of TACE expression increases the amount of basal proneuregulin present in ECs but does not block neuregulin release in response to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), suggesting that other proteinases are responsible for mediating protein kinase C-dependent cleavage. Cytokines capable of inducing neuregulin cleavage stimulated ERK activation and in vitro angiogenesis (Matrigel cord formation). This effect is blocked by inhibitors that block neuregulin cleavage, erbB protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors, or antineuregulin-neutralizing antibodies. Cytokine-activated metalloproteinase cleavage of neuregulin may play an important role in autocrine activation of EC signaling pathways, contributing to key biological effects, perhaps including inflammation-associated angiogenesis.

Embryonic caffeine exposure induces adverse effects in adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to determine both the short-term effects on cardiac development and embryo growth and the long-term effects on cardiac function and body composition of in utero caffeine exposure. Pregnant mice (C57BL/6) were exposed to hypoxia (10% O(2)) or room air from embryonic days (E) 8.5-10.5, and treated with caffeine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle (normal saline, 0.9% NaCl). This caffeine dose results in a circulating level that is equivalent to 2 cups of coffee in humans. Hypoxic exposure acutely reduced embryonic growth by 30%. Exposure to a single dose of caffeine inhibited cardiac ventricular development by 53% in hypoxia and 37% in room air. Caffeine exposure resulted in inhibition of hypoxia-induced HIF1alpha protein expression in embryos by 40%. When offspring from dams treated with a single dose of caffeine were studied in adulthood, we observed that caffeine treatment alone resulted in a decrease in cardiac function of 38%, as assessed by echocardiography. We also observed a 20% increase in body fat with male mice exposed to caffeine. Caffeine was dissolved in normal saline, so it was used as a control. Room air controls were used to compare to the hypoxic mice. Exposure to a single dose of caffeine during embryogenesis results in both short-term effects on cardiac development and long-term effects on cardiac function.

Unraveling the temporal pattern of diet-induced insulin resistance in individual organs and cardiac dysfunction in C57BL/6 mice.

Type 2 diabetes is a heterogeneous disease characterized by insulin resistance and altered glucose and lipid metabolism in multiple organs. To understand the complex series of events that occur during the development of obesity-associated diabetes, we examined the temporal pattern of changes in insulin action and glucose metabolism in individual organs during chronic high-fat feeding in C57BL/6 mice. Insulin-stimulated cardiac glucose metabolism was significantly reduced after 1.5 weeks of high-fat feeding, and cardiac insulin resistance was associated with blunted Akt-mediated insulin signaling and GLUT4 levels. Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, and liver developed in parallel after 3 weeks of high-fat feeding. Diet-induced whole-body insulin resistance was associated with increased circulating levels of resistin and leptin but unaltered adiponectin levels. High-fat feeding caused insulin resistance in skeletal muscle that was associated with significantly elevated intramuscular fat content. In contrast, diet-induced hepatic insulin resistance developed before a marked increase in intrahepatic triglyceride levels. Cardiac function gradually declined over the course of high-fat feeding, and after 20 weeks of high-fat diet, cardiac dysfunction was associated with mild hyperglycemia, hyperleptinemia, and reduced circulating adiponectin levels. Our findings demonstrate that cardiac insulin resistance is an early adaptive event in response to obesity and develops before changes in whole-body glucose homeostasis. This suggests that obesity-associated defects in cardiac function may not be due to insulin resistance per se but may be attributable to chronic alteration in cardiac glucose and lipid metabolism and circulating adipokines.

Cardiac-specific overexpression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha causes insulin resistance in heart and liver.

Diabetic heart failure may be causally associated with alterations in cardiac energy metabolism and insulin resistance. Mice with heart-specific overexpression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha showed a metabolic and cardiomyopathic phenotype similar to the diabetic heart, and we determined tissue-specific glucose metabolism and insulin action in vivo during hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps in awake myosin heavy chain (MHC)-PPARalpha mice (12-14 weeks of age). Basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in heart was significantly reduced in the MHC-PPARalpha mice, and cardiac insulin resistance was mostly attributed to defects in insulin-stimulated activities of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1-associated phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, Akt, and tyrosine phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Interestingly, MHC-PPARalpha mice developed hepatic insulin resistance associated with defects in insulin-mediated IRS-2-associated PI 3-kinase activity, increased hepatic triglyceride, and circulating interleukin-6 levels. To determine the underlying mechanism, insulin clamps were conducted in 8-week-old MHC-PPARalpha mice. Insulin-stimulated cardiac glucose uptake was similarly reduced in 8-week-old MHC-PPARalpha mice without changes in cardiac function and hepatic insulin action compared with the age-matched wild-type littermates. Overall, these findings indicate that increased activity of PPARalpha, as occurs in the diabetic heart, leads to cardiac insulin resistance associated with defects in insulin signaling and STAT3 activity, subsequently leading to reduced cardiac function. Additionally, age-associated hepatic insulin resistance develops in MHC-PPARalpha mice that may be due to altered cardiac metabolism, functions, and/or inflammatory cytokines.

Cardiovascular effects of neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling: role in vascular signaling and angiogenesis.

The NRG/erbB pathway has emerged as an important therapeutic target for cancer growth as well as cardiac related diseases. This discovery stems back to findings showing that overexpression of erbB2 receptors increases the metastatic potential of breast cancer in patients. Blocking this receptor using a monoclonal antibody (trastuzumab) inhibits tumor growth and offers significantly improved outcomes. However, excitement over this discovery was tempered by data showing that trastuzumab-treated patients have an increased risk of developing cardiac dysfunction, limiting the clinical potential of this novel agent. This finding suggested an important protective effect of the erbB signaling pathway on cardiac survival and homeostasis. Further investigation has shown that endothelial-derived neuregulin (a key ligand for erbB receptors) has a protective paracrine effect on cardiac cells as well as vascular smooth muscle cells in the setting of an injury. Since endothelial cells contain erbB receptors, they are also targets for autocrine signaling via this pathway, an important mediator of vascular preservation and angiogenic responses of endothelium. In this review we summarize important clinical findings as well as animal and cellular models that illustrate the signaling pathways involved in vascular cell regulation of cardiomyocyte survival and angiogenesis via the NRG/erbB pathway.

Respiratory virus-induced EGFR activation suppresses IRF1-dependent interferon λ and antiviral defense in airway epithelium.

Viruses suppress host responses to increase infection, and understanding these mechanisms has provided insights into cellular signaling and led to novel therapies. Many viruses (e.g., Influenza virus, Rhinovirus [RV], Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and Hepatitis C virus) activate epithelial epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a tyrosine kinase receptor, but the role of EGFR in viral pathogenesis is not clear. Interferon (IFN) signaling is a critical innate antiviral host response and recent experiments have implicated IFN-λ, a type III IFN, as the most significant IFN for mucosal antiviral immune responses. Despite the importance of IFN-λ in epithelial antiviral responses, the role and mechanisms of epithelial IFN-λ signaling have not been fully elucidated. We report that respiratory virus-induced EGFR activation suppresses endogenous airway epithelial antiviral signaling. We found that Influenza virus- and RV-induced EGFR activation suppressed IFN regulatory factor (IRF) 1-induced IFN-λ production and increased viral infection. In addition, inhibition of EGFR during viral infection augmented IRF1 and IFN-λ, which resulted in decreased viral titers in vitro and in vivo. These findings describe a novel mechanism that viruses use to suppress endogenous antiviral defenses, and provide potential targets for future therapies.

Endothelial-derived neuregulin is an important mediator of ischaemia-induced angiogenesis and arteriogenesis.

AIMS: Neuregulins (NRG) are growth factors that are synthesized by endothelial cells (ECs) and bind to erbB receptors. We have shown previously that NRG is proangiogenic in vitro, and that NRG/erbB signalling is important for autocrine endothelial angiogenic signalling in vitro. However, the role of NRG in the angiogenic response to ischaemia is unknown. We hypothesized that endothelial NRG is required for ischaemia-induced angiogenesis in vivo and that exogenous administration of NRG will enhance angiogenic responses after ischaemic insult. METHODS AND RESULTS: An endothelial-selective inducible NRG knockout mouse was created and subjected to femoral artery ligation. Endothelial NRG deletion significantly decreased blood flow recovery (by 40%, P < 0.05), capillary density, α(v)ß(3) integrin activation, and arteriogenesis after ischaemic injury. Isolated ECs from knockout mice demonstrated significantly impaired cord formation in vitro, suggesting that NRG signalling performs an important cell autonomous function. Recombinant human NRG (rNRG) has not only reversed the angiogenic defect in knockout mice but also accelerated blood flow recovery in wild-type mice. CONCLUSION: Endothelial production of NRG is required for angiogenesis and arteriogenesis induced by ischaemic injury. Furthermore, exogenous administration of rNRG can enhance this process, suggesting a potential role for NRG in vascular disease.

Cardiomyocyte-restricted knockout of STAT3 results in higher sensitivity to inflammation, cardiac fibrosis, and heart failure with advanced age.

Cytokines and inflammation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure. For example, IL-6 family cytokines and the gp130 receptor play important roles in cardiac myocyte survival and hypertrophy. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a major signaling protein that is activated through gp130. We have created mice with a cardiomyocyte-restricted deletion of STAT3. As measured by serial echocardiograms, mice with cardiac specific deletion of STAT3 are significantly more susceptible to cardiac injury after doxorubicin treatment than age-matched controls. Intriguingly, STAT3 appears to have a critical role in protection of inflammation-induced heart damage. STAT3-deficient mice treated with lipopolysaccharide demonstrated significantly more apoptosis than their WT counterparts. At the cellular level, cardiomyocytes with STAT3 deleted secrete significantly more tumor necrosis factor in response to lipopolysaccharide than those with WT STAT3. Furthermore, histologic examination of the cardiomyocyte-restricted STAT3-deficient mice reveals a dramatic increase in cardiac fibrosis in aged mice. Although no overt signs of heart failure are present in young STAT3-deficient mice, they spontaneously develop heart dysfunction with advancing age. These results indicate the crucial functions of STAT3 in cardiomyocyte resistance to inflammation and other acute injury and in pathogenesis of age-related heart failure.