Characterization of a Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis reference strain based on ecology and transcriptomics.

Bifidobacteria are recognized as health-promoting bacteria that reside in the human gut, helping in the digestion of fiber, preventing infections, and producing essential compounds like vitamins. To date, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, together with Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium breve, and Bifidobacterium longum, represents one of the species that are used as probiotic bacteria. Despite the extensive and detailed scientific research conducted on this microbial taxon, the molecular mechanisms by which B. animalis subsp. lactis exerts health benefits to its host are still largely unknown. Thus, we dissected the genetic repertoire and phylogenetic relationship of 162 strains of B. animalis subsp. lactis to select a representative reference strain of this taxon suitable for investigating its interaction with the host. The B. animalis subsp. lactis PRL2013 strain, which was isolated by a mucosal sample of a healthy adult, was chosen as the reference of the monophyletic cluster of human origin and revealed a greater adhesion index than that observed for another B. animalis subsp. lactis strain used in the industry as a probiotic supplement. Transcriptomics analyses of PRL2013 strain, when exposed to human cell monolayers, revealed 291 significantly upregulated genes, among which were found genes predicted to encode extracellular structures that may directly interact with human cells, such as extracellular polymeric substances, wall teichoic acids, and pili. IMPORTANCE: To date, many Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strains have been isolated from human fecal samples. However, their presence in these samples does not necessarily suggest an ability to colonize the human gut. Furthermore, probiotics of non-human origin may not effectively interact with the gut epithelium, resulting in transient bacteria of the gut microbiota. In vitro experiments with human cells revealed that B. animalis subsp. lactis PRL2013, an autochthonous member of the human gut, shows colonization capability, leading to future applications in functional foods.

Asparagine transport through SLC1A5/ASCT2 and SLC38A5/SNAT5 is essential for BCP-ALL cell survival and a potential therapeutic target.

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (BCP-ALL) blasts strictly depend on the transport of extra-cellular asparagine (Asn), yielding a rationale for L-asparaginase (ASNase) therapy. However, the carriers used by ALL blasts for Asn transport have not been identified yet. Exploiting RS4;11 cells as BCP-ALL model, we have found that cell Asn is lowered by either silencing or inhibition of the transporters ASCT2 or SNAT5. The inhibitors V-9302 (for ASCT2) and GluγHA (for SNAT5) markedly lower cell proliferation and, when used together, suppress mTOR activity, induce autophagy and cause a severe nutritional stress, leading to a proliferative arrest and a massive cell death in both the ASNase-sensitive RS4;11 cells and the relatively ASNase-insensitive NALM-6 cells. The cytotoxic effect is not prevented by coculturing leukaemic cells with primary mesenchymal stromal cells. Leukaemic blasts of paediatric ALL patients express ASCT2 and SNAT5 at diagnosis and undergo marked cytotoxicity when exposed to the inhibitors. ASCT2 expression is positively correlated with the minimal residual disease at the end of the induction therapy. In conclusion, ASCT2 and SNAT5 are the carriers exploited by ALL cells to transport Asn, and ASCT2 expression is associated with a lower therapeutic response. ASCT2 may thus represent a novel therapeutic target in BCP-ALL.

Colon-available mango (poly)phenols exhibit mitigating effects on the intestinal barrier function in human intestinal cell monolayers under inflammatory conditions.

This study investigated the impact of in vivo available colon-mango (poly)phenols on stress-induced impairment of intestinal barrier function. Caco-2/HT29-MTX cells were incubated with six extracts of ileal fluid collected pre- and 4-8 h post-mango consumption before being subjected to inflammatory stress. (Poly)phenols in ileal fluids were analysed by UHPLC-HR-MS. Epithelial barrier function was monitored by measurement of trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and the production of selected inflammatory markers (interleukin-8 (IL-8) and nitric oxide (NO)) and the major mucin of the mucosal layer (MUC2). Post-mango intake ileal fluids contained principally benzoic acids, hydroxybenzenes and galloyl derivatives. There was a high interindividual variability in the levels of these compounds, which was reflected by the degree of variability in the protective effects of individual ileal extracts on inflammatory changes in the treated cell cultures. The 24 h treatment with non-cytotoxic doses of extracts of 4-8 h post-mango intake ileal fluid significantly reduced the TEER decrease in monolayers treated with the inflammatory cytomix. This effect was not associated with changes in IL-8 expression and secretion or claudine-7 expression. The mango derived-ileal fluid extract (IFE) also mitigated cytomix-dependent nitrite secretion, as a proxy of NO production, and the MUC2 reduction observed upon the inflammatory challenge. These insights shed light on the potential protective effect of mango (poly)phenols on the intestinal barrier exposed to inflammatory conditions.

Genomic and ecological approaches to identify the Bifidobacterium breve prototype of the healthy human gut microbiota.

Members of the genus Bifidobacterium are among the first microorganisms colonizing the human gut. Among these species, strains of Bifidobacterium breve are known to be commonly transmitted from mother to her newborn, while this species has also been linked with activities supporting human wellbeing. In the current study, an in silico approach, guided by ecology- and phylogenome-based analyses, was employed to identify a representative strain of B. breve to be exploited as a novel health-promoting candidate. The selected strain, i.e., B. breve PRL2012, was found to well represent the genetic content and functional genomic features of the B. breve taxon. We evaluated the ability of PRL2012 to survive in the gastrointestinal tract and to interact with other human gut commensal microbes. When co-cultivated with various human gut commensals, B. breve PRL2012 revealed an enhancement of its metabolic activity coupled with the activation of cellular defense mechanisms to apparently improve its survivability in a simulated ecosystem resembling the human microbiome.

Ecology- and genome-based identification of the Bifidobacterium adolescentis prototype of the healthy human gut microbiota.

Bifidobacteria are among the first microbial colonizers of the human gut, being frequently associated with human health-promoting activities. In the current study, an in silico methodology based on an ecological and phylogenomic-driven approach allowed the selection of a Bifidobacterium adolescentis prototype strain, i.e., B. adolescentis PRL2023, which best represents the overall genetic content and functional features of the B. adolescentis taxon. Such features were confirmed by in vitro experiments aimed at evaluating the ability of this strain to survive in the gastrointestinal tract of the host and its ability to interact with human intestinal cells and other microbial gut commensals. In this context, co-cultivation of B. adolescentis PRL2023 and several gut commensals revealed various microbe-microbe interactions and indicated co-metabolism of particular plant-derived glycans, such as xylan.IMPORTANCEThe use of appropriate bacterial strains in experimental research becomes imperative in order to investigate bacterial behavior while mimicking the natural environment. In the current study, through in silico and in vitro methodologies, we were able to identify the most representative strain of the Bifidobacterium adolescentis species. The ability of this strain, B. adolescentis PRL2023, to cope with the environmental challenges imposed by the gastrointestinal tract, together with its ability to switch its carbohydrate metabolism to compete with other gut microorganisms, makes it an ideal choice as a B. adolescentis prototype and a member of the healthy microbiota of adults. This strain possesses a genetic blueprint appropriate for its exploitation as a candidate for next-generation probiotics.

Amorphous silica nanoparticles and the human gut microbiota: a relationship with multiple implications.

Amorphous silica nanoparticles (ASNP) are among the nanomaterials that are produced in large quantities. ASNP have been present for a long time in several fast-moving consumer products, several of which imply exposure of the gastrointestinal tract, such as toothpastes, food additives, drug excipients, and carriers. Consolidated use and experimental evidence have consistently pointed to the very low acute toxicity and limited absorption of ASNP. However, slow absorption implies prolonged exposure of the intestinal epithelium to ASNP, with documented effects on intestinal permeability and immune gut homeostasis. These effects could explain the hepatic toxicity observed after oral administration of ASNP in animals. More recently, the role of microbiota in these and other ASNP effects has attracted increasing interest in parallel with the recognition of the role of microbiota in a variety of conditions. Although evidence for nanomaterial effects on microbiota is particularly abundant for materials endowed with bactericidal activities, a growing body of recent experimental data indicates that ASNPs also modify microbiota. The implications of these effects are recounted in this contribution, along with a discussion of the more important open issues and recommendations for future research.

GH136-encoding gene (perB) is involved in gut colonization and persistence by Bifidobacterium bifidum PRL2010.

Bifidobacteria are commensal microorganisms that typically inhabit the mammalian gut, including that of humans. As they may be vertically transmitted, they commonly colonize the human intestine from the very first day following birth and may persist until adulthood and old age, although generally at a reduced relative abundance and prevalence compared to infancy. The ability of bifidobacteria to persist in the human intestinal environment has been attributed to genes involved in adhesion to epithelial cells and the encoding of complex carbohydrate-degrading enzymes. Recently, a putative mucin-degrading glycosyl hydrolase belonging to the GH136 family and encoded by the perB gene has been implicated in gut persistence of certain bifidobacterial strains. In the current study, to better characterize the function of this gene, a comparative genomic analysis was performed, revealing the presence of perB homologues in just eight bifidobacterial species known to colonize the human gut, including Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum strains, or in non-human primates. Mucin-mediated growth and adhesion to human intestinal cells, in addition to a rodent model colonization assay, were performed using B. bifidum PRL2010 as a perB prototype and its isogenic perB-insertion mutant. These results demonstrate that perB inactivation reduces the ability of B. bifidum PRL2010 to grow on and adhere to mucin, as well as to persist in the rodent gut niche. These results corroborate the notion that the perB gene is one of the genetic determinants involved in the persistence of B. bifidum PRL2010 in the human gut.

The SLC38A5/SNAT5 amino acid transporter: from pathophysiology to pro-cancer roles in the tumor microenvironment.

SLC38A5/SNAT5 is a system N transporter that can mediate net inward or outward transmembrane fluxes of neutral amino acids coupled with Na+ (symport) and H+ (antiport). Its preferential substrates are not only amino acids with side chains containing amide (glutamine and asparagine) or imidazole (histidine) groups, but also serine, glycine, and alanine are transported by the carrier. Expressed in the pancreas, intestinal tract, brain, liver, bone marrow, and placenta, it is regulated at mRNA and protein levels by mTORC1 and WNT/ß-catenin pathways, and it is sensitive to pH, nutritional stress, inflammation, and hypoxia. SNAT5 expression has been found to be altered in pathological conditions such as chronic inflammatory diseases, gestational complications, chronic metabolic acidosis, and malnutrition. Growing experimental evidence shows that SNAT5 is overexpressed in several types of cancer cells. Moreover, recently published results indicate that SNAT5 expression in stromal cells can support the metabolic exchanges occurring in the tumor microenvironment of asparagine-auxotroph tumors. We review the functional role of the SNAT5 transporter in pathophysiology and propose that, due to its peculiar operational and regulatory features, SNAT5 may play important pro-cancer roles when expressed either in neoplastic or in stromal cells of glutamine-auxotroph tumors.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The transporter SLC38A5/SNAT5 provides net influx or efflux of glutamine, asparagine, and serine. These amino acids are of particular metabolic relevance in several conditions. Changes in transporter expression or activity have been described in selected types of human cancers, where SNAT5 can mediate amino acid exchanges between tumor and stromal cells, thus providing a potential therapeutic target. This is the first review that recapitulates the characteristics and roles of the transporter in physiology and pathology.

Nanoemulsions Embedded in Alginate Beads as Bioadhesive Nanocomposites for Intestinal Delivery of the Anti-Inflammatory Drug Tofacitinib.

Oral administration of nanoparticles (NPs) is a promising strategy to overcome solubility and stability issues of many active compounds. However, this route faces major obstacles related to the hostile gastrointestinal (GI) environment, which impairs the efficacy of orally administered nanomedicines. Here, we propose nanocomposites as a promising approach to increase the retention time of NPs in the intestinal tract by using bio- and mucoadhesive matrixes able to protect the cargo until it reaches the targeted area. A microfluidic-based approach has been applied for the production of tailored nanoemulsions (NEs) of about 110 nm, used for the encapsulation of small hydrophobic drugs such as the anti-inflammatory JAK-inhibitor tofacitinib. These NEs proved to be efficiently internalized into a mucus-secreting human intestinal monolayer of Caco-2/HT29-MTX cells and to deliver tofacitinib to subepithelial human THP-1 macrophage-like cells, reducing their inflammatory response. NEs were then successfully encapsulated into alginate hydrogel microbeads of around 300 µm, which were characterized by rheological experiments and dried to create a long-term stable system for pharmaceutical applications. Finally, ex vivo experiments on excised segments of rats' intestine proved the bioadhesive ability of NEs embedded in alginate hydrogels compared to free NEs, showing the advantage that this hybrid system can offer for the treatment of intestinal pathologies.

Exploring Molecular Interactions between Human Milk Hormone Insulin and Bifidobacteria.

Multiple millennia of human evolution have shaped the chemical composition of breast milk toward an optimal human body fluid for nutrition and protection and for shaping the early gut microbiota of newborns. This biological fluid is composed of water, lipids, simple and complex carbohydrates, proteins, immunoglobulins, and hormones. Potential interactions between hormones present in mother's milk and the microbial community of the newborn are a very fascinating yet unexplored topic. In this context, insulin, in addition to being one of the most prevalent hormones in breast milk, is also involved in a metabolic disease that affects many pregnant women, i.e., gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Analysis of 3,620 publicly available metagenomic data sets revealed that the bifidobacterial community varies in relation to the different concentrations of this hormone in breast milk of healthy and diabetic mothers. Starting from this assumption, in this study, we explored possible molecular interactions between this hormone and bifidobacterial strains that represent bifidobacterial species commonly occurring in the infant gut using 'omics' approaches. Our findings revealed that insulin modulates the bifidobacterial community by apparently improving the persistence of the Bifidobacterium bifidum taxon in the infant gut environment compared to other typical infant-associated bifidobacterial species. IMPORTANCE Breast milk is a key factor in modulating the infant's intestinal microbiota composition. Even though the interaction between human milk sugars and bifidobacteria has been extensively studied, there are other bioactive compounds in human milk that may influence the gut microbiota, such as hormones. In this article, the molecular interaction of the human milk hormone insulin and the bifidobacterial communities colonizing the human gut in the early stages of life has been explored. This molecular cross talk was assessed using an in vitro gut microbiota model and then analyzed by various omics approaches, allowing the identification of genes associated with bacterial cell adaptation/colonization in the human intestine. Our findings provide insights into the manner by which assembly of the early gut microbiota may be regulated by host factors such as hormones carried by human milk.

Identification of a prototype human gut Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum strain based on comparative and functional genomic approaches.

Bifidobacteria are extensively exploited for the formulation of probiotic food supplements due to their claimed ability to exert health-beneficial effects upon their host. However, most commercialized probiotics are tested and selected for their safety features rather than for their effective abilities to interact with the host and/or other intestinal microbial players. In this study, we applied an ecological and phylogenomic-driven selection to identify novel B. longum subsp. longum strains with a presumed high fitness in the human gut. Such analyses allowed the identification of a prototype microorganism to investigate the genetic traits encompassed by the autochthonous bifidobacterial human gut communities. B. longum subsp. longum PRL2022 was selected due to its close genomic relationship with the calculated model representative of the adult human-gut associated B. longum subsp. longum taxon. The interactomic features of PRL2022 with the human host as well as with key representative intestinal microbial members were assayed using in vitro models, revealing how this bifidobacterial gut strain is able to establish extensive cross-talk with both the host and other microbial residents of the human intestine.

The TLR4/NFκB-Dependent Inflammatory Response Activated by LPS Is Inhibited in Human Macrophages Pre-Exposed to Amorphous Silica Nanoparticles.

Amorphous silica nanoparticles (ASNP) are present in a variety of products and their biological effects are actively investigated. Although several studies have documented pro-inflammatory effects of ASNP, the possibility that they also modify the response of innate immunity cells to natural activators has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we study the effects of pyrogenic ASNP on the LPS-dependent activation of human macrophages differentiated from peripheral blood monocytes. In macrophages, 24 h of pre-exposure to non-cytotoxic doses of ASNP markedly inhibited the LPS-dependent induction of pro-inflammatory (TNFα, IL-6) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10). The inhibitory effect was associated with the suppression of NFκB activation and the increased intracellular sequestration of the TLR4 receptor. The late induction of glutamine synthetase (GS) by LPS was also prevented by pre-exposure to ASNP, while GS silencing did not interfere with cytokine secretion. It is concluded that (i) macrophages exposed to ASNP are less sensitive to LPS-dependent activation and (ii) GS induction by LPS is likely secondary to the stimulation of cytokine secretion. The observed interference with LPS effects may point to a dampening of the acute inflammatory response after exposure to ASNP in humans.

Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Responses of Alveolar Epithelial Cells: Implications for COVID-19 Lung Pathology.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and experimental evidence point to a dysregulated immune response caused by SARS-CoV-2 as the primary mechanism of lung disease in COVID-19. However, the pathogenic mechanisms underlying COVID-19-associated ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) remain incompletely understood. This study aims to explore the inflammatory responses of alveolar epithelial cells to either the spike S1 protein or to a mixture of cytokines secreted by S1-activated macrophages. METHODS AND RESULTS: The exposure of alveolar A549 cells to supernatants from spike-activated macrophages caused a further release of inflammatory mediators, with IL-8 reaching massive concentrations. The investigation of the molecular pathways indicated that NF-kB is involved in the transcription of IP-10 and RANTES, while STATs drive the expression of all the cytokines/chemokines tested, with the exception of IL-8 which is regulated by AP-1. Cytokines/chemokines produced by spike-activated macrophages are also likely responsible for the observed dysfunction of barrier integrity in Human Alveolar Epithelial Lentivirus-immortalized cells (hAELVi), as demonstrated by an increased permeability of the monolayers to mannitol, a marked decrease of TEER and a disorganization of claudin-7 distribution. CONCLUSION: Upon exposure to supernatants from S1-activated macrophages, A549 cells act both as targets and sources of cytokines/chemokines, suggesting that alveolar epithelium along with activated macrophages may orchestrate lung inflammation and contribute to alveolar injury, a hallmark of ARDS.

ALL blasts drive primary mesenchymal stromal cells to increase asparagine availability during asparaginase treatment.

Mechanisms underlying the resistance of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) blasts to l-asparaginase are still incompletely known. Here we demonstrate that human primary bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) successfully adapt to l-asparaginase and markedly protect leukemic blasts from the enzyme-dependent cytotoxicity through an amino acid trade-off. ALL blasts synthesize and secrete glutamine, thus increasing extracellular glutamine availability for stromal cells. In turn, MSCs use glutamine, either synthesized through glutamine synthetase (GS) or imported, to produce asparagine, which is then extruded to sustain asparagine-auxotroph leukemic cells. GS inhibition prevents mesenchymal cells adaptation to l-asparaginase, lowers glutamine secretion by ALL blasts, and markedly hinders the protection exerted by MSCs on leukemic cells. The pro-survival amino acid exchange is hindered by the inhibition or silencing of the asparagine efflux transporter SNAT5, which is induced in mesenchymal cells by ALL blasts. Consistently, primary MSCs from ALL patients express higher levels of SNAT5 (P < .05), secrete more asparagine (P < .05), and protect leukemic blasts (P < .05) better than MSCs isolated from healthy donors. In conclusion, ALL blasts arrange a pro-leukemic amino acid trade-off with bone marrow mesenchymal cells, which depends on GS and SNAT5 and promotes leukemic cell survival during l-asparaginase treatment.

The Role of Amino Acids in the Crosstalk Between Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Neoplastic Cells in the Hematopoietic Niche.

Within the bone marrow hematopoietic cells are in close connection with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), which influence the behavior and differentiation of normal or malignant lymphoid and myeloid cells. Altered cell metabolism is a hallmark of cancer, and changes in nutrient pools and fluxes are important components of the bidirectional communication between MSCs and hematological cancer cells. Among nutrients, amino acids play a significant role in cancer progression and chemo-resistance. Moreover, selected types of cancer cells are extremely greedy for glutamine, and significantly deplete the extracellular pool of the amino acid. As a consequence, this influences the behavior of MSCs in terms of either cytokine/chemokine secretion or differentiation potential. Additionally, a direct nutritional interaction exists between MSCs and immune cells. In particular, selected subpopulations of lymphocytes are dependent upon selected amino acids, such as arginine and tryptophan, for full differentiation and competence. This review describes and discusses the nutritional interactions existing in the neoplastic bone marrow niche between MSCs and other cell types, with a particular emphasis on cancer cells and immune cells. These relationships are discussed in the perspective of potential novel therapeutic strategies based on the interference on amino acid metabolism or intercellular fluxes.

Myeloma Cells Deplete Bone Marrow Glutamine and Inhibit Osteoblast Differentiation Limiting Asparagine Availability.

Multiple myeloma (MM) cells consume huge amounts of glutamine and, as a consequence, the amino acid concentration is lower-than-normal in the bone marrow (BM) of MM patients. Here we show that MM-dependent glutamine depletion induces glutamine synthetase in stromal cells, as demonstrated in BM biopsies of MM patients, and reproduced in vitro by co-culturing human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with MM cells. Moreover, glutamine depletion hinders osteoblast differentiation of MSCs, which is also severely blunted by the spent, low-glutamine medium of MM cells, and rescued by glutamine restitution. Glutaminase and the concentrative glutamine transporter SNAT2 are induced during osteoblastogenesis in vivo and in vitro, and both needed for MSCs differentiation, pointing to enhanced the requirement for the amino acid. Osteoblastogenesis also triggers the induction of glutamine-dependent asparagine synthetase (ASNS), and, among non-essential amino acids, asparagine rescues differentiation of glutamine-starved MSCs, by restoring the transcriptional profiles of differentiating MSCs altered by glutamine starvation. Thus, reduced asparagine availability provides a mechanistic link between MM-dependent Gln depletion in BM and impairment of osteoblast differentiation. Inhibition of Gln metabolism in MM cells and supplementation of asparagine to stromal cells may, therefore, constitute novel approaches to prevent osteolytic lesions in MM.

Titanium dental implants hydrophilicity promotes preferential serum fibronectin over albumin competitive adsorption modulating early cell response.

In vitro studies have consistently shown that titanium surface wettability affects the response of osteoprogenitors, leading to important advances in the clinical osseointegration of dental implants. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Since surface conditioning by blood components initiates within milliseconds after insertion, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the amount and the type of blood proteins adsorbed influences the interaction between the implant surface and osteoprogenitors. To test this hypothesis, titanium implant surfaces with different characteristics, in terms of topography and wettability, have been conditioned with selected plasma proteins. Pure fibronectin (HFN) and albumin (HSA) solutions, or their mixture at the relative plasma concentrations were allowed to adsorb on titanium surfaces for 60 min. Protein adsorption was monitored by Bradford assay, while the contribution of HSA and HFN in forming the microfilm layer at the interface was studied by Western Blot. Subsequently, the same protein-conditioned surfaces were used to culture C2C12 cells, thus studying their capacity to adhere and to spread after 3 h. Cell viability was evaluated up to 7 days, while the expression of osteogenic genes was assessed after 3 days. Under competitive adsorption conditions, hydrophilicity promotes the selectivity of titanium for HFN regardless of the surface microtopography. As a consequence of selective HFN adsorption, cells on hydrophilic surfaces displayed enhanced adhesion and spreading, as well as increased proliferation. On the other hand, selective HFN adsorption did not appreciably affect cell differentiation. These data suggest that implant surface hydrophilicity plays a key role in guiding the selective adsorption of specific proteins from blood plasma. Moreover, the selective adsorption of HFN, as a consequence of surface hydrophilicity, was found to account for early cell responses amelioration. Thus, titanium surface hydrophilicity contributes to the clinical success of dental implant by selectively controlling protein adsorption at the interface.

Pyrogenic and Precipitated Amorphous Silica Nanoparticles Differentially Affect Cell Responses to LPS in Human Macrophages.

Previous work has demonstrated that precipitated (NM-200) and pyrogenic (NM-203) Amorphous Silica Nanoparticles (ASNPs) elicit the inflammatory activation of murine macrophages, with more pronounced effects observed with NM-203. Here, we compare the effects of low doses of NM-200 and NM-203 on human macrophage-like THP-1 cells, assessing how the pre-exposure to these nanomaterials affects the cell response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cell viability was affected by NM-203, but not by NM-200, and only in the presence of LPS. While NM-203 stimulated mTORC1, neither ASNPs activated NFκB or the transcription of its target genes PTGS2 and IL1B. NM-200 and NM-203 caused a block of the autophagic flux and inhibited the LPS-dependent increase of Glutamine Synthetase (GS) expression. Both ASNPs suppressed the activation of caspase-1, delaying the LPS-dependent secretion of IL-1ß. Thus, ASNPs modulate several important pathways in human macrophages, altering their response to LPS. NM-203 had larger effects on autophagy, mTORC1 activity and GS expression than NM-200, confirming the higher biological activity of pyrogenic ASNPs when compared with precipitated ASNPs.

Data on miRNome changes in human cells exposed to nano- or ionic- forms of Cadmium.

The data included in this paper are associated with a research article entitled 'Differences in toxicity, mitochondrial function and miRNome in human cells exposed in vitro to Cd as CdS quantum dots or ionic Cd' [1]. The article concerns the use of miRNAs as biomarkers for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) risk assessment. Two different type of human cells, HepG2 and THP-1, were exposed to different forms of Cadmium: nanoscale, as CdS quantum dots (CdS QDs), and ionic, as CdSO4 8/3 -hydrate (Cd(II)). The cells were treated with sub-toxic doses of CdS QDs; 3 µg ml-1 in HepG2 and 6.4 µg ml-1 and 50 µg ml-1 in THP-1, as well as equivalent cadmium doses as Cd(II). In this dataset, changes in expression levels of miRNAs are reported. In addition, GO enrichment analyses of target genes of miRNAs modulated by Cd stress, network analysis of the microRNome and an in silico pathway analysis are also reported. These data enhance and also summarize much of the data independently presented in the research article and therefore, must be considered as supplementary.

PACT-mediated PKR activation acts as a hyperosmotic stress intensity sensor weakening osmoadaptation and enhancing inflammation.

The inability of cells to adapt to increased environmental tonicity can lead to inflammatory gene expression and pathogenesis. The Rel family of transcription factors TonEBP and NF-κB p65 play critical roles in the switch from osmoadaptive homeostasis to inflammation, respectively. Here we identified PACT-mediated PKR kinase activation as a marker of the termination of adaptation and initiation of inflammation in Mus musculus embryonic fibroblasts. We found that high stress-induced PACT-PKR activation inhibits the interaction between NF-κB c-Rel and TonEBP essential for the increased expression of TonEBP-dependent osmoprotective genes. This resulted in enhanced formation of TonEBP/NF-κB p65 complexes and enhanced proinflammatory gene expression. These data demonstrate a novel role of c-Rel in the adaptive response to hyperosmotic stress, which is inhibited via a PACT/PKR-dependent dimer redistribution of the Rel family transcription factors. Our results suggest that inhibiting PACT-PKR signaling may prove a novel target for alleviating stress-induced inflammatory diseases.

Cells are sensitive to changes in their environment. For example, maintaining normal salt levels in the blood, also called tonicity, is essential for the health of individual cells and the organism as a whole. Tonicity controls the movement of water in and out of the cell: high levels of salt inside the cell draw water in, while high levels of salt outside the cell draw water out. If salt levels in the environment surrounding the cells become too high, too much water will be drawn out, causing the cells to shrink. Changes in tonicity can cause the cell to become stressed. Initially, cells adapt to this stress by switching on sets of genes that help restore fluid balance and allow the cell to regain its normal shape and size. If the increase in tonicity exceeds tolerable stress levels and harms the cell, this initiates an inflammatory response which ultimately leads to cell death. However, it remained unclear how cells switch from adapting to responding with inflammation. Now, Farabaugh et al. have used an experimental system which mimics high salt to identify the mechanism that allows cells to switch between these two responses. The experiments showed that when salt levels are too high, cells switch on a stress sensing protein called PACT, which activates another protein called PKR. When PACT was deleted from mouse cells, this led to a decrease in the activity of inflammatory genes, and prevented the cells from self-destructing. Other proteins that are involved in the adaptive and inflammatory response are the NF-κB family of proteins and TonEBP. Farabaugh et al. found that under low intensity stress, when salt levels outside the cell are slightly too high, a family member of NF-κB works with TonEBP to switch on adaptive genes. But, if salt levels continue to rise, PACT activates and turns on PKR. This blocks the interaction between NF-κB and TonEBP, allowing another family member of NF-κB to interact with TonEBP instead. This switches the adaptive response off and the inflammatory response on. There are many diseases that involve changes in tonicity, including diabetes, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and dry eye syndrome. Understanding the proteins involved in the adaptive and inflammatory response could lead to the development of drugs that help to protect cells from stress-induced damage.