Early use of dexamethasone increases Nr4a1 in Kupffer cells ameliorating acute liver failure in mice in a glucocorticoid receptor-dependent manner.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a type of disease with high mortality and rapid progression with no specific treatment methods currently available. Glucocorticoids exert beneficial clinical effects on therapy for ALF. However, the mechanism of this effect remains unclear and when to use glucocorticoids in patients with ALF is difficult to determine. The purpose of this study was to investigate the specific immunological mechanism of dexamethasone (Dex) on treatment of ALF induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/D-galactosamine (D-GaIN) in mice. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice were given LPS and D-GaIN by intraperitoneal injection to establish an animal model of ALF. Dex was administrated to these mice and its therapeutic effect was observed. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to determine liver pathology. Multicolor flow cytometry, cytometric bead array (CBA) method, and next-generation sequencing were performed to detect changes of messenger RNA (mRNA) in immune cells, cytokines, and Kupffer cells, respectively. RESULTS: A mouse model of ALF can be constructed successfully using LPS/D-GaIN, which causes a cytokine storm in early disease progression. Innate immune cells change markedly with progression of liver failure. Earlier use of Dex, at 0 h rather than 1 h, could significantly improve the progression of ALF induced by LPS/D-GaIN in mice. Numbers of innate immune cells, especially Kupffer cells and neutrophils, increased significantly in the Dex-treated group. In vivo experiments indicated that the therapeutic effect of Dex is exerted mainly via the glucocorticoid receptor (Gr). Sequencing of Kupffer cells revealed that Dex could increase mRNA transcription level of nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (Nr4a1), and that this effect disappeared after Gr inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: In LPS/D-GaIN-induced ALF mice, early administration of Dex improved ALF by increasing the numbers of innate immune cells, especially Kupffer cells and neutrophils. Gr-dependent Nr4a1 upregulation in Kupffer cells may be an important ALF effect regulated by Dex in this process.

Cloning, expression and purification of penicillin-binding protein 3 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa CMCC 10104.

Penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the primary target of ß-lactams used to treat pseudomonas infections. Meanwhile, structure change and overproduction of PBP3 play important roles in the drug resistance of P. aeruginosa. Therefore, studies on the gene and structure of PBP3 are urgently needed. P. aeruginosa CMCC 10104 is a type culture strain common used in China. However, there is no report on its genomic and proteomic profiles. In this study, based on ftsI of P. aeruginosa PAO1, the gene encoding PBP3 was cloned from CMCC 10104. A truncated version of the ftsI gene, omitting the bases encoding the hydrophobic leader peptide (amino acids 1-34), was amplified by PCR. The cloned DNA shared 99.76% identity with ftsI from PAO1. Only four bases were different (66 C-A, 1020 T-C, 1233 T-C, and 1527 T-C). However, there were no differences between their deduced amino acid sequences. The recombinant PBP3 (rPBP3), containing a 6-histidine tag, was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) with Ni(2+)-NTA agarose was used for its purification. The purified rPBP3 was identified by SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis, and showed a single band at about 60kDa with purity higher than 95%. The penicillin-binding assay indicated that the obtained rPBP3 was functional and not hindered by the presence of the C-terminal His-tag. The protocol described in this study offers a method for obtaining purified recombinant PBP3 from P. aeruginosa CMCC 10104.