Inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase enhances TRIF-dependent NF-kappa B activation and IFN-beta synthesis downstream of Toll-like receptor 3 and 4.

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) are known to regulate Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated inflammatory responses, but their impact on the different pathways of TLR signaling remains to be clarified. Here, we investigated the consequences of pharmacological inhibition of PI3K on Toll-IL-1 receptor domain-containing adapter-inducing IFN-beta (TRIF)-dependent signaling, which induces IFN-beta gene expression downstream of TLR3 and TLR4. First, treatment of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) with wortmannin or LY294002 was found to enhance IFN-beta expression upon TLR3 or TLR4 engagement. In the same models of DC activation, PI3K inhibition increased DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB, but not interferon response factor (IRF)-3, the key transcription factors required for TLR-mediated IFN-beta synthesis. In parallel, wortmannin-treated DC exhibited enhanced levels of IkappaB kinase (IKK)-alpha/beta phosphorylation and IkappaB-alpha degradation with a concomitant increase in NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. Experiments carried out in HEK 293T cells stably expressing TLR3 or TLR4 confirmed that inhibition of PI3K activity enhances NF-kappaB-dependent promoters as well as IFN-beta promoter activities without interfering with transcription at the positive regulatory domain III-I. Furthermore, wortmannin enhanced NF-kappaB activity induced by TRIF overexpression in HEK 293T cells, while overexpression of catalytically active PI3K selectively attenuated TRIF-mediated NF-kappaB transcriptional activity. Finally, in co-immunoprecipitation experiments, we showed that PI3K physically interacted with TRIF. We conclude that inhibition of PI3K activity enhances TRIF-dependent NF-kappaB activity, and thereby increases IFN-beta synthesis elicited by TLR3 or TLR4 ligands.

Critical role of protein kinase C epsilon for lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-12 synthesis in monocyte-derived dendritic cells.

In the present study we have investigated the potential involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) in the maturation of human dendritic cells (DC) by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS stimulation of DC derived from human monocytes resulted in PKC phosphorylation. Inhibition of PKC activation using bisindolylmaleimide (Bis), a pan-PKC inhibitor, was associated with a dose-dependent decrease of LPS-induced IL-12 production. In contrast, up-regulation of MHC class II, CD80 and CD86 was not altered. Consistent with the diminished IL-12 synthesis, DC stimulated with LPS in presence of Bis were deficient in the induction of IFN-gamma production by allogeneic CD4+ T cells. Furthermore, we found that PKC inhibition impaired LPS-induced I kappa B-alpha degradation and subsequent nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B activation in DC. LPS resulted in the phosphorylation of conventional alpha/beta and novel epsilon PKC isoforms in DC. Inhibition of LPS-induced PKC activity using pseudosubstrate peptides specific for PKC isoforms established that PKC epsilon but not PKC alpha/beta was involved in the production of IL-12 and TNF-alpha. Overall, these data provide evidence that PKC inhibition impairs LPS signaling in DC and identify PKC epsilon as a potential target for the inhibition of Toll-like receptor-4-mediated, IL-12-dependent Th1 type responses.

Interleukin-3 and interferon beta cooperate to induce differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells with potent helper T-cell stimulatory properties.

It was observed that interferon beta (IFN-beta) prevents the down-regulation of the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain (IL-3Ralpha), which spontaneously occurs during culture of human monocytes. The functionality of IL-3R was demonstrated by the fact that IL-3 rescued IFN-beta-treated monocytes from apoptosis. Monocytes cultured in the presence of IFN-beta and IL-3 acquire a dendritic morphology and express high levels of HLA antigen class I and class II and costimulatory molecules. When stimulated by either lipopolysaccharide or fibroblasts expressing CD40 ligand (CD40L) transfectants, dendritic cells (DCs) generated in IFN-beta and IL-3 secreted high levels of IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha but low levels of IL-12 in comparison with DCs generated in IL-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). In mixed leukocyte culture, IL-3-IFN-beta DCs induced a vigorous proliferative response of allogeneic cord blood T cells and elicited the production of high levels of IFN-gamma and IL-5 by naive adult CD4+ T cells. Finally, IL-3-IFN-beta DCs were found to produce much higher levels of IFN-alpha than IL-4-GM-CSF DCs in response to Poly (I:C) but not to influenza virus. It was concluded that monocytes cultured in the presence of IL-3 and IFN-beta differentiate into DCs with potent helper T-cell stimulatory capacity despite their low secretion of IL-12.

Monophosphoryl lipid A activates both human dendritic cells and T cells.

The induction of dendritic cell (DC) maturation is critical for the induction of Ag-specific T lymphocyte responses and may be essential for the development of human vaccines relying on T cell immunity. In this study, we have investigated the effects of monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) on human monocyte-derived DC as well as peripheral blood T cells. Calcium mobilization, mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, and the NF-kappaB transcription factor were induced after MPL stimulation of DC and required high doses of MPL (100 microg/ml). Maturation parameters such as production of IL-12 and increases in cell surface expression of HLA-DR, CD80, CD86, CD40, and CD83 were observed following DC treatment with MPL. However, lower levels of IL-12 were induced by MPL when compared with lipopolysaccharide. This is likely to be related to differences in the kinetics of extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 and p-38 phosphorylation induced by both molecules. Although maturation induced by MPL was weaker when compared with lipopolysaccharide, it appeared to be sufficient to support optimal activation of allogeneic naive CD45RA(+) T cell and anti-tetanus toxoid CD4 T cells. MPL at low doses (5 microg/ml) had no impact on DC maturation, while its addition to DC-T cell cocultures induced full T cell activation. The observed effect was related to the fact that MPL also acts directly on T cells, likely through their Toll-like receptors, by increasing their intracellular calcium and up-regulating their CD40 ligand expression. Together, these data support a model where MPL enhances T cell responses by having an impact on DC and T cells.