Reduction of cPLA2alpha overexpression: an efficient anti-inflammatory therapy for collagen-induced arthritis.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha (cPLA2) plays an important role in the development of several inflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study is to determine whether inhibition of cPLA2 expression, using specific antisense oligonucleotides against cPLA2 (antisense), is efficient in reducing inflammation after its development. Two mouse models of inflammation were included in the study: thioglicolate peritonitis and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). The antisense was found to be specific and efficient in inhibiting cPLA2 expression and NADPH oxidase activity ex vivo in peritoneal phagocytes. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry analysis showed a significant elevation in cPLA2 expression in the inflamed joints of collagen-induced arthritis mice localized in cell infiltrate, chondrocytes and the surrounding skin and skeletal muscle. Similarly, the cPLA2 metabolite, leukotriene B4, accumulated in the peritoneal cavity of mice with peritonitis. Inhibition of elevated cPLA2 expression after development of inflammation by intravenous administration of antisense resulted in a dramatic reduction in inflammation and a significant reduction in neutrophils recruitment to the site of inflammation in both mouse models of inflammation. Our results demonstrate the critical role of cPLA2 for the duration of inflammation and suggest that inhibition of cPLA2 expression by antisense oligonucleotides may serve as an efficient treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha is targeted to the p47phox-PX domain of the assembled NADPH oxidase via a novel binding site in its C2 domain.

We have previously demonstrated a physical interaction between cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha (cPLA2) and the assembled NADPH oxidase on plasma membranes following neutrophil stimulation. The aim of the present study was to define the exact binding sites between these two enzymes. Here we show, based on blot overlay experiments, Förster resonance energy transfer analysis and studies in neutrophils from patients with chronic granulomatous disease deficient in p67phox or p47phox, that cPLA2 specifically binds to p47phox and that p47phox is sufficient to anchor cPLA2 to the assembled oxidase on the plasma membranes upon stimulation. Blot overlay and affinity binding experiments using subfragments of cPLA2 and p47phox demonstrated that the cPLA2-C2 domain and the p47phox-PX domain interact to form a complex that is resistant to high salt. Computational docking was used to identify hydrophobic peptides within these two domains that inhibited the association between the two enzymes and NADPH oxidase activity in electro-permeabilized neutrophils. These results were used in new docking computations that produced an interaction model. Based on this model, cPLA2-C2 domain mutations were designed to explore its interaction p47phox in neutrophil lysates. The triple mutant F35A/M38A/L39A of the cPLA2-C2 domain caused a slight inhibition of the affinity binding to p47phox, whereas the single mutant I67A was highly effective. The double mutant M59A/H115A of the p47phox-PX domain caused a significant inhibition of the affinity binding to cPLA2. Thus, Ile67 of the cPLA2-C2 domain is identified as a critical, centrally positioned residue in a hydrophobic interaction in the p47phox-PX domain.