ATX expression and LPA signalling are vital for the development of the nervous system.

Autotaxin (ATX) is a secreted glycoprotein widely present in biological fluids, originally isolated from the supernatant of melanoma cells as an autocrine motility stimulation factor. Its enzymatic product, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), is a phospholipid mediator that evokes growth-factor-like responses in almost all cell types through G-protein coupled receptors. To assess the role of ATX and LPA signalling in pathophysiology, a conditional knockout mouse was created. Ubiquitous, obligatory deletion resulted to embryonic lethality most likely due to aberrant vascular branching morphogenesis and chorio-allantoic fusion. Moreover, the observed phenotype was shown to be entirely depended on embryonic, but not extraembryonic or maternal ATX expression. In addition, E9.5 ATX null mutants exhibited a failure of neural tube closure, most likely independent of the circulatory failure, which correlated with decreased cell proliferation and increased cell death. More importantly, neurite outgrowth in embryo explants was severely compromised in mutant embryos but could be rescued upon the addition of LPA, thus confirming a role for ATX and LPA signalling in the development of the nervous system. Finally, expression profiling of mutant embryos revealed attenuated embryonic expression of HIF-1a in the absence of ATX, suggesting a novel effector pathway of ATX/LPA.

Toll-like receptor 7-triggered immune response in the lung mediates acute and long-lasting suppression of experimental asthma.

RATIONALE: Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 ligands are promising candidate drugs for the treatment of allergic asthma and rhinitis. Although their clinical application depends on the development of strategies for topical administration to the lung, this has not been explored in preclinical disease models. OBJECTIVES: To examine the therapeutic effectiveness, persistence of effect, and mode of action of intranasal TLR7 ligand administration in allergic airway disease. METHODS: Wild-type, IFN-alpha receptor (IFN-alphaR)(-/-), IFN-gamma(-/-), CD8(-/-), TLR7(-/-), and radiation-induced chimeric mice deficient in hematopoietic TLR7 expression were subjected to an established model of allergic airway disease. R-848, a specific TLR7 agonist in mice, was administered prophylactically or therapeutically and effects of treatment on helper T-cell type 2 (Th2) responses, eosinophilia, goblet cell metaplasia, and airway hyperresponsiveness were assessed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Intranasal R-848 administration induced a transient immune response characterized by type I interferon production and infiltration of innate immune cells into the lung. This conferred long-term suppression of allergic airway disease via two complementary molecular processes, one mediated by type I interferons and providing acute protection by directly inhibiting effector Th2 responses, and one mediated by immunoregulatory CD8(+) T cells and inducing long-lasting protection by suppressing Th2 responses in an IFN-gamma-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Intranasal R-848 administration is an effective treatment for allergic airway disease. It hijacks an otherwise proinflammatory immune process triggered by TLR7 to mediate long-lasting disease suppression. This provides important insight into the efficacy and mode of action of TLR7 ligands in murine models of allergic airway disease and paves the way for their clinical application in humans.

A critical role for gelsolin in ventilator-induced lung injury.

Mechanical ventilation, an essential life-support modality of patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), exerts its detrimental effects through largely unknown mechanisms. Gelsolin (GSN), an actin-binding protein and a substrate of caspase-3, was recently shown to play a major role in bleomycin- or lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury. To dissect a possible role of GSN in the pathogenesis of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), genetically modified mice lacking GSN expression and wild-type controls underwent mechanical ventilation with high tidal volumes. GSN was found up-regulated in the airways upon VILI, and its genetic ablation led to almost complete disease protection as manifested by reduced edema formation, reduced lung injury, attenuated epithelial apoptosis, diminished cytokine expression, and impaired neutrophil infiltration. GSN fragmentation was shown to be an effector mechanism in VILI-induced apoptosis, while GSN expression was shown to be necessary for efficient neutrophil infiltration, which was found to be a prerequisite for VILI induction in this model. Therefore, intracellular GSN and GSN-mediated responses were shown to be an important player in the pathogenesis of VILI.