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Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 282: H872-H879, 2002; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00256.2001
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Vol. 282, Issue 3, H872-H879, March 2002

Endotoxin stress-response in cardiomyocytes: NF-kappa B activation and tumor necrosis factor-alpha expression

Gary Wright1, Ishwar S. Singh2, Jeffery D. Hasday2, Iain K. Farrance1, Gentzon Hall1, Allan S. Cross2, and Terry B. Rogers1

1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and 2 Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201


    ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Although tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is implicated in numerous cardiac pathologies, the intracellular events leading to its production by heart cells are largely unknown. The goal of the present study was to identify the role of the transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B in this process. Among the many inducers of TNF-alpha expression in myeloid cells, only lipopolysaccharide (LPS) led to its induction in cultured neonatal myocytes. LPS also activated the NF-kappa B pathway, as evidenced by the degradation of the inhibitory protein Ikappa B and the appearance of NF-kappa B-binding complexes in nuclear extracts. Furthermore, inhibitors of NF-kappa B activation, such as lactacystin, MG132, and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, were found to completely block the production of TNF-alpha in response to LPS stimulation, indicating a requirement of NF-kappa B for TNF-alpha expression. However, interleukin-1beta and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate also activated NF-kappa B but did not evoke TNF-alpha expression, revealing that this factor is not sufficient for cytokine production. Detailed examination of the NF-kappa B cascade revealed that cardiac cells displayed a unique pattern of Ikappa B degradation in response to LPS, with Ikappa Bbeta but not Ikappa Balpha being degraded upon stimulation. Additionally, two specific p65-containing DNA-binding complexes were observed in the nuclear extracts of neonatal cardiomyocytes: an inducible complex that is necessary for TNF-alpha expression and a constitutive species. Taken together, these results reveal that NF-kappa B is not only involved in cytokine production but also may be linked to other pathways that subserve a constitutive, protective mechanism for the heart cell.

lipopolysaccharide; nuclear factor-kappa b; interleukin-1beta ; cytokine production


    INTRODUCTION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF)-alpha is implicated in numerous cardiac pathologies. Elevated levels of TNF-alpha in cardiac tissue have been observed in ischemic heart disease, myocarditis, congestive heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, and sepsis-associated cardiac dysfunction (19). The demonstration that mice genetically engineered for cardiac-restricted overexpression of TNF-alpha developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, progressive chamber dilation, and eventually heart failure confirms the suspicion that TNF-alpha plays an effectoral rather than a coincidental role in the progression of heart disease (1, 17).

While it has long been assumed that infiltrating macrophages were the source of cardiac TNF-alpha , recent reports (13, 36) have shown that cardiomyocytes themselves are capable producing significant quantities of this cytokine. Because the importance of cardiomyocyte-produced TNF-alpha has been under appreciated until recently, very little is known about the regulation and intracellular signaling events that underlie TNF-alpha expression in heart cells. While insight has been gained about the regulation of TNF-alpha expression using cells of reticuloendothelial origin (7, 10, 37, 38), extrapolation of these findings is difficult because TNF-alpha expression is regulated in a highly cell type-specific fashion. Tellingly, even among the closely related B and T immune cells, cell type-specific regulation of TNF-alpha gene expression in response to the same extracellular signal is observed (33). In fact, several recent studies suggest that the mechanisms that lead to induction of TNF-alpha in heart cells may be significantly different from those found in myeloid cell types. For instance, while lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces TNF-alpha expression in cardiac myocytes (13, 19), the mechanism has been suggested to occur by a novel CD14-independent pathway (3). In contrast to macrophage cell lines, where nitric oxide inhibits TNF-alpha production (6, 8), this messenger induces TNF-alpha generation in feline cardiac myocytes (12). These studies offer a caution for making assumptions about the regulatory mechanisms of TNF-alpha expression in cardiomyocytes based upon previous studies performed upon myeloid cell types.

Nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B is a transcription factor that, under basal conditions, is sequestered as an inactive form in the cytoplasm through its interaction with inhibitory proteins (Ikappa Bs). Stimuli lead to the phosphorylation and subsequent proteasome-mediated degradation of Ikappa B. Thus liberated, NF-kappa B translocates to the nucleus, where it binds to specific sequences in the promoter region of genes to activate their transcription (9).

The NF-kappa B signal transduction pathway is activated in cardiomyocytes in response to a variety of cytokines and oxidative stressors, including LPS (15), interleukin (IL)-1beta (23), an ischemia-reperfusion event (2), and nitric oxide (12). Yet, the role of NF-kappa B in the transcriptional activation of the TNF-alpha gene remains undefined. Several reports (10, 32) have presented strong evidence that there is no role for NF-kappa B in the induction of the TNF-alpha gene in response to virus or LPS in myeloid cell types. In contrast, others have reported that inhibitors of NF-kappa B such as pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) (38) and sodium salicylate (24) suppress TNF-alpha gene expression. In cardiac myocytes, target genes of NF-kappa B, such as IL-6, have just recently begun to be elucidated (4). Like TNF-alpha expression, the biology of NF-kappa B has largely been characterized in myeloid cell types (9). However, the robust activation of NF-kappa B in the heart in response to numerous stressors and a recent report (21) showing that inhibition of NF-kappa B with "oligo binding decoys" moderates cardiac damage in response to coronary artery ligation reveal the importance of this pathway in cardiac pathologies.

In this study, we examined the expression of TNF-alpha in mouse neonatal cardiomyocytes. It was valuable to establish this model system so that transgenic animals, adenoviral gene transfer methods, and mouse-specific cytokine probes could be exploited in further studies. In particular, we focused on the relationship between NF-kappa B activation and TNF-alpha expression. The results support a critical role for NF-kappa B activation in LPS-induced TNF-alpha production in cardiomyocytes. Important differences in TNF-alpha induction and NF-kappa B activation in cardiomyocytes compared with myeloid cell lines were also demonstrated, including the exclusive degradation of Ikappa Bbeta rather than Ikappa Balpha in response to LPS stimulation. The data reveal that unique signaling mechanisms operate in cardiac cells to regulate NF-kappa B activation.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Cardiomyocytes culture and reagents. Cardiomyocytes were isolated from 1- or 2-day-old CD-1 mouse pups using a collagenase type II (Worthington Biochemical) and pancreatin (Sigma) double-enzyme digestion method. Briefly, hearts were removed under aseptic conditions, washed, and placed in Ads buffer (116 mM NaCl, 20 mM HEPES, 1 mM NaH2PO4, 5.5 mM glucose, 5.5 mM KCl, 0.8 mM MgSO4, and 5 mg/l phenol red; pH 7.35). Hearts were subjected to serial digestions of 20 min each in Ads buffer containing collagenase (360 mg/l) and pancreatin (690 mg/l) with gentle rocking in a cell culture incubator. After each round of digestion, hearts were allowed to settle, and the supernatant was triturated gently upon collection, whereupon 10% horse serum was added to terminate protease activity. The cells liberated from the first digestion were discarded, and serial digestions were continued for four times or as needed. Digestion supernatants were centrifuged at 700 g, and the cell pellets were resuspended in horse serum. Multiple digestions were pooled and filtered through 2-ply sterile gauze, followed by centrifugation at 700 g, and resuspended in DMEM-F-12 medium containing 5% fetal bovine serum, penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomyocin (100 µg/ml). All plating and maintenance procedures were performed as described in detail previously (18). All cell culture reagents were purchased from GIBCO-BRL. The antibodies used in the Western blot and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were as follows: anti-phospho-Ikappa Balpha (Ser32/36), 5A5 (both from Cell Signaling Technology), anti-Ikappa Balpha , anti-Ikappa Bbeta , and anti-NF-kappa B p65 rabbit polyclonal antibodies (all from Santa Cruz Biotechnology).

RT-PCR methods. TNF-alpha transcripts were analyzed with the use of RT-PCR. After the experimental protocols, total RNA was prepared from the cultures and analyzed by RT-PCR as previously described (16). The primers, designed to amplify a 354-bp portion of the mouse TNF-alpha transcript, were as follows: forward, 5'-TTCTGTCTACTGAACTTCGGGGTGATCGGTCC-3'; and reverse, 5'-GTATGAGATAGCAAATCGGCTGACGGTGTGGG-3' (Clontech,). cDNA was subjected to a PCR reaction (94°C for 30 s, 60°C for 30s, and 72°C for 60 min) for 29 cycles.

Measurement of TNF-alpha secretion. TNF-alpha concentrations in culture supernatants were measured with ELISA using paired antibodies and a recombinant mouse TNF-alpha standard from Endogen (Cambridge, MA), as previously described in detail (11). In all experiments in which TNF-alpha was measured, supernatant was taken from a 35-mm culture plate containing 600 µl medium and 2 × 106 cells and snap-frozen on dry ice and methanol.

Western blot analyses. Cardiomyocytes were washed with ice-cold PBS and lysed by passage through a small 25-gauge needle followed by brief sonication in a buffer containing 50 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.4), 1 mM EGTA, 0.1% beta -mercaptoethanol, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF), 0.8 µM aprotinin, 20 µM leupeptin, 15 µM E65, 50 µM bestatin, 10 µM pepstatin, and 0.1% Triton X-100. The protein concentration of each sample was measured using a protein assay dye reagent (Bio-Rad; Hercules, CA). SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed using standard procedures (25). Western blot analysis was performed using polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Millipore; Bedford, MA) and visualized using enhanced chemiluminescence detection reagents (Amersham Life Science; Buckinghamshire, UK).

Nuclear protein extract and EMSA. Nuclear extracts were prepared using a modification of an established method (26), as briefly described below. All steps were performed on ice or in a 4°C cold room. Myocyte cultures (35-mm plates) were washed with PBS (pH 7.4) and allowed to incubate for 20 min in 500 µl of buffer A, which contained 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.6), 20 mM KCl, 0.1 mM EGTA, and 0.1 mM EDTA. Cells were harvested by scraping, and the suspensions from two plates were pooled and pelleted with centrifugation at 750 g for 1 min. Pellets were resuspended in 40 µl of buffer A and allowed to incubate on ice for an additional 20 min. Nonidet P-40 was added to a final concentration of 0.5%, and cells were vortexed vigorously for 10 s, whereupon they were spun at 750 g for 1 min. The supernatant was immediately removed, and 100 µl of buffer A were used to resuspend and pellet the nuclei. The nuclear pellet was resuspended in 5 µl of extraction buffer containing 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.6), 450 mM NaCl, 0.5 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), 1 mM AEBSF, 0.8 µM aprotinin, 20 µM leupeptin, 15 µM E65, 50 µM bestatin, 10 µM pepstatin, and 25% glycerol. This mixture was incubated with gentle agitation for 30 min, after which time it was spun for 10 min at 14,500 g. The supernatants were snap-frozen in dry ice-methanol and stored at -70°C until use in the mobility shift assay. For mobility shift, 2-4 µg of the nuclear extract were incubated with 20,000 counts/min (~0.5 ng) of 32P-labeled NF-kappa B consensus-binding site oligonucleotide (Promega; Madison, WI) in a final volume of 10 µl in buffer containing 175 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris (pH 7.6), 1 mM DTT, 0.3µg/µl BSA, 0.2 µg/µl 43-mer nonspecific carrier oligonucleotide, and 10% glycerol. After 20 min of incubation at room temperature, samples were run at 35 mA on a 4% nondenaturing gel with the temperature maintained at <10°C via circulating 4°C water. Gels were dried, and autoradiography was performed with intensifying screens to visualize DNA-protein complexes.


    RESULTS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

TNF-alpha production by murine neonatal cardiomyocyte culture. Experiments were designed to determine whether murine neonatal myocyte cultures release TNF-alpha . Initial results revealed that significant cytokine release was detected at doses of the endotoxin LPS as low as 10 ng/ml; yet higher doses (5 µg/ml) yielded the most reproducible results between cultures. As shown in the time course in Fig. 1A, TNF-alpha was detected in the culture medium within 1 h after LPS application, reached maximal values (595 ± 14.8 pg/mg protein, equivalent to 52.3 pg/ml culture media) within 5 h, and declined to undetectable levels by 24 h. In parallel experiments in which media were removed and replaced with fresh aliquots, TNF-alpha release was complete by 5 h (data not shown). Thus there was a decline in the levels of TNF-alpha released in the initial 5 h over the subsequent 19 h (Fig. 1A). This is consistent with our recent report (28) that showed that TNF-alpha is cleared from the culture medium, either degraded or internalized, in a cell-dependent manner in cultures of a macrophage cell line.


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Fig. 1.   Cultured neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes produce tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in response to stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A: cultures were stimulated with LPS (5 µg/ml) for the indicated times, and the reactions were terminated by removing supernatant media. TNF-alpha concentrations were quantitated as described in Experimental procedures. The results are the means of three experiments ± SE (n = 3-6). B: cells were treated with LPS for 1.5 h. Total RNA was isolated and was analyzed for TNF-alpha transcript by RT-PCR as described in Experimental procedures. Shown are images of ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels of reaction products. PCR reactions with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) primers were used an as an internal control for these preparations. The labels indicate expected size of PCR products.

The increase in TNF-alpha protein secretion in response to LPS was accompanied by the appearance of TNF-alpha mRNA transcript, as determined by RT-PCR (Fig. 1B). Total RNA was prepared from cells after a 1.5-h treatment with LPS because preliminary results indicated that the NF-kappa B pathway was activated at this time (see Fig. 3, below). Thus cultured mouse cells produce TNF-alpha in response to LPS, and this stimulation can be explained in part by an increase in transcription.

Effect of NF-kappa B inhibitors and activators on TNF-alpha secretion by LPS-stimulated cardiomyocytes. The specificity of the TNF-alpha response in cardiac cells was assessed by examining the action of agents known to induce TNF-alpha expression in myeloid cells (9, 29). As shown in Fig. 2A, only LPS evoked TNF-alpha secretion, whereas established activators such as IL-1beta , H2O2, or okadaic acid were inactive at 5 h. These other agents were ineffective at times between 1 and 12 h as well (data not shown). Although none of these other agents alone stimulated TNF-alpha production, the phosphatase inhibitors okadaic acid and calyculin A enhanced LPS-induced TNF-alpha release ~2.5-fold (Fig. 2B). Dose-response studies with okadaic acid and calyculin A indicated that 33 and 10 nM, respectively, were the lowest concentrations to maximally stimulate LPS-induced TNFalpha production (data not shown).


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Fig. 2.   Stimulation of cardiac cells with activators of nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B. A: neonatal myocyte cultures were treated for 5 h with LPS (5 µg/ml), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 1 nM), H2O2 (0.01%), interleukin (IL)-1beta (10 ng/ml), and the indicated concentrations of okadaic acid (OA) and calyculin A (Caly A). At the end of the incubations, culture medium was collected and assayed for TNF-alpha protein as described in Experimental procedures. B: cultures were treated with IL-1beta (10 ng/ml), PMA (1 µM), OA (33 nM), and Caly A (10 nM) for 15 min before the addition of LPS (5 µg/ml). After a 5-h incubation, the secreted TNF-alpha concentration was determined as described above. The results are the means (±SE; n = 6) of 2 separate experiments.

NF-kappa B activation in cardiomyocytes. While LPS elicited TNF-alpha production, the failure of established myeloid cell activators of NF-kappa B, such as okadaic acid, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), or IL-1beta (35), to evoke cytokine production in cardiac cells cast doubt on the role of this transcription factor in promoting TNF-alpha production. To clarify the role of NF-kappa B, a series of experiments was performed that critically examined its activation in cardiac cells. Because proteasome-directed degradation of Ikappa Bs is a well-characterized early step in NF-kappa B activation (35), we examined Ikappa Balpha and Ikappa Bbeta levels after LPS application. As shown in the Western blots in Fig. 3A, when the cells were exposed to LPS during a 1-h interval, there was no decrease in either Ikappa Balpha or Ikappa Bbeta . The experiments in Fig. 3A detect net levels of Ikappa B; yet it has been reported that Ikappa Balpha can be rapidly resynthesized in response to NF-kappa B activation (9). Thus it may be that Ikappa B turnover is best seen when protein synthesis is inhibited. Accordingly, a series of parallel experiments was performed in the presence cyclohexamide. As shown in Fig. 3B, LPS did evoke marked decreases Ikappa Bbeta levels at 60 and 90 min. In contrast, under these conditions, Ikappa Balpha levels were maintained.


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Fig. 3.   Inhibitory protein Ikappa Balpha and Ikappa Bbeta degradation in cardiomyocytes in response to stimulation with LPS. A: cells were stimulated with LPS (5 µg/ml) for the indicated times. Cell extracts were prepared and analyzed for Ikappa Balpha and Ikappa Bbeta protein levels by Western blot methods as described in Experimental procedures. B: cultures were treated with LPS as above except that cyclohexamide (10 µM) was included to block protein synthesis. C: cultures were treated with combinations of 5 µg/ml LPS (lanes 3, 4, and 6), 10 µM cyclohexamide (lanes 2, 4, and 6), and 20 µM lactacystin (lanes 5 and 6) for 5 h, whereupon cells were subjected to Western blot analysis. Cyclohexamide and lactacystin treatment preceded LPS treatment by 15 min. D: displayed are summary data from densitometric scans from multiple experiments identical to those shown in C. The signals for Ikappa Balpha and Ikappa Bbeta levels were normalized to untreated culture controls ± SE (n = 4).

These data suggest that Ikappa Bbeta represents the primary pool of LPS-responsive NF-kappa B regulatory protein in cardiac cells. To explore this issue in more detail, an additional series of experiments was performed where cultures were stimulated for 5 h, corresponding to the functional release studies shown in Fig. 1. Whereas cyclohexamide alone had no effect on Ikappa B levels in control cells (Fig. 3, C and D, lane 2), LPS application resulted in a selective decrease in Ikappa Bbeta of 75% with no change in Ikappa Balpha (compare summary data in Fig. 3D, lanes 3 and 4). Thus cylcohexamide treatment alone cannot account for the loss in inhibitor proteins that is seen. The proteasomal degradation of Ikappa Bbeta was confirmed in lanes 5 and 6 (Fig. 3, C and D) because lactacystin completely blocked the loss of Ikappa Bbeta in LPS-treated cells.

The stability of Ikappa Balpha in cardiac cells was unexpected. Thus this observation was explored in more detail with the use of an Ikappa Balpha -phospho-specific antibody. As shown in Fig. 4A, when cells were exposed to LPS, no phosphorylation of Ikappa Balpha at Ser32/36 could be detected even when blots were developed for 1 h. In contrast, positive controls with TNF-alpha -stimulated NIH/3T3 cells revealed that under the same Western blotting conditions, marked phospho-Ikappa Balpha could be readily detected with only 1.5-min chemiluminescent exposures. Thus an early step in LPS-stimulated NF-kappa B activation is the decrease of Ikappa Bbeta rather than Ikappa Balpha in cardiac cells.


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Fig. 4.   Effects of LPS on Ikappa Balpha phosphorylation in cardiac myocytes. Experiments analogous to those in Fig. 2 were performed, including pretreatment with cyclohexamide (10 µM, 15 min). A: cells were incubated with cyclohexamide (10 µM) and LPS (5 µg/ml) (+LPS/+CHD) for the specified time intervals (lanes 1-6) or with cyclohexamide alone (+CHD) for 300 min (lane 7). Cell extracts were prepared, and 20 µg protein were subjected to Western blot analysis. Top, results when extracts were analyzed for phosphorylated Ikappa Balpha (1-h film exposure); bottom, same blot reprobed for total Ikappa Balpha protein (10-min film exposure). B: positive control Western blot analysis of cell extracts prepared from untreated and TNF-alpha -stimulated NIH/3T3 cells. In this case, 20 µg of each sample were analyzed for the presence of phosphorylated Ikappa Balpha (top; 1.5-min exposure) or total Ikappa Balpha (bottom; 10-min exposure).

The activation pathway of NF-kappa B was further examined in nuclear extracts by EMSA with a consensus NF-kappa B-binding oligonucleotide. Two prominent gel-shifted complexes were found in nuclear extracts from LPS-stimulated myocytes (Fig. 5A): a low-mobility complex (labeled "a") that is induced by LPS and a higher mobility complex (labeled "b") that is constitutively present. In addition, an intermediate mobility complex (labeled "dagger ") was sometimes observed. These complexes, a and b, appear specific because the labels were effectively competed with 50-fold excess of cold oligonucleotide. Furthermore, an antibody against the NF-kappa B protein component p65 disrupted and supershifted both complexes, revealing that they contained p65 protein (Fig. 5A). Further examination of these complexes included a direct comparison between myocyte and cell line RAW 264.7 nuclear extracts by EMSA. As shown in Fig. 4C, the nuclear complexes a and b were not equivalent to those found in this mouse myeloid cell type. The possibility that okadaic acid enhanced LPS-induced TNF-alpha production (as seen in Fig. 2B) through increased activation of NF-kappa B was also tested in Fig. 5A. No increase in the level of NF-kappa B, above that seen for LPS alone, was observed in response to okadaic acid treatment.


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Fig. 5.   Activation of nuclear NF-kappa B-binding activity in cardiac cells. A: cultures were treated with LPS (5 µg/ml) and OA (33 nM) as indicated for 1.5 h. Nuclear extracts were prepared, and gel-shift assays were performed using a 32P-labeled oligonucleotide probe containing a high-affinity kappa B-binding motif, as described in MATERIALS AND METHODS. The three kappa B-binding complexes are designated "a," "dagger ," and "b" (right of the autoradiogram). In the supershift assays, nuclear extracts were preincubated with an antibody directed against the p65 NF-kappa B subunit (anti-p65) for 30 min before addition of the radiolabeled probe. *Position of the anti-p65 supershifted complex. Excess of unlabeled oligonucleotide (50× cold oligo) was added to the binding reaction simultaneously with the 32P-labeled oligonucleotide probe. B: neonatal myocyte cultures were treated with LPS (5 µg/ml), PMA (1 nM), H2O2 (0.01%), IL-1beta (10 ng/ml), and OA (33 nM) as indicated for 1.5 h. Nuclear extracts were prepared from these cultures and analyzed in gel-shift assays as in A except that higher ionic strength binding buffer (150 mM NaCl) was used. Note that the complex labeled "dagger " in A is not observed in high-salt conditions. C: nuclear extracts were prepared in parallel from myocyte (MCM) and RAW cell cultures treated with or without LPS and subjected to electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) as above.

Taken together, the data presented above support the view that LPS activates TNF-alpha production though stimulation of the NF-kappa B pathway. Yet, such a relation between NF-kappa B and TNF-alpha production was inconsistent with the failure of IL-1beta and PMA to induce TNF-alpha in heart cells (Fig. 2A). When NF-kappa B activation was directly evaluated in response to IL-1beta and PMA (Fig. 5B), both were found to induce nuclear NF-kappa B complex a binding activity. The robust activation of NF-kappa B by IL-1beta and PMA, stimuli that are not accompanied by TNF-alpha production, suggested two possible explanations. First, it is possible that the NF-kappa B activation that accompanies LPS stimulation is coincidental and has no role in the induction of TNF-alpha . Alternatively, NF-kappa B may represent one of several necessary factors that are coordinated to bring about TNF-alpha production. The latter is consistent with the complex array of transcription factors found to interact with the TNF-alpha promoter (33, 38).

To address the question in more detail, the effects of inhibitors of the NF-kappa B pathway were examined. LPS stimulation of NF-kappa B complex a was blocked by concomitant treatment of cardiac cells with the proteasome inhibitors lactacystin and MG132 (Fig. 6, A and B). Additionally, PDTC, an antioxidant previously described as a distinctly different type of inhibitor of NF-kappa B in myeloid cells (38), also blocked the appearance of LPS-induced nuclear NF-kappa B complex a (Fig. 6B). Importantly, under the same conditions, lactacystin and MG132 blocked LPS-evoked TNF-alpha production by essentially 100% (Fig. 7). Similarly, PDTC, at a concentration known to inhibit NF-kappa B (100 µM), was also an effective inhibitor of TNF-alpha induction. Thus several distinctly different agents that share a common property of NF-kappa B inhibition also inhibit TNF-alpha production in cardiac cells.


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Fig. 6.   Inhibition of the NF-kappa B pathway in mouse cardiomyocytes by proteasome inhibitors and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). A: cultures were treated with LPS (5 µg/ml) and lactacystin (Lacta; 20 µM) as indicated for 1.5 h. Nuclear extracts (NUC; 5 µg) were prepared, and EMSA was performed using a 32P-labeled oligonucleotide probe containing a high-affinity kappa B-binding motif as described in MATERIALS AND METHODS. As an additional control, cytosolic extracts (CYTO; 15 µg) were also incubated with the probe. B: cultures were treated for 1.5 h with LPS (5 µg/ml), PDTC (100 µM), and MG132 (40 µM) as indicated, and nuclear extracts were prepared and analyzed by EMSA.



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Fig. 7.   Effects of NF-kappa B inhibitors on LPS-induced TNF-alpha release. Cardiac cells were treated with lactacystin (20 µM), MG132 (40 µM), and the indicated concentrations of PDTC for 15 min before addition of LPS. After 5 h of LPS treatment, culture medium was removed and assayed for TNF-alpha protein as described in MATERIALS AND METHODS.


    DISCUSSION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

The importance of identifying the intracellular signaling cascades that underlie the production of TNF-alpha in cardiac myocytes is based on the growing appreciation that this pleotropic cytokine is linked to the pathogenesis of several cardiac diseases, such as myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, myocarditis, ischemia-reperfusion, and dilated cardiomyopathy (19). Substantial insight into the molecular elements of TNF-alpha production and the NF-kappa B stress response has been derived from studies on myeloid cell types (7, 10, 37, 38). However, because such molecular signaling is highly cell type specific, it is not possible to extrapolate this information to the cellular context of the cardiac myocyte (33). Accordingly, in this study, we used a model system of LPS-stimulated TNF-alpha production to identify crucial elements in the NF-kappa B signaling cascade in cultured cardiac cells. Our findings identify an inducible NF-kappa B nuclear complex that plays a key role in TNF-alpha production by myocytes. Also, unexpectedly, it was found that degradation of the inhibitory regulator protein Ikappa Bbeta , rather than Ikappa Balpha , was the major source of inducible NF-kappa B in cardiomyocyte cells. Finally, we identified multiple NF-kappa B-binding components in the myocyte nucleus, which included an inducible and constitutively expressed p65-containing complex. Taken together, these results have important implications not only for the signaling pathways that regulate cardiac responses to stress but also for those that modulate apoptosis in myocytes as well.

Through a series of coordinated experiments, a link between TNF-alpha production and activation of the NF-kappa B pathway was observed. Several initial experiments suggested that NF-kappa B signaling may not be involved in cardiomyocyte TNF-alpha production. In particular, only LPS, and not other established NF-kappa B activators such as okadaic acid, IL-1beta , H2O2, and PMA, was found to induce TNF-alpha expression in cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, the surprising failure of LPS to cause degradation of Ikappa Balpha did not support the model of an NF-kappa B-mediated response. However, more detailed analyses underscored the importance of NF-kappa B activation in TNF-alpha expression. First, LPS stimulated the degradation of Ikappa Bbeta (Fig. 4) and the appearance of an inducible NF-kappa B-binding complex in the nucleus (Fig. 5). Second, pharmacological inhibitors that inhibit NF-kappa B activation through distinctly different mechanisms, proteasome inhibitors as well as the antioxidant PDTC, were found to block Ikappa B degradation, NF-kappa B-binding activity in the nucleus, and TNF-alpha release. Thus TNF-alpha production is strongly correlated with activation of that NF-kappa B pathway in the heart.

However, it is also clear that stimulation of cytokine production involves more than NF-kappa B activation alone. For example, while the classic myeloid cell stimulators IL-1beta and PMA induced the translocation of a NF-kappa B-binding complex to the nucleus in myocytes, this was not sufficient to stimulate TNF-alpha production. Further results with phosphatase inhibitors, which potentiated LPS-induced TNF-alpha production 2.5-fold without effecting NF-kappa B signaling, also clearly point to the importance of other signaling factors that converge in TNF-alpha production. These data support the view that TNF-alpha production requires additional signals beyond the activation of NF-kappa B in heart cells. LPS receptors (Toll-like receptor 4) engage many of the same signaling components as the IL-1 receptor, such as the IL-1 receptor-associated kinase (30), consistent with the NF-kappa B responses seen here for both agents. Thus the differences in TNF-alpha production may lie in posttranscriptional regulation. In that regard, mitogen-associated protein kinases, including p38 mitogen-activated kinase and Jun NH2-terminal kinase, have been reported to control TNF-alpha translation in response to LPS (34). It is also important to note the most LPS signaling pathways are derived in studies with membrane-bound CD14 endotoxin receptors, whereas signaling in cardiac cells requires soluble CD14 receptors (30). Recently, Kalra and co-workers (12) demonstrated that nitric oxide stimulates NF-kappa B and supports TNF-alpha production in cardiomyocytes (12). Taken together, it is clear that other signaling mechanisms that underlie LPS-mediated TNF-alpha production, including posttranscriptional regulation, need to be defined in cardiac myocytes.

Detailed studies on the stability of the inhibitory regulators of NF-kappa B, the Ikappa Bs, revealed a novel pattern of Ikappa B regulation in cardiac cells. Although typically the nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B depends on and is parallel to the degradation of Ikappa Balpha (14, 20), studies reported here showed that levels of Ikappa Balpha , and its low phosphorylation state, were remarkably stable after LPS-evoked NF-kappa B stimulation in myocytes. In contrast, Ikappa Bbeta is the more labile form, with its degradation correlating with the appearance of both LPS- and IL-1beta -induced nuclear NF-kappa B complex a (Figs. 5 and 6). The results reported here establish the importance of Ikappa Bbeta degradation in the stress responses in the heart.

It was important to confirm the activation of NF-kappa B directly by assessing the appearance of nuclear NF-kappa B-binding components. NF-kappa B binding gel-shift assays revealed multiple binding components in cardiac cells, consistent with the reports of several groups (5, 12, 31). Thus, in addition to a stimulated nuclear binding complex, a constitutively expressed complex was detected as well. Although this latter complex may indeed be nonspecific, several lines of evidence suggest that it is biologically relevant. It is restricted to the nuclear fraction, labeling was blocked by an unlabeled NF-kappa B consensus oligonucleotide, and its mobility was supershifted by anti-p65 antibody. It is interesting to note that a constitutive NF-kappa B-binding component has been reported in mature B cells, plasma cells, and some neurons (9, 27). This finding is also consistent with a significant basal NF-kappa B transcriptional activity, which we have seen in cardiac cells (data not shown). The role of this constitutive component is unclear, but a recent report (22) showing that NF-kappa B plays a role in preventing apoptosis in cardiac myocytes provides a hint of the relevance of this finding. It will be important to determine if this complex is indeed biologically relevant in cardiac cells.

In conclusion, we examined molecular elements of the stress responses in cardiac cells by critically examining the role of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway in the production of TNF-alpha . Taken together, the data indicate that NF-kappa B is necessary in combination with other coordinated signaling events for LPS-induced TNF-alpha production in cardiomyocytes. In addition, it was observed that important features of NF-kappa B signaling pathway activation and the mechanisms underlying TNF-alpha expression are distinct to the cardiomyocyte. Further characterization of these pathways will reveal important molecular elements of the responses of cardiac cells to stress and in the regulation of the apoptosis cascade.


    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants AG-14637 and HL-27867 (to T. B. Rogers) and Predoctoral Training Grant T32 AR-07592 (to G. Hall), an American Heart Association, Maryland Affiliate, Postdoctoral Fellowship (to G. Wright), and the University of Maryland MD/PhD Program (to G. Hall).


    FOOTNOTES

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: T. B. Rogers, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Univ. of Maryland, 108 N. Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201 (E-mail: trogers{at}umaryland.edu).

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

10.1152/ajpheart.00256.2001

Received 28 March 2001; accepted in final form 31 October 2001.


    REFERENCES
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
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Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 282(3):H872-H879
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