Published ahead of print on April 1, 2004, doi:10.1165/rcmb.2003-0307OC
© 2004 American Thoracic Society DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2003-0307OC Differential Regulation of Membrane CD14 Expression and Endotoxin-Tolerance in Alveolar MacrophagesPulmonary Research Laboratories at the VA Puget Sound Medical Center, and the Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington; and Department of Thoracic Medicine II, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Address correspondence to: Charles W. Frevert, D.V.M., Sc.D., Pulmonary Research Group, VA Puget Sound Medical Center, 1660 S. Columbian Way, 151L, Seattle, WA 98108. E-mail: cfrevert{at}u.washington.edu
CD14 is important in the clearance of bacterial pathogens from lungs. However, the mechanisms that regulate the expression of membrane CD14 (mCD14) on alveolar macrophages (AM) have not been studied in detail. This study examines the regulation of mCD14 on AM exposed to Escherichia coli in vivo and in vitro, and explores the consequences of changes in mCD14 expression. The expression of mCD14 was decreased on AM exposed to E. coli in vivo and AM incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or E. coli in vitro. Polymyxin B abolished LPS effects, but only partially blocked the effects of E. coli. Blockade of extracellular signalregulated kinase pathways attenuated LPS and E. coliinduced decrease in mCD14 expression. Inhibition of proteases abrogated the LPS-induced decrease in mCD14 expression on AM and the release of sCD14 into the supernatants, but did not affect the response to E. coli. The production of tumor necrosis factor- in response to a second challenge with Staphylococcus aureus or zymosan was decreased in AM after incubation with E. coli but not LPS. These studies show that distinct mechanisms regulate the expression of mCD14 and the induction of endotoxin tolerance in AM, and suggest that AM function is impaired at sites of bacterial infection.
Abbreviations: alveolar macrophages, AM differential interference contrast, DIC dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO extracellular signalregulated kinase, ERK interleukin, IL lipopolysaccharide, LPS membrane CD14, mCD14 mitogen-activated protein, MAP phosphate-buffered saline, PBS phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase, PI-PLC soluble CD14, sCD14 sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE tumor necrosis factor-
Gram-negative pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in medical patients (1, 2). The innate immune system is responsible for the clearance of bacteria from the lungs, and an effective response results in the clearance of bacterial pathogens with minimal tissue injury. In contrast, an ineffective innate immune response results in bacterial proliferation, increased lung injury, and the development of sepsis and septic shock (3, 4). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria, provides a potent signal to the innate immune system and is often used to model gram-negative infections in vitro and in vivo. However, studies show that whole Escherichia coli causes a more potent and prolonged activation of the innate immune system when compared with equivalent amounts of E. coli LPS (5). Therefore, the activation and subsequent responses of the innate immune system to LPS and whole E. coli may differ. CD14, the receptor for LPS, is implicated in various immune responses including activation of the innate immune system (6), bacterial phagocytosis (7), and clearance of apoptotic cells (8). Macrophages recognize LPS via membrane CD14 (mCD14) and Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), a member of the Toll-like receptor family which mediate signaling in response to a number of microbial components (911). Recognition of LPS by the CD14/TLR4/MD-2 complex activates intracellular signaling pathways involving mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, resulting in the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines (1214). In rabbits with E. coli pneumonia, blockade of CD14 protected against the deleterious systemic response that occurs in sepsis; however, CD14 blockade resulted in an increased bacterial burden in the lungs (15). This suggests that the CD14 pathway is important in local intrapulmonary host defenses and the clearance of gram-negative bacteria from lungs. However, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate the expression of mCD14 on alveolar macrophages (AM) at sites of bacterial infections. Pre-administration of LPS in vitro or in vivo is known to downregulate responses to a second LPS challenge (reviewed in Refs. 16 and 17). This phenomenon, known as endotoxin tolerance, results in animals, humans, and cells becoming refractory to a second challenge of LPS after the initial exposure. Initially, it was thought that tolerance was beneficial due to its ability to diminish the inflammatory response to LPS. However, the development of tolerance in patients with sepsis may worsen clinical outcomes due to the development of immune dysregulation (1719). A potential mechanism whereby endotoxin-tolerance develops is the downregulation of LPS receptors such as mCD14 on macrophages (16, 20). The objectives of this study were twofold. First the expression of mCD14 on AM was measured in vivo at sites of bacterial infection and in vitro to define the mechanisms responsible for changes in mCD14 expression. The second objective was to determine whether decreased expression of mCD14 after incubation with LPS or whole E. coli affects the response of AM to a subsequent challenge with E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, or zymosan. The data show that LPS and whole E. coli regulate the cell surface expression of CD14 and the development of tolerance by distinct mechanisms, and suggest that AM function may be downregulated at sites of bacterial infection in the lungs.
Reagents and Antibodies LPS from E. coli serotype 0111:B4 was purchased from List Biological Laboratories (Campell, CA). E. coli serotype K-1 was a clinical isolate obtained from a patient with bacteremia due to biliary sepsis (15). The inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase ET-18-OCH3, and kinase inhibitors SB203580 (p38 inhibitor), PD98059 (extracellular signalregulated kinase [ERK] inhibitor), and SP600125 (JNK inhibitor) were purchased from Calbiochem Co. (La Jolla, CA). The protease inhibitor cocktail (P1860) and polymyxin B were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Co. (St. Louis, MO). The Vector "Elite" ABC-HP kit was from Vector Laboratories (Burlingame, CA). S. aureusBODIPY and Zymosan-BODOPY bioparticles were purchased from Molecular Probes (Eugene, OR). The antibodies to ERK and phosphorylated ERK were from Cell Signaling (Beverly, MA). The polyclonal goat anti-rabbit CD14, soluble CD14, polyclonal goat anti-rabbit tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- , and recombinant rabbit TNF- were generous gifts of John Mathison (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA). The limulus amebocyte lysate kit was from Biowhittaker Co. (Walkersville, MD). Complete RPMI was made up of RPMI 1640 (Biowhittaker, Walkersville, MD) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (Hyclone, Logan, UT), 10 mM HEPES (Gibco, Grand Island, NY), 2 mM L-glutamine (Gibco), 50 U/ml penicillin, and 50 µg/ml streptomycin (Penn/Strep; Gibco).
Rabbit Model of Bacterial Pneumonia Induction of gram-negative bacterial pneumonia. Rabbits were anesthetized with a combination of intravenous ketamine (10 mg/kg) and xylazine (3 mg/kg) and allowed to breathe spontaneously. To induce pneumonia, anesthetized rabbits were placed prone on a 20-degree incline with the head elevated. Then 1.0 ml of the E. coli suspension (1 x 107 or 1 x 109 cfu/ml) was instilled in the right and left lower lobe bronchus using PE90 tubing (Intramedic, Sparks, MD) advanced through the biopsy channel of a pediatric bronchoscope (Pentax, Tokyo, Japan). Bacteria were mixed with 1% colloidal carbon (Pelikan, Hanover, Germany) to aid in identifying the instilled areas at necropsy. The rabbits were placed on a heated water blanket (Gaymar Industries, Orchard Park, NY) after the instillation to maintain body temperature following anesthesia.
Immunohistochemistry Next, CD14 and rabbit AM were visualized in lung tissue sections by immunohistochemistry using 5 µg/ml of polyclonal goat anti-rabbit CD14 antibody and 5 µg/ml of mouse anti-rabbit AM antibody (DAKO, Carpenteria, CA). Primary antibodies were incubated with the tissue sections overnight in a moist chamber at 4°C. The slides were rinsed twice with PBS and labeled with an appropriate biotinylated secondary antibody for 2 h at 4°C. To detect the mouse anti-rabbit macrophage antibody, slides were incubated with biotinylated anti-mouse IgG, rinsed three times in PBS. The samples were labeled with streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase and incubated with tyramidefluorescein isothiocyanate(FITC). After rinsing twice in PBS, any avidin or biotin remaining in the tissues was blocked with the Avidin-Biotin Blocking Kit (Vector Laboratories). To detect rabbit CD14 in tissue, slides were incubated with biotinylated anti-goat IgG for 2 h and then incubated with streptavidin horseradish peroxidase for 30 min. The sections were rinsed, incubated with biotinyl-tyramide, rinsed again in PBS, and stained with streptavidinAlexa 568 (Molecular Probes) at 1:200 and To-Pro-3 (Molecular Probes) at 1 µM. The slides were rinsed with PBS and then mounted with Vectashield hard mounting media (Vector Laboratories). Imaging procedure for confocal microscopy. Visualization of positive immunostaining for CD14 and AM was performed with a Leica TCS-SP confocal microscope with an upright Leica DMR Microscope and Leica Confocal Software (Leica Microsystems, Heidelberg, Germany). Confocal microscopy was used to eliminate the fluorescent light from above and below the plane of focus. Differential interference contrast (DIC) was used to provide structural detail of the lungs. The lasers used were argon (488 nm) for detection of FITC, krypton (568 nm) for the detection of Alexa 568, and helium/neon (633 nm) for the detection of To-Pro-3. To calculate the optimum PMT setting for each laser line, the glow-over option of the Leica Confocal Software was used to maximize signal without over-saturating the image; and to minimize autofluorescence in the tissue. The pinhole for all images was set at 1 Airy Unit. For the negative controls, identical PMT and pinhole settings were used when capturing images.
Bronchoalveolar Lavage
Culture of AM
Sodium Dodecyl SulfatePolyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis and Western Blotting
Flow Cytometry
Second Challenge of Rabbit AM with E. coli, S. aureus, or Zymogen
Concentrations of LPS, Soluble CD14, and TNF-
Statistics
Colocalization of CD14 and AM in Rabbit Lung Tissue To determine whether the cell surface expression of CD14 changes in lungs of rabbits with E. coli pneumonia, immunohistochemistry was performed in paraffin-embedded lung sections from normal rabbits and rabbits E. coli pneumonia for 24 h. Immunohistochemistry performed with an enzymatic-based detection system and brightfield microscopy showed that in normal lungs CD14 was localized primarily to AM and 100% of the AM stained positive. In contrast, there was considerable variability in the immunoreactivity of CD14 on AM from tissue sections obtained from infected rabbits with a consistent finding of decreased or absent immunoreactivity for CD14 on AM (data not shown).
To determine the cellular distribution of CD14 and to increase the sensitivity of antigen detection, immunohistochemistry was performed with Tyramide signal amplification (TSA) and confocal microscopy (23, 24). TSA amplification and confocal microscopy provided similar results to the previous studies and showed that in normal lungs,
Effects of LPS and E. coli on Expression of Membrane CD14 on AM To confirm observations made with immunohistochemistry and to study the effects of LPS and E. coli on the expression of mCD14 on rabbit AM, experiments were performed in vitro. SDS-PAGE and Western blots as well as flow cytometry were used to measure CD14 expression in AM obtained from normal rabbits and stimulated in the presence of PBS, LPS (100 ng/ml), or E. coli (1 x 106 cfu/ml) for 24 h in vitro (Figure 2). After 24 h of incubation, more than 85% of the cells were alive by trypan blue exclusion method, and no differences in AM viability were observed between the treatment groups. CD14 expression was decreased in Western blot analysis of AM incubated with either LPS or E. coli (Figure 2A). There were detectable amounts of CD14 in cell lysates obtained from AM treated with E. coli when the Western blot was incubated with the film for longer periods of time. However, this resulted in saturation of the bands in lanes containing AM lysates from PBS- and LPS-treated macrophages (data not shown). Studies performed with flow cytometry show that incubation of normal AM with either LPS or E. coli significantly reduced the expression of CD14 on the cell surface (Figure 2B). Incubation with LPS reduced mCD14 by 30% (n = 9, P < 0.01), whereas incubation with live E. coli reduced mCD14 expression by 60% without affecting cell viability (n = 9, P < 0.01).
Components of E. coli Responsible for Downregulation of mCD14 on AM To investigate the role of LPS in the downregulation of mCD14 induced by E. coli, we preincubated cells with polymyxin B (10 µg/ml) for 30 min, and then added either LPS or live E. coli and continued incubating the AM for 24 h. Preliminary studies showed that this concentration of polymyxin B had maximal inhibitory effects in AM incubated with E. coli for 24 h, but had no effect on the expression of mCD14 on AM incubated with PBS for 24 h. The MFI for mCD14 on AM pretreated with polymyxin B and then incubated with PBS for 24 h was 237.7 ± 37.7 versus the MFI for mCD14 on AM pretreated with PBS and then incubated with PBS for 24 h, which was 248.9 ± 43.1. Polymyxin B pretreatment completely blocked the ability of LPS to decrease the expression of mCD14 on AM (Figure 3). In contrast, polymyxin B pretreatment returned the cell surface expression of CD14 to 47% of the baseline when AM were incubated with E. coli. Taken together, polymyxin B totally abolished the LPS-induced downregulation of mCD14, but only partially reduced the effects of E. coli. To exclude the possibility that there were extremely high amounts of LPS in the supernatant of AM exposed to E. coli, which were not blocked by 10 µg/ml polymyxin B, we measured the concentration of LPS in the supernatants using the limulus amebocyte lysate assay method. The results showed that the concentrations of LPS in the supernatant of rabbit AM incubated with 4-h and 24-h E. coli were 14.18 ± 6.16 ng/ml and 15.02 ± 7.67 ng/ml, respectively. Thus, components of E. coli other than LPS appear to contribute to the effects of E. coli on rabbit AM.
Role of E. coli Products on the Expression of mCD14 Porphyromonas gingivalis produces cysteine proteinases that proteolytically cleave CD14 from cell surface of monocytes (20). To determine whether products actively secreted by live E. coli, such as phospholipases or proteases, play a role in the downregulation of mCD14 on AM, we compared the ability of live and heat-killed E. coli to decrease the cell surface expression of CD14. Surprisingly, there was no difference in the ability of live and heat-killed E. coli to decrease mCD14 on AM (54.01 ± 8.49 versus 59.74 ± 6.16% for live versus heat-killed bacterial respectively, as compared with the PBS controls at 24 h). These data suggest that E. coli decreased expression of mCD14 on AM by a mechanism other than actively secreted bacterial products.
Role of MAP Kinase in LPS- and E. coliInduced Reduction of mCD14
The Role of Proteases and Phosphatidylinositol-Specific Phospholipase CD14 is anchored in the cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol tail, and PI-PLC cleaves CD14 from the cell surface (11). However, Bazil and coworkers (29) found that protease-dependent shedding was the mechanism for phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-induced downregulation of mCD14 on blood monocytes. To determine whether proteases or PI-PLC decrease the expression of mCD14, AM were treated with either 100 µM of ET-18-OCH3, a specific inhibitor of PI-PLC (30), or a protease inhibitor cocktail that blocks serine, cysteine, aspartic, and aminopeptidases for 30 min before incubation with LPS or E. coli. Inhibition of proteases blocked the LPS-induced decrease of mCD14 on AM, but did not alter the effects of E. coli on mCD14 expression (Figure 5). In contrast, inhibition of phospholipase did not prevent the downregulation of mCD14 by either LPS or E. coli (Figure 5). These data demonstrate that phospholipase activation is not responsible for either LPS- or E. coliinduced downregulation of mCD14, whereas a protease is responsible for LPS-induced but not E. coliinduced downregulation of mCD14. To further investigate the involvement of proteases in the shedding of mCD14, we measured the concentrations of sCD14 in the supernatants of the culture media from AM stimulated with LPS or E. coli with or without protease inhibitor pretreatment. LPS treatment significantly increased the amount of sCD14 in the supernatants at 24 h (Figure 6), and pretreatment with the protease inhibitor mixture abrogated the LPS effects. In preliminary studies, sCD14 was not directly affected by the protease inhibitor mixture. Thus, the decreased expression of mCD14 on AM stimulated by LPS occurs by protease-dependent cleavage of mCD14. In contrast, inhibition of proteases did not affect the amount of sCD14 in the supernatants of AM incubated with either E. coli or PBS. This suggests that a different mechanism is responsible for the decreased expression of mCD14 when AM are incubated with E. coli.
Effects of LPS and E. coli on the Response of AM to a Second Challenge with S. aureus or Zymosan Human monocytes and macrophages exposed to LPS for 324 h are rendered tolerant to a second challenge with LPS (17). A potential mechanism whereby endotoxin tolerance develops is the downregulation of mCD14 on macrophages (16, 20). To compare the effects of LPS and E. coli on the subsequent responses of AM, we incubated AM with E. coli, S. aureus, or zymosan after pre-exposure to either LPS or live E. coli. Phagocytosis of E. coli, S. aureus, or zymosan was not altered following incubation with LPS or E. coli for 24 h (Figure 7A). In contrast, the production of TNF- in response to E. coli was attenuated in AM after 24 h incubation with either LPS (34.6 ± 3.34 ng/ml) or E. coli (15.48 ± 3.71 ng/ml) as compared with PBS (45.63 ± 5.06 ng/ml) (Figure 7B). In addition, there was a positive correlation between the amount of mCD14 on the cell surface of AM and TNF- production (Figure 8). The production of TNF- after incubation with S. aureus was significantly reduced in AM pretreated with E. coli (22.78 ± 8.18 ng/ml) but not LPS (56.78 ± 6.39 ng/ml) as compared with PBS (56.15 ± 3.3 ng/ml) (Figure 7B). After incubation with E. coli for 24 h, AM were hyporesponsive to zymosan-induced production of TNF- (9.44 ± 2.2 ng/ml versus 23.65 ± 3.49 ng/ml for PBS, P = 0.03, n = 4). Incubation of AM with LPS (23.35 ± 1.9 ng/ml) for 24 h did not affect the TNF- response to zymosan. The production of TNF- in response to a second challenge with S. aureus or zymosan did not show any relationship with the amount of CD14 on the cell surface. When the amount interleukin (IL)-8 was measured in the same biological samples, prior exposure of AM to either LPS or E. coli did not affect the production of IL-8 in response to a second challenge (data not shown).
Taken together, phagocytosis and production of IL-8 were preserved in AM after 24 h incubation with either LPS or E. coli, whereas the production of TNF- in response to a second challenge with E. coli was impaired after prior incubation with LPS and E. coli. In contrast, hyporesponsiveness of TNF- production in response to S. aureus or zymosan was observed in AM pretreated with E. coli but not LPS.
The purpose of this study was to examine the regulation of mCD14 in bacterial pneumonia and to explore the mechanisms and consequences of changes in mCD14 expression. Studies performed with immunohistochemistry for rabbit CD14 in normal lungs and lungs from rabbits with E. coli pneumonia showed that prior exposure to E. coli decreased the positive staining for mCD14 on AM in vivo. Studies performed in vitro to determine the mechanisms responsible for modifying the expression of mCD14 on AM show that LPS decreased the expression of mCD14 by a protease-dependent mechanism. When compared with LPS, E. coli caused a more profound decrease in mCD14 expression on AM and the decreased expression of mCD14 caused by E. coli did not require proteases. In studies to evaluate the development of tolerance to a second stimulus, the prior incubation of AM with LPS and E. coli resulted in the development of tolerance to E. coli. In contrast, E. coli but not LPS resulted in the development of cross-tolerance to S. aureus and zymosan. The development of cross-tolerance to S. aureus and zymosan did not correlate with changes in the expression of mCD14 on AM suggesting that other mechanisms are responsible for the development of tolerance in macrophages. This suggests that prior exposure to whole E. coli may result in dysregulation of the innate immune response to diverse microbial pathogens in the lungs. Incubation of AM with LPS and E. coli caused a significant decrease in mCD14 expression on AM (Figures 1 and 2). Previous studies show that LPS and E. coli alter the amounts of mCD14 on monocytes and macrophages, but the results are contradictory because of differences in cell types, endotoxin concentrations, and incubation times (31, 32). In the work of Fahmi and Chaby (33), there was a decrease of LPS-binding sites on macrophages treated with LPS, which is in agreement with our results. In contrast, Landmann and colleagues reported an increase in mCD14 on monocytes after incubation with LPS or E. coli (31). In their study LPS increased the expression of mCD14 on monocytes, whereas in our studies LPS reduced mCD14 expression on rabbit AM in vitro. Monocytes and macrophages, although derived from the same cellular lineage, are distinct in differentiation and maturation. The expression of cell surface markers and cytokine production in response to LPS (34), and the expression of CD14 on the surface of monocytes and macrophages differ (32). To identify which components of E. coli were responsible for the decreased expression of mCD14, polymyxin B was used to block the effects of LPS and E. coli (Figure 3). Polymyxin B is a cationic, cyclic peptide antibiotic that inhibits the biological activities of LPS, including binding of LPS to leukocytes (5) and LPS-induced production of cytokines by macrophages (35). The results showed that LPS-induced downregulation of mCD14 expression was completely abolished by preincubation with polymyxin B, whereas the E. coliinduced reduction in expression of mCD14 was only partially attenuated by incubation with polymyxin B. To ensure that an excess of LPS in the supernatants of the whole bacteria did not exceed the neutralizing capacity of polymyxin B, the LPS in these supernatants was measured. The LPS in supernatants of whole E. coli was relatively low (15.02 ± 3.43 ng/ml), which is in agreement with other reports (5, 31). Because a large excess of polymyxin B was used relative to the measured concentration of LPS, it is likely that other bacterial components aside from LPS are responsible for the E. coliinduced downregulation of mCD14 expression on rabbit AM. To determine whether secreted bacterial products were responsible for the decreased expression of mCD14 on rabbit AM, we compared the potency of live and heat-killed E. coli. There was no difference in the ability of live and heat-killed bacteria to decrease the expression of mCD14 on rabbit AM. Therefore, it is unlikely that the effect of live E. coli is due to secreted bacterial products as has been reported for Porphyromonas gingivalis, which produces cysteine proteinases that proteolytically cleave CD14 from cell surface of monocytes (20). Numerous studies have demonstrated that mCD14, which belongs to the family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoproteins, can be released from cells by treatment with PI-PLC (11, 36). However, it also has been reported that protease-dependent shedding causes downregulation of mCD14 on PMA-stimulated monocytes (29). To determine whether PI-PLC or proteases play a role in decreasing the expression of mCD14, we used specific inhibitors to block the effect of these enzymes. Inhibition of PI-PLC did not prevent the decreased expression of mCD14 caused by LPS or E. coli (Figure 5). In contrast, inhibition of proteases completely blocked the LPS-induced reduction of mCD14, whereas protease inhibitors had no effect on mCD14 expression of AM incubated with E. coli. To confirm this finding, we measured the concentrations of sCD14 in cell culture supernatants. The concentrations of sCD14 were increased by incubation of AM with LPS, but not with live E. coli. Furthermore, the LPS-induced shedding of sCD14 into the AM supernatants was abolished by pretreatment with the mixture of protease inhibitors (Figure 6). Therefore, the LPS-induced downregulation of mCD14 on rabbit AM appears to be mediated by protease-dependent cleavage of mCD14 from the cell surface and the proteases must derive from the AM after activation with LPS. In contrast, the E. coliinduced decrease of mCD14 on rabbit AM is mediated by mechanisms other than protease-dependent shedding. A possible mechanism that could account for the decreased expression of mCD14 on AM exposed to E. coli without a reciprocal increase in sCD14, is the internalization of mCD14 during the process of phagocytosis (37, 38). Monocytes have been reported to internalize E. coli using a CD14-dependent pathway (7). In contrast, studies suggest that mCD14 and LPS molecules are internalized independently after association on the cell surface (39). To determine whether phagocytosis was the mechanism responsible for the decreased expression of mCD14, AM were incubated with Bodipy-labeled E. coli at 0, 5, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min, and bacterial phagocytosis was measured with flow cytometry. This study showed that phagocytosis of E. coli by AM was maximal at 2 h. When mCD14 was measured at 4 h, there was no difference in the expression of mCD14 on AM that had been treated with PBS (215.2, ± 37.6, MFI), LPS (201.2 ± 47.3, and MFI), or that had maximal uptake of Bodipy-labeled E. coli (223.7 ± 39.2 MFI). This suggests that phagocytosis is not the mechanism responsible for the decreased expression of mCD14 on AM exposed to E. coli. The finding that CD14 expression in cell lysates is significantly decreased in Western blots of AM exposed to E. coli for 24 h is additional evidence that phagocytosis and internalization of cell surface CD14 is not the mechanism responsible for the decrease in mCD14 (Figure 2A). Future experiments are required to define the precise mechanism responsible for the E. coliinduced downregulation of mCD14 expression. In monocytes and macrophages, MAP kinases are an important family of protein-serine/threonine kinases that mediate responses to LPS (13). MAP kinases regulate proliferation and differentiation (40) and in this report we show that the ERK pathway regulates the expression of mCD14 on the macrophage surface. Blockade of the ERK pathway attenuated 60% of LPS and 44% of E. coliinduced downregulation of mCD14. In contrast, blockade of the p38 and JNK pathways did not attenuate the effect of LPS or E. coli on mCD14 expression on rabbit AM. This suggests that the ERK pathway plays an important role in regulating the decreased expression of mCD14 when AM are exposed to either LPS or E. coli.
Human monocytes and macrophages exposed to endotoxin for 324 h are rendered tolerant and show a suppressed TNF- TLR2 is required for signaling by gram-positive bacteria (45) and zymosan (46), suggesting that decreased cell surface expression of TLR2 could be the mechanism responsible for the cross-tolerance induced by E. coli. The expression of TLR2 on the cell surface of AM is unaffected by 24 h incubation with either LPS or E. coli (data not shown). Thus, decreased TLR2 expression on rabbit AM does not seem to be involved in the cross-tolerance response. Therefore, it seems likely that the tolerance develops downstream of mCD14 and TLR2, with alterations in signal transduction pathways being a possible explanation (17). The precise signaling pathways responsible for the different responses to LPS and E. coli will need to be clarified. In conclusion, the expression of mCD14 is decreased on AM from lung sections of rabbits with E. coli pneumonia. Studies performed in vitro show that LPS and E. coli decrease the expression of mCD14 on AM by different mechanisms. LPS induces a protease-dependent shedding of mCD14 into the cell supernatant, whereas E. coli elicits mechanisms other than cleavage of the mCD14 from the surface. In addition, LPS and E. coli induce different responses to a second challenge, with cross-tolerance to gram-positive bacteria or zymosan being developed after exposure of AM to E. coli but not LPS. These studies show that distinct mechanisms regulate the expression of mCD14 and the induction of tolerance in rabbit AM exposed to LPS and E. coli, and suggest that AM function is impaired at sites of bacterial infection in the lungs.
This study was supported in part by NIH grants GM37696 and HL30542. Received in original form August 15, 2003 Received in final form March 29, 2004
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||