Thrombomodulin inhibits the activation of eosinophils and mast cells

Modulation of Human Dendritic Cell Functions by Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibitors: Potential Relevance for the Treatment of Respiratory Diseases

Inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) are small-molecule drugs that, by increasing the intracellular levels of cAMP in immune cells, elicit a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory effects. As such, PDE4 inhibitors are actively studied as therapeutic options in a variety of human diseases characterized by an underlying inflammatory pathogenesis. Dendritic cells (DCs) are checkpoints of the inflammatory and immune responses, being responsible for both activation and dampening depending on their activation status. This review shows evidence that PDE4 inhibitors modulate inflammatory DC activation by decreasing the secretion of inflammatory and Th1/Th17-polarizing cytokines, although preserving the expression of costimulatory molecules and the CD4+ T cell-activating potential. In addition, DCs activated in the presence of PDE4 inhibitors induce a preferential Th2 skewing of effector T cells, retain the secretion of Th2-attracting chemokines and increase the production of T cell regulatory mediators, such as IDO1, TSP-1, VEGF-A and Amphiregulin. Finally, PDE4 inhibitors selectively induce the expression of the surface molecule CD141/Thrombomodulin/BDCA-3. The result of such fine-tuning is immunomodulatory DCs that are distinct from those induced by classical anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids. The possible implications for the treatment of respiratory disorders (such as COPD, asthma and COVID-19) by PDE4 inhibitors will be discussed.

Chordin-like 1 is a novel prognostic biomarker and correlative with immune cell infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma

Chordin-like 1 (CHRDL1), an inhibitor of bone morphogenetic proteins(BMPs), has been recently reported to participate in the progression of numerous tumors, however, its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. Our study aimed to demonstrate relationship between CHRDL1 and LUAD based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Among them, CHRDL1 expression revealed promising power for distinguishing LUAD tissues form normal sample. Low CHRDL1 was correlated with poor clinicopathologic features, including high T stage (OR=0.45, P<0.001), high N stage (OR=0.57, P<0.003), bad treatment effect (OR=0.64, P=0.047), positive tumor status (OR=0.63, P=0.018), and TP53 mutation (OR=0.49, P<0.001). The survival curve illustrated that low CHRDL1 was significantly correlative with a poor overall survival (HR=0.60, P<0.001). At multivariate Cox regression analysis, CHRDL1 remained independently correlative with overall survival. GSEA identified that the CHRDL1 expression was related to cell cycle and immunoregulation. Immune infiltration analysis suggested that CHRDL1 was significantly correlative with 7 kinds of immune cells. Immunohistochemical validation showed that CHRDL1 was abnormally elevated and negatively correlated with Th2 cells in LUAD tissues. In conclusion, CHRDL1 might become a novel prognostic biomarker and therapy target in LUAD. Moreover, CHRDL1 may improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy by regulating immune infiltration.

Protective Role of Recombinant Human Thrombomodulin in Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a global threat to human health. The ultimate cause of diabetes mellitus is insufficient insulin production and secretion associated with reduced pancreatic β-cell mass. Apoptosis is an important and well-recognized mechanism of the progressive loss of functional β-cells. However, there are currently no available antiapoptotic drugs for diabetes mellitus. This study evaluated whether recombinant human thrombomodulin can inhibit β-cell apoptosis and improve glucose intolerance in a diabetes mouse model. A streptozotocin-induced diabetes mouse model was prepared and treated with thrombomodulin or saline three times per week for eight weeks. The glucose tolerance and apoptosis of β-cells were evaluated. Diabetic mice treated with recombinant human thrombomodulin showed significantly improved glucose tolerance, increased insulin secretion, decreased pancreatic islet areas of apoptotic β-cells, and enhanced proportion of regulatory T cells and tolerogenic dendritic cells in the spleen compared to counterpart diseased mice treated with saline. Non-diabetic mice showed no changes. This study shows that recombinant human thrombomodulin, a drug currently used to treat patients with coagulopathy in Japan, ameliorates glucose intolerance by protecting pancreatic islet β-cells from apoptosis and modulating the immune response in diabetic mice. This observation points to recombinant human thrombomodulin as a promising antiapoptotic drug for diabetes mellitus.

Quantitative analysis of proteome dynamics in a mouse model of asthma

BACKGROUND

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the respiratory system, and a major factor of increasing health care costs worldwide. The molecular actors leading to the development of chronic asthma are not fully understood and require further investigation.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to monitor the proteome dynamics during asthma development from early inflammatory to late fibrotic stages.

METHODS

A mouse asthma model was used to analyse the lung proteome at four time points during asthma development (0 weeks = control, 5, 8 and 12 weeks of treatment, n = 6 each). The model was analysed using lung function tests, immune cell counting and histology. Furthermore, a multi-fraction mass spectrometry-based proteome analysis was performed to achieve a comprehensive coverage and quantification of the lung proteome.

RESULTS

At early stages, the mice showed predominant eosinophilic inflammation of the airways, which disappeared at later stages and was replaced by marked airway hyper-reactivity and fibrosis of the airways. 3325 proteins were quantified with 435 proteins found to be significantly differentially abundant between the experimental groups (ANOVA p-value ≤.05, maximum fold change ≥1.5). We applied hierarchical clustering to identify common protein abundance profiles along the asthma development and analysed these clusters using gene ontology annotation and enrichment analysis. We demonstrate the correlation of protein clusters with the course of asthma development, that is eosinophilic inflammation and fibrotic remodelling of the airways.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Proteome analysis revealed proteins that were previously described to be important during asthma chronification. Moreover, we identified additional proteins previously not described in the context of asthma. We provide a comprehensive data set of a long-term mouse model of asthma that may contribute to a better understanding and allow new insights into the progression and development of chronic asthma. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD011159.

Thrombomodulin ameliorates transforming growth factor-β1-mediated chronic kidney disease via the G-protein coupled receptor 15/Akt signal pathway

Kidney fibrosis is the common consequence of chronic kidney diseases that inexorably progresses to end-stage kidney disease with organ failure treatable only with replacement therapy. Since transforming growth factor-β1 is the main player in the pathogenesis of kidney fibrosis, we posed the hypothesis that recombinant thrombomodulin can ameliorate transforming growth factor-β1-mediated progressive kidney fibrosis and failure. To interrogate our hypothesis, we generated a novel glomerulus-specific human transforming growth factor-β1 transgenic mouse to evaluate the therapeutic effect of recombinant thrombomodulin. This transgenic mouse developed progressive glomerular sclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis with kidney failure. Therapy with recombinant thrombomodulin for four weeks significantly inhibited kidney fibrosis and improved organ function compared to untreated transgenic mice. Treatment with recombinant thrombomodulin significantly inhibited apoptosis and mesenchymal differentiation of podocytes by interacting with the G-protein coupled receptor 15 to activate the Akt signaling pathway and to upregulate the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins including survivin. Thus, our study strongly suggests the potential therapeutic efficacy of recombinant thrombomodulin for the treatment of chronic kidney disease and subsequent organ failure.

The proliferative and anti-apoptosis functions of KGF/KGFR contributes to bronchial epithelial repair in asthma

This study aimed to investigate the effect of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) on the apoptosis, proliferation, damage repair, intercellular adhesion, and inflammatory cytokine release of cultured 16HBE 14o-bronchial ECs in vitro. Bronchial epithelial cells (ECs) from all subjects were obtained by bronchoscopic brushing. The expression levels of KGF and its receptor KGFR in collected cells were determined using RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The apoptosis and adhesion molecules expression by KGF administration were determined using flow cytometry and Western blotting. This occurred when 16HBE 14o-cell lines cultured and were exposed to interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in vitro. The role of KGF on proliferation and damage repair were analyzed using CCK-8, EdU and wound closure assays after 16HBE 14o-cells were scraped. The effect of KGF on the release of inflammation related cytokines by damaged ECs was measured using ELISA kits. Compared with healthy controls, the KGF and KGFR expression and apoptosis significantly increased in collected cells from asthma patients. In vitro, treatment of KGF may limit IFN-γ and TNF-α induced apoptosis by inhibiting apoptosis-associated markers in the TNF signaling pathway. Besides, KGF could limit the release of TSLP, IL-25 and IL-33 by damaged 16HBE 14o-cells. On the contrary, KGF could promote the intercellular adhesion and wound closure of cultured 16HBE 14o-cells via the increased expression level of intercellular junction proteins ICAM-1, β-catenin, E-cad, and Dsc3. In conclusion, KGF and KGFR may help bronchial ECs repair in asthma via the inhibition apoptosis of ECs while the promotion of proliferation and migration of ECs.

Efficacy of recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin in preventing walled-off necrosis in severe acute pancreatitis patients

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rTM) in preventing the development of walled-off necrosis (WON) in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 54 SAP patients divided into two groups: SAP patients treated by rTM (rTM group, 24 patients) and not treated by rTM (control group, 30 patients). rTM was administered to patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Initially, on the admission day, we recorded patient severity and pancreatic necrosis/ischemia positive or negative. Then we investigated development of WON using 4 weeks later CT/MRI. Finally we compared the proportions of patients developing WON in the rTM group and the control group.

RESULTS

On the admission day, the condition of patients treated by rTM was significantly worse than patients in the control group; rTM group vs.

CONTROL

71.8 ± 13.9 vs. 59.8 ± 15.3 years for age, 10.7 ± 3.5 vs. 8.0 ± 4.4 for Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, and 3.3 ± 1.8 vs. 2.2 ± 1.8 for sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (p < 0.05). We found no significant differences on the admission day in rate of pancreatic necrosis/ischemia between patients treated by rTM and controls (58.3% vs. 63.3%, p = 0.71). Nevertheless, the proportion of patients developing WON was significantly lower among those administered rTM than in those not administered rTM {29.2% (7/24 patients) vs. 56.7% (17/30 patients), p < 0.05}.

CONCLUSION

Treatment of SAP patients treated by rTM may prevent progression from pancreatic necrosis/ischemia to WON.

A donor thrombomodulin gene variation predicts graft-versus-host disease development and mortality after bone marrow transplantation

Thrombomodulin, encoded by the THBD gene, is a critical regulator of coagulation and innate immunity. Its gene variant (rs3176123, 2729A>C) in the 3' untranslated region has been reported to be associated with vasculopathies. The present study analyzed the impact of THBD variation on transplant outcomes in a cohort of 317 patients who underwent unrelated HLA-matched bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for hematologic malignancies through the Japan Marrow Donor Program. The donor A/C or C/C genotype vs. the donor A/A genotype resulted in a lower incidence of grades II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease [GVHD; hazard ratio (HR) 0.66; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.99; P = 0.05] according to a multivariate analysis. In patients with grades II-IV acute GVHD, the donor A/C or C/C genotype vs. the donor A/A genotype was associated with significantly better overall survival rates (HR 0.45; 95 % CI 0.21-0.99, P = 0.05), while this effect was absent in other patients. A functional analysis using lymphocytes obtained from healthy individuals revealed that the 2729C allele has a higher level of THBD mRNA than the 2729A allele. These findings suggest the functional relevance of the rs3176123 variation and indicate that higher thrombomodulin expression by individuals with the 2729C allele likely accounts for their decreased risk for acute GVHD development and subsequent mortality.