Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Administration Triggers Macrophages Reprogramming and Alleviates Inflammation During Sepsis Induced by Experimental Peritonitis

Peritonitis and subsequent sepsis lead to high morbidity and mortality in response to uncontrolled systemic inflammation primarily mediated by macrophages. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an important regulator of oxidative stress and immunoinflammatory responses. However, the effects of NAD+ replenishment during inflammatory activation are still poorly defined. Hence, we investigated whether the administration of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide (β-NMN), a natural biosynthetic precursor of NAD+, could modulate the macrophage phenotype and thereby ameliorate the dysregulated inflammatory response during sepsis. For this purpose, C57BL6 mice were subjected to the cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model to provoke sepsis or were injected with thioglycolate to induce sterile peritonitis with recruitment and differentiation of macrophages into the inflamed peritoneal cavity. β-NMN was administered for 4 days after CLP and for 3 days post thioglycolate treatment where peritoneal macrophages were subsequently analyzed. In the CLP model, administration of β-NMN decreased bacterial load in blood and reduced clinical signs of distress and mortality during sepsis. These results were supported by transcriptomic analysis of hearts and lungs 24 h post CLP-induction, which revealed that β-NMN downregulated genes controlling the immuno-inflammatory response and upregulated genes involved in bioenergetic metabolism, mitochondria, and autophagy. In the thioglycolate model, a significant increase in the proportion of CD206 macrophages, marker of anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, was detected on peritoneal exudate macrophages from β-NMN-administered mice. Transcriptomic signature of these macrophages after bacterial stimulation confirmed that β-NMN administration limited the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype and induced the expression of specific markers of M2 type macrophages. Furthermore, our data show that β-NMN treatment significantly impacts NAD + metabolism. This shift in the macrophage phenotype and metabolism was accompanied by a reduction in phagolysosome acidification and secretion of inflammatory mediators in macrophages from β-NMN-treated mice suggesting a reduced pro-inflammatory activation. In conclusion, administration of β-NMN prevented clinical deterioration and improved survival during sepsis. These effects relied on shifts in the metabolism of organs that face up an increased energy requirement caused by bacterial infection and in innate immunity response, including reprogramming of macrophages from a highly inflammatory phenotype to an anti-inflammatory/pro-resolving profile.

Avian sarcoma and leukemia virus (ASLV) integration in vitro: mutation or deletion of integrase (IN) recognition sequences does not prevent but only reduces the efficiency and accuracy of DNA integration

Integrase (IN) is the enzyme responsible for provirus integration of retroviruses into the host cell genome. We used an Avian Sarcoma and Leukemia Viruses (ASLV) integration assay to investigate the way in which IN integrates substrates mutated or devoid of one or both IN recognition sequences. We found that replacing U5 by non-viral sequences (U5del) or U3 by a mutated sequence (pseudoU3) resulted in two and three fold reduction of two-ended integration (integration of the two ends from a donor DNA) respectively, but had a slight effect on concerted integration (integration of both ends at the same site of target DNA). Further, IN was still able to integrate the viral ends of the double mutant (pseudoU3/U5del) in a two-ended and concerted integration reaction. However, efficiency and accuracy (i.e. fidelity of size duplication and of end cleavage) of integration were reduced.

Inducible dimerization of RET reveals a specific AKT deregulation in oncogenic signaling

Dominant-activating mutations in the RET (rearranged during transfection) proto-oncogene, a receptor tyrosine kinase, are causally associated with the development of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) syndrome. Such oncogenic RET mutations induce its ligand-independent constitutive activation, but whether it spreads identical signaling to ligand-induced signaling is uncertain. To address this question, we designed a cellular model in which RET can be activated either by its natural ligand, or alternatively, by controlled dimerization of the protein that mimics MEN2A dimerization. We have shown that controlled dimerization leaves proximal RET signaling intact but impacts substantially on the tuning of the distal AKT kinase activation (delayed and sustained). In marked contrast, distal activation of ERK remained unaffected. We further demonstrated that specific temporal adjustment of ligand-induced AKT activation is dependent upon a lipid-based cholesterol-sensitive environment, and this control step is bypassed by MEN2A RET mutants. Therefore, these studies revealed that MEN2A mutations propagate previously unappreciated subtle differences in signaling pathways and unravel a role for lipid rafts in the temporal regulation of AKT activation.