Dataset Information

IL-18 induces emphysema and airway and vascular remodeling via IFN-?, IL-17A, and IL-13.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic inflammation, alveolar destruction, and airway and vascular remodeling. However, the mechanisms that lead to these diverse alterations have not been defined.

Objectives

We hypothesized that IL-18 plays a central role in the pathogenesis of these lesions.

Methods

We generated and characterized lung-specific, inducible IL-18 transgenic mice.

Measurements and main results

Here we demonstrate that the expression of IL-18 in the mature murine lung induces inflammation that is associated with the accumulation of CD4(+), CD8(+), CD19(+), and NK1.1(+) cells; emphysema; mucus metaplasia; airway fibrosis; vascular remodeling; and right ventricle cardiac hypertrophy. We also demonstrate that IL-18 induces type 1, type 2, and type 17 cytokines with IFN-?-inhibiting macrophage, lymphocyte, and eosinophil accumulation while stimulating alveolar destruction and genes associated with cell cytotoxicity and IL-13 and IL-17A inducing mucus metaplasia, airway fibrosis, and vascular remodeling. We also highlight interactions between these responses with IL-18 inducing IL-13 via an IL-17A-dependent mechanism and the type 1 and type17/type 2 responses counterregulating each another.

Conclusions

These studies define the spectrum of inflammatory, parenchymal, airway, and vascular alterations that are induced by pulmonary IL-18; highlight the similarities between these responses and the lesions in COPD; and define the selective roles that type 1, type 2, and type 17 responses play in the generation of IL-18-induced pathologies.

SUBMITTER: Kang MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3373071 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

IL-18 induces emphysema and airway and vascular remodeling via IFN-γ, IL-17A, and IL-13.

Kang Min-Jong MJ Choi Je-Min JM Kim Bo Hye BH Lee Chang-Min CM Cho Won-Kyung WK Choe Gina G Kim Do-Hyun DH Lee Chun Geun CG Elias Jack A JA

American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 20120301 11

<h4>Rationale</h4>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic inflammation, alveolar destruction, and airway and vascular remodeling. However, the mechanisms that lead to these diverse alterations have not been defined.<h4>Objectives</h4>We hypothesized that IL-18 plays a central role in the pathogenesis of these lesions.<h4>Methods</h4>We generated and characterized lung-specific, inducible IL-18 transgenic mice.<h4>Measurements and main results</h4>Here we demonstr ...[more]

PMID: 22383501

Similar Datasets

Project description:The clinical features of psoriasis, characterized by sharply demarcated scaly erythematous plaques, are typically so distinctive that a diagnosis can easily be made on these grounds alone. However, there is great variability in treatment response between individual patients, and this may reflect heterogeneity of inflammatory networks driving the disease. In this study, whole-genome transcriptional profiling was used to characterize inflammatory and cytokine networks in 62 lesional skin samples obtained from patients with stable chronic plaque psoriasis. We were able to stratify lesions according to their inflammatory gene expression signatures, identifying those associated with strong (37% of patients), moderate (39%) and weak inflammatory infiltrates (24%). Additionally, we identified differences in cytokine signatures with heightened cytokine-response patterns in one sub-group of lesions (IL-13-strong; 50%) and attenuation of these patterns in a second sub-group (IL-13-weak; 50%). These sub-groups correlated with the composition of the inflammatory infiltrate, but were only weakly associated with increased risk allele frequency at some psoriasis susceptibility loci (e.g., REL, TRAF3IP2 and NOS2). Our findings highlight variable points in the inflammatory and cytokine networks known to drive chronic plaque psoriasis. Such heterogeneous aspects may shape clinical course and treatment responses, and can provide avenues for development of personalized treatments. We used Affymetrix microarrays to evaluate genome-wide expression in primary human keratinocytes exposed to cytokines. Cytokine activity signatures were used to interpret the shifts in gene expression that occur in psoriasis plaques relative to normal uninvolved skin. Primary keratinocytes from three donors (subjects 1, 2, and 3) were obtained and were either untreated (control) or exposed to cytokines (IL-4, IL-13, IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma and TNF). For the IL17A samples, primary keratinocytes were obtained from six donors, with cells derived from three donors treated with IL-17A and cells derived from the other three donors left untreated (i.e., unpaired control samples).