OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective effects of resveratrol against acute lung injury (ALI) and investigate the potential mechanisms underlying the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-triggered thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP)/NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) pathway. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice and J774A.1 cells were selected as the research subjects. Thirty Mice were randomly divided into 5 groups of 6 in each group: control with 0.9% saline, 5 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 24 h, 25 mg/kg resveratrol + 5 mg/kg LPS, 100 mg/kg resveratrol + 5 mg/kg LPS, and 4 mg/kg NLRP3 inhibitor CY-09 + 5 mg/kg LPS. For cell stimulation, cells were pretreated with 5 and 20 µmol/L resveratrol for 2 h, and stimulated with or without 1 µg/mL LPS and 3 mmol/L ATP for 2 h. The antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC, 2 µmol/L) was used as the positive control group. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to evaluate the degree of lung LPS-induced tissue damage, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to evaluate the contents of interleukin-1 β (IL-1 β) and IL-18 in the serum and cell supernatant. ROS and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the lung tissue were detected using the corresponding kits. Western blotting was used to detect the expressions of TXNIP, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), NLRP3, as well as cysteine-aspartic acid protease 1 (caspase-1) and gasdermin D (GSDMD) along with their cleaved forms in lung tissue. Additionally, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze the expression of related inflammatory cytokines. ROS content was detected using flow cytometry and confocal laser microscopy. Mitochondrial morphological changes were observed using transmission electron microscopy, and HMGB1 expression was detected using immunofluorescence. RESULTS: Resveratrol significantly alleviated LPS-induced lung damage with reduced inflammation, interstitial edema, and leukocyte infiltration (P<0.01). It also decreased serum levels of IL-1 β and IL-18 (P<0.05), while downregulating the expressions of NLRP3, IL-6, and other inflammatory markers at both the protein and mRNA levels (P<0.05). Notably, the higher dose (100 mg/kg) demonstrated a better effect than the lower dose (25 mg/kg). In macrophages, resveratrol reduced IL-1 β and IL-18 following LPS and ATP stimulation, suppressed HMGB1 translocation, and inhibited formation and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome (P<0.05 or P<0.01). These anti-inflammatory effects were mediated through the suppression ROS accumulation (P<0.01) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that resveratrol preserved mitochondrial structure, preventing the mitochondrial damage seen in LPS-treated groups (P<0.01). The expressions of cleaved caspase-1, cleaved GSDMD, and cytoplasmic HMGB1 were all reduced following resveratrol treatment (P<0.01). Moreover, resveratrol inhibited dissociation of TXNIP from thioredoxin, blocking subsequent activation of NLRP3 and downstream inflammatory cytokines (P<0.01). Similarly, the higher concentration of resveratrol (20 µ mol/L) exhibited superior efficacy in vitro. CONCLUSION Resveratrol can reduce the inflammatory response following ALI and inhibit the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and the level of HMGB1 in the cytoplasm by inhibiting ROS overproduction.
Acute Lung Injury/metabolism* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Animals ; Resveratrol/pharmacology* ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Inflammation/complications* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Carrier Proteins/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Thioredoxins/metabolism* ; Mice ; Lung/drug effects* ; Male ; Cell Line ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; Stilbenes/therapeutic use*

Redox-regulating molecule, recombinant human thioredoxin (rhTRX) which shows anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammation and regulate protein expression levels. LPS-induced reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) and NO production were inhibited by exogenous rhTRX. We identified up/downregulated intracellular proteins under the LPS-treated condition in exogenous rhTRX-treated A375 cells compared with non-LPS-treated cells via 2-DE proteomic analysis. Also, we quantitatively measured cytokines of in vivo mouse inflammation models using cytometry bead array. Exogenous rhTRX inhibited LPS-stimulated production of ROI and NO levels. TIP47 and ATP synthase may influence the inflammation-related lipid accumulation by affecting lipid metabolism. The modulation of skin redox environments during inflammation is most likely to prevent alterations in lipid metabolism through upregulation of TIP47 and ATP synthase and downregulation of inflammatory cytokines. Our results demonstrate that exogenous rhTRX has anti-inflammatory properties and intracellular regulatory activity in vivo and in vitro. Monitoring of LPS-stimulated pro-inflammatory conditions treated with rhTRX in A375 cells could be useful for diagnosis and follow-up of inflammation reduction related with candidate proteins. These results have a therapeutic role in skin inflammation therapy.
Animals ; Antioxidants/*pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Inflammation/metabolism ; *Lipid Metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nitric Oxide/metabolism ; Proteome/genetics/metabolism ; Skin/drug effects/metabolism/pathology ; Thioredoxins/*pharmacology

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the main causes leading to the failure in cancer treatment. Differential proteins between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell line EC9706 and its cisdiamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP)-resistant subline EC9706/CDDP revealed by quantitative analysis may provide deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms of MDR implicated in ESCC. EC9706/CDDP was generated by exposure of its parental sensitive EC9706 to a step-wise increase of CDDP concentration during EC9706 cultivation. The stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) was used to label EC9706 and EC9706/CDDP with heavy and light medium, separately. Mixed peptides derived from EC9706 and EC9706/CDDP were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) and subsequently subjected to bioinformatics analysis to identify differential proteins between EC9706 and EC9706/CDDP. Compared to parental EC9706, EC9706/CDDP manifested phenotypes of slow proliferation, cell pleomorphology, atypia and increased resistant-index 3.23. Seventy-four differential proteins identified in the present study belongs to various families with multiple functions, such as cytoskeleton (20%), energy metabolism (11%), transcription regulation and DNA repair (11%), redox homeostasis (9.5%), protein biosynthesis and mRNA processing (12%), ribosome constituent (8.1%), molecular chaperone (8.1%), immunity/inflammation (5.4%), intracellular transport (5.4%) and nucleosome assembly (2.7%), which indicated that development of MDR is a complicated process involving dysregulation of multiple molecules and pathways. The data is of great value for in-depth elucidation of molecular mechanisms of the MDR implicated in ESCC and may represent potential molecular targets for future therapeutic development.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cisplatin ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Intramolecular Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Isotope Labeling ; Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors ; metabolism ; Proteome ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Thioredoxins ; metabolism

The G13 domain derived from granulysin shows high antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria but does not lyse Jurkat cells or liposomes. To explore a new approach for high expression of the G13 domain, we fused the sequence encoding G13 to thioredoxin (Trx) gene to construct the recombinant expression vector (pThioHisA-G13). A cyanogen bromide (CNBr) cleavage site was introduced between the Trx and G13 to facilitate final release of the recombinant G13. The recombinant expression vector, pThioHisA-G13, was transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). Upon induction by IPTG Trx-G13 fusion protein was expressed and took the form of inclusion bodies counting 58% (W/W) of total cellular proteins. The inclusion body was solved by urea (8 mol/L) and then cleaved by CNBr. We purified the recombinant peptide G13 by one-step cation exchange chromatography. Results of agarose diffuse assay analysis indicated that the recombinant G13 exhibited antibacterial activity. The procedure described in this study will provide a reliable and simple method for highly efficient production of some cationic antimicrobial peptides.
Anti-Infective Agents ; metabolism ; Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte ; genetics ; Cyanogen Bromide ; pharmacology ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, G12-G13 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Inclusion Bodies ; metabolism ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; genetics ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Thioredoxins ; genetics ; Transfection

BACKGROUNDThioredoxin is one of the most important redox regulating proteins. Although thioredoxin has been shown to protect cells against different kinds of oxidative stress, the role of thioredoxin in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury has not been fully understood. This study was conducted to explore the protective role of human thioredoxin on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury and its potential mechanisms.

METHODSPurified human thioredoxin was injected into adult Wistar rats, which were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia followed by 2 or 24 hours of reperfusion. We detected 1) the infarct size; 2) the level of malondisldehyde (MDA) in serum; 3) the expression of caspase-9, and cytochrome c in/out of mitochondria by Western blotting; 4) apoptosis by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and caspase-3 and its protein by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting; 5) the expression of bcl-2 and bax in cardium by immunohistochemical (IHC) assay.

RESULTSHuman thioredoxin reduced myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury as evidenced by significant decrease of myocardial infarct size (P < 0.01), notable reduction of myocyte apoptosis (P < 0.01), lower systemic oxidative stress level (P < 0.01) after reperfusion for 2 hours, and few inflammatory cell infiltration after reperfusion for 24 hours in rats. Furthermore, treatment with human thioredoxin significantly reduced the release of mitochondrial cytochrome C (P < 0.05), and inhibited the activity of caspase-9 (P < 0.05) and caspase-3 (P < 0.01 in mRNA and P < 0.05 at protein level). Meanwhile, human thioredoxin markedly increased bcl-2 expression (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThese results strongly suggest that human thioredoxin has cardioprotective effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion and its anti-apoptotic role may be mediated by modulating bcl-2 and the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; genetics ; Humans ; Mitochondria, Heart ; drug effects ; physiology ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; drug effects ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thioredoxins ; pharmacology

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hepatitis ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; Phytotherapy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thioredoxins ; metabolism