leupeptins and Atherosclerosis

We previously reported that a calpain inhibitor (CAI) prevents the development of atherosclerosis in rats. This study aimed to investigate the effects of CAI (1 mg/kg) on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE KO) mice that were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and explore the underlying mechanism by analyzing the expression of genes related to the uptake and efflux of cholesterol.. Atherosclerotic plaques were evaluated. The activity of calpain in the aorta and that of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the serum were assessed. Lipid profiles in the serum and liver were examined. Serum oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were measured. The mRNA expressions of CD68, TNF-α, IL-6, CD36, scavenger receptor (SR-A), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), liver-x-receptor alpha (LXR-α), and ATP-binding cassette transporter class A1 (ABCA1) in the aorta and peritoneal macrophages were also evaluated.. CAI reduced calpain activity in the aorta. CAI also impeded atherosclerotic lesion formation and mRNA expression of CD68 in the aorta and peritoneal macrophages of ApoE KO mice compared with those of mice receiving HFD. However, CAI had no effect on body weight and lipid levels in both the serum and liver. CAI significantly decreased MDA, oxLDL, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels and increased SOD activity in the serum. Moreover, CAI significantly inhibited the mRNA expression of TNF-α and IL-6 genes in the aorta and peritoneal macrophages. In addition, CAI significantly downregulated the mRNA expression of scavenger receptors CD36 and SR-A and upregulated the expression of genes involved in the cholesterol efflux pathway, i.e., PPAR-γ, LXR-α, and ABCA1 in the aorta and peritoneal macrophages.. CAI inhibited the development of atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE KO mice, and this effect might be related to the reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation and the improvement of cholesterol intake and efflux pathways.

Topics: Animals; Antigens, CD; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; Aorta; Aortic Diseases; Atherosclerosis; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1; Calpain; Cholesterol; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; Disease Models, Animal; Gene Expression Regulation; Leupeptins; Lipid Metabolism; Liver X Receptors; Macrophages, Peritoneal; Male; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout, ApoE; Plaque, Atherosclerotic; PPAR gamma; RNA, Messenger; Scavenger Receptors, Class A

In certain cases of endothelial dysfunction l-arginine becomes rate-limiting for NO synthesis in spite of sufficiently high plasma concentrations of the amino acid. To better understand this phenomenon, we investigated routes of substrate supply to endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Our previous data with human umbilical vein (HUVEC) and EA.hy.926 endothelial cells demonstrated that eNOS can obtain its substrate from the conversion of l-citrulline to l-arginine and from protein breakdown. In the present study, we determined the quantitative contribution of proteasomal and lysosomal protein degradation and investigated to what extent extracellular peptides and l-citrulline can provide substrate to eNOS. The RFL-6 reporter cell assay was used to measure eNOS activity in human EA.hy926 endothelial cells. Individual proteasome and lysosome inhibition reduced eNOS activity in EA.hy926 cells only slightly. However, the combined inhibition had a pronounced reducing effect. eNOS activity was fully restored by supplementing either l-citrulline or l-arginine-containing dipeptides. Histidine prevented the restoration of eNOS activity by the dipeptide, suggesting that a transporter accepting both, peptides and histidine, mediates the uptake of the extracellular peptide. In fact, the peptide and histidine transporter PHT1 was expressed in EA.hy926 cells and HUVECs (qRT/PCR). Our study thus demonstrates that l-citrulline and l-arginine-containing peptides derived from either intracellular protein breakdown or from the extracellular space seem to be good substrate sources for eNOS.

Topics: Arginine; Atherosclerosis; Biological Transport; Cell Line; Chloroquine; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Citrulline; Dipeptides; Endothelium, Vascular; Genes, Reporter; Histidine; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; Humans; Leupeptins; Lysosomes; Membrane Transport Proteins; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Oligopeptides; Protease Inhibitors; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Proteolysis

Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This study investigated whether the proteasome inhibitor has the same preventive effect on the formation of accelerated atherosclerosis in rabbits with uremia compared with a NF-kappaB inhibitor. New Zealand white rabbits were subjected to five-sixths nephrectomy (chronic renal failure [CRF]) or to a sham operation. Rats in each group were randomly assigned into three subgroups (n = 24 in each group) and treated with repeated intramuscular injections of proteasome inhibitor MG132 or NF-kappaB inhibitor PDTC for a specified period. Compared with sham rabbits, CRF rabbits displayed typical atherosclerotic changes (endothelial cell damage, intimal thickens, and appearance of foam cells). CRF rabbits had significantly higher levels of proteasome activity, NF-kappaB mRNA, protein, and DNA binding activity as well as tumor necrosis factor-a and proliferative cell nuclear antigen protein expression in aortic wall cells. CRF rabbits also showed lower levels of IkappaBalpha. Compared with CRF rabbits, CRF rabbits treatment with proteasome inhibitor MG132 showed restoration of IkappaBalpha mRNA and protein expression and decreased NF-kappaB DNA binding activity and tumor necrosis factor-a expression. Treatment with either proteasome inhibitor MG132 or NF-kappaB inhibitor PDTC could reverse these pathologic changes in the aortic wall cells of CRF rabbits. A comparison between the inhibitory effects of the two treatments revealed no statistical difference. These results suggest that ubiquitin-proteasome activation play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of uremia-accelerated atherosclerosis. The ubiquitin-proteasome signaling pathway in aortic cells may therefore be an important target for preventing uremia-accelerated atherosclerosis.

Topics: Animals; Atherosclerosis; Leupeptins; Protease Inhibitors; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Proteasome Inhibitors; Rabbits; Uremia

Macrophage-triggered chronic inflammation and smooth muscle cell-initiated vascular remodeling are two major pathophysiologic events during atherogenesis. Major histocompatibility class II (MHC II) transactivator (CIITA) is a key mediator of these processes through transcriptional regulation of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) induced MHC II activation and type I collagen repression. Transcriptional activity of CIITA is regulated by multiple post-translational modifications. Here we report that CIITA and histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) interact in smooth muscle cells and macrophages as assayed by co-immunoprecipitations. HDAC2 deacetylates CIITA whereas both the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) and over-expression of HDAC2 interfering RNA increase CIITA acetylation. HDAC2 down-regulates CIITA recruitment to target promoters as evidenced by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, and suppresses MHC II activation and collagen repression mediated by CIITA in luciferase reporter assays. Quantitative PCR reveals that TSA enhances MHC II activation and collagen repression by IFN-gamma. Wild type but not enzyme-deficient HDAC2 promotes the degradation of CIITA protein, whereas TSA and the proteasome inhibitor MG132 restore CIITA activity by stabilizing CIITA protein and increasing its association with target promoters. Furthermore, TSA treatment enhances the association of CIITA with the transcription factor RFX5, which ameliorates the down-regulation of CIITA recruitment to target promoters by HDAC2. In conclusion, our data suggest that HDAC2 antagonizes CIITA activity by committing CIITA to protein degradation and decreasing the interaction of CIITA with RFX5 in a deacetylation-dependent manner. Therefore, modulating CIITA activity by targeting HDAC2 may provide potential anti-atherogenic strategies.

Topics: Acetylation; Animals; Atherosclerosis; Cell Line; Collagen Type I; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; DNA-Binding Proteins; Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; Histone Deacetylase 2; Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; Histone Deacetylases; Humans; Hydroxamic Acids; Inflammation; Interferon-gamma; Leupeptins; Macrophages; Mice; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; Nuclear Proteins; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; Repressor Proteins; Trans-Activators; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic

Topics: Acetylation; Animals; Atherosclerosis; Cell Line; Collagen Type I; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; DNA-Binding Proteins; Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; Histone Deacetylase 2; Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; Histone Deacetylases; Humans; Hydroxamic Acids; Inflammation; Interferon-gamma; Leupeptins; Macrophages; Mice; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; Nuclear Proteins; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; Repressor Proteins; Trans-Activators; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic

In the extracellular intima, extracellular matrix proteoglycans favor LDL retention and aggregation (agLDL). In contrast to native LDL (nLDL), agLDL induces high intracellular cholesteryl ester (CE) accumulation in macrophages. It has been suggested that LDL receptor-related protein (LRP1) is involved in agLDL binding and internalization by macrophages. The aim of this work was to analyze whether sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) modulate LRP1 expression and LRP1-mediated agLDL uptake by human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDM).. The treatment of HMDM with small anti-LRP1 interfering RNA (siRNA-LRP1) led to the specific inhibition of LRP1 mRNA expression and also to the inhibition of LRP1 protein expression in these cells. In siRNA-LRP1-treated HMDM, CE accumulation from agLDL uptake (84.66+/-5 microg CE/mg protein) was reduced by 95.76+/-5.22%. This suggests that LRP1 plays a pivotal role in agLDL uptake by HMDM. N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal (ALLN), an inhibitor of SREBP catabolism, maintained high levels of active SREBP-2 and SREBP-1 even in the presence of nLDL and agLDL. Therefore, ALLN induced LDL receptor (LDLR) upregulation. Concomitantly, a strong downregulation of LRP1 mRNA and LRP1 protein was observed in ALLN-treated macrophages. By decreasing LRP1 expression levels, ALLN reduced CE accumulation from agLDL at all tested concentrations.. These results suggest that high levels of active SREBPs downregulate LRP1 expression and intracellular CE accumulation in HMDM.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Atherosclerosis; Blotting, Western; Cells, Cultured; Cholesterol Esters; Coronary Vessels; Down-Regulation; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Leupeptins; Lipoproteins, LDL; Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1; Macrophages; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA Interference; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Small Interfering; Statistics, Nonparametric; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins