thapsigargin and Asthma

During allergic disease, leucocytes infiltrate the affected tissues and release their mediators and cytokines. In this way, the local inflammatory process is induced and maintained. Basophilic granulocytes have been demonstrated in lung and sputum of allergic asthmatics, in nasal mucosa and secretion of allergic rhinitis patients, and in skin lesions of atopic dermatitis patients. The number of basophils correlates with the severity of the disease. Analysis of mediator profiles and cellular contents of lavages of nose, skin and lung during allergic late-phase reactions (LPR) have demonstrated histamine, but not tryptase or prostaglandin D2. The histamine-containing cells have been characterized as basophilic granulocytes. This indicates that infiltrating basophils but not mast cells are activated and release their inflammatory contents in the LPR. We are interested in the cellular mechanisms that determine the degranulation of basophils during LPR. Basophil activators, such as allergens and activated complement, are not present at these sites. However, cytokines that prime basophils but do not induce degranulation, such as interleukin-5 (IL-5) and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), have been detected at sites of LPR. We have now observed that after emptying intracellular Ca2+ stores by means of the Ca2+ adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) inhibitor, thapsigargin, basophils become extremely sensitive to stimuli that do not affect the Ca2+ stores themselves but that induce degranulation, such as the phorbolester, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). The most interesting finding was that although both thapsigargin and IL-3, IL-5 or GM-CSF do not induce basophil degranulation by themselves, a 2 min preincubation of basophils with thapsigargin followed by addition of one of these cytokines resulted in extensive histamine release: IL-3 induced 71 +/- 7% histamine release (conc1/2max 6 pM), IL-5 induced 43 +/- 8% histamine release (conc1/2max 41 pM) and GM-CSF induced 57 +/- 10% histamine release (conc1/2max 140 pM). Interestingly, the effect of thapsigargin could be mimicked by platelet-activating factor (PAF) (range 10(-9) to 10(-6) M), although to a lesser extent. Our results indicate that basophil degranulation in tissues during late-phase reactions might be caused by a combination of mediators or cytokines depleting Ca2+ stores, as platelet-activating factor or thapsigargin do, concurrent with activation by interleukin-3, interleukin-5 or

Topics: Asthma; Basophils; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Calcium; Cell Degranulation; Chymases; Complement C5a; Cytokines; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; Histamine; Histamine Release; Humans; Hypersensitivity; Interleukin-3; Interleukin-5; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Nasal Lavage Fluid; Phorbol Esters; Platelet Activating Factor; Prostaglandin D2; Receptors, IgE; Serine Endopeptidases; Skin; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Thapsigargin; Tryptases

The initial bronchoconstrictor response of the asthmatic airway depends on airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction. Intracellular calcium is a key signaling molecule, mediating a number of responses, including proliferation, gene expression, and contraction of ASM. Ca(2+) influx through receptor-operated calcium (ROC) or store-operated calcium (SOC) channels is believed to mediate longer term signals. The mechanisms of SOC activation in ASM remain to be elucidated. Recent literature has identified the STIM and ORAI proteins as key signaling players in the activation of the SOC subtype; calcium release-activated channel current (I(CRAC)) in a number of inflammatory cell types. However, the role for these proteins in activation of SOC in smooth muscle is unclear. We have previously demonstrated a role for STIM1 in SOC channel activation in human ASM. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and define the potential roles of the ORAI proteins in SOC-associated Ca(2+) influx in human ASM cells. Here we show that knockdown of ORAI1 by siRNA resulted in reduced thapsigargin- or cyclopiazonic acid (CPA)-induced Ca(2+) influx, without affecting Ca(2+) release from stores or basal levels. CPA-induced inward currents were also reduced in the ORAI1 knockdown cells. We propose that ORAI1 together with STIM1 are important contributors to SOC entry in ASM cells. These data extend the major tissue types in which these proteins appear to be major determinants of SOC influx, and suggest that modulation of these pathways may prove useful in the treatment of bronchoconstriction.

Topics: Asthma; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Calcium Signaling; Cells, Cultured; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; Indoles; Membrane Proteins; Muscle Contraction; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; Neoplasm Proteins; ORAI1 Protein; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Respiratory System; RNA, Small Interfering; Stromal Interaction Molecule 1; Thapsigargin

IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF are not able to induce histamine release in purified basophils of nonallergic donors. However, we have recently found that preincubation with 2 micromol/L thapsigargin, which induces a rise in intracellular free calcium ions, renders human basophils extremely sensitive for IL-3, IL-5, or GM-CSF, leading to enhanced histamine release. Histamine release was also induced in the reverse order (first cytokine and then thapsigargin).. Because these cytokines are supposed to be increased in allergic inflammation, we examined whether basophils of patients with allergic asthma showed an enhanced response to thapsigargin.. We measured the histamine release induced by thapsigargin in a group of allergic asthmatic subjects (n = 24) and compared this response with those of 3 control groups. The control groups consisted of healthy control subjects (group 1, n = 21); patients with a nonallergic, nonasthmatic lung disease (group 2, n = 22); and patients with nonallergic asthma (group 3, n = 9).. There was no difference in spontaneous histamine release. Also, no significant difference in histamine release was found when anti-IgE or formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine was used as a stimulus. Histamine release induced by IL-3 alone or a combination of IL-3 and thapsigargin also did not differ. In contrast, basophils from the group with allergic asthma showed a significantly higher percentage of histamine release induced by thapsigargin (38.2% +/- 13.2%) than did basophils from the 3 control groups (healthy control subjects, 22.5% +/- 6.9%; subjects with lung disease, 24.9% +/- 8.9%; subjects with nonallergic asthma 15.0% +/- 3.0%; all mean +/- SD).. These data indicate that basophils in peripheral blood of subjects with allergic asthma have a primed phenotype and that thapsigargin-induced histamine release is a practical tool to study this phenomenon.

Topics: Adult; Asthma; Basophils; Cells, Cultured; Female; Histamine Release; Humans; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Immunophenotyping; Interleukin-3; Male; Pneumothorax; Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary; Thapsigargin; Time Factors