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Transduction of Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog Deleted on Chromosome 10 into Eosinophils Attenuates Survival, Chemotaxis, and Airway Inflammation¹

Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is part of a complex signaling system that affects a variety of important cell functions. PTEN antagonizes the action of PI3K by dephosphorylating the signaling lipid phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate. In the present study, we used a TAT fusion protein transduction system to elucidate the role of PTEN in eosinophils and airway inflammation. A small region of the HIV TAT protein (YGRKKRRQRRR), a protein transduction domain known to enter mammalian cells efficiently, was fused to the N terminus of PTEN. Flow cytometric analysis of annexin V- and propidium iodide-stained cells was used to assess eosinophil survival. A chemotaxis assay was performed using a Boyden chamber. Cell analysis in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and histological examinations were performed using OVA-challenged A/J mice. We found that TAT-PTEN was successfully internalized into eosinophils and functioned as a phosphatase in situ. TAT-PTEN, but not a TAT-GFP control protein, blocked the ability of IL-5 to prevent the apoptosis of eosinophils from allergic subjects. The eotaxin-induced eosinophil chemotaxis was inhibited by TAT-PTEN in a dose-dependent manner. Intranasal pretreatment with TAT-PTEN, but not TAT-GFP, significantly inhibited the OVA-induced eosinophil infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Histological examination of the lung, including H&E and Alcian blue/periodic acid-Schiff staining, revealed that TAT-PTEN, but not TAT-GFP, abrogated eosinophilic inflammation and mucus production. Our results suggest that PTEN negatively regulates eosinophil survival, chemotaxis, and allergic inflammation. The pharmacological targeting of PTEN may constitute a new strategy for the treatment of eosinophilic disorders.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and by grants for Scientific Research supported by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

² Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Tetsuya Adachi, Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-11-1, Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan. E-mail address: tadachi{at}med.teikyo-u.ac.jp

³ Abbreviations used in this paper: PTEN, phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10; AB, Alcian blue; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; PAS, periodic acid-Schiff; ROCK, Rho-associated coiled-coil-forming protein kinase; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor.