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The Journal of Immunology, 2002, 168: 2644-2651.
Copyright © 2002 by The American Association of Immunologists

Thalidomide Suppresses NF-{kappa}B Activation Induced by TNF and H2O2, But Not That Activated by Ceramide, Lipopolysaccharides, or Phorbol Ester1

Sekhar Majumdar, Betty Lamothe and Bharat B. Aggarwal2

Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Bioimmunotherapy, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030


   Abstract
Top
 Abstract
Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Thalidomide ([+]-{alpha}-phthalimidoglutarimide), a psychoactive drug that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic, and immunosuppressive properties through a mechanism that is not fully established. Due to the central role of NF-{kappa}B in these responses, we postulated that thalidomide mediates its effects through suppression of NF-{kappa}B activation. We investigated the effects of thalidomide on NF-{kappa}B activation induced by various inflammatory agents in Jurkat cells. The treatment of these cells with thalidomide suppressed TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation, with optimum effect occurring at 50 µg/ml thalidomide. These effects were not restricted to T cells, as other hematopoietic and epithelial cell types were also inhibited. Thalidomide suppressed H2O2-induced NF-{kappa}B activation but had no effect on NF-{kappa}B activation induced by PMA, LPS, okadaic acid, or ceramide, suggesting selectivity in suppression of NF-{kappa}B. The suppression of TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation by thalidomide correlated with partial inhibition of TNF-induced degradation of an inhibitory subunit of NF-{kappa}B (I{kappa}B{alpha}), abrogation of I{kappa}B{alpha} kinase activation, and inhibition of NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression. Thalidomide abolished the NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression activated by overexpression of TNFR1, TNFR-associated factor-2, and NF-{kappa}B-inducing kinase, but not that activated by the p65 subunit of NF-{kappa}B. Overall, our results clearly demonstrate that thalidomide suppresses NF-{kappa}B activation specifically induced by TNF and H2O2 and that this may contribute to its role in suppression of proliferation, inflammation, angiogenesis, and the immune system.


   Introduction
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Thalidomide ([+]-{alpha}-phthalimidoglutarimide), first synthesized almost 50 years ago as an antihistamine drug, was soon found to have sedative effects in animal studies. Due to lack of toxicity in animals even at 10 g/kg, it was approved in 1957 as an over-the-counter sedative during pregnancy in over 46 countries, and annual sales in Germany alone reached 14.58 tons (1). However, this success did not last very long, because thalidomide was found to induce birth defects in humans; it was withdrawn from the market in 1965 (reviewed in Ref. 2). The demonstration in 1991 by Kaplan and colleagues (3) that thalidomide can selectively inhibit TNF produced by stimulated human monocytes and the central role of TNF in a wide variety of diseases placed this novel derivative of glutamic acid on a comeback trail (4, 5, 6). In 1998, thalidomide was approved in the United States for the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum, a complication associated with leprosy (7).

Thalidomide can modulate the role of TNF in replication of HIV and in AIDS-associated wasting. It was found to block HIV replication (8, 9), suppress AIDS-associated wasting (10, 11), reduce oral aphthous ulcers (12), and enhance weight gain in patients with concomitant HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (13). Thalidomide has shown significant promise in the treatment of various immunological disorders including microsporidial diarrhea (14), bacterial meningitis (15, 16), chronic graft-vs-host disease (17), Crohn’s disease (18), and septic shock (19). Additionally, thalidomide was found to suppress angiogenesis (20), possibly through the inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation (21). Because angiogenesis is critical for growth of most solid tumors, thalidomide was tested against recurrent high-grade gliomas, where it showed significant activity (22). Thalidomide is also active against multiple myeloma (23, 24), another cancer highly dependent on TNF (25).

The effect of thalidomide on various immunological disorders as outlined above (1, 4, 6) is most likely mediated through its effect on the modulation of cytokine production. Besides TNF, thalidomide has also been shown to decrease the production of chemokines, IL-6, and IL-12 (26, 27, 28, 29, 30). Thalidomide increased the LPS-induced IL-10 production from PBMC but had no affect on anti-CD3-induced IL-10 levels (28). This drug was also found to suppress NO synthesis (31).

Suppression of the nuclear transcription factor NF-{kappa}B activation may explain several of the effects of thalidomide. A multisubunit factor known to play a role in inflammation, immune modulation, and cell proliferation (32), NF-{kappa}B is primarily composed of proteins with molecular mass of 50 (p50) and 65 kDa (p65), and is retained in the cytoplasm by I{kappa}B{alpha}. In its unstimulated form, NF-{kappa}B is activated by a wide variety of inflammatory stimuli, including TNF, IL-1, okadaic acid, phorbol ester, H2O2, ceramide, endotoxin, and gamma irradiation. Most of these agents induce the phosphorylation-dependent degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha} proteins, allowing active NF-{kappa}B to translocate to the nucleus, where it regulates gene expression. Constitutive activation of NF-{kappa}B has been detected in various chronic inflammatory diseases treated by thalidomide, including Crohn’s disease, gastric ulcers, graft-vs-host disease, and AIDS (33, 34, 35, 36). Angiogenesis also requires NF-{kappa}B activation (37). As a result, we postulated that thalidomide may mediate its effects through suppression of NF-{kappa}B. Therefore, in the present report we investigated whether thalidomide suppresses the NF-{kappa}B activation induced by various inflammatory stimuli and whether it does so in different cell types. What pathway thalidomide employs to suppress NF-{kappa}B activation was also investigated.


   Materials and Methods
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Materials

Thalidomide was obtained from Tocris Cookson (St. Louis, MO). It was dissolved in DMSO to give a stock solution of 20 mg/ml. Bacterial-derived human rTNF with a specific activity of 5 x 107 U/mg was kindly provided by Genentech (South San Francisco, CA). Penicillin, streptomycin, RPMI 1640 medium, and FBS were obtained from Life Technologies (Grand Island, NY). Tris, glycine, NaCl, SDS, PMA, and BSA were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). The polyclonal Abs used were as follows: anti-p65, against the epitope corresponding to amino acids mapping within the amino-terminal domain of human NF-{kappa}B p65; anti-p50, against a peptide 15-aa long mapping to the nuclear localization region of NF-{kappa}B p50; anti-I{kappa}B{alpha}, against amino acids 297–317 mapping to the carboxyl terminus of I{kappa}B{alpha}; anti-c-Rel; and anti-cyclin D1 against amino acids 1–295, which represents full-length cyclin D1 of human origin. All these Abs were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA). Phospho-I{kappa}B{alpha} (Ser32) Ab was purchased from New England Biolabs (Beverly, MA). Anti-I{kappa}B{alpha} kinase (IKK)3-{alpha} and anti-IKK-{beta} Abs were kindly provided by Imgenex (San Diego, CA).

Cell lines

The cell lines T-Jurkat (T cells), HeLa (human epithelial cells), 293 (human embryonic kidney), and U937 (human histiocytic lymphoma) were obtained from American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA). HeLa and A293 cells were maintained in MEM, and the other cell lines were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin, and 100 µg/ml streptomycin. For most studies, Jurkat cells were used because these cells express both types of TNFR, and TNF-induced responses in this cell type are well characterized in our laboratory.

NF-{kappa}B activation

To determine NF-{kappa}B activation, EMSA was conducted essentially as described (38). Briefly, nuclear extracts prepared from TNF-treated cells (2 x 106/ml) were incubated with 32P-end-labeled 45-mer double-stranded NF-{kappa}B oligonucleotide (4 µg of protein with 16 fmoles DNA) from the HIV long terminal repeat, 5'-TTGTTACAAGGGACTTTCCGCTGGGGACTTTCCAGGGAGGCGTGG-3' (underlining indicates NF-{kappa}B binding sites) for 15 min at 37°C, and the DNA-protein complex formed was separated from free oligonucleotide on 6.6% native polyacrylamide gels. A double-stranded mutated oligonucleotide, 5'-TTGTTACAACTCACTTTCCGCTGCTCACTTTCCAGGGAGGCGTGG-3', was used to examine the specificity of binding of NF-{kappa}B to the DNA. The specificity of binding was also examined by competition with the unlabeled oligonucleotide. For supershift assays, nuclear extracts prepared from TNF-treated cells were incubated with the Abs against either p50 or p65 of NF-{kappa}B for 30 min at room temperature before the complex was analyzed by EMSA. Abs against c-Rel B and cyclin D1 and preimmune serum were included as negative controls. The dried gels were visualized, and radioactive bands were quantitated by a PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA) using ImageQuant software.

Degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha}

To determine the levels of I{kappa}B{alpha}, postnuclear (cytoplasmic) extracts were prepared (39) from TNF-treated cells and resolved on 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gels. After electrophoresis, the proteins were electrotransferred to nitrocellulose filters, probed with rabbit polyclonal Abs against I{kappa}B{alpha}, and detected by ECL (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Arlington Heights, IL). The bands obtained were quantitated using Personal Densitometer Scan v1.30 using ImageQuant software version 3.3 (Molecular Dynamics).

IKK assay

The IKK assay was performed by a method described previously (40). Briefly, IKK complex from cytoplasm was precipitated with Ab to IKK-{alpha}, followed by treatment with 20 µl of protein A/G-Sepharose (Pierce, Rockford, IL). After 2 h, the beads were washed with lysis buffer and then assayed in kinase assay mixture containing 50 mM HEPES (pH 7.4), 20 mM MgCl2, 2 mM DTT, 20 µCi [{gamma}-32P]ATP, 10 µM unlabeled ATP, and 2 µg of substrate GST-I{kappa}B{alpha}. After incubation at 30°C for 30 min, the reaction was terminated by boiling with 5 µl of 5x SDS sample buffer for 5 min. Finally, the protein was resolved on 10% polyacrylamide gel under reducing conditions, the gel was dried, and the radioactive bands were visualized by PhosphorImager. To determine the total amounts of IKK-{alpha} and IKK-{beta} in each sample, 60 µg of the cytoplasmic protein was resolved on a 7.5% acrylamide gel and then electrotransferred to a nitrocellulose membrane; the membrane was blocked with 5% nonfat milk protein for 1 h and then incubated with either anti-IKK-{alpha} or anti-IKK-{beta} (1/500 dilution) for 1 h. The membrane was then washed and treated with HRP-conjugated secondary anti-mouse IgG Ab and finally detected by chemiluminescence (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech).

NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene transcription

The effect of thalidomide on TNF, TNFRI, TNFR-associated factor-2 (TRAF2), NF-{kappa}B-inducing kinase (NIK), and p65 (transactivation subunit of NF-{kappa}B)-induced NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene transcription was measured as previously described (41). Briefly, human embryonic 293 cells (0.5 million cells/well) were plated in six-well plates and transiently transfected the next day by the calcium phosphate method with pNF-{kappa}B-secretory alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) (0.5 µg) and 0.5 µg of the expression plasmids (TNFRI, TRAF2, NIK, and p65). The total final amount of DNA was maintained at 2.5 µg by the addition of the control plasmid pCMVFLAG1 DNA. The cells were transfected for 18 h and after a medium change treated with 10 µg/ml thalidomide for 24 h. To examine TNF-induced reporter gene expression, we transfected the cells with 0.5 µg of the SEAP expression plasmid and 2 µg of the control plasmid pCMVFLAG1 DNA for 18 h and then pretreated for 2 h with 10 µg/ml thalidomide before treating them with 1 nM TNF. The cell culture medium was harvested after 24 h of treatment and analyzed for SEAP activity according to the protocol essentially as described by the manufacturer (Clontech Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA) using a 96-well fluorescence plate reader (Fluoroscan II; Labsystems, Chicago, IL) with excitation set at 360 nm and emission at 460 nm.


   Results
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
Discussion
 References
 
In this report we examined the effect of thalidomide on NF-{kappa}B activation induced by TNF and various other inflammatory stimuli in different cell types. In the preliminary experiments, the concentration of thalidomide and the duration of exposure used had no effect on cell viability (data not shown).

Thalidomide inhibits TNF-dependent NF-{kappa}B activation

Jurkat cells were preincubated for 2 h with different concentrations of thalidomide and treated with TNF (0.1 nM) for 30 min at 37°C, and then nuclear extracts were prepared and assayed for NF-{kappa}B activation by EMSA. As shown in Fig. 1GoA, thalidomide inhibited TNF-mediated NF-{kappa}B activation in a dose-dependent manner, with maximum inhibition occurring at 50 µg/ml. Thalidomide by itself did not activate NF-{kappa}B (data not shown).



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  		FIGURE 1. Thalidomide blocks TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation. A, The effect of different concentrations of thalidomide on TNF-dependent NF-{kappa}B activation. Jurkat cells (2 x 106/ml) were preincubated at 37°C for 2 h with different concentrations (0–50 µg/ml) of thalidomide and then treated with 0.1 nM TNF for 30 min. After these treatments nuclear extracts were prepared and then assayed for NF-{kappa}B as described in Materials and Methods. B, The binding of NF-{kappa}B to the DNA is specific and consists of p50 and p65 subunits. Nuclear extracts were prepared from untreated or TNF (0.1 nM)-treated Jurkat cells (2 x 106/ml), incubated for 30 min with different Abs or cold NF-{kappa}B oligo probes, and then assayed for NF-{kappa}B.

 
Because NF-{kappa}B is a family of proteins, various combinations of Rel/NF-{kappa}B protein can constitute an active NF-{kappa}B heterodimer that binds to a specific sequence in DNA (32). To show that the retarded band visualized by EMSA in TNF-treated cells was indeed NF-{kappa}B, we incubated nuclear extracts from TNF-activated cells with Ab to either the p50 (NF-{kappa}B1) or the p65 (RelA) subunit of NF-{kappa}B. Both shifted the band to a higher molecular mass (Fig. 1GoB), thus suggesting that the TNF-activated complex consisted of p50 and p65 subunits. Neither preimmune serum nor such irrelevant Abs as anti-cyclin D1 had any effect. Excess unlabeled NF-{kappa}B (100-fold) caused complete disappearance of the band but mutant oligonucleotide did not (data not shown), indicating the specificity of NF-{kappa}B.

Thalidomide does not block NF-{kappa}B activation induced by phorbol ester, okadaic acid, LPS, or ceramide

Besides TNF, NF-{kappa}B is also activated by a wide variety of other agents, including phorbol ester, okadaic acid, LPS, and ceramide. However, the signal transduction pathway induced by these agents may differ (42, 43, 44, 45, 46). Therefore, we examined the effect of thalidomide on the activation of NF-{kappa}B by these agents. As shown in Fig. 2Go, A and B, thalidomide had no effect on the activation of NF-{kappa}B induced by PMA, LPS, okadaic acid, and ceramide. This suggests that the mechanism by which these agents activate NF-{kappa}B is different from that of TNF.



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  		FIGURE 2. A, Thalidomide blocks H2O2-induced but not LPS-, ceramide-, okadaic acid-, and PMA-induced NF-{kappa}B activation. A, Jurkat cells (2 x 106/ml) were preincubated for 120 min at 37°C with thalidomide (50 µg/ml), treated with TNF (0.1 nM), PMA (25 ng/ml), or LPS (10 µg/ml) for 30 min, and then tested for NF-{kappa}B activation as described in Materials and Methods. B, Jurkat cells (2 x 106/ml) were preincubated for 120 min at 37°C with thalidomide (50 µg/ml), treated with H2O2 (250 µM), okadaic acid (500 nM), or ceramide (10 µM) for 30 min, and then tested for NF-{kappa}B activation as described in Materials and Methods. C, Effect of thalidomide on the kinetics for NF-{kappa}B activation by H2O2. Jurkat cells (2 x 106/ml) were pretreated for 2 h with thalidomide (50 µg/ml) at 37°C, activated by H2O2 at different time points, and tested for NF-{kappa}B activation as described in Materials and Methods.

 
Thalidomide blocks NF-{kappa}B activation induced by H2O2

It has recently been reported that NF-{kappa}B activation by H2O2 occurs through a mechanism distinct from that by TNF (47). To examine the effect of thalidomide on NF-{kappa}B activation induced by H2O2, we pretreated cells with 50 µg/ml thalidomide for 2 h and treated them with 250 µM H2O2 for different times. As shown in Fig. 2GoC, thalidomide potentiated the H2O2-induced NF-{kappa}B activation at shorter incubation time (30 min) but suppressed it at longer incubations (120 min). The suppression suggests a similarity in the mechanism of NF-{kappa}B activation by TNF and H2O2. The initial potentiation of NF-{kappa}B activation may have been due to oxidative free radicals generated by thalidomide (2), which could contribute to the H2O2-induced NF-{kappa}B activation.

Inhibition of NF-{kappa}B activation by thalidomide is not cell type specific

That distinct signal transduction pathways could mediate NF-{kappa}B induction in epithelial and lymphoid cells has been demonstrated (48). All of the effects of thalidomide described until now were observed in human Jurkat T cells. Therefore, we also studied whether thalidomide could block TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation in myeloid (U937), epithelial (HeLa), and embryonic kidney (293) cells. These cells were pretreated with different concentrations of thalidomide for 2 h and NF-{kappa}B activated by treatment with TNF for 30 min. Thalidomide inhibited most TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation in all cell types (Fig. 3Go), thus suggesting that the suppression is not cell type specific.



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  		FIGURE 3. Thalidomide suppresses TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B in different cell types. U937 (A), 293 (B), and HeLa (C) cells (2 x 106/ml) were preincubated at 37°C for 2 h with different concentrations of thalidomide and then treated with 0.1 nM TNF for 30 min. Nuclear extracts were prepared and tested for NF-{kappa}B activation as described in Materials and Methods. C, Medium control.

 
Thalidomide suppresses the DNA-binding ability of NF-{kappa}B proteins

It has been shown that N-tosyl-L-phenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone (TPCK) (serine protease inhibitor), herbimycin A (protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor), and caffeic acid phenylethyl ester down-regulate NF-{kappa}B activation by chemical modification of the NF-{kappa}B subunits, thus preventing its binding to DNA (49, 50, 51). To determine whether thalidomide also modifies NF-{kappa}B proteins, we incubated nuclear extracts prepared from TNF-activated cells with different concentrations of thalidomide in vitro for either 1 or 2 h and then performed EMSA (Fig. 4Go). The results in Fig. 4GoA indicate that incubation of NF-{kappa}B with 50 µg/ml thalidomide for 1 h completely suppressed its ability to bind to the DNA. Two hours of treatment with thalidomide had no additional effect on the suppression of NF-{kappa}B activity (Fig. 4GoB). These results suggest that thalidomide may suppress NF-{kappa}B activation through a mechanism similar to that of TPCK, herbimycin A, and caffeic acid phenylethyl ester.



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  		FIGURE 4. Thalidomide inhibits in vitro DNA binding of NF-{kappa}B protein. Nuclear extracts (NE) were prepared from Jurkat cells treated with 0.1 nM TNF for 30 min; 5 µg/sample NE protein was treated with indicated concentrations of thalidomide for either 1 (A) or 2 h (B) and then assayed for DNA binding by EMSA.

 
Thalidomide inhibits TNF-dependent degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha}

The activation of NF-{kappa}B by TNF requires the proteolytic degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha} (32). To determine whether inhibition of TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation was due to inhibition of I{kappa}B{alpha} degradation, we pretreated cells with 50 µg/ml thalidomide for 2 h, exposed them to 0.1 nM TNF for different times, and then examined them for NF-{kappa}B in the nucleus by EMSA and for I{kappa}B{alpha} in the cytoplasm by Western blot. As shown in Fig. 5GoA, TNF activated NF-{kappa}B in the control cells in a time-dependent manner but had no effect in thalidomide-pretreated cells. TNF induced I{kappa}B{alpha} degradation in control cells as early as 5 min, but in thalidomide-pretreated cells TNF-induced I{kappa}B{alpha} degradation was suppressed (Fig. 5GoB), although not completely. In TNF-treated cells, a complete resynthesis of I{kappa}B{alpha} occurred at 60 min, when NF-{kappa}B is still active. The resynthesis of I{kappa}B{alpha} appeared to occur faster in cells pretreated with thalidomide.



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  		FIGURE 5. A and B, Effect of thalidomide on TNF-induced degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha}. Jurkat cells were incubated at 37°C with thalidomide (50 µg/ml) for 2 h and then treated with 0.1 nM TNF at 37°C for different times as indicated and then tested for NF-{kappa}B activation by EMSA (A) and for I{kappa}B{alpha} in cytosolic fractions by Western blot analysis (B). {beta}-Actin shows equal protein loading. C, Thalidomide inhibits TNF-induced IKK activity. Cells (2 x 106/ml) were incubated first with thalidomide (50 µg/ml) for 2 h and then with TNF (1 nM) for different times and then analyzed for IKK by the immune complex kinase assay as described in Materials and Methods.

 
Thalidomide inhibits TNF-induced IKK-{beta} activation

The translocation of NF-{kappa}B to the nucleus is preceded by the phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and proteolytic degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha} (32). Because TNF-induced phosphorylation of I{kappa}B{alpha} is mediated through IKK-{beta}, these results suggest that thalidomide must inhibit IKK-{beta} activation. Indeed, as shown in Fig. 5GoC, in immune complex kinase assays, TNF activated IKK-{beta} in a time-dependent manner and thalidomide treatment suppressed the activation. Under these conditions, IFN-{alpha} had no effect on the IKK-{alpha} and IKK-{beta} protein levels (data not shown).

Thalidomide represses TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression

Although we have shown by EMSA that thalidomide blocks NF-{kappa}B activation and phosphorylation and degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha}, DNA binding alone does not always correlate with NF-{kappa}B-dependent gene transcription, suggesting the role of additional regulatory steps (52). To determine the effect of thalidomide on TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression, we transiently transfected thalidomide-pretreated or untreated cells with the NF-{kappa}B-regulated SEAP reporter construct and then stimulated the cells with TNF. An almost 10-fold increase in SEAP activity over the vector control was noted upon stimulation with TNF (Fig. 6Go). TNF-induced SEAP activity was almost completely abolished by dominant-negative I{kappa}B{alpha}, indicating the specificity. When the cells were pretreated with thalidomide, TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B-dependent SEAP expression was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that thalidomide also represses NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression induced by TNF.



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  		FIGURE 6. Thalidomide inhibits TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B-dependent SEAP reporter gene expression. 293 cells treated with different concentrations of thalidomide were transiently transfected with NF-{kappa}B containing plasmid linked to the SEAP gene. After 24 h in culture with TNF, cell supernatants were collected and assayed for SEAP activity as described in Materials and Methods. Results are expressed as fold activity over the nontransfected control. The specificity of the assay was examined by suppression of TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B reporter activity by I{kappa}B{alpha} dominant-negative mutant plasmid.

 
Thalidomide inhibits NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression induced by TNFR1, TRAF2, and NIK

TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation is mediated through sequential interaction of the TNFR with TNFR-associated death domain, TRAF2, NIK, and IKK-{beta}, resulting in phosphorylation of I{kappa}B{alpha}. To delineate the site of action of thalidomide in the TNF signaling pathway leading to NF-{kappa}B activation, cells were transfected with TNFR1, TRAF2, NIK, and p65 plasmids, and then NF-{kappa}B-dependent SEAP expression was monitored in untreated and thalidomide-treated cells. As shown in Fig. 7Go, TNFR1, TRAF2, NIK, and p65 plasmids induced gene expression and thalidomide suppressed TNFR1-, TRAF2-, and NIK-induced but not p65-induced NF-{kappa}B reporter expression. Thus thalidomide must act at a step downstream from NIK. Because NIK is known to activate IKK-{beta}, which in turn phosphorylates I{kappa}B{alpha}, it appears that thalidomide must block the activity of IKK-{beta}. Unlike the in vitro modification of NF-{kappa}B activity, thalidomide had no effect on the in vivo transcriptional activity of p65 subunit of NF-{kappa}B.



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  		FIGURE 7. Thalidomide inhibits NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene expression induced by TNFRI, TRAF2, and NIK. Human embryonic 293 cells were transiently transfected with indicated plasmids along with NF-{kappa}B containing plasmid linked to the SEAP gene for 18 h. After a medium change, the cells were treated with 10 µg/ml thalidomide for 24 h. Where indicated, cells were exposed to 1 nM TNF for 24 h after 2 h of preincubation with 10 µg/ml thalidomide. Supernatants were collected and assayed for SEAP activity as described in Materials and Methods. Results are expressed as fold activity over the nontransfected control. Horizontal bars, SD.

 

   Discussion
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
References
 
Because several in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects assigned to thalidomide require suppression of NF-{kappa}B activation, we tested the hypothesis that thalidomide directly blocks NF-{kappa}B activation. We found that thalidomide was indeed a potent inhibitor of NF-{kappa}B activation induced by TNF and H2O2 but had no effect on NF-{kappa}B activated by PMA, LPS, and ceramide. Thalidomide suppressed inducible but not constitutive NF-{kappa}B activation. The suppression of NF-{kappa}B by thalidomide accompanied inhibition of NF-{kappa}B binding to the DNA, and suppression of I{kappa}B{alpha} degradation and of I{kappa}B{alpha} kinase. NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene transcription induced by TNF, TNFR1, TRAF2, and NIK was also suppressed by thalidomide.

Treatment of Jurkat cells with thalidomide completely suppressed NF-{kappa}B activation induced by TNF and H2O2 but not that activated by PMA, LPS, or ceramide. This differential effect is in agreement with Rowland et al. (53), who examined the effect of thalidomide on NF-{kappa}B activation in PBMCs activated by PMA and ionophore. Our results are also in agreement with a recent report from Keifer et al. (54), who found that thalidomide blocks TNF- and IL-1-induced NF-{kappa}B activation. Why thalidomide blocks TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation but not that activated by LPS, ceramide, or phorbol ester suggests a difference in the mechanism of NF-{kappa}B activation by different agents. For instance, we have shown that p56lck protein tyrosine kinase is required for ceramide-induced NF-{kappa}B activation but not for TNF (43). Similarly, ribosomal protein S6 kinase (pp90rsk) has been shown to be involved in phorbol ester-induced NF-{kappa}B activation but not in TNF-induced activation (55, 56).

We also found that thalidomide blocks H2O2-induced NF-{kappa}B activation. Recent reports indicate that H2O2 suppresses NF-{kappa}B activation through a very different mechanism from that of TNF (47). For example, TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation requires I{kappa}B{alpha} serine phosphorylation and then degradation, whereas that by H2O2 leads to tyrosine phosphorylation but not degradation. Despite these differences, our results suggest that thalidomide must act at a step that is common to both TNF- and H2O2-induced activation.

Our results also indicate that thalidomide prevents NF-{kappa}B from binding to the DNA, but how is not clear. It has been previously shown that herbimycin A, caffeic acid phenethyl ester, selenite, and TPCK also prevent the DNA binding of NF-{kappa}B, most likely through modification of the p50 subunit of NF-{kappa}B (49, 50, 51, 57). Herbimycin A and selenite have been shown to cause a covalent modification of a key thiol at cysteine 62 of the p50 subunit of NF-{kappa}B, thereby inhibiting its binding to the DNA. Conversely, thioredoxin was found to stimulate the DNA binding of NF-{kappa}B by reduction of the disulfide bond involving cysteine 62 (58). Whether the same thiol is modified by thalidomide is not clear. That thalidomide can induce DNA damage through generation of oxidative free radical has been recently reported (2). The same mechanism could apply to suppression of NF-{kappa}B activation. It is unlikely, however, that the oxidative damage is the only mechanism for suppression of NF-{kappa}B by thalidomide, because this drug had no effect on NF-{kappa}B activation by PMA, ceramide, and LPS. In this respect, thalidomide appears to be specific. The inability of thalidomide to block NF-{kappa}B activation by other agents suggests a complex mechanism of action.

Thalidomide also blocked TNF-induced I{kappa}B{alpha} degradation and activation of IKK needed for NF-{kappa}B activation. These results are in agreement with those of Keifer et al. (54). Like thalidomide, TPCK-suppressed NF-{kappa}B activation also correlated with inhibition of in vitro DNA binding of NF-{kappa}B and with inhibition of the phosphorylation and degradation of I{kappa}B{alpha} (49). TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation is mediated through sequential interaction of the TNFR with TNFR-associated death domain, TRAF2, NIK, and IKK-{beta}, resulting in phosphorylation of I{kappa}B{alpha}. We found that thalidomide blocked the NF-{kappa}B activation induced by the TNFR, TRAF2, and NIK but had no effect on p65-mediated gene transcription. These results also suggest the site of NF-{kappa}B activation lies between NIK and p65, thus pointing to IKK.

We found that thalidomide blocks NF-{kappa}B activation in a wide variety of cells including T cells, myeloid cells, and epithelial cells. Others have reported that thalidomide blocks TNF-induced NF-{kappa}B activation in endothelial cells (54). Thus suppression of NF-{kappa}B activation by thalidomide does not appear to be cell type specific.

Our results demonstrate that thalidomide blocks not only NF-{kappa}B activation as monitored by DNA binding but also NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene transcription. These results are consistent with reports that showed the inhibition of expression by thalidomide of several genes regulated by NF-{kappa}B, including inflammatory cytokines (such as TNF, IL-6, IL-12, and chemokines), antiapoptotic molecules (TRAF1 and c-IAP2), and NO synthase (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 54). The revival of thalidomide as a therapeutic agent is based on reports that this drug can suppress TNF production (3, 53, 59, 60, 61). What role inhibition of NF-{kappa}B activation by thalidomide plays in suppression of TNF production is less clear. Many investigators have examined the effect of thalidomide on TNF production in macrophages induced by either LPS (3, 59, 60, 61) or phorbol ester (53). We found that thalidomide had no effect on NF-{kappa}B activation induced by either of the agents. Although NF-{kappa}B is needed for TNF production, thalidomide may not mediate its effects on TNF through NF-{kappa}B suppression. Thalidomide has been shown to block TNF production by either enhancing mRNA degradation (59) or by binding the drug to {alpha}1-acid glycoprotein (60). This suggests that thalidomide could modulate cytokine production by multiple mechanisms. Thus our results indicate that the ability of thalidomide to modulate gene expression through suppression of NF-{kappa}B is determined by the pathway activated by the inducer.

Thalidomide has been shown to inhibit angiogenesis (20). Several reports suggest the critical role of TNF in angiogenesis and the involvement of IL-8, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and basic fibroblast growth factor in TNF-dependent angiogenesis (62, 63). Because TNF regulates the expression of VEGF and IL-8 through activation of NF-{kappa}B, our results suggest that thalidomide may regulate TNF-induced angiogenesis through down-regulation of the expression of VEGF and IL-8. The suppression of proliferation of endothelial cells by thalidomide also appears to correlate with suppression of activation of NF-{kappa}B and another transcription factor, SP-1 (21). TNF is also known to stimulate the HIV enhancer by activation of NF-{kappa}B (36). The ability of thalidomide to suppress HIV replication (8) may also be mediated through inhibition of NF-{kappa}B activation (9), as may the activity of thalidomide against multiple myeloma (22, 23) because, first, NF-{kappa}B is constitutively active in multiple myeloma cells (64) and, second, TNF plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of human multiple myeloma (25). Similarly, activated NF-{kappa}B has been found during both arthritis and Crohn’s disease (65, 66), which may explain the inhibitory effects of thalidomide against these diseases (18, 67). The suppression of NF-{kappa}B may also explain the effects of thalidomide observed against various cancers (22, 23, 24, 25, 68) and other inflammatory diseases (69, 70). Overall our results indicate that thalidomide blocks NF-{kappa}B activation and NF-{kappa}B-dependent gene expression in most cell types but only that induced by certain agents, and that this suppression occurs through multiple mechanisms.


   Acknowledgments
 
We thank Walter Pagel for a careful review of the manuscript.


   Footnotes
 
1 This research was supported by The Clayton Foundation for Research. Back

2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Bharat B. Aggarwal, Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Bioimmunotherapy, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Box 143, Houston, TX 77030-4095. E-mail address: aggarwal{at}mdanderson.org Back

3 Abbreviations used in this paper: IKK, I{kappa}B{alpha} kinase; SEAP, secretory alkaline phosphatase; TRAF2, TNFR-associated factor-2; NIK, NF-{kappa}B-inducing kinase; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; TPCK, N-tosyl-L-phenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone. Back

Received for publication October 19, 2001. Accepted for publication January 2, 2002.


   References
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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