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* Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Clinica di Gastroenterologia ed Epatologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy; and
Nicox SA, Sophia Antipolis, France
| Abstract |
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50% reduction of cellular ATP, which translates in a time-reversible inhibition of cell proliferation and IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-
secretion. Exposure of lymphocytes and monocytes to aspirin, 2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid 3-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl ester (NCX-4017), a non-NO-releasing analog of NCX-4016, and cyclooxygenase inhibitors, reduced PG formation, but has no effect on cytokine/chemokine release. In contrast, delivering NO with (z)-1-[2-(2-aminoethyl)-N-(2-ammonioethyl)amino] diazen-1-ium-1,2 diolate (DETA-NO) reproduced most of the metabolic and anti-cytokine activities of NCX-4016. Scavenging NO with hemoglobin or adding selective substrates of complex II, III, and IV of the mitochondrial respiratory chain reverses NCX-4016' inhibitory activities. Exposure to DETA-NO and NCX-4016 enhances glucose uptake, glycolytic rate, and lactate generation in CD3/CD28-costimulated lymphocytes, while reduced citric acid cycle intermediates. These effects were not reproduced by selective and nonselective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors. In summary, we demonstrated that exposure of lymphocytes to NCX-4016 causes a metabolic hypoxia that inhibits lymphocyte reactivity to costimulatory molecules, providing a potential counteregulatory mechanism to control activated immune system. | Introduction |
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During aerobic glycolysis, ATP is generated by mitochondria as a function of O2 consumption in a chain of reactions that involves a group of enzymes clustered at the inner mitochondrial membrane and collectively known as mitochondrial respiratory chain (11). Microenvironmental conditions found in injured tissues, however, are characterized by low levels of O2 and glucose, as well as high concentrations of lactate and reductive metabolites (12). In those areas, inflammation and vasodilation are often maintained by activation of the high output NO synthase (i.e., the inducible NO synthase (NOS)). NO, a physiological messenger that regulates many aspects of cell physiology, is progressively emerging as a possible modulator of O2 consumption (13, 14, 15) and energy expenditure in many cell types (16, 17, 18). Thus, exposure to NO causes the S-nitrosylation/inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase, i.e., the terminal component (complex IV) of the mitochondrial respiratory chain responsible for almost all O2 consumption (15), switching cell bioenergetic functions from an aerobic to anaerobic set, thus making NO a potential mediator of immune cell function (19, 20, 21).
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) modulate mitochondrial respiratory chain in nonimmune cells (3). Disruption of mitochondrial function caused by NSAIDs, however, is irreversible and has been mechanistically linked to gastrointestinal side effects rather than to the anti-inflammatory activity (3). The 2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid 3-(nitrooxymethyl)phenyl ester (NCX-4016), an anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory agent (reviewed in Ref. 22) that consists of an acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-like moiety linked to a nitroxybutyl moiety, represents the prototype of a new family of NSAIDs that inhibits cyclooxygenase (COX) activities and releases NO (NO-NSAIDs). Thus, while NCX-4016 inhibits COX-1 and COX-2, it also exerts COX-independent, NO-mediated activities on platelets, lymphocytes, and monocytes (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28). Because modulation of cell respiration might represent an important mechanism for controlling immune cell reactivity, we have designed a study to investigate whether NCX-4016 regulates bioenergetic functions in lymphocytes and monocytes. The results of the present study demonstrate that regulation of mitochondrial functions represents a new anti-inflammatory mechanism of NO-releasing NSAIDs.
| Materials and Methods |
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PBMC preparation and monocytes and T lymphocyte isolation
Human PBMCs were obtained from normal individual donors to the Blood Bank Service of Perugia University Hospital. PBMCs were isolated by density gradient centrifugation (400 x g for 30 min at room temperature) through a Ficoll-Hypaque gradient (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden), as described (27). The major band, containing the mononuclear cells, was harvested with a yield typically of 1.52 x 108 cells per isolation. PBMC were washed by centrifugation in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies Italia Srl, Milan, Italy) supplemented with 10% FCS, 2 mM L-glutamine, and 1% penicillin/streptomycin (Life Technologies), henceforth called culture medium, and 5 x 107 PBMCs were allowed to adhere in 75-cm2 cell culture flasks for 45 min in a 37°C humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere. The nonadherent cells were removed, and adherent cells were washed with sterile PBS, harvested, and stained with monocyte-specific anti-CD14 mAb to assess the purity of the preparation. Ninety percent of the isolated cells expressed CD14. Cell viability, evaluated by trypan blue exclusion, was always >95%. In some experiments, highly purified monocytes (>97%) were obtained by positive selection of CD14+ cells. Highly purified T cells (>98%) were obtained from the plastic-nonadherent cell population by negative selection of T lymphocytes using anti-CD19-coated magnetic cell separation microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec, Florence, Italy).
Cell proliferation
Cell proliferation was assessed by measuring [3H]thymidine incorporation. A total of 1 µCi of [3H]thymidine was added for 16 h to the cultures. At the end of incubation, cells were harvested onto glass-fiber filters, and radioactivity was counted in a Beckman scintillation counter (Beckman Coulter, Milan, Italy). Data are represented as the mean disintegrations per minute ± SD from triplicate cultures.
NO generation and oxygen consumption
NO formation was measured using a 2-mm NO-sensitive electrode, as described previously (16, 18, 26), connected to the ISO-NO Mark II meter (World Precision Instruments, Sarasota, FL). The NO electrode was calibrated by addition of known concentrations of NaNO2 under reducing conditions (Kl/H2SO4). O2 consumption was measured using a Clark-type oxygen electrode (World Precision Instruments) in a magnetically stirred, thermostatically regulated chamber at 30°C (26). Briefly, cells were suspended in a total volume of 0.5 ml of air-saturated isotonic buffer composed of 220 mM mannitol, 70 mM sucrose, 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.2), 5 mM KH2PO4, and 1 mM EGTA. After 6 h of incubation with 100 µM DETA-NO and NCX-4016, CD3/CD28-stimulated T cells were gently permeabilized with digitonin, and O2 consumption measured with or without 10 µM hemoglobin (Hb) in the medium. O2 use by complexes I, III, and IV was assessed after the addition of 10 mM glutamate plus 2 mM malate (15, 16, 17, 18, 26). ADP-stimulated O2 consumption by complexes II, III, and IV was measured after the addition of 10 mM succinate and 10 µM rotenone. Azide-sensitive cytochrome oxidase activity (complex IV) was measured by using 3 mM ascorbate plus 0.3 mM N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine in the presence of 2 µM antimycin A (16, 17, 18).
Flow cytometric measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential (
m)
The 
m was measured, as previously described, in cells loaded with 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolocarbocyanine iodide (JC-1) (26). Briefly, after exposure to different agents, monocytes and lymphocytes (5 x 105/ml) were incubated with 5 µg/ml JC-1 (26). This cyanine dye accumulates in the mitochondrial matrix under the influence of the 
m and forms J aggregates that have characteristic absorption and emission spectra. Flow cytometry was performed on an Epics XL instrument (Beckman Coulter). After gating out small sized (i.e., noncellular) debris, 50,000 events were collected for each analysis. Results are expressed as either the mean aggregate fluorescence (red) alone or as the ratio of aggregate/monomer (red/green).
Peroxynitrite assay
Levels of peroxynitrite were measured with the fluorescent probe 5-(and-6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA), which can be hydrolyzed by cellular nonspecific esterases and oxidized to form the fluorescent product, 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein, after reactions with peroxynitrite (26). After loading with 10 µM DCFDA at 37°C for 30 min, lymphocytes were washed twice to remove unloaded dye and incubated with 100 µm ASA, NCX-4016, DETA-NO, and NCX-4017 for 3 h, and fluorescence was determined at 502 nm excitation and 523 nm emission for DCFDA.
Glucose uptake
Glucose uptake was measured using a modified protocol of Whetton et al. (4). Briefly, stimulated T cells and monocytes were incubated for 15 min at 37°C in glucose uptake buffer (8.1 mM Na2HPO4, 1.4 mM KH2PO4, 2.6 mM KCl, 136 mM NaCl, 0.5 mM MgCl2, 0.9 mM CaCl2, pH 7.4) to deplete intracellular glucose stores. Triplicate samples of 1 x 106 cells were incubated with 1 µCi of [3H]2-deoxyglucose (New England Nuclear, Boston, MA) in glucose uptake buffer for 2 min at room temperature and immediately spun through a layer of bromododecane (Sigma-Aldrich) into 20% perchloric acid/8% sucrose, stopping the reaction and separating the cells from unincorporated [3H]2-deoxyglucose. The perchloric acid/sucrose/T cell layer was removed and analyzed by liquid scintillation using a 1450 Beckman (Beckman Coulter) scintillation counter.
GLUT-1 mRNA assay
In mammalian nonepithelial cells, facilitated transport of glucose is mediated by a family of stereospecific transport proteins known as GLUT proteins (29). To examine GLUT-1 expression, lymphocytes were incubated with the appropriate agent and then lysed. RNA was isolated with the RNeasy kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA), and cDNA was prepared with Superscript II RNase H reverse transcriptase (Life Technologies, Rockville, MD). The sequence of sense primers used in RT-PCR for GLUT-1 was TCCACGAGCATCTTCGAGA, and the antisense was ATACTGGAAGCACATGCCC. For GAPDH, the sense primer was TGGTATCGTGGAAGGACTCATG, and the antisense primer was ATGCCAGTGAGCTTCCCGTTCAGC. The PCR products were separated by electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gels and visualized with ethidium bromide stain.
ATP and lactate assay
ATP and lactate concentrations were measured in the same experiments (16, 17, 18). Thus, aliquots of the cell suspensions (monocytes and T lymphocytes) were acidified with HClO4 and neutralized with KHCO3. Glucose and lactate levels in culture supernatants were measured using enzymatic diagnostic kits (Sigma-Aldrich), following the manufacturers instructions. ATP concentrations were measured by chemiluminescence using a commercially available kit (Sigma-Aldrich) following the manufacturers instructions.
Determination of enzymatic activities
For determinations of total aconitase and succinate dehydrogenase activity, the cells were collected and sonicated with Tris buffer (50 mM, pH 7.4) containing protease inhibitor mixture tablet (Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany), and the cell lysate was separated from cellular debris by centrifugation (14,000 x g, 1 min). A total of 50 µg of protein from the supernatant was mixed with reaction buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 1 U/ml isocitrate dehydrogenase, 0.6 mM MnCl2, 20 µM fluorocitrate, 400 µM cis-aconitate, 1 µM phenazine methosulfate, 200 µM cytochrome c, and 200 µM NADP), and the mixture was incubated at 25°C for 30 min. The OD was measured at 550 nm. For succinate dehydrogenase determinations, 50 µg of protein from the supernatant was mixed with a different reaction buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 20 mM sodium succinate, 1 mM potassium cyanide, 1 µM phenazine methosulfate, and 5 mM cytochrome c), and the OD was measured at 550 nm after 5 min at 25°C (16, 17, 18).
Detection of cell death and apoptosis
Apoptotic cells were detected by flow cytometry after staining with FITC-conjugated annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) by using a commercially available kit (annexin V-FITC kit; Immunotech, Marseille, France), as described (26). Cells were considered apoptotic when they were annexin V positive and PI negative. Staining of cells by PI was an indicator of the loss of plasma membrane integrity and therefore of necrosis (16, 26).
Cytokine and chemokine assay
RANTES, IL-1
, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p40, IL-18, TNF-
, and IFN-
concentrations in cell supernatants were measured using commercial ELISA kits (Endogen, Woburn, MA), using the standard procedure recommended by manufacturers. Cytokine concentrations were calculated from the standard curves using the GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad, San Diego, CA), and results were expressed as pg/ml. Each kit was specific and showed negligible cross-reactivity with several other cytokines (data furnished by the manufacturer). PGE2 levels were measured in cell supernatants using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay system (Cayman Chemical, Milan, Italy). PGE2 concentrations were calculated from the standard curve, and results were expressed as pg/ml. The kit was specific and showed no cross-reactivity with several other eicosanoids (data furnished by the manufacturer).
Statistics
Data were analyzed with two-tailed Students t test using Prism 3 (GraphPad). Values are given as mean ± SEM. A p value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
| Results |
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As illustrated in Fig. 1, exposure of resting lymphocytes to DETA-NO and NCX-4016 resulted in a time- and concentration-dependent formation of NO. At the steady state (3 h of incubation), exposure of PMBC-derived lymphocytes to 100 µM DETA-NO and NCX-4016 generated
800 and
400 nM NO, as assessed by a NO-sensitive electrode (n = 8; p < 0.001 vs medium alone). Adding nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester, 100 µM, to inhibit the constitutive and the inducible form of NOS (data not shown) had no effect on NO formation caused by DETA-NO and NCX-4016 (n = 4; p > 0.05 vs DETA-NO and NCX-4016). Exposure of resting lymphocytes to DETA-NO and NCX-4016, 100 µM, for 3 h resulted in a time- and concentration-dependent increase of 
m (Fig. 1, b and c; n = 8; p < 0.01 vs baseline). However, not only the 
m hyperpolarization induced by NCX-4016 was more pronounced than that caused by DETA-NO, but the effect was sustained over time and maintained for up to 12 h (Fig. 1c). Furthermore, DETA-NO exerts a biphasic effect on 
m, i.e., an early hyperpolarization, followed by a subsequent depolarization (Fig. 1c). Exposure of PMBC-derived lymphocytes to NCX-4016 and DETA-NO associates with a profound decline in O2 consumption and ATP generation (Fig. 1d; n = 8; p < 0.01 vs medium). Indeed, as shown in Fig. 1e, measurement of the steady state ATP levels indicated that lymphocytes treated with 100 µM NCX-4016 and DETA-NO for 24 h have nearly half of the level of ATP of the cells exposed to the medium alone (n = 8; p < 0.05 vs medium). As shown in Fig. 1f, exposure to DETA-NO, but not to NCX-4016, resulted in 3- to 4-fold increase of peroxynitrite concentrations (n = 7; p < 0.01 vs medium). In contrast to NCX-4016 and DETA-NO, ASA and NCX-4017, a non-NO-releasing derivative of NCX-4016, did not induce NO formation and failed to modulate O2 consumption, 
m, and ATP levels, nor did they induce peoxynitrite formation (n = 67; p > 0.05 vs medium alone). Exposure to NCX-4016 and DETA-NO had no effect on cell survival rates, resulting in 24-h apoptotic rates of 2.0 ± 0.3, 2.4 ± 0.5, and 2.6 ± 0.9%, respectively, in cell treated with medium alone or 100 µM NCX-4016 and DETA-NO.
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Because proliferation and production of chemokine and cytokines are hallmarks of lymphocyte function, we then investigated whether NCX-4016 modulates cytokine release from lymphocytes challenged with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 mAbs. As shown in Fig. 2, a and b, CD3/CD28 cross-linking triggers lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine release, an event that was significantly attenuated by coincubating the cells with 100 µM NCX-4016 (n = 8; p < 0.01 vs anti-CD3/anti-CD28 alone), but not with ASA. NCX-4016 did not induce cell toxicity because only 4.0 ± 0.3% of anti-CD3/anti-CD28-stimulated lymphocytes stained positively to annexin V after exposure to 100 µM NCX-4016 compared with 2.6 ± 0.4% of control cells and 2.9 ± 0.8% of lymphocytes treated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 alone (n = 6; p > 0.05 vs medium).
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Similarly to NCX-4016, DETA-NO, 100 µM, reduced lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 release induced by lymphocyte stimulation with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 (n = 8; p < 0.05 vs LPS). However, in contrast to NCX-4016, DETA-NO failed to modulate IFN-
secretion (n = 8; p > 0.05 vs LPS). Similarly to NCX-4016, inhibition of IL-2 release caused by DETA-NO was time reversible (Fig. 2, c and d).
To investigate whether the effect of NCX-4016 extended to other immune cells, we tested whether this compound inhibits cytokine/chemokine release from LPS-stimulated monocytes and found that, similarly to lymphocytes, exposure to NCX-4016 and DETA-NO, 100 µM, inhibited cytokine/chemokine secretion induced by exposure of cells to 10 µg/ml LPS for 24 h (Fig. 3, a and b; n = 6; p < 0.01 vs LPS). This effect was not reproduced by ASA or NCX4017 (data not shown). Inhibition of cytokine secretion caused NCX-4016 in LPS-primed monocytes to be time reversible. Thus, as shown in Fig. 3, c and d, inhibition of IL-1
and IL-6 secretion caused by NCX-4016 in monocytes, fully reversed after a second addition of LPS (n = 8; p < 0.01 vs LPS). DETA-NO was significantly less effective than NCX-4016 in modulating cytokine and chemokine release in response to LPS, and while it inhibited IL-1
, IL-6, IL-12p40, and IL-18 (n = 8; p < 0.05 vs LPS alone), it had no effect on secretion of RANTES, IL-8, IFN-
, and TNF-
induced by LPS (n = 8; p > 0.05 vs LPS alone).
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release from LPS-stimulated monocytes (n = 6; p < 0.01 vs medium), these agents failed to reduce IL-1
, IL-18, and IFN-
secretion (Fig. 4b; n = 8).
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Measurement of the steady state ATP levels indicated that lymphocytes (Fig. 5, a and b) and monocytes (Fig. 5, c and d) exposedto NCX-4016 and DETA-NO (100 µM) have nearly half the level of the cells treated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 or LPS (n = 8; p < 0.01). The ATP levels in cells treated with DETA-NO and NCX-4016 were the same as control cells. Although exposure to anti-CD3/anti-CD28 and LPS markedly increased O2 consumption, NCX-4016 and DETA-NO (Fig. 5; n = 8; p < 0.01) abrogate these changes.
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Scavenging NO with Hb, 10 µM, fully restored the ability of lymphocytes to respond to costimulatory mAbs by increasing the rate of O2 consumption and ATP formation as well as IL-2 secretion (Fig. 7; n = 8; p < 0.05 vs DETA-NO and NCX-4016). Furthermore, despite the fact that an increased energy demand was placed, coincubation with Hb reduced the rate of glucose uptake (Fig. 1b; n = 8; p < 0.05 vs NCX-4016 and DETA-NO) and lactate formation (data not shown).
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The mechanism through which NCX-4016 and DETA-NO inhibit O2 was further investigated by analyzing the effect these agents exert on oxidative phosphorylation intermediates. Results shown in Table I demonstrate that exposure to DETA-NO and NCX-4016 inhibits the activity of complexes I, II, III, and IV. This effect was fully reversible by Hb, 10 µM, after 3 h of incubation with NCX-4016 and DETA-NO (n = 8; p < 0.01 vs cells incubated without Hb).
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| Discussion |
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and TNF-
release from monocytes incubated with ASA, suggesting that endogenous prostanoid contributes to limit cytokine/chemokine release in immune cells (30, 31); third, inhibition of cytokine release and mitochondrial perturbation caused by NCX-4016 was, at least partially, reproduced by incubating lymphocytes and monocytes with the NO donor DETA-NO; and, finally, scavenging NO with Hb greatly attenuated inhibition of cytokine secretion and mitochondrial effects of NCX-4016 and DETA-NO.
Despite the fact that, similarly to NCX-4016, DETA-NO greatly impairs ATP formation and O2 consumption in resting and CD3/CD28-costimulated lymphocytes, it failed to fully reproduce the inhibitory effect NCX-4016 exerts on cytokine secretion. Several of our results might contribute to explain these discrepancies: first, at the concentration used in this study, i.e., 100 µM, the amount of NO released by DETA-NO approaches that of inducible NOS (i.e.,
1 µM), being significantly higher than that released by the equimolar concentration of NCX-4016 (32). Second, most likely due to the large amount of NO released, and in contrast to NCX-4016, exposure to DETA-NO causes peroxynitrite formation. Because peroxynitrites activate NF-
B (33, 34), and directly stimulate cytokine secretion (33, 34, 35), it is likely that failure of DETA-NO to attenuate cytokine/chemokine secretion in monocytes is due to formation of these radical species. Third, as a consequence of peroxynitrite formation and high NO release, DETA-NO exerts biphasic effect on 
m, i.e., an early hyperpolarization, followed by a late depolarization (16, 17, 18). Fourth, we have previously shown that, in contrast to DETA-NO, NCX-4016 at the concentration of 100 µM inhibits nuclear translocation of NF-
B (36). Finally, NCX-4016 and DETA-NO seem to release NO with a different mechanism. Indeed, while DETA-NO releases NO spontaneously, NCX-4016 requires the intervention of cellular esterases. By confocal microscopy analysis, we have previously shown that NO formation in cells exposed to DETA-NO associates with the appearance of diffuse cytosolic fluorescence, while NCX-4016 induces a characteristic pattern of hot spots of activity localized at specific subcellular compartments near to the plasma membrane (26). Although the pharmacological relevance of this observation remains unclear, it suggests that NCX-4016 releases low amount of NO with a different kinetic of DETA-NO.
NO is increasingly recognized as a physiological regulator of O2 use (13, 14, 37). At least two components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain have been shown to interact with NO, resulting in a profound inhibition of O2 consumption (15, 37). Clementi et al. (16) have shown that at low cellular concentrations, 110 µM, NO donors interact in a reversible manner with cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV), causing a transitory inhibition of cell respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. In cells exposed to higher concentrations of a NO donor (50100 µM), inhibition of cell respiration becomes irreversible and appears largely dependent on the S-nitrosylation/inhibition of complex I (16, 37). Although O2 consumption by mitochondria is mainly regulated by cellular ATP levels, interaction of O2 with NO might lead to a situation in which, even in the presence of an adequate supply of O2, cytochrome c oxidase exerts a considerable control over the rate of respiration through changes in its affinity for O2 (15, 37). In this situation, NO might generate a situation of metabolic hypoxia in which the available O2 cannot be adequately used by cells (14). Because O2 consumption is essential for oxidative phosphorylation, the major metabolic consequence of these interactions will be a reduction of oxidative breakdown of glucose, leading to further impairment of cells to generate ATP when an increased expenditure of energy occurs (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 37). We have now provided evidence that increasing intracellular concentrations of NO with NCX-4016 (and DETA-NO) results in a time-reversible inhibition of cell respiration and inability of immune cells to generate ATP in response to stimulation. Furthermore, the experiment shown in Table I demonstrates that impairment of O2 use caused by NCX-4016 was mainly due to inhibition of complex IV activity. Indeed, addition of rotenone and succinate or ascorbate in the presence of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine resulted in full recovery of cell respiration despite the constant clamp of NO concentrations generated by NCX-4016 (37).
In addition to inhibition of cell respiration, we also demonstrated that NCX-4016 modulates glucose use (38). Indeed, in lymphocytes exposed to anti-CD3/anti-CD28, NCX-4016 caused a
4-fold increase of glucose uptake and glycolytic rate, as assessed by measuring 6-phosphofructukinase activity. However, increased glucose uptake associates with 4-fold increase in lactate secretion, indicating that
70% of glucose taken up by lymphocytes was secreted as lactate (10). Consistent with this view, exposure to NCX-4016 decreased the activity of succynate dehydrogenase and aconitase, two of the intermediate enzymes of the citric acid cycle (10, 11, 12).
We have previously demonstrated that NCX-4016 down-regulates IL-1
, IL-18, and IFN-
secretion in PMBC-derived monocytes (27), and linked this effect to IL-1 converting enzyme/caspase-1 S-nitrosylation/inhibition (22). However, while S-nitrosylation of cysteine proteases transduces many non-cGMP-dependent effects of NO (39, 40, 41), S-nitrosylation of caspase-1 subunits occurs at concentration of 10100 µM NO (reviewed in Ref. 15), i.e., significantly higher than those required for inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase (
60 nM) (14, 18, 42).
Arachidonic acid and its metabolites are considered to be important regulators of facilitated glucose transport in insulin-sensitive cells such as adipocytes (43). In these cells, arachidonic acid stimulates glucose uptake and GLUT-1 membrane incorporation (43, 44). However, the finding that ASA and NCX-4017 do not modulate GLUT-1 expression in anti-CD3/anti-CD28-costimulated lymphocytes suggests that COX inhibition is not involved in the effect exerted by NCX-4016. Supporting this view, it has previously been demonstrated that facilitation of glucose transport induced by arachidonic acid is COX independent, while it involves lipoxygenase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-
pathways (44).
The results of present study might have clinical relevance. Indeed, an increased rate of O2 consumption has been described in PMBC of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (45) and active rheumatic diseases (46). Because high levels of ATP are required to sustain energy consuming by immune processes, it seems likely that interfering with lymphocytes bioenergetic might help to reduce inflammatory reaction. Consistent with this view, it has been shown that antirheumatic/immunosuppressive drugs such as cloroquine (47), auronofin (48), glucorticoid (45, 48), and cyclosporine (49) inhibit mitochondrial respiration and/or decrease ATP formation in immune cells (1, 2, 3).
In conclusion, this study suggests that NO might exert a regulatory function on lymphocytes and monocytes, providing a potential counterregulatory signal in communication between the innate and acquired immunity. The demonstration that NCX-4016 inhibits immune cell bioenergetic suggests that NO-releasing NSAIDs have the potential to exert anti-inflammatory effects that extend behind COX inhibition.
| Footnotes |
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2 Abbreviations used in this paper: GLUT, glucose transporter; 
m, mitochondrial membrane potential; ASA, acetylsalicylic acid; COX, cyclooxygenase; DCFDA, 5-(and-6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate; DETA-NO, (z)-1-[2-(2-aminoethyl)-N-(2-ammonioethyl)amino] diazen-1-ium-1,2 diolate; Hb, hemoglobin; JC-1, 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolocarbocyanine iodide; NCX-4016, 2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid 3-(nitrooxymethyl)phenyl ester; NCX-4017, 2-(acetyloxy)benzoic acid 3-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl ester; NOS, NO synthase; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; PI, propidium iodide. ![]()
Received for publication October 7, 2003. Accepted for publication May 5, 2004.
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