CorrectionsArai, and Glenn D. Prestwich, which appeared in number 1, January 7, 2003, of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (100, 131-136; First Published December 26, 2002; 10.1073͞pnas.0135855100), Fig. 4 should have appeared in color. The correct figure and its legend appear below. Fig. 4.LPA stimulates lipid accumulation, CD36 expression, and oxidized LDL uptake through a PPAR-responsive element. (a) LPA stimulates monocyte uptake of oxidized LDL. Freshly elutriated human monocytes were allowed to interact with an anti-ICAM3-coated well, which leads to rapid PPAR␥ expression (13), and then stimulated, or not (negative, oxLDL), with oleoyl LPA. Some cells were then briefly exposed to oxidized LDL before intracellular lipid stores were visualized with oil red O stain. (b) LPA increases the expression of CD36 on the surface of primary human monocytes. Monocytes engaging anti-ICAM3 were treated or not with LPA, and then recovered by gentle scraping and washing by centrifugation before their surface CD36 was assessed by flow cytometry. (c) LPA and the LPA analogs XY4 and XY8 stimulate CD36 promoter function only when the PPRE is present. RAW264.7 cells were transfected with the human CD36 promoter containing the PPRE (CD36 Ϫ273 ) or a reporter that lacks only this element (CD36 Ϫ261 ) and then stimulated with oleoyl LPA, azPC, XY4, or XY8. Expression of luciferase normalized to ␤-galactosidase was determined as above. (d) Anti-CD36 blocks LPA-stimulated accumulation of cholesterol from oxidized LDL. Freshly isolated human monocytes were treated as in a, but after being preincubated with a blocking anti-CD36 antibody before exposure to oxidized LDL. L ysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a pluripotent lipid mediator controlling growth, motility, and differentiation (1, 2). It is the ovarian cancer-activating factor that is elevated in the serum of ovarian cancer patients (3), and it controls adipogenesis (4). LPA also is generated during platelet activation (5) to become a major growth factor of serum. LPA stimulates three G protein-linked, plasma membrane-associated receptors [LPA 1 , LPA 2 , and LPA 3 , formerly edg2, edg4, and edg7 (6)] that recognize extracellular LPA (7). However, control of complex processes including growth and differentiation is difficult to reconcile with these receptors (8), suggesting that undiscovered receptors for LPA may exist. LPA is a central component of cellular phospholipid metabolism and, because a role for intracellular LPA beyond this is unknown, the plasma membrane separates signaling LPA from metabolic LPA.The transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ␥ (PPAR␥) regulates genes that in general control energy metabolism (9). PPAR␥, like other members of its extended nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, is activated by binding an appropriate lipid ligand (10). Synthetic compounds, including the widely prescribed drug rosiglitazone, target PPAR␥ and activate transcription with high affinity. Anionic fatty acids and their oxidized derivatives also bind and activate PPAR...

Macrophages have important roles in both lipid metabolism and inflammation and are central to immunity to intracellular pathogens. Foam-like, lipid-laden macrophages are present during the course of mycobacterial infection and have recently been implicated in mycobacterial pathogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of macrophage lipid bodies (lipid droplets) during Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection, focusing on the role of the lipid-activated nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ). We found that BCG infection induced increased expression of PPARγ that paralleled the augmented lipid body formation and PGE2 synthesis in mouse peritoneal macrophages. BCG-induced PPARγ expression and lipid body formation were diminished in macrophages from TLR2-deficient mice, suggesting a key role for TLR2. The function of PPARγ in modulating BCG infection was demonstrated by the capacity of the PPARγ agonist BRL49653 to potentiate lipid body formation and PGE2 production; furthermore, pretreatment with the PPARγ antagonist GW9662 inhibited BCG-induced lipid body formation and PGE2 production. BCG-induced MIP-1α, IL12p70, TNF-α, and IL6 production was not inhibited by GW9662 treatment. Nonpathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis failed to induce PPARγ expression or lipid body formation. Moreover, inhibition of PPARγ by GW9662 enhanced the mycobacterial killing capacity of macrophages. Our findings show that PPARγ is involved in lipid body biogenesis, unravels a cross-talk between the innate immune receptor TLR2 and the lipid-activated nuclear receptor PPARγ that coordinates lipid metabolism and inflammation in BCG-infected macrophages, thereby potentially affecting mycobacterial pathogenesis.

Oxidation of human low density lipoprotein (LDL)generates proinflammatory mediators and underlies early events in atherogenesis. We identified mediators in oxidized LDL that induced an inflammatory reaction in vivo, and activated polymorphonuclear leukocytes and cells ectopically expressing human platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptors. Oxidation of a synthetic phosphatidylcholine showed that an sn-1 ether bond confers an 800-fold increase in potency. This suggests that rare ether-linked phospholipids in LDL are the likely source of PAF-like activity in oxidized LDL. Accordingly, treatment of oxidized LDL with phospholipase A 1 greatly reduced phospholipid mass, but did not decrease its PAF-like activity. Tandem mass spectrometry identified traces of PAF, and more abundant levels of 1-Ohexadecyl-2-(butanoyl or butenoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines (C 4 -PAF analogs) in oxidized LDL that comigrated with PAF-like activity. Synthesis showed that either C 4 -PAF was just 10-fold less potent than PAF as a PAF receptor ligand and agonist. Quantitation by gas chromatographymass spectrometry of pentafluorobenzoyl derivatives shows the C 4 -PAF analogs were 100-fold more abundant in oxidized LDL than PAF. Oxidation of synthetic alkyl arachidonoyl phosphatidylcholine generated these C 4 -PAFs in abundance. These results show that quite minor constituents of the LDL phosphatidylcholine pool are the exclusive precursors for PAF-like bioactivity in oxidized LDL. Platelet-activating factor (PAF)1 is a phospholipid autacoid with a wide variety of actions, primarily on cells and events that comprise the inflammatory system. PAF initiates the rapid inflammatory response as it is the leukocyte activating molecule produced and displayed by stimulated endothelial cells (1). PAF does not induce the bactericidal effector functions of leukocytes, but rather stimulates their adhesive and migratory behavior that allows them to transit the endothelial barrier. Leukocytes (polymorphonuclear leukocytes or PMN), monocytes, and eosinophils, as well as platelets, express the PAF receptor and accordingly are activated by PAF in concentrations ranging from picomolar to nanomolar levels. The potency of PAF, its broad actions, and the potentially deleterious events it invokes rationalize the tight regulation of PAF synthesis (2).PAF is recognized by a single, specific receptor that is a member of the family of seven-transmembrane-spanning, Gprotein-linked receptors (3, 4). Alone among this large family of receptors and related orphan sequences, the PAF receptor recognizes an intact phospholipid, and does so with a marked specificity. The PAF receptor shows a several hundredfold selectivity for the sn-1 ether bond of PAF, and complete specificity for the sn-2 acetyl residue compared with the long chain fatty acyl residue of most alkyl phosphatidylcholines (5, 6). The choline headgroup confers a several thousandfold advantage over the related phosphatidylethanolamine analog (7). Thus, compared with Edg-2 and Edg-4 receptors for lysophosphatidic...

Lipid bodies (lipid droplets) are lipid-rich organelles with functions in cell metabolism and signaling. Here, we investigate the mechanisms of Trypanosoma cruzi-induced lipid body formation and their contributions to host-parasite interplay. We demonstrate that T. cruzi-induced lipid body formation in macrophages occurs in a Toll-like receptor 2-dependent mechanism and is potentiated by apoptotic cell uptake. Lipid body biogenesis and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) production triggered by apoptotic cell uptake was largely dependent of α(v)β₃ and transforming growth factor-β signaling. T. cruzi-induced lipid bodies act as sites of increased PGE synthesis. Inhibition of lipid body biogenesis by the fatty acid synthase inhibitor C75 reversed the effects of apoptotic cells on lipid body formation, eicosanoid synthesis, and parasite replication. Our findings indicate that lipid bodies are highly regulated organelles during T. cruzi infection with roles in lipid mediator generation by macrophages and are potentially involved in T. cruzi-triggered escape mechanisms.

Lipid bodies (also known as lipid droplets) are emerging as inflammatory organelles with roles in the innate immune response to infections and inflammatory processes. In this study, we identified MCP-1 as a key endogenous mediator of lipid body biogenesis in infection-driven inflammatory disorders and we described the cellular mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in the ability of MCP-1 to regulate the biogenesis and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) synthetic function of lipid bodies. In vivo assays in MCP-1−/− mice revealed that endogenous MCP-1 produced during polymicrobial infection or LPS-driven inflammatory responses has a critical role on the activation of lipid body-assembling machinery, as well as on empowering enzymatically these newly formed lipid bodies with LTB4 synthetic function within macrophages. MCP-1 triggered directly the rapid biogenesis of distinctive LTB4-synthesizing lipid bodies via CCR2-driven ERK- and PI3K-dependent intracellular signaling in in vitro-stimulated macrophages. Disturbance of microtubule organization by microtubule-active drugs demonstrated that MCP-1-induced lipid body biogenesis also signals through a pathway dependent on microtubular dynamics. Besides biogenic process, microtubules control LTB4-synthesizing function of MCP-1-elicited lipid bodies, in part by regulating the compartmentalization of key proteins, as adipose differentiation-related protein and 5-lipoxygenase. Therefore, infection-elicited MCP-1, besides its known CCR2-driven chemotactic function, appears as a key activator of lipid body biogenic and functional machineries, signaling through a microtubule-dependent manner.

Lung injury especially acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can be triggered by diverse stimuli, including fatty acids and microbes. ARDS affects thousands of people worldwide each year, presenting high mortality rate and having an economic impact. One of the hallmarks of lung injury is edema formation with alveoli flooding. Animal models are used to study lung injury. Oleic acid-induced lung injury is a widely used model resembling the human disease. The oleic acid has been linked to metabolic and inflammatory diseases; here we focus on lung injury. Firstly, we briefly discuss ARDS and secondly we address the mechanisms by which oleic acid triggers lung injury and inflammation.

Tuberculosis continues to be a global health threat, with drug resistance and HIV coinfection presenting challenges for its control. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, is a highly adapted pathogen that has evolved different strategies to subvert the immune and metabolic responses of host cells. Although the significance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) activation by mycobacteria is not fully understood, recent findings are beginning to uncover a critical role for PPARγ during mycobacterial infection. Here, we will review the molecular mechanisms that regulate PPARγ expression and function during mycobacterial infection. Current evidence indicates that mycobacterial infection causes a time-dependent increase in PPARγ expression through mechanisms that involve pattern recognition receptor activation. Mycobacterial triggered increased PPARγ expression and activation lead to increased lipid droplet formation and downmodulation of macrophage response, suggesting that PPARγ expression might aid the mycobacteria in circumventing the host response acting as an escape mechanism. Indeed, inhibition of PPARγ enhances mycobacterial killing capacity of macrophages, suggesting a role of PPARγ in favoring the establishment of chronic infection. Collectively, PPARγ is emerging as a regulator of tuberculosis pathogenesis and an attractive target for the development of adjunctive tuberculosis therapies.

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