Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes appear to share similar pathogenic mechanisms. dsRNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) underlies peripheral insulin resistance in metabolic disorders. PKR phosphorylates eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α-P), and AD brains exhibit elevated phospho-PKR and eIF2α-P levels. Whether and how PKR and eIF2α-P participate in defective brain insulin signaling and cognitive impairment in AD are unknown. We report that β-amyloid oligomers, AD-associated toxins, activate PKR in a tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)-dependent manner, resulting in eIF2α-P, neuronal insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) inhibition, synapse loss, and memory impairment. Brain phospho-PKR and eIF2α-P were elevated in AD animal models, including monkeys given intracerebroventricular oligomer infusions. Oligomers failed to trigger eIF2α-P and cognitive impairment in PKR(-/-) and TNFR1(-/-) mice. Bolstering insulin signaling rescued phospho-PKR and eIF2α-P. Results reveal pathogenic mechanisms shared by AD and diabetes and establish that proinflammatory signaling mediates oligomer-induced IRS-1 inhibition and PKR-dependent synapse and memory loss.

Adenylate/uridylate-rich element (ARE)-mediated mRNA turnover is an important regulatory component of gene expression for innate and specific immunity, in the hematopoietic system, in cellular growth regulation, and for many other cellular processes. This diversity is reflected in the distribution of AREs in the human genome, which we have established as a database of more than 900 ARE-containing genes that may utilize AREs as a means of controlling cellular mRNA levels. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) pathway has been implicated in regulating the stability of nine ARE-containing transcripts. Here we explored the entire spectrum of ARE-containing genes for p38-dependent regulation of ARE-mediated mRNA turnover with a custom cDNA array containing probes for 950 ARE mRNAs. The human monocytic cell line THP-1 treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used as a reproducible cellular model system that allowed us to precisely control the conditions of mRNA induction and decay in the absence and presence of the p38 inhibitor SB203580. This approach allowed us to establish an LPS-induced ARE mRNA expression profile in human monocytes and determine the half-lives of 470 AU-rich mRNAs. Most importantly, we identified 42 AU-rich genes, previously unrecognized, that show p38-dependent mRNA stabilization. In addition to a number of cytokines, several interesting novel AU-rich transcripts likely to play a role in macrophage activation by LPS exhibited p38-dependent transcript stabilization, including macrophage-specific colony-stimulating factor 1, carbonic anhydrase 2, Bcl2, Bcl2-like 2, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2. Finally, the identification of the p38-dependent upstream activator MAP kinase kinase 6 as a member of this group identifies a positive feedback loop regulating macrophage signaling via p38 MAP kinase-dependent transcript stabilization.The regulation of mRNA stability is an important factor in modulating gene expression, in particular for transiently expressed genes that require tightly controlled mRNA levels. For different cytokines, growth factors, and proto-oncogenes with short mRNA half-lives, modulating the decay rate involves adenylate/uridylate (AU)-rich elements (AREs), often consisting of one to several copies of the sequence AUUUA located in the 3Ј untranslated region (12). With a bioinformatics approach, we previously identified several hundred ARE-containing genes that were compiled in the ARE mRNA database (ARED) (2). These genes encode a wide variety of proteins, implicating ARE-mediated mRNA decay in a broader spectrum of cellular processes than was previously recognized.The molecular mechanisms by which AREs are used to fine-tune mRNA turnover are thought to involve specific RNA-binding proteins (33,34). trans-Acting factors from different protein families that bind AREs and influence mRNA degradation have been identified. The Hu family proteins HuR and HuB have been shown to bind many different AU-rich messages and stabilize these in several different cell systems ...

Recent studies show that a member of the interleukin-1 (IL-1)/Toll receptor superfamily, Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), recognizes double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Because of the similarity in their cytoplasmic domains, IL-1/Toll receptors share signaling components that associate with the IL-1 receptor, including IL-1 receptorassociated kinase (IRAK), MyD88, and TRAF6. However, we find that, in response to dsRNA, TLR3 can mediate the activation of both NFB and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases in IL-1-unresponsive mutant cell lines, including IRAK-deficient I1A and I3A cells, which are defective in a component that is downstream of IL-1R but upstream of IRAK. These results clearly indicate that TLR3 does not simply share the signaling components employed by the IL-1 receptor. Through biochemical analyses we have identified an IRAK-independent TLR3-mediated pathway. Upon binding of dsRNA to TLR3, TRAF6, TAK1, and TAB2 are recruited to the receptor to form a complex, which then translocates to the cytosol where TAK1 is phosphorylated and activated. The dsRNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) is also detected in this signal-induced TAK1 complex. Kinase inactive mutants of TAK1 (TAK1DN) and PKR (PKRDN) inhibit poly(dI⅐dC)-induced TLR3-mediated NFB activation, suggesting that both of these kinases play important roles in this pathway.The interleukin-1 (IL-1) 1 /Toll receptors play essential roles in inflammation and innate immunity. The defining feature of members of the superfamily is a TIR (Toll/IL-1 receptor) domain on the cytoplasmic side of the receptors (1, 2). The first described members of this superfamily are in the IL-1R family. These receptors contain three Ig domains in their extracellular regions (3-5). The second group includes only one receptor so far, the single Ig IL-1R-related molecule (SIGIRR), which has only a single extracellular Ig domain (6). The last group in the superfamily is the recently identified pattern recognition receptors, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), 10 members of which contain two major domains characterized by extracellular leucine-rich repeats and an intracellular Toll-like domain (2, 7-10). TLR4 has been genetically identified as a signaling molecule essential for the responses to LPS, a feature of Gramnegative bacteria (11). Mice with targeted disruption of the TLR4 gene are LPS-unresponsive. Unlike TLR4, TLR2 responds to mycobacteria, yeast, and Gram-positive bacteria (12-15). TLR9 has been shown to recognize bacterial DNA (10), whereas TLR5 mediates the induction of the immune response by bacterial flagellins (16). Recent studies show that TLR3 recognizes dsRNA (17).Much progress has been made in understanding the IL-1R-mediated signaling. Upon IL-1 stimulation, the cytosolic proteins and Tollip (21) are recruited to the receptor complex, which then recruits serine-threonine kinases IRAK4 (IL-1 receptor-associated kinase 4) 2 (22, 23) and IRAK (24). Although IRAK is hyperphosphorylated, mediating the recruitment of TRAF6 to the receptor complex (25), IRAK4 is probably the ki...

The evolution of Leishmania infection depends on the balance between microbicidal and suppressor macrophage functions. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase R (PKR), a classic antiviral protein, is able to regulate a number of signaling pathways and macrophage functions. We investigated the possible role of PKR in the modulation of Leishmania infection. Our data demonstrated that Leishmania amazonensis infection led to PKR activation and increased PKR levels. Consistently, in macrophages from PKR knockout 129Sv/Ev mice and RAW-264.7 cells stably expressing a dominant-negative (DN) construct of PKR (DN-PKR), L. amazonensis infection was strongly reduced. The treatment of infected macrophages with the synthetic double-stranded RNA poly(I:C), a potent PKR inductor, increased L. amazonensis intracellular proliferation. This effect was reversed by 2-aminopurine (2-AP), a pharmacological inhibitor of PKR, as well as by the expression of DN-PKR. NO release induced by dsRNA treatment was inhibited by L. amazonensis through NF-kappaB modulation. PKR activation induced by dsRNA also resulted in IL-10 production, whose neutralization with specific antibody completely abrogated L. amazonensis proliferation. Our data demonstrated a new role of PKR in protozoan parasitic infection through IL-10 modulation.

Type I interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that orchestrate diverse immune responses to viral and bacterial infections. Although typically considered to be most important molecules in response to viruses, type I IFNs are also induced by most, if not all, bacterial pathogens. In this study, we addressed the role of type I IFN signaling during Brucella abortus infection, a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that causes abortion in domestic animals and undulant fever in humans. Herein, we have shown that B. abortus induced IFN-β in macrophages and splenocytes. Further, IFN-β induction by Brucella was mediated by IRF3 signaling pathway and activates IFN-stimulated genes via STAT1 phosphorylation. In addition, IFN-β expression induced by Brucella is independent of TLRs and TRIF signaling but MyD88-dependent, a pathway not yet described for Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, we have identified Brucella DNA as the major bacterial component to induce IFN-β and our study revealed that this molecule operates through a mechanism dependent on RNA polymerase III to be sensed probably by an unknown receptor via the adaptor molecule STING. Finally, we have demonstrated that IFN-αβR KO mice are more resistant to infection suggesting that type I IFN signaling is detrimental to host control of Brucella. This resistance phenotype is accompanied by increased IFN-γ and NO production by IFN-αβR KO spleen cells and reduced apoptosis.