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The inducible epidermal beta-defensins and the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-3alpha (MIP-3alpha/CCL20) are important mediators involved in innate and adaptive immunity and in the recruitment of immune cells. The aim of our study was to determine whether calcium could trigger the induction of beta-defensins (hBD-2 and hBD-3) mRNA and the release of MIP-3alpha by normal human keratinocyte monolayers. Epidermal cells derived from foreskin were cultured in defined medium supplemented with different calcium levels (0.09, 0.8 and 1.7 mM) and were stimulated or not with the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha 1-500 ng/ml) or interferon-gamma (INF-gamma 1-100 ng/ml). A high calcium concentration (1.7 mM) alone applied in culture medium for 4 days was sufficient to induce hBD-2 and hBD-3 mRNA expression. Whatever interindividual variability in the expression of hBD-2 and hBD-3 mRNA and MIP-3alpha secretion, the addition of TNF-alpha for a short duration (26h), initiated a dose-dependent and coordinated up-regulation of hBD-2 and hBD-3 mRNA and MIP-3alpha release in keratinocyte cultures. Unlike hBD-2 and hBD-3 mRNA was preferentially stimulated by IFN-gamma rather than TNF-alpha. In our experimental conditions, L-isoleucine, described to stimulate beta-defensin in bovine epithelial cells, did not exert any effect either on hBD-2 and hBD-3 transcripts or MIP-3alpha protein. Taken together, these results confirm the major role of the maturation/differentiation process of normal human keratinocytes in the induction of inducible beta-defensins and MIP-3alpha chemokine, which contribute in vivo to the immunosurveillance of the skin barrier function.

The aim of this work was to investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) on the macromolecular exocytotic function of human epithelial cells. We tested the effects of two NO-generating drugs, i.e. 1-hexanamine 6-(2-hydroxy-1-methyl-2-nitrosohydrazine)-N-methyl (MAHMA NONOate) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), on mucin exocytosis from the human colonic epithelial HT29-Cl.16E cell line. Our results show that MAHMA NONOate and SNP elicited a rapid mucin exocytotic response through a cGMP-dependent and a cGMP-independent pathway respectively. Indeed, 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxaline-1-one (ODQ), a newly available specific inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase, inhibited both cGMP accumulation and subsequent mucin exocytosis evoked by MAHMA NONOate. By contrast, SNP did not alter intracellular cGMP levels, and SNP-mediated mucin exocytosis was not inhibited by ODQ. As expected from two NO donors acting through distinct pathways, the combined action of MAHMA NONOate and SNP led to an additive effect on mucin exocytosis. SNP was likely to act through S-nitrosylation of a cellular target, because cysteine, a reductive thiol that provides decoy targets for SNP through the formation of nitrosocysteine, abolished the early stimulatory effect of SNP on mucin exocytosis. Finally, the fact that in the presence of cysteine SNP was able to trigger a late, ODQ-inhibitable, mucin exocytotic response demonstrates the ability of NO to shift its intracellular signalling pathway depending on the changes of the redox state of the milieu.

The stable differentiated human colonic epithelial cell line, HT29-Cl.16E, was used to study the effects of interleukin-1 (IL-1) on mucin exocytosis. The main findings include: (a) IL-1 stimulated a rapid release of mucin from filter grown HT29-Cl.16E cells, this effect being dose related; (b) Here we show that IL-1 induces a rapid and dose related exocytotic release of mucins from HT29-CI.6E cells, and that this effect is mediated by IL-1 receptors type I located at the basolateral surface of these cells. Methods

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In this work, we addressed the issue of whether exogenous NO and ONOO- (peroxynitrite) are able to alter growth, viability and/or differentiation of normal epithelial cells using cultured normal human keratinocytes as a model. 3-Morpholino-sydnonimine (SIN-1), a donor of both NO and O2(-)., leading to the production of ONOO-, dose-dependently inhibited growth of human keratinocytes without loss of viability. This inhibitory effect was lowered when SIN-1 was transformed into a pure NO donor by scavenging O2(-). with superoxide dismutase/catalase. Finally, scavenging NO release from SIN-1 with carboxy-1H-imidazol-1-yloxy,2-(4-carboxyp henyl)-4,5-dihydro-4,4,5,5 -tetramethyl-3-oxide (PTIO) resulted in a loss of the inhibitory effect of SIN-1. Together these findings suggest that both ONOO- and NO exert a growth inhibitory effect on human keratinocytes without cytotoxicity. Further support for this conclusion came from the treatment of human keratinocytes with the NO. donor propanamine 3-(2-hydroxy-2-nitroso-1-propyl hydrazino) or with authentic peroxynitrite. Moreover, only SIN-1 or peroxynitrite, and not NO, was able to trigger the expression of markers of terminal differentiation in human keratinocytes. From a physiological perspective, the ability of peroxynitrite, a known genotoxic and potentially carcinogenic agent, to direct proliferating keratinocytes towards terminal differentiation may be crucial to protect the genomic stability of this barrier epithelium.

Anti-ageing products are of a great importance in cosmetic fields. However, even if numerous strategies have been proposed to fight against skin ageing or to minimize its aesthetic impact since the beginning of the 'scientific cosmetology' era, the products basing their efficacy on the observation of pathological situations are rare. The most obvious pathology linked to the ageing of skin (notably) consists in the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disorder characterized by accelerated ageing and early death. In this disease the lamin A, a protein participating (with others lamins) in the formation of the nuclear lamina and implicated in nuclear stability, chromatin structure and gene expression, is present in a truncated version called progerin. In this study, we have examined the lactate and the progerin production of human normal cutaneous cells issued from subjects of different ages. Using a sensitive and specific progerin ELISA assay developed in house, we so provide the first quantitative demonstration of an increased progerin expression and lactate production in skin during ageing. Moreover, we have also demonstrated that in the selected experimental conditions, it was possible to down-regulate the progerin production of aged cells by using an algae extract. As this extract, an Alaria esculenta extract, could be used in cosmetic formulations, we suggest that a better understanding of the skin pathologies could be a useful tool in developing efficient active compounds, attractive for but not limited to cosmetic purposes.

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