28Aging is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Here we 29show that oral supplementation of the natural polyamine spermidine extends the lifespan of 30 mice and exerts cardioprotective effects, reducing cardiac hypertrophy and preserving 31 diastolic function in old mice. Spermidine feeding enhanced cardiac autophagy, mitophagy 32 and mitochondrial respiration, and it also improved the mechano-elastical properties of 33 cardiomyocytes in vivo, coinciding with increased titin phosphorylation and suppressed 34 subclinical inflammation. Spermidine feeding failed to provide cardioprotection in mice that 35 lack the autophagy-related protein Atg5 in cardiomyocytes. In Dahl salt-sensitive rats that 36 were fed a high-salt diet, a model for hypertension-induced congestive heart failure, 37 spermidine feeding reduced systemic blood pressure, increased titin phosphorylation and 38 prevented cardiac hypertrophy and a decline in diastolic function, thus delaying the 39 progression to heart failure. In humans, high levels of dietary spermidine, as assessed from 40 food questionnaires, correlated with reduced blood pressure and a lower incidence of 41 cardiovascular disease. Our results suggest a new and feasible strategy for the protection 42 from cardiovascular disease. 43Author's manuscript to Eisenberg et al.

The role of endogenous inducers of inflammation is poorly understood. To produce the proinflammatory master cytokine interleukin (IL)-1␤, macrophages need double stimulation with ligands to both Toll-like receptors (TLRs) for IL-1␤ gene transcription and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors for activation of the inflammasome. It is particularly intriguing to define how this complex regulation is mediated in the absence of an infectious trigger. Biglycan, a ubiquitous leucine-rich repeat proteoglycan of the extracellular matrix, interacts with TLR2/4 on macrophages. The objective of this study was to define the role of biglycan in the synthesis and activation of IL-1␤. Here we show that in macrophages, soluble biglycan induces the NLRP3/ASC inflammasome, activating caspase-1 and releasing mature IL-1␤ without the need for additional costimulatory factors. This is brought about by the interaction of biglycan with TLR2/4 and purinergic P2X 4 /P2X 7 receptors, which induces receptor cooperativity. Furthermore, reactive oxygen species formation is involved in biglycan-mediated activation of the inflammasome. By signaling through TLR2/4, biglycan stimulates the expression of NLRP3 and pro-IL-1␤ mRNA. Both in a model of non-infectious inflammatory renal injury (unilateral ureteral obstruction) and in lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis, biglycan-deficient mice displayed lower levels of active caspase-1 and mature IL-1␤ in the kidney, lung, and circulation. Our results provide evidence for direct activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by biglycan and describe a fundamental paradigm of how tissue stress or injury is monitored by innate immune receptors detecting the release of the extracellular matrix components and turning such a signal into a robust inflammatory response. IL-1␤2 is a proinflammatory master cytokine produced by macrophages in response to inflammatory stimuli, such as LPS. The activity of IL-1␤ is regulated sequentially by synthesis of the 31-kDa precursor pro-IL-1␤, intracellular proteolytic conversion into active IL-1␤ (17 kDa) by the cysteine protease caspase-1, also known as IL-1-converting enzyme (1, 2), and by secretion of IL-1␤ (3). The synthesis of pro-IL-1␤ is initiated by Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, whereas ATP stimulates cleavage and maturation of IL-1␤ (4, 5). Activation of caspase-1 requires the assembly and activity of a cytosolic multiprotein complex known as the inflammasome, consisting of nucleotide-binding oligomerization-like receptor family members (NLRs; NLRPs (NLR family, pyrin domain-containing 3), NAIP (NLR family, apoptosis inhibitory protein), and NLRC4 (NLR family caspase recruitment domain-containing 4)) (6), generating functional caspase-1 p20 and p10 subunits (1,7,8). TLRs and NLRs contain leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), which are used as ligand-sensing motifs (9, 10). NLRP3, the best characterized member of NLRs, recruits caspase-1 to the inflammasome via the adapter molecule ASC (apoptosis-associated specklike protein containing caspase activation and r...

Aging is a major risk factor for a large number of disorders and functional impairments. Therapeutic targeting of the aging process may therefore represent an innovative strategy in the quest for novel and broadly effective treatments against age-related diseases. The recent report of lifespan extension in mice treated with the FDA-approved mTOR inhibitor rapamycin represented the first demonstration of pharmacological extension of maximal lifespan in mammals. Longevity effects of rapamycin may, however, be due to rapamycin's effects on specific life-limiting pathologies, such as cancers, and it remains unclear if this compound actually slows the rate of aging in mammals. Here, we present results from a comprehensive, large-scale assessment of a wide range of structural and functional aging phenotypes, which we performed to determine whether rapamycin slows the rate of aging in male C57BL/6J mice. While rapamycin did extend lifespan, it ameliorated few studied aging phenotypes. A subset of aging traits appeared to be rescued by rapamycin. Rapamycin, however, had similar effects on many of these traits in young animals, indicating that these effects were not due to a modulation of aging, but rather related to aging-independent drug effects. Therefore, our data largely dissociate rapamycin's longevity effects from effects on aging itself.

The mechanisms linking immune responses and inflammation with tumor development are not well understood. Here we show that the soluble form of the extracellular matrix proteoglycan decorin controls inflammation and tumor growth through PDCD4 (programmed cell death 4) and microRNA (miR) 21 by two mechanisms. First, decorin acted as an endogenous ligand of Toll-like receptor-2 and −4 and stimulated production of proinflammatory molecules, including PDCD4, in macrophages. Second, decorin prevented translational repression of PDCD4 by decreasing the activity of transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 and the abundance of oncogenic miR-21, a translational inhibitor of PDCD4. Moreover, increased PDCD4 resulted in decreased release of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10, thereby making the cytokine profile more proinflammatory. This pathway operates in both pathogen-mediated and sterile inflammation as shown here for sepsis and growth retardation of established tumor xenografts. In sepsis, decorin is an early response gene evoked by septic inflammation and decorin concentrations were increased in plasma of septic patients and mice. In cancer, decorin mediated the reduced abundance of anti-inflammatory molecules and increased that of pro-inflammatory molecules, thereby shifting the immune response to a more proinflammatory state that was associated with reduced tumor growth. Thus, by stimulating pro-inflammatory PDCD4 and decreasing the abundance of miR-21, decorin signaling boosts inflammatory activity in sepsis and suppresses tumor growth.

In AKI, dying renal cells release intracellular molecules that stimulate immune cells to secrete proinflammatory cytokines, which trigger leukocyte recruitment and renal inflammation. Whether the release of histones, specifically, from dying cells contributes to the inflammation of AKI is unknown. In this study, we found that dying tubular epithelial cells released histones into the extracellular space, which directly interacted with Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 (TLR2) and TLR4 to induce MyD88, NF-kB, and mitogen activated protein kinase signaling. Extracellular histones also had directly toxic effects on renal endothelial cells and tubular epithelial cells in vitro. In addition, direct injection of histones into the renal arteries of mice demonstrated that histones induce leukocyte recruitment, microvascular vascular leakage, renal inflammation, and structural features of AKI in a TLR2/TLR4-dependent manner. Antihistone IgG, which neutralizes the immunostimulatory effects of histones, suppressed intrarenal inflammation, neutrophil infiltration, and tubular cell necrosis and improved excretory renal function. In summary, the release of histones from dying cells aggravates AKI via both its direct toxicity to renal cells and its proinflammatory effects. Because the induction of proinflammatory cytokines in dendritic cells requires TLR2 and TLR4, these results support the concept that renal damage triggers an innate immune response, which contributes to the pathogenesis of AKI.

CXCL13 is a key B cell chemoattractant and marker of disease activity in patients with SLE; however, the mechanism of its induction has not been identified yet. Here, we have shown that the proteoglycan biglycan triggers CXCL13 expression via TLR2/4 in macrophages and dendritic cells. In vivo, levels of biglycan were markedly elevated in the plasma and kidneys of human SLE patients and lupus-prone (MRL/lpr) mice. Overexpression of soluble biglycan in MRL/lpr mice raised plasma and renal levels of CXCL13 and caused accumulation of B cells with an enhanced B1/B cell ratio in the kidney, worsening of organ damage, and albuminuria. Importantly, biglycan also triggered CXCL13 expression and B cell infiltration in the healthy kidney. Conversely, biglycan deficiency improved systemic and renal outcome in lupus-prone mice, with lower levels of autoantibodies, less enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes, and reduction in renal damage and albuminuria. This correlated with a marked decline in circulating and renal CXCL13 and a reduction in the number of B cells in the kidney. Collectively, our results describe what we believe to be a novel mechanism for the regulation of CXCL13 by biglycan, a host-derived ligand for TLR2/4. Blocking biglycan-TLR2/4 interactions might be a promising strategy for the management of SLE and other B cell-mediated inflammatory disease entities.

Exacerbated inflammation in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury, the major cause of intrinsic acute renal failure, is a key trigger of kidney damage. During disease endogenous danger signals stimulate innate immune cells via Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and -4 and accelerate inflammatory responses. Here we show that production of soluble biglycan, a small leucine-rich proteoglycan, is induced during reperfusion and that it functions as endogenous agonist of TLR-2/4. Biglycan-mediated activation of TLR-2/4 initiates an inflammatory response in native kidneys, which is marked by the release of cytokines and chemokines and recruitment of inflammatory cells. Overexpression of soluble circulating biglycan proteoglycan before ischemic reperfusion enhanced plasma and renal levels of TNF-α, CXCL1, CCL2 and CCL5, caused influx of neutrophils, macrophages and T cells and overall worsened renal function in wild type mice. We provide robust genetic evidence for TLR-2/4 requirement insofar as biglycan biological effects were markedly dampened in mice deficient in both innate immune receptors, Tlr2−/−;Tlr4−/− mice. Thus, signaling of soluble biglycan via TLR-2/4 could represent a novel therapeutic target for the prevention and possibly treatment of patients with acute renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

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