Injury to the ocular surface provokes an inflammatory response that is mediated, at least in part, by corneal epithelial derived 12-hydroxyeicosanoids (HETEs) including 12-HETE and 12-HETrE; both metabolites exhibit potent inflammatory and angiogenic properties and are formed by a cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4B1. Retinoids are known to mediate wound-healing processes in many tissues and, as such, are integral components of the inflammatory response. We studied the effect of various retinoids on corneal synthesis of 12-hydroxyeicosanoids and on activation of CYP4B1 gene expression. Corneal organ cultures were used to assess the effect of retinoic acid on epithelial metabolism of arachidonic acid to 12-hydroxyeicosanoids. Luciferase reporter vectors containing different lengths of the CYP4B1 3.4 kb-5'-untranslated region were used to examine the effect of vitamin D and retinoids (9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans retinoic acid) on transcriptional activation of CYP4B1 in transient transfection experiments with HepG2 cells. Vitamin D had no effect on CYP4B1 promoter activity, but 9-cis and all-trans retinoic acids increased promoter activity by up to 70% over control. Addition of both 9-cis and all-trans retinoic acids resulted in an additive effect increasing promoter activity by 2-fold. The increased promoter activity correlated with the presence of RAR/RXR binding motifs. Incubation of corneal organ culture for 24 hours in the presence of 9-cis and all-trans retinoic acids increased the synthesis of 12-HETE and 12-HETrE by 2-fold. The finding that retinoic acid increases the expression of the CYP4B1 gene and enhances production of the inflammatory 12-hydroxyeicosanoids in the corneal epithelium may provide a linkage between wound healing and inflammation in the ocular surface.
Hypoxic injury to the ocular surface provokes an inflammatory response that is mediated, in part, by corneal epithelial-derived 12-hydroxyeicosanoids. Recent studies indicate that a cytochrome P450 (CYP) monooxygenase, identified as CYP4B1, is involved in the production of these eicosanoids which exhibit potent inflammatory and angiogenic properties. We have isolated and cloned a corneal epithelial CYP4B1 full-length cDNA and demonstrated that the CYP4B1 mRNA is induced by hypoxia in vitro and in vivo. To further understand the molecular regulation that underlies the synthesis of these potent inflammatory eicosanoids in response to hypoxic injury, we isolated and cloned the CYP4B1 promoter region. GenomeWalker libraries constructed from rabbit corneal epithelial genomic DNA were used as templates for primary and nested PCR amplifications with gene- and adaptor-specific primers. A 3.41-kb DNA fragment of the 5'-flanking region of the CYP4B1 promoter was isolated, cloned, sequenced, and analyzed by computer software for the presence of known cis-acting elements. Analysis of the promoter sequence revealed the presence of consensus DNA binding sequences for factors known to activate gene transcription in response to hypoxia including HIF-1, NFkappaB, and AP-1. Transient transfection of luciferase reporter (pGL3-Basic) vectors containing different lengths of the CYP4B1 promoter fragment demonstrated hypoxia-induced transcription in rabbit corneal epithelial (RCE) cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) revealed a marked induction of nuclear binding activity for the labeled HIF-1 probe from the CYP4B1 promoter in nuclear extracts of cells exposed to hypoxia. This binding activity was due to sequence-specific binding to the HIF-1 oligonucleotide probe as shown by competition with excess unlabeled probe for the HIF-1 but not with unlabeled NFkappaB probe. The nuclear binding activity of AP-1 and NFkappaB probes from the CYP4B1 promoter was also enhanced in response to hypoxia suggesting that these transcription factors contribute to the hypoxic induction of CYP4B1 expression. The results of this study provide the first molecular mechanistic explanation for the induction of CYP4B1 and, thereby, the production of inflammatory eicosanoids in response to hypoxic injury. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate the molecular regulation of this gene during inflammation.
Injury to the ocular surface induces the production of the corneal epithelial-derived 12-hydroxyeicosatetrienoic acid (12-HETrE), which exhibits stereospecific potent inflammatory and angiogenic properties and is formed by a cytochrome P450 (P450) enzyme, CYP4B1. We have cloned the rabbit corneal CYP4B1 into the expression plasmid pIRES2-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and examined the effect of CYP4B1 overexpression on corneal inflammation in vivo and limbal vessel sprouting ex vivo. Cultured rabbit corneal epithelial cells transfected with pIRES2-EGFP-CYP4B1 metabolized arachidonic acid to 12-HETrE at a rate five times higher than that of pIRES2-EGFP-transfected cells (3.53 Ϯ 0.08 versus 0.62 Ϯ 0.10 nmol/h/10 6 cells; mean Ϯ S.E.M., n ϭ 6, p Ͻ 0.05), indicating a functional expression of the CYP4B1. Injection of either plasmid into the rabbit cornea resulted in EGFP fluorescence in the corneal epithelium. However, corneal neovascularization, as measured by the length of penetrating blood vessels, was significantly greater in the corneas of eyes transfected with the pIRES2-CYP4B1 compared with pIRES2-EGFP. Corneal-limbal explants from eyes transfected with pIRES2-CYP4B1 showed a marked angiogenic activity (46 Ϯ 10 versus 12 Ϯ 3 mm capillary length, n ϭ 6, p Ͻ 0.05), which correlated with increased levels of 12-HETrE, the CYP4B1-derived angiogenic 12-hydroxyeicosanoid (0.93 Ϯ 0.18 versus 0.15 Ϯ 0.02 pmol/explant, n ϭ 6, p Ͻ 0.05), and was inhibited (76 Ϯ 5%) by the P450 inhibitor 17-octadecynoic acid. The results further implicate the corneal CYP4B1 as a component of the inflammatory and angiogenic cascade initiated by injury to the ocular surface and raise the possibility of a new therapeutic target for preventing corneal neovascularization, namely, the CYP4B1-12-HETrE system. Angiogenesis or neovascularization is regarded as a component of the inflammatory reparative response of a given tissue to injury. Although neovascularization has some positive effects, such as facilitating healing by enabling transport of immunologic humeral and cellular factors for repairing the tissues, persistence of blood vessels within the cornea is detrimental because it degrades corneal transparency. Neovascularization of the normally avascular cornea is seen in many pathological conditions, which include infection, mechanical and chemical injury, long-term exposure to hypoxia, and after corneal transplantation. Corneal neovascularization, whatever the cause, leads to decreased vision, recurrent corneal erosion, and incompetent barrier function, thus presenting a serious clinical problem for which treatment is lacking. The molecular mechanisms that control corneal neovascularization are not fully understood. Because inflammation precedes the corneal neovascularization seen after injury, many studies have concentrated on the role of humeral and corneal-derived inflammatory mediators in the regulation of this process. Among these mediators are various arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids of the cyclooxygenase, lipo...
IgA secretion by the lactating mammary gland culminates a complex sequence of biologic events both within the gland and at distant sites. Because of the many extraglandular influences, it is difficult to investigate IgA secretion at the tissue and cellular levels in the intact animal. In this study, with the use of immunohistofluorescence, we have observed elaboration of IgA by primary monolayer cultures of mammary cells from the glands of mid-pregnant mice and from mammary tumors. In cultures of normal cells, IgA appeared first in vesicular structures on the upper surfaces of the monolayers. Vesicular IgA was maximal at day 5 in culture, and at that time, was observed only over mounds (domelike structures) that were covered with fibrillar fibronectin (FN), and eventually developed a subpopulation of fusiform cells. It appears that the IgA observed was secreted in vitro, that normal mammary epithelial cells must form multicellular FN-bearing structures to secrete IgA in culture, and that by mid-pregnancy the murine mammary gland contains all of the lymphoid cells required for IgA secretion. In contrast, primary cultures of mammary tumors displayed minimal amounts of IgA and FN. The small amount of cell-associated IgA that was detected on tumor cultures was not localized to any multicellular structures nor was it associated with FN, but instead appeared as minute, punctate accumulations on individual cells scattered across the epithelioid areas. This finding is consistent with the loss of specialized functions and the increased autonomy typical of malignant cells. The study in cultured cells of a function as specialized as IgA secretion should permit greater understanding of both the process itself and the despecializations that accompany malignancies of secretory epithelia.
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