Cigarette smoking is associated with impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation and reduced nitric oxide (NO) in the exhaled air of smokers. To explore the mechanism for the impairment of NO-mediated vasodilation, we studied the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on NO synthase (eNOS) activity and content in pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC). Incubation of PAEC with CSE resulted in a time- and dose-dependent decrease in eNOS activity. The inhibitory effect of CSE on eNOS activity was not reversible. Both gas-phase and particulate-phase extracts of CSE contributed to the inhibition of eNOS activity. The protein kinase c (PKC) inhibitors staurosporine and chelerythrine did not affect the CSE-induced inhibition of eNOS activity. Catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione, and dithiothreitol (DTT) also did not prevent the CSE-induced inhibition of eNOS activity, and incubation of PAEC with 3 mM nicotine did not change the activity of eNOS. Treatment of PAEC with CSE also caused a nonreversible, time-dependent decrease in eNOS protein content detected by Western blot analysis, and in eNOS messenger RNA (mRNA) detected by Northern blot analysis. Treatment of PAEC with CSE had no effect on cell protein or glutathione contents or on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. These results indicate that exposure to CSE causes an irreversible inhibition of eNOS activity in PAEC, and suggest that the decreased activity is secondary to reduced eNOS protein mass and mRNA. The decrease in eNOS activity may contribute to the high risk of pulmonary and cardiovascular disease in cigarette smokers.

The T-cell surface molecule TIGIT is an immune checkpoint molecule that inhibits T-cell responses, but its roles in cancer are little understood. In this study, we evaluated the role TIGIT checkpoint plays in the development and progression of gastric cancer. We show that the percentage of CD8 T cells that are TIGIT þ was increased in gastric cancer patients compared with healthy individuals. These cells showed functional exhaustion with impaired activation, proliferation, cytokine production, and metabolism, all of which were rescued by glucose. In addition, gastric cancer tissue and cell lines expressed CD155, which bound TIGIT receptors and inactivated CD8 T cells. In a T cell-gastric cancer cell coculture system, gastric cancer cells deprived CD8 T cells of glucose and impaired CD8 T-cell effector functions; these effects were neutralized by the additional glucose or by TIGIT blockade. In gastric cancer tumor cells, CD155 silencing increased T-cell metabolism and IFNg production, whereas CD155 overexpression inhibited T-cell metabolism and IFNg production; this inhibition was neutralized by TIGIT blockade. Targeting CD155/TIGIT enhanced CD8 T-cell reaction and improved survival in tumor-bearing mice. Combined targeting of TIGIT and PD-1 further enhanced CD8 T-cell activation and improved survival in tumor-bearing mice.Our results suggest that gastric cancer cells inhibit CD8 T-cell metabolism through CD155/TIGIT signaling, which inhibits CD8 T-cell effector functions, resulting in hyporesponsive antitumor immunity. These findings support the candidacy of CD155/TIGIT as a potential therapeutic target in gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a progressive disease arising from remodeling and narrowing of pulmonary arteries (PA) resulting in high pulmonary blood pressure and ultimately right ventricular failure. Elevated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by NADPH oxidase 4 (Nox4) is associated with increased pressure in PH. However, the cellular location of Nox4 and its contribution to aberrant vascular remodeling in PH remains poorly understood. Therefore, we sought to identify the vascular cells expressing Nox4 in PA and determine the functional relevance of Nox4 in PH. APPROACH AND RESULTS Elevated expression of Nox4 was detected in hypertensive PA from 3 rat PH models and human PH using qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence. In the vascular wall, Nox4 was detected in both endothelium and adventitia and perivascular staining was prominently increased in hypertensive lung sections, colocalizing with cells expressing fibroblast and monocyte markers and matching the adventitial location of ROS production. Small molecule inhibitors of Nox4 reduced adventitial ROS generation and vascular remodeling as well as ameliorating right ventricular hypertrophy and non-invasive indices of PA stiffness in monocrotaline (MCT)-treated rats as determined by morphometric analysis and high resolution digital ultrasound. Nox4 inhibitors improved PH in both prevention and reversal protocols and reduced the expression of fibroblast markers in isolated PA. In fibroblasts, Nox4 over-expression stimulated migration and proliferation and was necessary for matrix gene expression. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that Nox4 is prominently expressed in the adventitia and contributes to altered fibroblast behavior, hypertensive vascular remodeling and the development of PH.

Pulmonary hypertension is a severe and progressive disease, a key feature of which is pulmonary vascular remodeling. Several growth factors, including EGF, PDGF, and TGF-β1, are involved in pulmonary vascular remodeling during pulmonary hypertension. However, increased knowledge of the downstream signaling cascades is needed if effective clinical interventions are to be developed. In this context, calpain provides an interesting candidate therapeutic target, since it is activated by EGF and PDGF and has been reported to activate TGF-β1. Thus, in this study, we examined the role of calpain in pulmonary vascular remodeling in two rodent models of pulmonary hypertension. These data showed that attenuated calpain activity in calpain-knockout mice or rats treated with a calpain inhibitor resulted in prevention of increased right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, as well as collagen deposition and thickening of pulmonary arterioles in models of hypoxia-and monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension. Additionally, inhibition of calpain in vitro blocked intracellular activation of TGF-β1, which led to attenuated Smad2/3 phosphorylation and collagen synthesis. Finally, smooth muscle cells of pulmonary arterioles from patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension showed higher levels of calpain activation and intracellular active TGF-β. Our data provide evidence that calpain mediates EGF-and PDGF-induced collagen synthesis and proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells via an intracrine TGF-β1 pathway in pulmonary hypertension. IntroductionPulmonary hypertension is a severe and progressive disease characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance leading to right heart failure and death (1-3). Pulmonary vascular remodeling is an important common pathological feature of all categories of pulmonary hypertension. Accumulation of extracellular matrix, including collagen, and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and hypertrophy contribute to medial hypertrophy and muscularization, leading to obliteration of precapillary pulmonary arteries and sustained elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure (3, 4).Several growth factors, including EGF, PDGF, and TGF-β1, participate in the process of pulmonary vascular remodeling in patients with pulmonary hypertension and in animal models (2,(5)(6)(7)(8). For example, expression of EGF or its receptor EGFR are increased in animal models of monocrotaline-(MCT-) and hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and in humans with pulmonary hypertension (8-10). Blockade of EGFR results in reductions in pulmonary pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, and distal arterial muscularization in MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension (11). Moreover, PDGF and its receptor are upregulated in pulmonary arteries of patients with pulmonary hypertension (12, 13) and rodents exposed to chronic hypoxia and MCT (7,14,15). PDGF receptor antagonists not only prevent, but also reverse, increased

Aims: The mutual interactions between reactive oxygen species, airway inflammation, and alveolar cell death play crucial role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the present study, we investigated the possibility that hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) donor sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) might be a novel option for intervention in COPD. Results: We used a mouse model of tobacco smoke (TS)-induced emphysema. Mice were injected with H 2 S donor NaHS (50 lmol/kg in 0.25 ml phosphate buffer saline, intraperitoneally) or vehicle daily before exposed to TS for 1 h/day, 5 days/week for 12 and 24 weeks. We found that NaHS ameliorated TS-induced increase in mean linear intercepts, the thickness of bronchial walls, and the numbers of total cell counts as well as neutrophils, monocytes, and tumor necrosis factor a in bronchial alveolar lavage. Moreover, NaHS reduced increases in right ventricular systolic pressure, the thickness of pulmonary vascular walls, and the ratio of RV/LV+S in TS-exposed mice. Further, TS exposure for 12 and 24 weeks reduced the protein contents of cystathionine c-lyase (CGL), cystathionine b-synthetase (CBS), nuclear erythroid-related factor 2 (Nrf2), P ser473-Akt, as well as glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio in the lungs. TS-exposed lungs exhibited large amounts of 8-hydroxyguanine-positive and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells. Treatment with NaHS increased P ser473-Akt and attenuated TS-induced reduction of CGL, CBS, and Nrf2 as well as glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio in the lungs. NaHS also reduced amounts of 8-hydroxyguanine-positive, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells and active caspase-3 in TS-exposed lungs. Additionally, knocking-down Akt protein abolished the protective effects of NaHS against TS-induced apoptosis and downregulation of Nrf2, CGL, and CBS in pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Conclusion: These results indicate that NaHS protects against TS-induced oxidative stress, airway inflammation, and remodeling and ameliorates the development of emphysema and pulmonary hypertension. H 2 S donors have therapeutic potential for the prevention and treatment of COPD caused by TS. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 15, 2121-2134.

Changes in the expression and function of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) have been proposed as a pathogenic mechanism underlying many cardiovascular diseases. Cav-1 binds to and regulates the activity of numerous signaling proteins via interactions with its scaffolding domain. In endothelial cells, Cav-1 has been shown to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, but whether Cav-1 regulates the activity of NADPH oxidases (Nox), a major source of cellular ROS, has not yet been shown. Herein, we show that Cav-1 is primarily expressed in the endothelium and adventitia of pulmonary arteries (PA) and that Cav-1 expression is reduced in isolated PA from multiple models of pulmonary artery hypertension (PH). Reduced Cav-1 expression correlates with increased ROS production in the adventitia of hypertensive PA. In vitro experiments revealed a significant ability of Cav-1 and its scaffolding domain to inhibit Nox1-5 activity and it was also found that Cav-1 binds to Nox5 and Nox2 but not Nox4. In additional to post-translational actions, in primary cells, Cav-1 represses the mRNA and protein expression of Nox2 and Nox4 though inhibition of the NF-kB pathway. Lastly, in a mouse hypoxia model, the genetic ablation of Cav-1 increased the expression of Nox2 and Nox4 and exacerbated PH. Together, these results suggest that Cav-1 is a negative regulator of Nox function via two distinct mechanisms, acutely through direct binding and chronically through alteration of expression levels. Accordingly, the loss of Cav-1 expression in cardiovascular diseases such as PH may account for the increased Nox activity and greater production of ROS.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -activated prodrugs were formed by coupling MMP-cleavable peptides to doxorubicin. The resulting conjugates were excellent in vitro substrates for MMP-2, -9, and -14. HT1080, a fibrosarcoma cell line, was used as a model system to test these prodrugs because these cells, like tumor stromal fibroblasts, expressed several MMPs. In cultured HT1080 cells, simple MMP-cleavable peptides were primarily metabolized by neprilysin, a membrane-bound metalloproteinase. MMP-selective metabolism in cultured HT1080 cells was obtained by designing conjugates that were good MMP substrates but poor neprilysin substrates. To determine how conjugates were metabolized in animals,

An oxygen-promoted ligand-free Suzuki coupling reaction catalyzed by in situ generated palladium nanoparticles in PEG-400 under aerobic conditions has been demonstrated. The reaction was highly efficient for coupling aryl chlorides with phenylboronic acid in short times under mild conditions.