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Infection and Immunity, February 2003, p. 845-849, Vol. 71, No. 2
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.2.845-849.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Medicine/Nephrology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia,1 Department of Biochemistry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,2 Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York3
Received 13 September 2002/ Returned for modification 15 October 2002/ Accepted 1 November 2002
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) (15-18, 21, 25, 34, 36). Previous studies have demonstrated that LPS, TNF-
, and IL-1ß require approximately 24 to 48 h for maximal induction of Gb3 on endothelial cells and that LPS or TNF-
requires signal transduction via protein kinase C (18). The present study describes an alternative agent, neutral sphingomyelinase (nSMase), that rapidly induces Stx sensitivity in human endothelial cells. Within the family of SMase enzymes, nSMases are derived from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic sources whereas acidic SMases (aSMases) are primarily found within eukaryotic organelles (13, 14, 22, 38). Neutral and acidic refer to the pH required for optimal enzymatic activity. Numerous biological effects in eukaryotic cells have been attributed to nSMase action, when resident SMase is activated either in the plasma membrane or in response to extracellular SMase (2, 4, 13, 38). In both cases, SMase hydrolyzes endogenous sphingomyelin in the plasma membrane to yield cytoplasmic ceramide, which initiates a cascade of events resulting in different physiological changes (5, 7). In the present study, we were interested in determining if extracellular nSMase signals to induce the expression of Gb3 and the recently characterized glycosyltransferase genes of the Gb3 biosynthetic pathway (6, 9).
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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(Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, Ind.); and [
-32P]ATP (New England Nuclear Corp., Boston, Mass.). Stx2 was immunoaffinity purified from a clinical isolate of EHEC. Cell lines and culture conditions. Human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC) were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta, Ga.). They are simian virus 40 T-antigen-transformed cells that have been characterized as having the endothelial phenotype (1, 37). HDMEC were maintained in MCDB 131 medium containing 1 µg of hydrocortisone/ml, 10 ng of epidermal growth factor/ml, 300 µg of L-glutamine/ml, and 15% fetal bovine serum at 37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere.
Cell viability assay. HDMEC were dispensed into 96-well culture plates at a density of 15,000 cells per well. After the plates were incubated overnight, inducers were added to the plates at the concentrations and for the times indicated in the figure legends and figures. The inducers were removed, and Stx2 (0.1 nM) was added for 24 h, followed by determination of cell viability by the neutral red assay as previously described (16). Cells maintained in medium alone served as the 100%-viability control. The data are the means of results from triplicate wells.
Gb3 analysis. Cells were grown to confluence in T75 flasks and treated with medium alone or SMase (0.067 U/ml) as indicated in the figures. After incubation, the cells were washed twice in cold phosphate-buffered saline, removed from the flask with an EGTA solution, pelleted at 2,600 rpm at 4°C, and frozen at -20°C. Glycolipid isolation, analysis by thin-layer chromatography, and quantitation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were performed as previously described (35).
Ceramide assay.
Cells were grown to confluence in T150 flasks and treated with SMase (0.067 U/ml) or TNF-
(200 U/ml) for up to 48 h. Control cells were treated with media only. The cells were then washed twice with prewarmed phosphate-buffered saline, removed from the flasks with EGTA solution, and pelleted at 6,000 rpm at 4°C. The pellet was resuspended in 2 ml of methanol, transferred to a glass tube, and stored at -85°C. Total neutral sphingolipids were extracted with organic solvents. The lipids were then radiolabeled with 32P by diacylglycerol kinase prior to resolution by thin-layer chromatography by using a previously described methodology (3, 24).
Northern blot analysis. The total RNA was isolated from cells by using RNeasy columns according to the instructions of the manufacturer (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.) and quantified at 260 nm. Ten micrograms of RNA was separated on a 1% formaldehyde-agarose gel and transferred by capillary action to a nylon membrane (Hybond-N; Amersham). RNA was cross-linked to the membrane with a UV Stratalinker (Stratagene). Blots were prehybridized for 4 h (for ceramide:glucosyltransferase [CGT] and 18S probes) or overnight (for the Gb3 synthase probe) at 42°C in either homemade buffer containing 5x SSPE (1x SSPE is 0.18 M NaCl, 10 mM NaH2PO4, and 1 mM EDTA [pH 7.7]), 50% formamide, 5x Denhardt's solution, 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and 10 µg of salmon sperm DNA per ml or ULTRAhyb buffer (Ambion, Austin, Tex.). Blots were then hybridized overnight at 42°C in the same solution containing the labeled probes.
A 450-bp CGT-specific probe was derived as previously described by PCR amplification from a clone containing the human CGT cDNA (strain 530753) obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, Va.). It was labeled with [32P]dATP by using a random primer kit (BRL Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer's protocol. The Gb3 synthase probe was synthesized from mouse kidney RNA by reverse transcription-PCR with primers based on the rat sequence (GenBank accession no. AF248544). The upstream primer was 5'-TAGCCTCGAGCGTAAGC-3', and the downstream primer was 5'-CACAAGAATGACCCCACC-3', which amplified a 714-bp fragment. The purified fragment was labeled overnight by the random primer method with [32P]dATP and a random primer labeling kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.). The denatured probe was added to the prehybridization buffer at 106 cpm/ml for overnight hybridization. The 18S oligonucleotide probe (5'-TATTGGAGCTGGAATTACCGCGGCTGCTGG-3') was end labeled with [
-32P]ATP and T4 polynucleotide kinase (BRL Life Technologies). After hybridization, the blots were washed in increasingly stringent SSC (1x SSC is 0.15 M NaCl plus 0.015 M sodium citrate)-SDS buffers to remove background and subjected to autoradiography with X-Omat film (Eastman Kodak). The blots were stripped between probes by being boiled in 0.1% SDS.
Quantitation and normalization of message was performed by photographing the autoradiographs with a Kodak EDAS 290 digital camera and by using 1D Image Analysis software, version 3.5 (Scientific Imaging Systems, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.). The sum intensity of each band was divided by the sum intensity of its corresponding 18S RNA band, multiplied by 100, and graphed.
| RESULTS |
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, and IL-1ß, SMase was by far the most rapid, with Stx2 sensitivity being noticeable within 1 h (8, 16, 17, 21). SMase increased the receptor quantity in endothelial cells (Table 1), suggesting that this quantity was responsible for the enhanced sensitivity of endothelial cells to Stx2. Within 0.25 h after exposure to SMase, the total Gb3 content of endothelial cells increased twofold. This change in Gb3 content coincided with an increased binding of radiolabeled Stx2 to the cells (data not shown). No further increase in Gb3 or Stx2 binding was observed beyond the 0.5-h time point. We have also documented that SMase induction of Stx2 sensitivity takes place in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The latter data are the subject of a separate manuscript in progress.
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-32P]ATP, followed by the separation of labeled lipids with ascending thin-layer chromatography. The resulting autoradiographs (Fig. 2) show that ceramide was barely detectable in untreated endothelial cells. However, SMase treatment resulted in a substantial increase of intracellular ceramide. The increase of ceramide was noticeable as early as 0.25 h (Fig. 2A) after exposure and peaked at 5 h, with a gradual decrease through the remainder of the 24-h time period (Fig. 2B). The two bands of ceramide shown in Fig. 2 represent C18 ceramide and an unidentified, faster-migrating form of ceramide, likely to be either C22 or C24 ceramide. Both bands increased proportionally in response to SMase. Diacylglycerol (upper band) was present in control cells, and its levels did not change substantially following exposure to SMase. It was noted that another inducer of Stx sensitivity, TNF-
, did not change the amount of ceramide in HDMEC, in contrast to the results obtained with SMase-treated cells (data not shown).
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| DISCUSSION |
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, IL-1ß, and bacterial LPS, all of which require 24 to 48 h to maximally sensitize endothelial cells to the Shiga toxins (8, 16, 32, 36). Sensitization of endothelial cells to Stx2 by bacterial SMase is accompanied within 30 min by an increase of intracellular ceramide, most likely derived from plasma membrane sphingomyelin. Although ceramide has been implicated in different cellular responses, including apoptosis, this is the first report of SMase induction of Stx2 sensitivity and of the Stx2 receptor, the neutral glycosphingolipid Gb3. The data indicate that SMase induces Gb3 synthesis by transcriptional activation of the gene encoding CGT, the first glycosyltransferase in the Gb3 pathway. However, it is also possible that ceramide substrate limitation is in part responsible for the observed increase in Gb3, because ceramide is a component of Gb3. Induction of both the ceramide:glucosylceramide transferase gene and its product strongly suggests that control occurs at this level. Gb3 synthase mRNA encoded by the gene for the third enzyme of the Gb3 synthetic pathway is constitutively activated in HDMEC. SMase does not alter the level of Gb3 synthase mRNA under conditions where the CGT mRNA is markedly increased. Together, these results suggest that the rate-limiting step in Gb3 synthesis in HDMEC lies at the level of CGT rather than at that of the Gb3 synthase.
The natural source of nSMase in the setting of a systemic EHEC response is somewhat speculative, but multiple sources of nSMase do exist. A search of the E. coli O157:H7 genome database (University of Wisconsin) did not detect an SMase gene. Although it is possible that SMase is derived from intestinal bacteria and enters the blood during the hemorrhagic-colitis phase of EHEC disease, more plausible sources exist within the host. For example, nSMase is released from activated platelets and endothelial cells (26-28, 30). It is noteworthy that although intracellular ceramide has been associated with apoptosis in some cells, SMase did not cause apoptosis of HDMEC in the present study. Additional work is ongoing to determine the fate of the ceramide induced by SMase in HDMEC, as such information should provide useful clues regarding the regulation of Gb3 synthesis and enhanced Stx2 sensitivity.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This work was supported by Public Health Service grant AI-24431 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
| FOOTNOTES |
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