IL-33 markedly activates murine eosinophils by an NF-κB–dependent mechanism differentially dependent upon an IL-4–driven autoinflammatory loop

C Bouffi, M Rochman, CB Zust, EM Stucke… - The Journal of …, 2013 - journals.aai.org
C Bouffi, M Rochman, CB Zust, EM Stucke, A Kartashov, PC Fulkerson, A Barski
The Journal of Immunology, 2013journals.aai.org
Eosinophils are major effector cells in type 2 inflammatory responses and become activated
in response to IL-4 and IL-33, yet the molecular mechanisms and cooperative interaction
between these cytokines remain unclear. Our objective was to investigate the molecular
mechanism and cooperation of IL-4 and IL-33 in eosinophil activation. Eosinophils derived
from bone marrow or isolated from Il5-transgenic mice were activated in the presence of IL-4
or IL-33 for 1 or 4 h, and the transcriptome was analyzed by RNA sequencing. The …
Abstract
Eosinophils are major effector cells in type 2 inflammatory responses and become activated in response to IL-4 and IL-33, yet the molecular mechanisms and cooperative interaction between these cytokines remain unclear. Our objective was to investigate the molecular mechanism and cooperation of IL-4 and IL-33 in eosinophil activation. Eosinophils derived from bone marrow or isolated from Il5-transgenic mice were activated in the presence of IL-4 or IL-33 for 1 or 4 h, and the transcriptome was analyzed by RNA sequencing. The candidate genes were validated by quantitative PCR and ELISA. We demonstrated that murine-cultured eosinophils respond to IL-4 and IL-33 by phosphorylation of STAT-6 and NF-κB, respectively. RNA sequence analysis of murine-cultured eosinophils indicated that IL-33 induced 519 genes, whereas IL-4 induced only 28 genes, including 19 IL-33–regulated genes. Interestingly, IL-33 induced eosinophil activation via two distinct mechanisms, IL-4 independent and IL-4 secretion/autostimulation dependent. Anti–IL-4 or anti–IL-4Rα Ab-treated cultured and mature eosinophils, as well as Il4-or Stat6-deficient cultured eosinophils, had attenuated protein secretion of a subset of IL-33–induced genes, including Retnla and Ccl17. Additionally, IL-33 induced the rapid release of preformed IL-4 protein from eosinophils by a NF-κB–dependent mechanism. However, the induction of most IL-33–regulated transcripts (eg, Il6 and Il13) was IL-4 independent and blocked by NF-κB inhibition. In conclusion, we have identified a novel activation pathway in murine eosinophils that is induced by IL-33 and differentially dependent upon an IL-4 auto-amplification loop.
journals.aai.org