Fyn is a tyrosine kinase belonging to the Src family (Src-Family-Kinase, SFK), ubiquitously expressed. Previously, we report that Fyn is important in stress erythropoiesis. Here, we show that in red ...cells Fyn specifically stimulates G6PD activity, resulting in a 3-fold increase enzyme catalytic activity (kcat) by phosphorylating tyrosine (Tyr)-401. We found Tyr-401 on G6PD as functional target of Fyn in normal human red blood cells (RBC), being undetectable in G6PD deficient RBCs (G6PD-Mediterranean and G6PD-Genova). Indeed, Tyr-401 is located to a region of the G6PD molecule critical for the formation of the enzymatically active dimer. Amino acid replacements in this region are mostly associated with a chronic hemolysis phenotype. Using mutagenesis approach, we demonstrated that the phosphorylation status of Tyr401 modulates the interaction of G6PD with G6P and stabilizes G6PD in a catalytically more efficient conformation. RBCs from Fyn-/−mice are defective in G6PD activity, resulting in increased susceptibility to primaquine-induced intravascular hemolysis. This negatively affected the recycling of reduced Prx2 in response to oxidative stress, indicating that defective G6PD phosphorylation impairs defense against oxidation. In human RBCs, we confirm the involvement of the thioredoxin/Prx2 system in the increase vulnerability of G6PD deficient RBCs to oxidation. In conclusion, our data suggest that Fyn is an oxidative radical sensor, and that Fyn-mediated Tyr-401 phosphorylation, by increasing G6PD activity, plays an important role in the physiology of RBCs. Failure of G6PD activation by this mechanism may be a major limiting factor in the ability of G6PD deficient RBCs to withstand oxidative stress.
Display omitted
•In red cells, Fyn acts as an oxidative sensor.•Fyn specifically stimulates G6PD activity by phosphorylating tyrosine (Tyr)-401.•In Fyn-/-mice, failure of G6PD activation increases red cell vulnerability against oxidation.•Fyn targeting G6PD protects Prx2 recycling, which is required to remove peroxides.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited red blood cell disorder with a worldwide prevalence. Acute vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is the main cause of hospitalization in patients with SCD. Growing ...evidence highlights the key role of inflammatory vasculopathy in both acute and chronic SCD related clinical manifestations. In a humanized mouse model for SCD, we found an increase of vWF activity and a reduction in ADAMTS13/vWF activity ratio similar to that observed in the human counterpart. rADAMTS13 was administered to humanized SCD mice before exposure to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) stress as model of VOC. In SCD mice, rADAMTS13 reduced H/R induced hemolysis and systemic and local inflammation in lungs and kidneys. rADAMTS13 also diminished H/R induced worsening of inflammatory vasculopathy, reducing local nitric oxidase synthase expression. Collectively, our data provide for the first-time evidence that pharmacologic treatment with rADAMTS13 (TAK-755) diminished H/R induced sickle cell related organ damage. Thus, rADAMTS13 might be considered as a potential effective disease-modifying treatment option for sickle cell related acute events.
Inflammatory vasculopathy is critical in sickle cell disease (SCD)-associated organ damage. An imbalance between pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving mechanisms in response to different triggers such ...as hypoxia/reoxygenation or infections has been proposed to contribute to SCD disease progression. Administration of specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators may provide an effective therapeutic strategy to target inflammatory vasculopathy and to modulate inflammatory response. Epeleuton (15 hydroxy eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester) is a novel orally administered second-generation ω-3 fatty acid with a favorable clinical safety profile. In this study we show that epeleuton re-programs the lipidomic pattern of target organs for SCD towards a pro-resolving pattern. This protects against systemic and local inflammatory response and improves red cell features, resulting in reduced hemolysis and sickling compared with vehicle treated SCD mice. In addition, epeleuton prevents the hypoxia/reoxygenation induced activation of NF-kB with downregulation of NLRP3 inflammasome in lung, kidney, and liver. This was associated with down-regulation of vascular activation markers in epeleuton treated SCD mice when compared to vehicle treated animals. Collectively our data support the potential therapeutic utility of epeleuton and provide the rationale for the design of clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of epeleuton in patients with SCD.
Cardiomyopathy deeply affects quality of life and mortality of patients with b-thalassemia or with transfusion-dependent myelodysplastic syndromes. Recently, a link between Nrf2 activity and iron ...metabolism has been reported in liver ironoverload murine models. Here, we studied C57B6 mice as healthy control and nuclear erythroid factor-2 knockout (Nrf2-/-) male mice aged 4 and 12 months. Eleven-month-old wild-type and Nrf2-/- mice were fed with either standard diet or a diet containing 2.5% carbonyl-iron (iron overload IO) for 4 weeks. We show that Nrf2-/- mice develop an age-dependent cardiomyopathy, characterized by severe oxidation, degradation of SERCA2A and iron accumulation. This was associated with local hepcidin expression and increased serum non-transferrin-bound iron, which promotes maladaptive cardiac remodeling and interstitial fibrosis related to overactivation of the TGF-b pathway. When mice were exposed to IO diet, the absence of Nrf2 was paradoxically protective against further heart iron accumulation. Indeed, the combination of prolonged oxidation and the burst induced by IO diet resulted in activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) system, which in turn promotes hepcidin expression independently from heart iron accumulation. In the heart of Hbbth3/+ mice, a model of b-thalassemia intermedia, despite the activation of Nrf2 pathway, we found severe protein oxidation, activation of UPR system and cardiac fibrosis independently from heart iron content. We describe the dual role of Nrf2 when aging is combined with IO and its novel interrelation with UPR system to ensure cell survival. We open a new perspective for early and intense treatment of cardiomyopathy in patients with b-thalassemia before the appearance of heart iron accumulation.
The signaling cascade induced by the interaction of erythropoietin (EPO) with its receptor (EPO‐R) is a key event of erythropoiesis. We present here data indicating that Fyn, a Src‐family‐kinase, ...participates in the EPO signaling‐pathway, since Fyn−/− mice exhibit reduced Tyr‐phosphorylation of EPO‐R and decreased STAT5‐activity. The importance of Fyn in erythropoiesis is also supported by the blunted responsiveness of Fyn−/− mice to stress erythropoiesis. Fyn−/− mouse erythroblasts adapt to reactive oxygen species (ROS) by activating the redox‐related‐transcription‐factor Nrf2. However, since Fyn is a physiologic repressor of Nrf2, absence of Fyn resulted in persistent‐activation of Nrf2 and accumulation of nonfunctional proteins. ROS‐induced over‐activation of Jak2‐Akt‐mTOR‐pathway and repression of autophagy with perturbation of lysosomal‐clearance were also noted. Treatment with Rapamycin, a mTOR‐inhibitor and autophagy activator, ameliorates Fyn−/− mouse baseline erythropoiesis and erythropoietic response to oxidative‐stress. These findings identify a novel multimodal action of Fyn in the regulation of normal and stress erythropoiesis.
Pulmonary-artery-hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening and highly invalidating chronic disorder. Chronic oxidation contributes to lung damage and disease progression. Peroxiredoxin-2 (Prx2) is a ...typical 2-cysteine (Cys) peroxiredoxin but its role on lung homeostasis is yet to be fully defined. Here, we showed that Prx2-/- mice displayed chronic lung inflammatory disease associated with (i) abnormal pulmonary vascular dysfunction; and (ii) increased markers of extracellular-matrix remodeling. Hypoxia was used to induce PAH. We focused on the early phase PAH to dissect the role of Prx2 in generation of PAH. Hypoxic Prx2-/-mice showed (i) amplified inflammatory response combined with cytokine storm; (ii) vascular activation and dysfunction; (iii) increased PDGF-B lung levels, as marker of extracellular-matrix deposition and remodeling; and (iv) ER stress with activation of UPR system and autophagy. Rescue experiments with in vivo the administration of fused-recombinant-PEP-Prx2 show a reduction in pulmonary inflammatory vasculopathy and in ER stress with down-regulation of autophagy. Thus, we propose Prx2 plays a pivotal role in the early stage of PAH as multimodal cytoprotector, targeting oxidation, inflammatory vasculopathy and ER stress with inhibition of autophagy. Collectively, our data indicate that Prx2 is able to interrupt the hypoxia induced vicious cycle involving oxidation-inflammation-autophagy in the pathogenesis of PAH.
Display omitted
•The absence of Prx2 accelerates the development of PAH induced by hypoxia.•In Prx2-/- mouse lung, hypoxia induces inflammatory vasculopathy, ER stress and autophagy.•Rescue experiments with PEP Prx2 support Prx2 as multimodal cytoprotector in lung homeostasis.
The anemia of sickle cell disease is associated with a severe inflammatory vasculopathy and endothelial dysfunction, which leads to painful and life-threatening clinical complications. Growing ...evidence supports the anti-inflammatory properties of ω-3 fatty acids in clinical models of endothelial dysfunction. Promising but limited studies show potential therapeutic effects of ω-3 fatty acid supplementation in sickle cell disease. Here, we treated humanized healthy and sickle cell mice for 6 weeks with ω-3 fatty acid diet (fish-oil diet). We found that a ω-3 fatty acid diet: (i) normalizes red cell membrane ω-6/ω-3 ratio; (ii) reduces neutrophil count; (iii) decreases endothelial activation by targeting endothelin-1 and (iv) improves left ventricular outflow tract dimensions. In a hypoxia-reoxygenation model of acute vaso-occlusive crisis, a ω-3 fatty acid diet reduced systemic and local inflammation and protected against sickle cell-related end-organ injury. Using isolated aortas from sickle cell mice exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation, we demonstrated a direct impact of a ω-3 fatty acid diet on vascular activation, inflammation, and anti-oxidant systems. Our data provide the rationale for ω-3 dietary supplementation as a therapeutic intervention to reduce vascular dysfunction in sickle cell disease.
Sickle cell disease (SCD; ORPHA232; OMIM # 603903) is a chronic and invalidating disorder distributed worldwide, with high morbidity and mortality. Given the disease complexity and the multiplicity ...of pathophysiological targets, development of new therapeutic options is critical, despite the positive effects of hydroxyurea (HU), for many years the only approved drug for SCD. New therapeutic strategies might be divided into (1) pathophysiology-related novel therapies and (2) innovations in curative therapeutic options such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy. The pathophysiology related novel therapies are: a) Agents which reduce sickling or prevent sickle red cell dehydration; b) Agents targeting SCD vasculopathy and sickle cell-endothelial adhesive events; c) Anti-oxidant agents. This review highlights new therapeutic strategies in SCD and discusses future developments, research implications, and possible innovative clinical trials.
Chorea-Acanthocytosis (ChAc) is a devastating, little understood, and currently untreatable neurodegenerative disease caused by VPS13A mutations. Based on our recent demonstration that accumulation ...of activated Lyn tyrosine kinase is a key pathophysiological event in human ChAc cells, we took advantage of Vps13a
mice, which phenocopied human ChAc. Using proteomic approach, we found accumulation of active Lyn, γ-synuclein and phospho-tau proteins in Vps13a
basal ganglia secondary to impaired autophagy leading to neuroinflammation. Mice double knockout Vps13a
Lyn
showed normalization of red cell morphology and improvement of autophagy in basal ganglia. We then in vivo tested pharmacologic inhibitors of Lyn: dasatinib and nilotinib. Dasatinib failed to cross the mouse brain blood barrier (BBB), but the more specific Lyn kinase inhibitor nilotinib, crosses the BBB. Nilotinib ameliorates both Vps13a
hematological and neurological phenotypes, improving autophagy and preventing neuroinflammation. Our data support the proposal to repurpose nilotinib as new therapeutic option for ChAc patients.
PDF
