Delivery of Soluble Heme Oxygenase 1 Cell-Penetrating Peptide into Liver Cells in in vitro and ex vivo Models of Cold Ischemia

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananda Baskaran Venkatachalam ◽  
Scott Michael Livingstone ◽  
Qianni Hu ◽  
Ayush Ray ◽  
Caroline Wood ◽  
...  

Background/Purpose: Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice in patients with end-stage liver disease. During liver transplantation, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) occurs, which is an inevitable consequence of the transplantation process. To reduce the extent of cellular injury, one of the proteins that have been extensively investigated is heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), which plays an important role in protecting the organs against IRI. The aim of this study was to introduce an active and functional HO-1 protein conjugated to a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) in vitro and ex vivo into liver cells in hypothermic and anoxic conditions and to assert its cytoprotective effects. Methods: We generated an enzymatically active soluble (s)HO-1-CPP recombinant protein. The ability of the sHO-1-CPP protein to penetrate McA-RH7777, Clone 9, and Hep G2 cells, primary hepatocytes, and Kupffer and human umbilical vein endothelial cells in vitro, as well as its ability to penetrate a whole liver ex vivo under hypothermic and anoxic conditions, was assessed. An in vitro hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) model was used to determine the cytoprotective effect of the sHO-1-CPP protein. Results: We showed that our recombinant protein sHO-1-CPP can cross cell membranes into rodent and human liver cells in vitro, and the results were further validated ex vivo, where rodent livers were perfused with an organ preservation solution supplemented with sHO-1-CPP under anoxic and hypothermic conditions. Immunohistochemistry revealed an intracellular localization of sHO-1-CPP in zones 1-3 of the perfused livers. The CPP did not exert any significant toxicity on the cells. Treating cells with sHO-1-CPP showed significant cytoprotection in the in vitro HR model. Conclusions: Our findings show that the recombinant protein sHO-1-CPP can be successfully delivered to cells of a whole organ in an ex vivo hypothermic and anoxic perfusion model and that it provides cytoprotection to hepatocytes in an in vitro HR model. These results hold great potential for future repair and protection of donor organs. Future experiments are planned to confirm these data in in vivo models of IRI.

2019 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela L. Martín ◽  
Paula Ceccatto ◽  
María V. Razori ◽  
Daniel E.A. Francés ◽  
Sandra M.M. Arriaga ◽  
...  

Abstract We previously demonstrated in in vitro and ex vivo models that physiological concentrations of unconjugated bilirubin (BR) prevent oxidative stress (OS)-induced hepatocanalicular dysfunction and cholestasis. Here, we aimed to ascertain, in the whole rat, whether a similar cholestatic OS injury can be counteracted by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction that consequently elevates endogenous BR levels. This was achieved through the administration of hemin, an inducer of HO-1, the rate-limiting step in BR generation. We found that BR peaked between 6 and 8 h after hemin administration. During this time period, HO-1 induction fully prevented the pro-oxidant tert-butylhydroperoxide (tBuOOH)-induced drop in bile flow, and in the biliary excretion of bile salts and glutathione, the two main driving forces of bile flow; this was associated with preservation of the membrane localization of their respective canalicular transporters, bile salt export pump (Bsep) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp2), which are otherwise endocytosed by OS. HO-1 induction counteracted the oxidation of intracellular proteins and membrane lipids induced by tBuOOH, and fully prevented the increase in the oxidized-to-total glutathione (GSHt) ratio, a sensitive parameter of hepatocellular OS. Compensatory elevations of the activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were also prevented. We conclude that in vivo HO-1 induction protects the liver from acute oxidative injury, thus preventing consequent cholestasis. This reveals an important role for the induction of HO-1 and the consequently elevated levels of BR in preserving biliary secretory function under OS conditions, thus representing a novel therapeutic tool to limit the cholestatic injury that bears an oxidative background.


2013 ◽  
Vol 179 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
A. Hanouf ◽  
S. Cimen ◽  
S. Livingstone ◽  
E. Brouwers ◽  
H. Sapp ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianru Pan ◽  
Huocong He ◽  
Ying Su ◽  
Guangjin Zheng ◽  
Junxin Wu ◽  
...  

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) fusion of TAT was proved to be radioprotective in our previous work. On that basis, a bifunctional recombinant protein which was the fusion of glutathione S-transferase (GST), SOD, and TAT was constructed and named GST-TAT-SOD. Herein we report the investigation of the cytotoxicity, cell-penetrating activity, and in vitro radioprotective effect of GST-TAT-SOD compared with wild SOD, single-function recombinant protein SOD-TAT, and amifostine. We demonstrated that wild SOD had little radioprotective effect on irradiated L-02 and Hep G2 cells while amifostine was protective to both cell lines. SOD-TAT or GST-TAT-SOD pretreatment 3 h prior to radiation protects irradiated normal liver cells against radiation damage by eliminating intracellular excrescent superoxide, reducing cellular MDA level, enhancing cellular antioxidant ability and colony formation ability, and reducing apoptosis rate. Compared with SOD-TAT, GST-TAT-SOD was proved to have better protective effect on irradiated normal liver cells and minimal effect on irradiated hepatoma cells. Besides, GST-TAT-SOD was safe for normal cells and effectively transduced into different organs in mice, including the brain. The characteristics of this protein suggest that it may be a potential radioprotective agent in cancer therapy better than amifostine. Fusion of two antioxidant enzymes and cell-penetrating peptides is potentially valuable in the development of radioprotective agent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiro Yachie

Since Yachie et al. reported the first description of human heme oxygenase (HO)-1 deficiency more than 20 years ago, few additional human cases have been reported in the literature. A detailed analysis of the first human case of HO-1 deficiency revealed that HO-1 is involved in the protection of multiple tissues and organs from oxidative stress and excessive inflammatory reactions, through the release of multiple molecules with anti-oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory functions. HO-1 production is induced in vivo within selected cell types, including renal tubular epithelium, hepatic Kupffer cells, vascular endothelium, and monocytes/macrophages, suggesting that HO-1 plays critical roles in these cells. In vivo and in vitro studies have indicated that impaired HO-1 production results in progressive monocyte dysfunction, unregulated macrophage activation and endothelial cell dysfunction, leading to catastrophic systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Data from reported human cases of HO-1 deficiency and numerous studies using animal models suggest that HO-1 plays critical roles in various clinical settings involving excessive oxidative stress and inflammation. In this regard, therapy to induce HO-1 production by pharmacological intervention represents a promising novel strategy to control inflammatory diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Tang ◽  
Xueqing Ma ◽  
Jiayu Sun ◽  
Minghui Ru ◽  
Tiansheng Qian ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Antonino N. Fallica ◽  
Valeria Sorrenti ◽  
Agata G. D’Amico ◽  
Loredana Salerno ◽  
Giuseppe Romeo ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 103 (9) ◽  
pp. 3465-3473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane C. McAllister ◽  
Scott G. Hansen ◽  
Rebecca A. Ruhl ◽  
Camilo M. Raggo ◽  
Victor R. DeFilippis ◽  
...  

Abstract Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is the most common AIDS-associated malignancy and is characterized by angiogenesis and the presence of spindle cells. Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is consistently associated with all clinical forms of KS, and in vitro infection of dermal microvascular endothelial cells (DMVECs) with KSHV recapitulates many of the features of KS, including transformation, spindle cell proliferation, and angiogenesis. To study the molecular mechanisms of KSHV pathogenesis, we compared the protein expression profiles of KSHV-infected and uninfected DMVECs. This comparison revealed that heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the inducible enzyme responsible for the rate-limiting step in heme catabolism, was up-regulated in infected endothelial cells. Recent evidence suggests that the products of heme catabolism have important roles in endothelial cell biology, including apoptosis and angiogenesis. Here we show that HO-1 mRNA and protein are up-regulated in KSHV-infected cultures. Comparison of oral and cutaneous AIDS-KS tissues with normal tissues revealed that HO-1 mRNA and protein were also up-regulated in vivo. Increased HO-1 enzymatic activity in vitro enhanced proliferation of KSHV-infected DMVECs in the presence of free heme. Treatment with the HO-1 inhibitor chromium mesoporphyrin IX abolished heme-induced proliferation. These data suggest that HO-1 is a potential therapeutic target for KS that warrants further study. (Blood. 2004;103: 3465-3473)


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document