Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors possess intrinsic anti-inflammatory activity.

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are mainstay therapeutics for HIV that block retrovirus replication. Alu (an endogenous retroelement that also requires reverse transcriptase for its life cycle)-derived RNAs activate P2X7 and the NLRP3 inflammasome to cause cell death of the retinal pigment epithelium in geographic atrophy, a type of age-related macular degeneration. We found that NRTIs inhibit P2X7-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation independent of reverse transcriptase inhibition.

Protection against murine osteoarthritis by inhibition of the 26S proteasome and lysine-48 linked ubiquitination.

Objectives: To determine whether the process of ubiquitination and/or activity of the 26S proteasome are involved in the induction of osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: Bovine cartilage resorption assays, chondrocyte cell-line SW1353 and primary human articular chondrocytes were used with the general proteasome inhibitor MG132 or vehicle to identify a role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in cartilage destruction and matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP13) expression. In vivo, MG132 or vehicle, were delivered subcutaneously to mice following destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM)-induced OA.

Matrix metalloproteinase 13 expression in response to double-stranded RNA in human chondrocytes.

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) expression in chondrocytes via pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) for double-stranded RNA (dsRNA).

Methods: Differential expression of PRRs was determined by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of RNA from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and patients with femoral neck fracture (as normal control). Isolated human articular chondrocytes and the chondrosarcoma cell line SW-1353 were activated with poly(I-C) of different molecular weights as a dsRNA mimic, and changes in gene and protein expression were monitored by real-time RT-PCR and immunoblotting, respectively.

A comparative proteome analysis links tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2) to the regulation of cellular glucose and lipid metabolism in response to poly(I:C).

Tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2) is an integral part of the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway which relays intracellular signals of various cytokines. Tyk2 crucially contributes to host defense mechanisms against microbial pathogens and to tumor surveillance but also facilitates immune pathologies. Here we investigated the impact of Tyk2 on the macrophage proteome using the synthetic double-stranded RNA analog polyinosinic acid-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) as a mimicry of viral infections.

Tyrosine kinase 2 controls IL-1ß production at the translational level.

IL-1beta is an important proinflammatory cytokine with a major role in several inflammatory diseases. Expression of IL-1beta is tightly regulated at the level of transcription, mRNA stability, and proteolytic processing. In this study, we report that IL-1beta expression in response to LPS is also regulated at the translational level.

The impact of tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2) on the proteome of murine macrophages and their response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2) belongs to the Janus kinase (Jak) family and is involved in signalling via a number of cytokines. Tyk2-deficient mice are highly resistant to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxin shock. Macrophages are key players in the pathogenesis of endotoxin shock and, accordingly, defects in the LPS responses of Tyk2(-/-) macrophages have been reported.

Contribution of cell culture additives to the two-dimensional protein patterns of mouse macrophages.

Low levels of fetal calf serum (FCS), used as protein supplement in cell culture medium, were traced in preparations of primary murine macrophages (bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) and peritoneal macrophages (PM)). Main components of this common additive were mapped in 2-DE by means of differential image gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Additional washing steps in cell preparation helped to decrease the levels of the four highest abundance foetal serum proteins (serum albumin (SA), alpha1-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1AT) and transferrin (Tf)) to less than 1% of total protein.