Open AccessPhosphorylation of Mitogen- and Stress-Activated Protein Kinase-1 in Astrocytic Inflammation: A Possible Role in Inhibiting Production of Inflammatory Cytokines
Author(s) -
Peipei Gong,
Xide Xu,
Jinlong Shi,
Lei Ni,
Qiyu Huang,
Xiaofeng Liang,
Dekang Nie,
Xin-Jiang Lu,
Jian Chen,
Wei Shi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0081747
Subject(s) - glial fibrillary acidic protein , astrocyte , neuroinflammation , downregulation and upregulation , inflammation , kinase , protein kinase a , mapk/erk pathway , microglia , tumor necrosis factor alpha , lipopolysaccharide , biology , mitogen activated protein kinase , western blot , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , endocrinology , immunohistochemistry , central nervous system , biochemistry , gene
Purpose It is generally accepted that inflammation has a role in the progression of many central nervous system (CNS) diseases, although the mechanisms through which this occurs remain unclear. Among mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) targets, mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase (MSK1) has been thought to be involved in the pathology of inflammatory gene expression. In this study, the roles of MSK1 activation in neuroinflammation were investigated. Methods The bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced brain injury model was performed on Sprague-Dawley rats. The dynamic expression changes and the cellular location of p-MSK1 in the brain cortex were detected by Western blot and immunofluorescence staining. The synthesis of inflammatory cytokines in astrocytes was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Phosphorylated MSK1 (p-MSK1 Thr-581) was induced significantly after intracerebral injection of LPS into the lateral ventricles of the rat brain. Specific upregulation of p-MSK1 in astrocytes was also observed in inflamed cerebral cortex. At 1 day after LPS stimulation, iNOS, TNFα expression, and the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were increased significantly. Also, in vitro studies indicated that the upregulation of p-MSK1 (Thr-581) may be involved in the subsequent astrocyte inflammatory process, following LPS challenge. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), it was confirmed that treatment with LPS in primary astrocytes stimulated the synthesis of inflammatory cytokines, through MAPKs signaling pathways. In cultured primary astrocytes, both knock-down of total MSK1 by small interfering RNAs (siRNA) or specific mutation of Thr-581 resulted in higher production of certain cytokines, such as TNFα and IL-6. Conclusions Collectively, these results suggest that MSK1 phosphorylation is associated with the regulation of LPS-induced brain injury and possibly acts as a negative regulator of inflammation.