Abstract
Monocytes and macrophages contribute to pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases, including auto-inflammatory diseases, cancer, sepsis, or atherosclerosis. They do so by production of cytokines, the central regulators of inflammation. Isoprenylation of small G-proteins is involved in regulation of production of some cytokines. Statins possibly affect isoprenylation-dependent cytokine production of monocytes and macrophages differentially. Thus, we compared statin-dependent cytokine production of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated freshly isolated human monocytes and macrophages derived from monocytes by overnight differentiation. Stimulated monocytes readily produced tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β. Statins did not alter cytokine production of LPS-stimulated monocytes. In contrast, monocyte-derived macrophages prepared in the absence of statin lost the capacity to produce cytokines, whereas macrophages prepared in the presence of statin still produced cytokines. The cells expressed indistinguishable nuclear factor-kB activity, suggesting involvement of separate, statin-dependent regulation pathways. The presence of statin was necessary during the differentiation phase of the macrophages, indicating that retainment-of-function rather than costimulation was involved. Reconstitution with mevalonic acid, farnesyl pyrophosphate, or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate blocked the retainment effect, whereas reconstitution of cholesterol synthesis by squalene did not. Inhibition of geranylgeranylation by GGTI-298, but not inhibition of farnesylation or cholesterol synthesis, mimicked the retainment effect of the statin. Inhibition of Rac1 activation by the Rac1/TIAM1-inhibitor NSC23766 or by Rac1-siRNA (small interfering RNA) blocked the retainment effect. Consistent with this finding, macrophages differentiated in the presence of statin expressed enhanced Rac1-GTP-levels. In line with the above hypothesis that monocytes and macrophages are differentially regulated by statins, the CD14/CD16-, merTK-, CX3CR1-, or CD163-expression (M2-macrophage-related) correlated inversely to the cytokine production. Thus, monocytes and macrophages display differential Rac1-geranylgeranylation-dependent functional capacities, that is, statins sway monocytes and macrophages differentially.
Highlights
Among the central regulators of innate immune responses and inflammation are mononuclear phagocytes, that is, monocytes (Mo) and macrophages (Mac)[1,2]
We show that cytokine production of freshly isolated monocytes is not altered by statin, whereas the response of overnight-differentiated macrophages is potently altered
Statins retain the cytokine production of monocytederived macrophages in the differentiation phase, but do not affect cytokine production of freshly isolated monocytes We hypothesized that inflammatory responses of monocytes and macrophages to statins may be different
Summary
Among the central regulators of innate immune responses and inflammation are mononuclear phagocytes, that is, monocytes (Mo) and macrophages (Mac)[1,2]. Fu et al Cell Death and Disease (2019)10:880 all, innate functions of monocytes and macrophages in inflammatory responses are mediated by cytokines[8,9]. Besides regulation of cholesterol synthesis, statins may provide beneficial effects in cardiovascular diseases by regulation of inflammatory responses[18,19]. Both antiinflammatory[20] and pro-inflammatory[21,22,23,24,25] statin effects have been reported. Considering the above, we hypothesized that monocytes and macrophages, depending on their differentiation status, may respond differentially to regulation of the isoprenylation pathway, resulting in differential regulation of Rac[1] activation and subsequent IL-1 production
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