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  2. STING inhibitor ameliorates LPS-induced ALI by preventing vascular endothelial cells-mediated immune cells chemotaxis and adhesion

STING inhibitor ameliorates LPS-induced ALI by preventing vascular endothelial cells-mediated immune cells chemotaxis and adhesion

  • Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2022 Aug;43(8):2055-2066. doi: 10.1038/s41401-021-00813-2.
Bing Wu 1 2 Meng-Meng Xu 1 3 Chen Fan 1 Chun-Lan Feng 1 Qiu-Kai Lu 1 2 Hui-Min Lu 1 2 Cai-Gui Xiang 1 2 Fang Bai 1 2 Hao-Yu Wang 1 2 Yan-Wei Wu 4 Wei Tang 5 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Laboratory of Anti-inflammation, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • 3 School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210000, China.
  • 4 Laboratory of Anti-inflammation, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. wuyanwei@simm.ac.cn.
  • 5 Laboratory of Anti-inflammation, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. tangwei@simm.ac.cn.
  • 6 School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. tangwei@simm.ac.cn.
Abstract

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and devastating clinical disorder featured by excessive inflammatory responses. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an indispensable molecule for regulating inflammation and immune response in multiple diseases, but the role of STING in the ALI pathogenesis is not well elucidated. In this study, we explored the molecular mechanisms of STING in regulating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury. Mice were pretreated with a STING Inhibitor C-176 (15, 30 mg/kg, i.p.) before LPS inhalation to induce ALI. We showed that LPS inhalation significantly increased STING expression in the lung tissues, whereas C-176 pretreatment dose-dependently suppressed the expression of STING, decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1β, and restrained the expression of chemokines and adhesion molecule vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (VCAM-1) in the lung tissues. Consistently, in vitro experiments conducted in TNF-α-stimulated HMEC-1cells (common and classic vascular endothelial cells) revealed that human STING Inhibitor H-151 or STING siRNA downregulated the expression levels of adhesion molecule and chemokines in HMEC-1cells, accompanied by decreased adhesive ability and chemotaxis of immunocytes upon TNF-α stimulation. We further revealed that STING Inhibitor H-151 or STING knockdown significantly decreased the phosphorylation of transcription factor STAT1, which subsequently influenced its binding to chemokine CCL2 and adhesive molecule VCAM-1 gene promoter. Collectively, STING Inhibitor can alleviate LPS-induced ALI in mice by preventing vascular endothelial cells-mediated immune cell chemotaxis and adhesion, suggesting that STING may be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ALI.

Keywords

STING; acute lung injury; chemokines; chemotaxis; inflammatory cytokines; vascular endothelial cells.

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