Abstract
Purpose:
Dry Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been associated with an increase in oxidative stress and inflammatory processes within the retina. Oxidized molecules like 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) have been detected in the eyes of dry AMD patients, supporting the role of these processes in the diseases. The purpose of this work is to develop an AAV vector that delivers a secretable and cell penetrating CARD to study the role of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1 beta (IL-1β) in dry AMD.
Methods:
The CARD domain was amplified from the human apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) gene and fused to the cell-penetrating peptide sequence derived from the HIV Tat protein using PCR. The product was fused to either a puromycin resistance gene in a lentiviral vector plasmid or to a secretable form of GFP through a furin cleavage site. The sequence of the TatCARD insert was verified by DNA sequencing and cloned in an AAV plasmid. The monocytic cell line THP-1 and the retina pigmented ephitelium like cell line ARPE-19 were transduced with lentiviral vectors to generate stable cell lines by selecting for puromycin resistant cells. Expression of TatCARD was determined by western blot, and its biological effect on LPS or 4-HNE induced secretion of IL-1β was measured by ELISA. Cellular localization of the secretable TatCARD was determined by fluorescent microscopy. Detection of secreted TatCARD was inferred western blot using cell conditioned media.
Results:
The expression of the TatCARD significantly inhibited the LPS induced secretion of IL-1β from THP-1 cells. The cellular distribution of sGFP-TatCARD in transfected cells was punctate in contrast to the cytoplasmic distribution of GFP. The fused sGFP-TatCARD construct was detected in tranfected cell lysates, whereas the cleaved GFP was detected in the corresponding cell conditioned media. Stable ARPE-19 cells transduced with either empty lentivector control or TatCARD lentivector were stimulated with 4-HNE at 30µM for 24 hours. The levels of secreted IL-1β in the conditioned media were lower in cells expressing the TatCARD construct than in the empty lentivector control cells.
Conclusions:
The expression of TatCARD inhibits the LPS and the 4-HNE induced secretion of IL-1β. We have successfully constructed a secretable form of the TatCARD protein that may be useful in blocking retinal and RPE inflammation.
Keywords: 557 inflammation •
701 retinal pigment epithelium •
538 gene transfer/gene therapy