Abstract
Purpose: :
Dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ) derived from the structure of an antibiotic epoxyquinomicin C is a novel nuclear factor (NF) kappa B inhibitor. We investigated whether DHMEQ can modulate the proinflammatory cytokine induced expression of intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and various chemokines in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.
Methods: :
Cultures of ARPE-19 cells were exposed to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and ICAM-1 expression was measured by flow cytometry. Production of interleukin (IL)-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 were assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: :
TNF-alpha increased the expression of ICAM-1 at the protein level in ARPE-19 cells, and DHMEQ effectively downregulated this expression. Furthermore, DHMEQ suppressed the production of both IL-8 and MCP-1 in TNF-alpha stimulated ARPE-19 cells.
Conclusions: :
DHMEQ inhibited the expression of ICAM-1 and the inflammatory chemokines IL-8 and MCP-1 in ARPE-19 cells stimulated with TNF-alpha. This suggests that DHMEQ may play a role in reducing ICAM-1 and chemokine mediated inflammatory disorders in the eye.
Keywords: retinal pigment epithelium • inflammation • immunomodulation/immunoregulation