Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2019 Oct 30.
Exposure to hypoxia causes an inflammatory reaction in the mouse lung and this response can be modulated by overexpressing the hypoxia-inducible stress-response enzyme, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). We hypothesized that the inflammasome activity may be a central pathway by which HO-1 controls pulmonary inflammation following alveolar hypoxia. Therefore, we investigated whether HO-1 controls inflammasome activation by altering its expression in macrophages primed with classical NLRP3 inducers, and in murine lungs lacking HO-1 and exposed to acute hypoxia. We found that lack of HO-1 activated LPS and ATP-treated bone marrow derived-macrophages (BMDMs) causing an increase in secreted levels of cleaved IL-1B, IL-18, and caspase-1, markers of increased inflammasome activity, whereas HO-1 overexpression suppressed IL-1B, NLRP3, and IL-18. The production of cleaved IL-1B and the activation of caspase-1 in LPS and ATP-primed macrophages were inhibited by hemin, and two of the HO-1 enzymatic products (bilirubin and carbon monoxide (CO)). Exposure of mice to hypoxia induced the expression of several inflammasome mRNA components (IL-1B, Nlrp3 and Caspase-1) and this was further augmented by HO-1 deficiency. This pronounced inflammasome activation was detected as increased protein levels of ASC, IL-18, pro-caspase-1, and cleaved caspase-1 in the lungs of hypoxic mice. Systemically, Hmox1 deficient mice showed increased basal levels of IL-18 that were further increased after 48 hours of hypoxic exposure. Taken together, these finding points to a pivotal role for HO-1 in the control of baseline and hypoxic inflammasome signaling, perhaps through the antioxidant properties of bilirubin and CO's pleiotropic effects.
Keywords: Heme oxygenase-1; Hypoxia; Inflammasome; Macrophage; lung