Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin

Featured article

Volume 41 (2018) Issue 6 Pages 925-936

A Novel Mechanism of γ-Irradiation-Induced IL-6 Production Mediated by P2Y11 Receptor in Epidermal Keratinocytes

Airi Ohsaki, Yuki Miyano, Rei Tanaka, Sei-ichi Tanuma, Shuji Kojima, Mitsutoshi Tsukimoto

Skin inflammation is caused by excessive production of cytokines and chemokines in response to an external stimulus, such as radiation, but the mechanisms involved are not completely understood. Here, we report a novel mechanism of γ-irradiation-induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) production mediated by P2Y11 receptors in epidermal cells. After irradiation of HaCaT cells derived from human epidermal keratinocytes with 5 Gy of γ-rays (¹³⁷Cs: 0.78 Gy/min), IL-6 production was unchanged at 24 h after γ-irradiation, but was increased at 48 h. IL-6 mRNA was increased at 30 h, and IL-6 production was increased at 33 h after irradiation. The production of IL-6 was sustained at least for 4 d after irradiation. P2Y11 receptor antagonist NF157 inhibited IL-6 production in irradiated cells. Treatment with ATP, a ligand of P2Y11 receptor caused IL-6 production within 24 h. ATP-induced IL-6 production was also suppressed by NF157. Extracellular ATP level was increased after irradiation. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling was involved in the production of IL-6 at the downstream of P2Y11 receptor activation. In addition, the cell cycle was arrested at the G2/M phase, and DNA repair foci were not disappeared at 48 h after γ-irradiation. The protein level of histone methylation enzyme G9a, which inhibits IL-6 production, was decreased after γ-irradiation. In conclusion, we suggest that γ-irradiation induces sustained IL-6 production in HaCaT cells from 33 h after irradiation, which is mediated through P2Y11 receptor-p38 MAPK-NF-κB signaling pathway and G9a degradation. This is a novel mechanism of cytokine production in γ-irradiated cells.

Editor’s picks

The article by Ohsaki et al. proposed a novel mechanism of cytokine production in γ-irradiated cells. γ-Ray irradiation induced sustained IL-6 production in HaCaT epidermal cells from 33 h after irradiation. Extracellular ATP-induced activation of P2Y11 receptor was involved in the production of IL-6. At the downstream of P2Y11 receptor activation, the p38 MAPK and NF-kB signaling was involved in IL-6 production. The protein level of G9a, which inhibits IL-6 production, was decreased after g-irradiation. These findings should be helpful to understand the pathogenesis of radiation-induced inflammation, as well as the potential side effects of therapeutic irradiation.

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Volume 41 (2018) Issue 6

Triterpenic Acids from Potentilla parvifolia and Their Protective Effects against Okadaic Acid Induced Neurotoxicity in Differentiated SH-SY5Y Cells Zhen-zhen Yuan, You-rui Suo, Xue-yan Hao, Shu-lin Wang, Gang Li, Hong-lun Wang
An E3 Ubiquitin Ligase, Synoviolin, Is Involved in the Degradation of Homocysteine-Inducible Endoplasmic Reticulum Protein Tomoji Maeda, Yu Fujita, Chiaki Tanabe-Fujimura, Kun Zou, Junjun Liu, Shuyu Liu, Kota Kikuchi, Xuefeng Shen, Toshihiro Nakajima, Hiroto Komano
Preparation of Curcumin-Containing α-, β-, and γ-Cyclodextrin/Polyethyleneglycol-Conjugated Gold Multifunctional Nanoparticles and Their in Vitro Cytotoxic Effects on A549 Cells Akihiro Hoshikawa, Mizuki Nagira, Masafumi Tane, Kaori Fukushige, Tatsuaki Tagami, Tetsuya Ozeki
Molecular Identification of Three Aquilaria (Thymelaeaceae) Species through DNA Barcoding Qiwei Li, Hanjing Yan, Dan Lin, Yesheng Wang, Mengling He, Weimin Zhang, Xiaoxia Gao, Shuang Zhu

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