title: NF-kappaB protects HIV-1-infected myeloid cells from apoptosis.
abstract: HIV-1 infection of primary monocytic cells and myeloid cell lines results in sustained NF-kappaB activation. Recently, NF-kappaB induction has been shown to play a role in protecting cells from programmed cell death. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether constitutive NF-kappaB activity in chronically HIV-1-infected promonocytic U937 (U9-IIIB) and myeloblastic PLB-985 (PLB-IIIB) cells affects apoptotic signaling. TNFalpha and cycloheximide caused infected cells to undergo apoptosis more rapidly than parental U937 and PLB-985 cells. Inhibition of TNFalpha-induced NF-kappaB activation using the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) resulted in increased apoptosis in both U937 and U9-IIIB cells, while preactivation of NF-kappaB with the non-apoptotic inducer IL-1beta caused a relative decrease in apoptosis. Inhibition of constitutive NF-kappaB activity in U9-IIIB and PLB-IIIB cells also induced apoptosis, suggesting that NF-kappaB protects cells from a persistent apoptotic signal. TNFalpha plus NAC treatment resulted in a marked decrease in Bcl-2 protein levels in HIV-1-infected cells, coupled with an increase in Bax protein compared to uninfected cells, suggesting that the difference in susceptibility to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis may relate to the differences in relative levels of Bcl-2 and Bax. The protective role of NF-kappaB in blocking TNFalpha- and HIV-1-induced apoptosis was supported by studies in Jurkat T cells engineered to express IkappaB alpha repressor mutants (TD-IkappaB) under the control of a tetracycline-responsive promoter. Cells underwent apoptosis in response to TNFalpha only when NF-kappaB activation was inhibited by TD-IkappaB expression. As was observed for the U9-IIIB cells, TNFalpha treatment also induced a marked decrease in Bcl-2 protein levels in TD-IkappaB expressing cells. These experiments demonstrate that apoptotic signaling is perturbed in HIV-1-infected U9-IIIB cells and indicate that NF-kappaB activation may play an additional protective role against HIV-1-induced apoptosis in myeloid cells.
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DeLuca
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wainberg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hiscott
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D009000:Monocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
chemical_list: C494826:BAX protein, human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; C000606204:NFKBIA protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha