title: Immunosuppressive activity of endovanilloids: N-arachidonoyl-dopamine inhibits activation of the NF-kappa B, NFAT, and activator protein 1 signaling pathways.
abstract: Endogenous N-acyl dopamines such as N-arachidonoyldopamine (NADA) and N-oleoyldopamine have been recently identified as a new class of brain neurotransmitters sharing endocannabinoid and endovanilloid biological activities. As endocannabinoids show immunomodulatory activity, and T cells play a key role in the onset of several diseases that affect the CNS, we have evaluated the immunosuppressive activity of NADA and N-oleoyldopamine in human T cells, discovering that both compounds are potent inhibitors of early and late events in TCR-mediated T cell activation. Moreover, we found that NADA specifically inhibited both IL-2 and TNF-alpha gene transcription in stimulated Jurkat T cells. To further characterize the inhibitory mechanisms of NADA at the transcriptional level, we examined the DNA binding and transcriptional activities of NF-kappaB, NF-AT, and AP-1 transcription factors in Jurkat cells. We found that NADA inhibited NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional activity without affecting either degradation of the cytoplasmic NF-kappaB inhibitory protein, IkappaBalpha, or DNA binding activity. However, phosphorylation of the p65/RelA subunit was clearly inhibited by NADA in stimulated cells. In addition, NADA inhibited both binding to DNA and the transcriptional activity of NF-AT and AP-1, as expected from the inhibition of NF-AT1 dephosphorylation and c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation in stimulated T cells. Finally, overexpression of a constitutively active form of calcineurin demonstrated that this phosphatase may represent one of the main targets of NADA. These findings provide new mechanistic insights into the anti-inflammatory activities of NADA and highlight their potential to design novel therapeutic strategies to manage inflammatory diseases.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Celular, Fisiología e Inmunología, Universidad de Córdoba, Facultad de Medicina, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sancho
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macho
authors.forename: Laureano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de La Vega
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Calzado
authors.forename: Bernd L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Fiebich
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Appendino
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muñoz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000502:physiology*; D019703:Calcineurin / Q000378:metabolism; D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000502:physiology*; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2; D016328:NF-kappa B; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C474941:arachidonyl dopamine; C075122:N-linoleoyldopamine; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; C482125:MAP2K1 protein, human; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D019703:Calcineurin; D004298:Dopamine