title: Role of Toll-like receptor-4 in genetic susceptibility to lung injury induced by residual oil fly ash.
abstract: The mechanisms of susceptibility to particle-induced lung injury are not clearly understood. To evaluate the contribution of genetic background to pulmonary pathogenesis, we compared the lung injury responses to residual oil fly ash (ROFA) in inbred mouse strains and calculated heritability estimates. Significant interstrain (genetic) variation was observed in ROFA-induced lung inflammation and hyperpermeability phenotypes; broad-sense heritability ranged from approximately 0.43 to 0.62, and the coefficient of genetic determination ranged from 0.28 to 0.45. C3H/HeJ (HeJ) mice were most resistant to the ROFA-induced injury responses. This was particularly important, as HeJ mice contain a dominant negative mutation in Toll-like receptor-4 (Tlr4). We then characterized ROFA-induced injury and TLR4 signaling in HeJ mice and its coisogenic strain C3H/HeOuJ (OuJ; Tlr4 normal) to understand the potential role of Tlr4 in this model. ROFA-induced lung injury was significantly greater in OuJ mice compared with HeJ mice. ROFA also significantly enhanced transcript and protein levels of lung TLR4 in OuJ but not in HeJ mice. Greater activation of downstream signal molecules (i.e., MYD88, TRAF6, IRAK-1, NF-kappaB, MAPK, AP-1) was observed in OuJ mice than in HeJ mice before the development of ROFA-induced pulmonary injury. Putative TLR4-dependent inflammatory genes that were differentially induced by ROFA in the two strains include interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Results support an important contribution of genetic background to particle-mediated lung injury, and Tlr4 is a candidate susceptibility gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. cho2@niehs.nih.gov
authors.forename: Hye-Youn
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Jedlicka
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Kleeberger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002244:Carbon / Q000633:toxicity*; D060729:Coal Ash; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D055370:Lung Injury; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D060729:Coal Ash; D016207:Cytokines; D016328:NF-kappa B; D052638:Particulate Matter; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D002244:Carbon; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases