Involvement of galectin-9 in guinea pig allergic airway inflammation.
BACKGROUND
There is little information about the involvement of galectin-9 (Gal-9) in allergic inflammation. Thus, we investigated the role of Gal-9 in asthma model guinea pigs.


METHODS
Airway resistance (R(aw)) was measured using a double-flow plethysmograph system. Gal-9 expression in the lung was assessed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Eosinophil chemotactic activity was evaluated in a chamber containing a polyvinylpyrolidone-free membrane. Cell apoptosis was analyzed on a flowcytometry with propidium iodide.


RESULTS
In cloning guinea pig Gal-9 we identified three isoforms that differ only in the length of their linker peptides, just as with human Gal-9. Guinea pig Gal-9 was found to be a chemoattractant for eosinophils and to promote induction of apoptosis in sensitized but not non-sensitized T lymphocytes. In allergic airway hypersensitivity model, a low level of Gal-9 expression was observed in the nonsensitized/nonchallenged group, but upregulation was detected at 7 h after challenge and sustained up to 24 h. Such upregulation correlated with elevation of eosinophil peroxidase activity but not with increased R(aw).


CONCLUSIONS
The present results provide evidence that Gal-9 is not involved in airway hypersensitivity, but is partly involved in prolonged eosinophil accumulation in the lung.
Yamamoto
Hitomi
H
Department of Immunology and Immunopathology, Kagawa University Faculty of Medicine, Kita-Gun, Kagawa, Japan.
Kashio
Yumiko
Y
Shoji
Hiroki
H
Shinonaga
Rika
R
Yoshimura
Teizo
T
Nishi
Nozomu
N
Nabe
Takeshi
T
Nakamura
Takanori
T
Kohno
Shigekatsu
S
Hirashima
Mitsuomi
M
D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001483:Base Sequence; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D047209:Eosinophil Peroxidase / Q000032:analysis; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D037161:Galectins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000633:toxicity; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011657:Pulmonary Eosinophilia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D037161:Galectins; C105032:LGALS9 protein, human; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C508186:galectin 9, mouse; D010047:Ovalbumin; D047209:Eosinophil Peroxidase