title: Fn14-TRAIL, a chimeric intercellular signal exchanger, attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
abstract: Hallmarks of the pathogenesis of autoimmune encephalomyelitis include perivascular infiltration of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system, multifocal demyelination in the brain and spinal cord, and focal neuronal degeneration. Optimal treatment of this complex disease will ultimately call for agents that target the spectrum of underlying pathogenic processes. In the present study, Fn14-TRAIL is introduced as a unique immunotherapeutic fusion protein that is designed to exchange and redirect intercellular signals within inflammatory cell networks, and, in so doing, to impact multiple pathogenic events and yield a net anti-inflammatory effect. In this soluble protein product, a Fn14 receptor component (capable of blocking the pro-inflammatory TWEAK ligand) is fused to a TRAIL ligand (capable of inhibiting activated, pathogenic T cells). Sustained Fn14-TRAIL expression was obtained in vivo using a transposon-based eukaryotic expression vector. Fn14-TRAIL expression effectively prevented chronic, nonremitting, paralytic disease in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-challenged C57BL/6 mice. Disease suppression in this model was reflected by decreases in the clinical score, disease incidence, nervous tissue inflammation, and Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokine responses. Significantly, the therapeutic efficacy of Fn14-TRAIL could not be recapitulated simply by administering its component parts (Fn14 and TRAIL) as soluble agents, either alone or in combination. Its functional pleiotropism was manifest in its additional ability to attenuate the enhanced permeability of the blood-brain barrier that typically accompanies autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Marjaneh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Razmara
authors.forename: Brendan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hilliard
authors.forename: Azadeh K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ziarani
authors.forename: Ramachandran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Murali
authors.forename: Srikanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yellayi
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghazanfar
authors.forename: Youhai H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tykocinski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D016466:CHO Cells; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000074050:TWEAK Receptor
chemical_list: C000622071:Fn14-TRAIL fusion protein, human; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; C000613297:TNFRSF12A protein, human; D000074050:TWEAK Receptor; C000613299:Tnfrsf12a protein, mouse; C505654:Tnfsf10 protein, mouse