title: β-Lapachone, a substrate of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, induces anti-inflammatory heme oxygenase-1 via AMP-activated protein kinase activation in RAW264.7 macrophages.
abstract: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a crucial regulator of energy metabolic homeostasis, is suggested to regulate inflammatory responses, but its precise mechanisms are not fully understood. It has been reported that pharmacological activation of AMPK induces heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression. β-Lapachone (BL), a well-known substrate of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), has been demonstrated to stimulate AMPK activation via NQO1 activation, and to exert anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages. Here we examined whether AMPK activation by BL would be linked to HO-1 expression in RAW264.7 macrophages and whether HO-1 expression could mediate the anti-inflammatory effects of BL. BL treatment induced concentration- and time-dependent AMPK phosphorylation and HO-1 expression. 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside, an AMPK activator, also induced HO-1 expression. In contrast, compound C (CC), an inhibitor of AMPK activation, prevented the increase in BL-induced HO-1 expression. BL pretreatment reduced lipopolysaccharide-induced production of tumor necrosis factor-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, a pro-inflammatory enzyme. These inhibitory effects BL were almost completely abolished by CC and partly by tin protoporphyrin-IX, a competitive inhibitor of HO-1. Accordingly, the present results indicate that BL induces anti-inflammatory HO-1 expression in macrophages via AMPK activation, providing one of possible mechanisms by which BL can exert anti-inflammatory effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan 570-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Young
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Baik
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hwan Cho
authors.forename: Hun-Taeg
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Hyun-Ock
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Pae
keywords: AMP-activated protein kinase; heme oxygenase-1; inducible nitric oxide synthase; tumor necrosis factor-α; β-lapachone