Immune Netw.  2018 Aug;18(4):e32. 10.4110/in.2018.18.e32.

Viperin Deficiency Promotes Polarization of Macrophages and Secretion of M1 and M2 Cytokines

• Eom J
• Yoo J
• Kim JJ
• Lee JB
• Choi W
• Park CG
• Seo JY

• KMID: 2419777
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4110/in.2018.18.e32

Abstract

Viperin is a multifunctional protein that was first identified in human primary macrophages treated with interferon-γ and in human fibroblasts infected with human cytomegalovirus. This protein plays a role as an anti-viral protein and a regulator of cell signaling pathways or cellular metabolism when induced in a variety of cells such as fibroblasts, hepatocytes and immune cells including T cells and dendritic cells. However, the role of viperin in macrophages is unknown. Here, we show that viperin is basally expressed in murine bone marrow cells including monocytes. Its expression is maintained in bone marrow monocyte-derived macrophages (BMDMs) depending on macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) treatment but not on granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) treatment. In wild type (WT) and viperin knockout (KO) BMDMs differentiated with M-CSF or G-MCSF, there are little differences at the gene expression levels of M1 and M2 macrophage markers such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and arginase-1, and cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-10, indicating that viperin expression in BMDMs does not affect the basal gene expression of macrophage markers and cytokines. However, when BMDMs are completely polarized, the levels of expression of macrophage markers and secretion of cytokines in viperin KO M1 and M2 macrophages are significantly higher than those in WT M1 and M2 macrophages. The data suggest that viperin plays a role as a regulator in polarization of macrophages and secretion of M1 and M2 cytokines.

Keyword

Viperin; Macrophage; iNOS; Arginase-1; IL-6; IL-10

MeSH Terms

Bone Marrow
Bone Marrow Cells
Cytokines*
Cytomegalovirus
Dendritic Cells
Fibroblasts
Gene Expression
Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
Hepatocytes
Humans
Interleukin-10
Interleukin-6
Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
Macrophages*
Metabolism
Monocytes
Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II
T-Lymphocytes
Cytokines
Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
Interleukin-10
Interleukin-6
Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II