RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Arginase 1 is negatively regulated by β-catenin signaling in the lung
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 137539
DO 10.1101/137539
A1 Joseph A. Sennello
A1 Annette S. Flozak
A1 Alexander V. Misharin
A1 Cara J. Gottardi
A1 Anna P. Lam
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/05/12/137539.abstract
AB We previously demonstrated that mice lacking the Wnt co-receptor, Lrp5, had attenuated pulmonary fibrosis in the bleomycin model. We found that Arginase 1 (Arg1), an enzyme that converts L-arginine to urea and ornithine, was markedly elevated in Lrp5-/- lungs compared with wild-type mice after bleomycin injury. We show that this induction is not apparently due to the expression of Th2 cytokines, IL-4 and IL-13, but instead is due to Wnt/β-catenin signaling, which negatively regulates Arg1 expression in lung macrophages. Although Arg1 expression in macrophages has been used to define an alternatively activated phenotype, flow cytometry analysis of alveolar and interstitial macrophage sub-populations in Lrp5-/- lungs 14 days after bleomycin injury revealed no clear evidence of skewing from a classical to an alternatively activated phenotype. Upregulation of Arg1 expression and arginase activity might diminish lung arginine levels with consequent alterations in collagen or cytokine production. However, dietary supplementation of bleomycin-treated Lrp5-/- mice with the Arg1 substrate, L-arginine, failed to alter lung collagen content or cytokine levels 21 days after bleomycin injury. These findings demonstrate that Arg1 is negatively regulated by β-catenin signaling in macrophages, raising the possibility that Wnt signaling directs alterations in immune cell metabolism that may be relevant to lung repair after injury.