RNA sequencing reveals resistance of TLR4 ligand-activated microglial cells to inflammation mediated by the selective jumonji H3K27 demethylase inhibitor

Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 26;7(1):6554. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06914-5.

Abstract

Persistent microglial activation is associated with the production and secretion of various pro-inflammatory genes, cytokines and chemokines, which may initiate or amplify neurodegenerative diseases. A novel synthetic histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27) demethylase JMJD3 inhibitor, GSK-J4, was proven to exert immunosuppressive activities in macrophages. However, a genome-wide search for GSK-J4 molecular targets has not been undertaken in microglia. To study the immuno-modulatory effects of GSK-J4 at the transcriptomic level, triplicate RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR analyses were performed with resting, GSK-J4-, LPS- and LPS + GSK-J4-challenged primary microglial (PM) and BV-2 microglial cells. Among the annotated genes, the transcriptional sequencing of microglia that were treated with GSK-J4 revealed a selective effect on LPS-induced gene expression, in which the induction of cytokines/chemokines, interferon-stimulated genes, and prominent transcription factors TFs, as well as previously unidentified genes that are important in inflammation was suppressed. Furthermore, we showed that GSK-J4 controls are important inflammatory gene targets by modulating STAT1, IRF7, and H3K27me3 levels at their promoter sites. These unprecedented results demonstrate that the histone demethylase inhibitor GSK-J4 could have therapeutic applications for neuroinflammatory diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Benzazepines / metabolism*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Inflammation / pathology*
  • Jumonji Domain-Containing Histone Demethylases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Mice
  • Microglia / drug effects*
  • Pyrimidines / metabolism*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Toll-Like Receptor 4 / metabolism*

Substances

  • Benzazepines
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • GSK-J4
  • Pyrimidines
  • Tlr4 protein, mouse
  • Toll-Like Receptor 4
  • Jumonji Domain-Containing Histone Demethylases
  • Kdm6b protein, mouse