Guanine-modified inhibitory oligonucleotides efficiently impair TLR7- and TLR9-mediated immune responses of human immune cells

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 19;10(2):e0116703. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116703. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Activation of TLR7 and TLR9 by endogenous RNA- or DNA-containing ligands, respectively, is thought to contribute to the complicated pathophysiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These ligands induce the release of type-I interferons by plasmacytoid dendritic cells and autoreactive antibodies by B-cells, both responses being key events in perpetuating SLE. We recently described the development of inhibitory oligonucleotides (INH-ODN), which are characterized by a phosphorothioate backbone, a CC(T)XXX3-5GGG motif and a chemical modification of the G-quartet to avoid the formation of higher order structures via intermolecular G-tetrads. These INH-ODNs were equally or significantly more efficient to impair TLR7- and TLR9-stimulated murine B-cells, macrophages, conventional and plasmacytoid dendritic cells than the parent INH-ODN 2088, which lacks G-modification. Here, we evaluate the inhibitory/therapeutic potential of our set of G-modified INH-ODN on human immune cells. We report the novel finding that G-modified INH-ODNs efficiently inhibited the release of IFN-α by PBMC stimulated either with the TLR7-ligand oligoribonucleotide (ORN) 22075 or the TLR9-ligand CpG-ODN 2216. G-modification of INH-ODNs significantly improved inhibition of IL-6 release by PBMCs and purified human B-cells stimulated with the TLR7-ligand imiquimod or the TLR9-ligand CpG-ODN 2006. Furthermore, inhibition of B-cell activation analyzed by expression of activation markers and intracellular ATP content was significantly improved by G-modification. As observed with murine B-cells, high concentrations of INH-ODN 2088 but not of G-modified INH-ODNs stimulated IL-6 secretion by PBMCs in the absence of TLR-ligands thus limiting its blocking efficacy. In summary, G-modification of INH-ODNs improved their ability to impair TLR7- and TLR9-mediated signaling in those human immune cells which are considered as crucial in the pathophysiology of SLE.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Dendritic Cells / drug effects
  • Dendritic Cells / metabolism
  • Female
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Guanine / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / drug effects
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / metabolism*
  • Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / metabolism
  • Macrophages / drug effects
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / chemistry
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / pharmacology
  • Oligonucleotides / chemistry*
  • Oligonucleotides / pharmacology*
  • Toll-Like Receptor 7 / genetics
  • Toll-Like Receptor 7 / metabolism*
  • Toll-Like Receptor 9 / genetics
  • Toll-Like Receptor 9 / metabolism*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • CpG ODN 2006
  • CpG ODN 2216
  • Interleukin-6
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides
  • Oligonucleotides
  • Toll-Like Receptor 7
  • Toll-Like Receptor 9
  • Guanine

Grants and funding

This project was integrated into the m4 cluster in Munich, and funded by Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF, grant 01EX1022Q). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or in the preparation of the manuscript. Co-author Marion Jurk is employed by Miltenyi Biotec GmbH. Co-author Eugen Uhlmann is employed by Adiutide Pharmaceuticals GmbH and co-author Jörg Vollmer is employed by Nexigen GmbH. Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, Adiutide Pharmaceuticals GmbH and Nexigen GmbH provided support in the form of salaries for authors MJ, EU and JV, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.