Thymol reduces the lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney inflammation by modulating lysosomal stress
Abstract
Inflammation-induced overexpression of cytokines can lead to cell death by caspase-dependent or independent signaling pathways. Numerous natural products are used to suppress/re-modulate inflammation. Phenolic monoterpene thymol is widely used in cosmetics and for medical purposes. It has been shown that thymol regulates the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic responses in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced in vitro and in vivo models. However, there is still a need to investigate the molecular mechanism of inflammation and the detailed regulatory roles of thymol on inflammation-dependent signal mechanisms. In the present study, the possible protective effects of thymol on inflammation-mediated lysosomal stress in the LPS-induced acute kidney inflammation model were investigated on HEK293 cells. To mimic the inflammation in HEK293 cells, LPS was applied to the cells for 24 h. Following, cells were treated with various doses of thymol and total protein was isolated from the cells. Inflammation-associated Interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-⍺ (TNF-⍺), nuclear factor kappa B (Nf-κB) and phospho-Nf-κB protein levels, autophagy-related Beclin-1, autophagy-related 5 (Atg5), p62/SQSTM1 and microtubule- associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3-I/II), ubiquitin proteosome system-associated polyubiquitin, cell death- associated caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1) protein levels were examined by immunoblotting. We find that LPS-induced acute inflammation caused the suppressing of autophagic flux and reducing degradation of polyubiquitinated proteins. Thymol treatment markedly reversed the suppression of autophagy and stacking of poly- ubiquitinated protein by LPS. Also, LPS-induced acute inflammation did not cause caspase activation, it caused an increase in lysosomal stress-related PARP-1 cleavage pattern and thymol administration efficiently reduced PARP-1 cleavage. Our results suggested that LPS-induced acute inflammation triggers blockage of autophagic flux and thymol has a protective role against LPS-induced lysosomal stress.
Keywords
References
- Balkwill F, Mantovani A. Inflammation and cancer: back to Virchow? Lancet. 2001; 357(9255):539–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(00)04046-0
- Aggarwal BB. Nuclear factor-kappaB: the enemy within. Cancer Cell. 2004; 6(3):203–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2004.09.003
- Dolcet X, Llobet D, Pallares J, Matias-Guiu X. NF-kB in development and progression of human cancer. Virchows Archiv. 2005;446(5),475–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-005-1264-9
- Hayden MS, Ghosh S. Signaling to NF-kappaB. Genes Dev. 2004;18(18):2195–224. https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.1228704
- Fehrenbacher N, Bastholm L, Kirkegaard-Sørensen T, Rafn B, Bøttzauw T, Nielsen C, Weber E, Shirasawa S, Kallunki T, Jaattela M. Sensitization to the Lysosomal Cell Death Pathway by Oncogene-Induced Down-regulation of Lysosome-Associated Membrane Proteins 1 and 2. Cancer Research. 2008;68: 6623–33. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-0463
- Karch J, Schips TG, Maliken BD, Brody MJ, Sargent MA, Kanisicak O, Molkentin JD. Autophagic cell death is dependent on lysosomal membrane permeability through Bax and Bak. eLife. 2017;6:e30543. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.30543
- Boya P, Kroemer G. Lysosomal membrane permeabilization in cell death. Oncogene. 2008;27(50): 6434–6451. https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2008.310
- Wu Y, Sun Y, Dong X, Chen J, Wang Z, Chen J, Dong G. The Synergism of PGN, LTA and LPS in Inducing Transcriptome Changes, Inflammatory Responses and a Decrease in Lactation as Well as the Associated Epigenetic Mechanisms in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells. Toxins. 2020;12(6): 387. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12060387
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Medical Pharmacology
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Deniz Çataklı
0000-0001-7327-5396
Türkiye
Publication Date
June 27, 2025
Submission Date
November 5, 2022
Acceptance Date
December 19, 2022
Published in Issue
Year 2023 Volume: 27 Number: 2