Journal Article•
Exposure of phosphatidylserine on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes triggers specific recognition and removal by macrophages.
01 Apr 1992-Journal of Immunology (American Association of Immunologists)-Vol. 148, Iss: 7, pp 2207-2216
TL;DR: The data suggest that macrophages specifically recognize phosphatidylserine that is exposed on the surface of lymphocytes during the development of apoptosis, and suggest that apoptotic lymphocytes lose membrane phospholipid asymmetry and expose phosphorus on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane.
Abstract: During normal tissue remodeling, macrophages remove unwanted cells, including those that have undergone programmed cell death, or apoptosis. This widespread process extends to the deletion of thymocytes (negative selection), in which cells expressing inappropriate Ag receptors undergo apoptosis, and are phagocytosed by thymic macrophages. Although phagocytosis of effete leukocytes by macrophages has been known since the time of Metchnikoff, only recently has it been recognized that apoptosis leads to surface changes that allow recognition and removal of these cells before they are lysed. Our data suggest that macrophages specifically recognize phosphatidylserine that is exposed on the surface of lymphocytes during the development of apoptosis. Macrophage phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes was inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, by liposomes containing phosphatidyl-L-serine, but not by liposomes containing other anionic phospholipids, including phosphatidyl-D-serine. Phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes was also inhibited by the L isoforms of compounds structurally related to phosphatidylserine, including glycerophosphorylserine and phosphoserine. The membranes of apoptotic lymphocytes bound increased amounts of merocyanine 540 dye relative to those of normal cells, indicating that their membrane lipids were more loosely packed, consistent with a loss of membrane phospholipid asymmetry. Apoptotic lymphocytes were shown to express phosphatidylserine (PS) externally, because PS on their surfaces was accessible to derivatization by fluorescamine, and because apoptotic cells expressed procoagulant activity. These observations suggest that apoptotic lymphocytes lose membrane phospholipid asymmetry and expose phosphatidylserine on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane. Macrophages then phagocytose apoptotic lymphocytes after specific recognition of the exposed PS.
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TL;DR: In multicellular organisms, homeostasis is maintained through a balance between cell proliferation and cell death, and recent evidence suggests that alterations in cell survival contribute to the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases.
Abstract: In multicellular organisms, homeostasis is maintained through a balance between cell proliferation and cell death. Although much is known about the control of cell proliferation, less is known about the control of cell death. Physiologic cell death occurs primarily through an evolutionarily conserved form of cell suicide termed apoptosis. The decision of a cell to undergo apoptosis can be influenced by a wide variety of regulatory stimuli. Recent evidence suggests that alterations in cell survival contribute to the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases, including cancer, viral infections, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Treatments designed to specifically alter the apoptotic threshold may have the potential to change the natural progression of some of these diseases.
6,462 citations
TL;DR: The Annexin V assay offers the possibility of detecting early phases of apoptosis before the loss of cell membrane integrity and permits measurements of the kinetics of apoptotic death in relation to the cell cycle.
5,291 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that binding and/or phagocytosis of apoptotic cells induces active antiinflammatory or suppressive properties in human macrophages, likely that resolution of inflammation depends not only on the removal of apoptosis but on active suppression of inflammatory mediator production.
Abstract: Apoptosis in vivo is followed almost inevitably by rapid uptake into adjacent phagocytic cells, a critical process in tissue remodeling, regulation of the immune response, or resolution of inflammation. Phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by macrophages has been suggested to be a quiet process that does not lead to production of inflammatory mediators. Here we show that phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils (in contrast to immunoglobulin G-opsonized apoptotic cells) actively inhibited the production of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-8, IL-10, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, as well as leukotriene C4 and thromboxane B2, by human monocyte-derived macrophages. In contrast, production of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, prostaglandin E2, and platelet-activating factor (PAF) was increased. The latter appeared to be involved in the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine production because addition of exogenous TGF-beta1, prostaglandin E2, or PAF resulted in inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cytokine production. Furthermore, anti-TGF-beta antibody, indomethacin, or PAF receptor antagonists restored cytokine production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages that had phagocytosed apoptotic cells. These results suggest that binding and/or phagocytosis of apoptotic cells induces active antiinflammatory or suppressive properties in human macrophages. Therefore, it is likely that resolution of inflammation depends not only on the removal of apoptotic cells but on active suppression of inflammatory mediator production. Disorders in either could result in chronic inflammatory diseases.
2,978 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that PS externalization is an early and widespread event during apoptosis of a variety of murine and human cell types, regardless of the initiating stimulus, and precedes several other events normally associated with this mode of cell death.
Abstract: A critical event during programmed cell death (PCD) appears to be the acquisition of plasma membrane (PM) changes that allows phagocytes to recognize and engulf these cells before they rupture. The majority of PCD seen in higher organisms exhibits strikingly similar morphological features, and this form of PCD has been termed apoptosis. The nature of the PM changes that occur on apoptotic cells remains poorly defined. In this study, we have used a phosphatidylserine (PS)-binding protein (annexin V) as a specific probe to detect redistribution of this phospholipid, which is normally confined to the inner PM leaflet, during apoptosis. Here we show that PS externalization is an early and widespread event during apoptosis of a variety of murine and human cell types, regardless of the initiating stimulus, and precedes several other events normally associated with this mode of cell death. We also report that, under conditions in which the morphological features of apoptosis were prevented (macromolecular synthesis inhibition, overexpression of Bcl-2 or Abl), the appearance of PS on the external leaflet of the PM was similarly prevented. These data are compatible with the notion that activation of an inside-outside PS translocase is an early and widespread event during apoptosis.
2,939 citations
Cites background from "Exposure of phosphatidylserine on t..."
...Previously, Fadok and colleagues (15) suggested that the hypothetical exposure of PS on the outer PM leaflet of apoptotic cells may be due to the failure of an outside-inside PS translocase that has been implicated in the maintenance of normal PM asymmetry in erythrocytes and platelet membranes (48, 49)....
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...No t all macrophage populations recognized apoptotic cells in a PS-dependent manner; rather, macrophages derived from the peritoneal cavity of mice (an inflammatory site) used a putative PS receptor to bind apoptotic cells, whereas bone marrow- or blood-derived macrophages used the T S P / V n R / C D 3 6 system (15, 16)....
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...Macrophages elicited from the peritoneal cavities of mice specifically recognized apoptotic cells in a manner that was inhibited by liposomes containing PS, but not by liposomes containing other aminophospholipids (15, 16)....
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...(c) O f particular relevance to this study, Fadok and colleagues (15, 16) have provided convincing evidence for the involvement of PS in the recognition of apoptotic cells by certain macrophage populations....
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...There is also evidence to suggest that phosphatidylserine (PS), which is normally almost totally confined to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane (PM), may act as as a membrane "flag" on apoptotic cells (15-17)....
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TL;DR: Macrophages also play an important role in the recognition and clearance of apoptotic cells; a notable feature of this process is the absence of an inflammatory response.
Abstract: Phagocytosis of pathogens by macrophages initiates the innate immune response, which in turn orchestrates the adaptive response. In order to discriminate between infectious agents and self, macrophages have evolved a restricted number of phagocytic receptors, like the mannose receptor, that recognize conserved motifs on pathogens. Pathogens are also phagocytosed by complement receptors after relatively nonspecific opsonization with complement and by Fc receptors after specific opsonization with antibodies. All these receptors induce rearrangements in the actin cytoskeleton that lead to the internalization of the particle. However, important differences in the molecular mechanisms underlying phagocytosis by different receptors are now being appreciated. These include differences in the cytoskeletal elements that mediate ingestion, differences in vacuole maturation, and differences in inflammatory responses. Infectious agents, such as M. tuberculosis, Legionella pneumophila, and Salmonella typhimurium, enter macrophages via heterogeneous pathways and modify vacuolar maturation in a manner that favors their survival. Macrophages also play an important role in the recognition and clearance of apoptotic cells; a notable feature of this process is the absence of an inflammatory response.
2,774 citations