| First Author | Singh K | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol | Volume | 305 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | G225-40 |
| PubMed ID | 23703655 | Mgi Jnum | J:205084 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5543992 | Doi | 10.1152/ajpgi.00091.2013 |
| Citation | Singh K, et al. (2013) Deletion of cationic amino acid transporter 2 exacerbates dextran sulfate sodium colitis and leads to an IL-17-predominant T cell response. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 305(3):G225-40 |
| abstractText | L-Arginine (L-Arg) is a semiessential amino acid that has altered availability in human ulcerative colitis (UC), a form of inflammatory bowel disease, and is beneficial in murine colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), a model with similarity to UC. We assessed the role of cationic amino acid transporter 2 (CAT2), the inducible transporter of L-Arg, in DSS colitis. Expression of CAT2 was upregulated in tissues from colitic mice and localized predominantly to colonic macrophages. CAT2-deficient (CAT2-/-) mice exposed to DSS exhibited worsening of survival, body weight loss, colon weight, and histological injury. These effects were associated with increased serum L-Arg and decreased tissue L-Arg uptake and inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression. Clinical benefits of L-Arg supplementation in wild-type mice were lost in CAT2-/- mice. There was increased infiltration of macrophages, dendritic cells, granulocytes, and T cells in colitic CAT2-/- compared with wild-type mice. Cytokine profiling revealed increases in proinflammatory granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, IL-15, and regulated and normal T cell-expressed and -secreted and a shift from an IFN-gamma- to an IL-17-predominant T cell response, as well as an increase in IL-13, in tissues from colitic CAT2-/- mice. However, there were no increases in other T helper cell type 2 cytokines, nor was there a global increase in macrophage-derived proinflammatory cytokines. The increase in IL-17 derived from both CD4 and gammadelta T cells and was associated with colonic IL-6 expression. Thus CAT2 plays an important role in controlling inflammation and IL-17 activation in an injury model of colitis, and impaired L-Arg availability may contribute to UC pathogenesis. |