No abstract

NK cell transcript 4 (NK4), now denoted as IL-32, was originally identified as a transcript whose expression was increased in activated NK cells. It has been very recently demonstrated that NK4 is secreted from several cells upon the stimulation of some inflammatory cytokines such as IL-18, IL-1beta, IFN-gamma and IL-12. Furthermore, NK4 induces production of tumor necrosis factor, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2 and IL-8 in monocytic cell lines, indicating that this factor would be involved in the inflammatory responses. Based on these findings, NK4 was renamed IL-32. However, the biological activities of IL-32 on other cell types remained undetermined. Furthermore, it was still argued whether IL-32 acts on cells from outside or inside the cells. In this article, we first report that expression of IL-32 was up-regulated in activated T cells and NK cells, and that IL-32beta was the predominantly expressed isoform in activated T cells. IL-32 was specifically expressed in T cells undergoing apoptosis and enforced expression of IL-32-induced apoptosis, whereas its down-regulation rescued the cells from apoptosis in HeLa cells. IL-32 existing in the supernatant would be derived from the cytoplasm of apoptotic cells. These results strongly indicated that IL-32 would be involved in activation-induced cell death in T cells, probably via its intracellular actions. Our present findings expand our understanding of the biological function of IL-32 and argue that IL-32 may act on cells, not only from the outside but also from the inside.

CXCR4 is a coreceptor of HIV-1 infection in host cells. Through a photocrosslinking study to identify receptors involved in internalization of oligoarginine cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), we found that CXCR4 serves as a receptor that stimulates macropinocytic uptake of the arginine 12-mer peptide (R12) but not of the 8-mer. We also found that stimulating CXCR4 with its intrinsic ligands, stromal cell-derived factor 1α and HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein 120, induced macropinocytosis. R12 had activity to prevent viral infection for HIV-1(IIIB), a subtype of HIV-1 that uses CXCR4 as a coreceptor for entry into susceptible cells, whereas the addition of a macropinocytosis inhibitor, dimethylamiloride, resulted in enhancement of viral infection. The present study shows that CXCR4 triggers macropinocytosis, which may have implications for the cellular uptake of oligoarginine CPPs and internalization of HIV.

Arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat (48-60) and oligoarginines, have been applied as carriers for delivery of cargo molecules, because of their capacity to internalize into cells and penetrate biological membranes. Despite the fact that they have been extensively studied, the factors required for the efficient internalization of CPPs are still unclear. In this report, we evaluated the internalization efficiencies of seven CPPs derived from DNA/RNA-binding peptides, and discovered that a peptide derived from the flock house virus (FHV) coat protein was internalized most efficiently into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1), HeLa, and Jurkat cells. Comparison of the factors facilitating the internalization with those of the Tat peptide revealed that the FHV peptide induces macropinocytosis much more efficiently than the Tat peptide, which leads to its high cellular uptake efficiency. Additionally, the strong adsorption of the FHV peptide on cell membranes via glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was shown to be a key factor for induction of macropinocytosis, and these steps were successfully monitored by live imaging of the peptide internalization into cells in relation to the actin organization. The remarkable methods of FHV peptide internalization thus highlighted the critical factors for internalizations of the arginine-rich CPPs.