Inhibition of nitric-oxide synthase-I (NOS-I)-dependent nitric oxide production by lipopolysaccharide plus interferon-γ is mediated by arachidonic acid: Effects on NFκB activation and late inducible NOS expression

Abstract

Previous results have indicated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus interferon-γ (IFNγ) inhibits nitric-oxide synthase (NOS)-I activity in glial cells. We report here that arachidonic acid (AA) plays a pivotal role in this response, which was consistently reproduced in different glial cell lines and in primary rat astrocytes. This notion was established using pharmacological inhibitors of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), cytosolic PLA2 (cPLA2) antisense oligonucleotides, and AA add-back experiments. This approach not only allowed the demonstration that AA promotes inhibition of NOS-I activity but also produced novel experimental evidence that LPS/IFNγ itself is a potential stimulus for NOS-I. Indeed, LPS/IFNγ fails to generate nitric oxide (NO) via NOS-I activation simply because it activates the AA-dependent signal that impedes NOS-I activity. Otherwise, LPS/IFNγ promotes NO formation, sensitive to exogenous AA, in cells in which cPLA2 is pharmacologically inhibited or genetically depleted. Because NO suppresses the NFκB-dependent NOS-II expression, inactivation of NOS-I by the LPS/IFNγ-induced AA pathway provides optimal conditions for NFκB activation and subsequent NOS-II expression. Inhibition of cPLA2 activity, while reducing the availability of AA, consistently inhibited NFκB activation and NOS-II mRNA induction and delayed NO formation. These responses were promptly reestablished by addition of exogenous AA. Finally, we have demonstrated that the LPS/IFNγ-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of NOS-I and inhibition of its activity are mediated by endogenous AA.