Cannabinoid enhancement of lncRNA MMP25-AS1/MMP25 interaction reduces neutrophil infiltration and intestinal epithelial injury in HIV/SIV infection
Lakmini S. Premadasa, … , Smita Kulkarni, Mahesh Mohan
Lakmini S. Premadasa, … , Smita Kulkarni, Mahesh Mohan
Published April 10, 2023
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2023;8(7):e167903. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.167903.
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Research Article AIDS/HIV

Cannabinoid enhancement of lncRNA MMP25-AS1/MMP25 interaction reduces neutrophil infiltration and intestinal epithelial injury in HIV/SIV infection

Abstract

Intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction, a hallmark of HIV/SIV infection, persists despite viral suppression by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Emerging evidence suggests a critical role for long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in maintaining epithelial homeostasis. We simultaneously profiled lncRNA/mRNA expression exclusively in colonic epithelium (CE) of SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs) administered vehicle (VEH) or Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Relative to controls, fewer lncRNAs were up- or downregulated in CE of THC/SIV compared with VEH/SIV RMs. Importantly, reciprocal expression of the natural antisense lncRNA MMP25-AS1 (up 2.3-fold) and its associated protein-coding gene MMP25 (attracts neutrophils by inactivating alpha-1 anti-trypsin/SERPINA1) (down 2.2-fold) was detected in CE of THC/SIV RMs. Computational analysis verified 2 perfectly matched complementary regions and an energetically stable (normalized binding free energy = –0.2626) MMP25-AS1/MMP25 duplex structure. MMP25-AS1 overexpression blocked IFN-γ–induced MMP25 mRNA and protein expression in vitro. Elevated MMP25 protein expression in CE of VEH/SIV but not THC/SIV RMs was associated with increased infiltration by myeloperoxidase/CD11b++ neutrophils (transendothelial migration) and epithelial CD47 (transepithelial migration) expression. Interestingly, THC administered in combination with cART increased MMP25-AS1 and reduced MMP25 mRNA/protein expression in jejunal epithelium of SIV-infected RMs. Our findings demonstrate that MMP25-AS1 is a potentially unique epigenetic regulator of MMP25 and that low-dose THC can reduce neutrophil infiltration and intestinal epithelial injury potentially by downregulating MMP25 expression through modulation of MMP25-AS1.

Authors

Lakmini S. Premadasa, Eunhee Lee, Marina McDew-White, Xavier Alvarez, Sahana Jayakumar, Binhua Ling, Chioma M. Okeoma, Siddappa N. Byrareddy, Smita Kulkarni, Mahesh Mohan

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Figure 3

THC decreases MMP25 while elevating TIMP2 protein expression in CE of SIV-infected RMs.

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THC decreases MMP25 while elevating TIMP2 protein expression in CE of SI...
Whole colon tissue sections were immunostained for MMP25 (A) (green) and TIMP2 (E) (red) and DAPI for nuclear staining (blue). Note the increased MMP25 (A) and decreased TIMP2 (E) protein expression, specifically in CE of VEH/SIV (n = 5) compared with THC/SIV (n = 5) and control (n = 5) RMs. Representative immunofluorescence images were captured using a Zeiss confocal microscope at 20× original magnification. Scale bars: 50 μm. The demarcation of CE regions excluding the lamina propria compartment using the freehand tool in HALO (B). Differences in MMP25 (C) and TIMP2 (F) signal intensity between groups were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA employing the Prism v9 (GraphPad Prism). A P value of <0.05 was considered significant. Data represent mean ± SEM. STRING v 11.0 software was used to predict the MMP25 protein-protein interactions with other proteins (D). Each node represents all the proteins produced by a single protein-coding gene locus. Edges represent protein-protein associations.