Orientadora: Prof. Dra. Fernanda Dias da Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnociência, 2016. / A microplusina e um peptideo antimicrobiano, quelante de Cu2+ e Fe2+, isolado do carrapato Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Estudos com macrofagos murinos, derivados de camundongos C57BL/6, demonstraram que a microplusina induziu a producao de TNF- ¿¿ e IL-6, independente da adicao de mediadores do sistema imune como o LPS e IFN-¿Á e potencializou a atividade dos macrofagos estimulados com IFN-¿Á, aumentando a sintese de NO e TNF-¿¿, o que sugere uma possivel atividade pro-inflamatoria da microplusina. Porem, estudos adicionais eram necessarios a fim de se elucidar sua atividade imunomoduladora. Sendo assim, este projeto teve como objetivo investigar a capacidade da microplusina induzir respostas anti-inflamatorias, atraves da sintese da enzima arginase I, ou pro-inflamatorias, atraves da sintese de oxido nitrico (NO), em macrofagos J774, derivados de camundongos BALB/c. Os resultados mostraram que a microplusina recombinante (25¿Êg/mL) induziu a producao de arginase I, com 6 horas de estimulo, com igual eficacia ao controle positivo estimulado pelo extrato de Bordetella parapertussis (30¿Êg/mL), porem nao foi capaz de induzir a sintese de NO, independente da dose do peptideo (5, 25 e 50 ¿Êg/mL), do tempo de estimulo da cultura (24h ou 72h) ou mesmo da adicao de IFN-¿Á (500 pg/mL), o que indica um efeito anti-inflamatorio da microplusina sobre essas celulas. Essa divergencia de resultado entre as duas linhagens pode ser devido a um perfil de respostas imune distinto entre as mesmas. Macrofagos derivados de camundongos BALB/c sao menos sensiveis ao estimulo com IFN-¿Á do que macrofagos derivados de C57BL/6, consequentemente produzindo menos NO. Por outro lado, a linhagem J774 tambem tende a produzir respostas anti-inflamatorias, como por exemplo, a arginase I, em resposta ao LPS. Os dados obtidos mostram que o efeito imunomodulador da microplusina pode variar de uma linhagem celular para outra, sendo necessarios mais estudos a fim de elucidar melhor seu potencial imunomodulador, para que futuramente possa ser estudada em modelos de infeccao. / The microplusin is an antimicrobial peptide, chelating of Cu2+ and Fe2+, isolated from the wood tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Studies with murine macrophages, extracted from C57BL/6 mouse, demonstrated that the microplusin induced the production of TNF-á and IL-6 by these cells, regardless of the addition of mediators of the immune system such as the LPS and IFN-ã, and it also enhanced the macrophages activity stimulated by IFN-ã, increasing the synthesis of NO and TNF-á, suggesting a potential post inflammatory microplusin activity. However, further studies were necessary to elucidate its immunomodulatory effect. Therefore, this project aimed to investigate the ability of microplusin to induce anti-inflammatory responses through the production of the arginase I enzyme, or proinflammatories, through the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the J774 macrophages lineage, derived from BALB/c mouse strain. The results show that recombinant microplusin (25ìg/ml) induced the production of arginase I, within 6 hours of stimulation, having equal efficacy as the positive control stimulated by the extract Bordetella parapertussis (30ìg/ml), but it was not able to induce the production of NO, independently of the peptide dosage (5, 25 e 50 ìg/mL), culture stimulus time (24h or 72h), or even adding IFN-ã (500 pg/mL), indicating a microplusin anti-inflammatory effect on these cells. This divergence of results between these two lineages might be due a distinct immune response profile among themselves. Macrophages derived from BALB/c mouse strain are less sensitive to IFN-ã stimulation than macrophages derived from C57BL/6 mouse strain, thus producing less NO. Moreover, the J774 strain also tends to produce anti-inflammatory responses, such as arginase I in response to LPS. The data show that the immunomodulating effect of microplusin may vary from one cell line to another, requiring further studies to better elucidate immunomodulating potential, so that hereafter, it can be studied in infection models.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells identified in mice as Gr-1+CD11b+ cells with the ability to inhibit T cell function. MDSC are emerging as important regulators of T cell mediated immune responses. Current paradigm suggests that despite heterogeneity, all Gr-1+CD11b+ cells are suppressive when exposed to inflammatory stimuli. In vitro evaluation shows MDSC from multiple tissue sites have suppressive activity, and in vivo inhibition of MDSCenhances T cell function. However, the relative capacity of MDSC present at localized inflammatory sites or in peripheral tissues to suppress T cell responses in vivo has not been directly evaluated. Using a tissue specific acute inflammatory prostatitis model, we demonstrate that MDSC inhibition of CD8+ T-cell proliferation is restricted to the inflammatory site.Further, MDSC from inflammatory sites possess immediate capacity to inhibit T-cell function, whereas those isolated from peripheral tissues (spleens and liver) were not suppressive without activation of iNOS by exposure to IFN-_.Using two mouse models of prostate cancer, we extend these findings to thetumor micro-environment. During a chronic inflammatory response induced by tumorgrowth, we show Gr-1+CD11b+ cells from the tumor site possess immediate capacity toregulate effector T cell function whereas those from the spleen do not. In both tumormodels and in our prostatitis model, long term culture of activated T cells with splenicGr-1+CD11b+ cells converted precursor cells into functional MDSC during standard in vitro suppression assays. These data highlight the importance of MDSC in the prostate, and demonstrate the function of MDSC during a localized inflammatory response isrestricted to the site of an ongoing immune responseGrowing evidence suggests that prostatitis associated with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is mediated in part by the loss of T cell and B cell tolerance to prostate antigens. Clinical data demonstrates the presence of T cell proliferative responses to prostate auto-antigens in CP/CPPS patients. However, the mechanisms leading to this loss of tolerance are not clearly understood, largely because of a lack of available animal models. We report the development of a new mouse model for the study of chronic prostate inflammation (CPI), the Prostate Ovalbumin Expressing Transgenic-3 (POET-3) model. Adoptive transfer of antigen specific OT-I T cells induces CPI characterized by infiltration of exogenous (OT-I) and endogenous T cells into the prostate persisting as long as 45 days after transfer. In vitro and in vivo data demonstrate inflammation induced loss of T cell tolerance to prostate auto-antigens. Auto-antibody responses to prostate antigens were detected in POET-3 mice after induction of CPI. These data have important therapeutic implications for treatment of CPI.