A síntese de melatonina por fagócitos mononucleares do colostro humano é iniciada após a indução com a partícula zimosan, com ou sem opsonização por IgA. Esta produção é dependente da ativação da via NFKB, o que foi observado após o bloqueio farmacológico da via com PDTC ou ALLN levando a diminuição da concentração de melatonina nas culturas. A localização do NFKB varia temporalmente após o estímulo inicial e as subunidades do NFKB são diferentes no núcleo de células ativadas. A subunidade p50 está presente em todas as condições experimentais (controle, zimosan e zimosan opsonizado), mas as subunidades Rel A e c-Rel apenas nas células tratadas. A melatonina apresenta atividade sobre células imunocompetentes em diversos modelos experimentais, mas o modelo de fagocitose ainda não havia sido relatado na literatura. Observamos que a melatonina é capaz de potenciar a fagocitose de zimosan não opsonizado. A capacidade de síntese de melatonina apresentada por células imunocompetentes é um fenômeno conhecido e agora pudemos demonstrar que a via NFKB é responsável também pela síntese de melatonina em fagócitos mononucleares do colostro. Ao contrário do que ocorre na glândula pineal onde a ativação da via do NFKB bloqueia a síntese de melatonina, nos leucócitos, a ativação desta via se faz necessária para o inicio da síntese. Uma possível justificativa para esta diferença é a presença da subunidade c-Rel apenas nos fagócitos, permitindo supor que esta subunidade seja responsável pela síntese de melatonina nestas células. Hipoteticamente, a síntese de melatonina dependente da ativação de um fator envolvido com a resposta inflamatória, abre a perspectiva de que a melatonina estaria participando deste processo. O aumento na taxa de fagocitose induzida pela melatonina mostra uma participação importante dessa indolamina durante uma infecção, diminuindo o tempo em que um possível patógeno se encontraria no meio extracelular auxiliando na sua rápida eliminação. Os dados apresentados no presente trabalho demonstram que as células imunocompetentes não apenas produzem esta indolamina, como também se utilizam dela para modular processos nos quais estas células participam. / The melatonin synthesis by human mononuclear phagocytes starts after the induction by IgA opsonized or not zymosan. This production is dependent on the activation of NFKB pathway since the pharmacological block of the pathway by PDTC or ALLN reduces the melatonin concentration in culture supernatants. The NFKB localization temporally varies after initial stimulus and the presence of specific subunits in the cell nucleus is different in activated cells when compared with control cells. We observed the presence of p50 subunit in all experimental conditions (control, zymosan, opsonized zymosan), but the Rel A and c-Rel subunits were only detected in treated cells. Melatonin shows activity over immune cells in many experimental models, but the phagocytosis model was not yet reported in literature. We observed that melatonin (1 nM) is able to potentiate the non opsonized zymosan phagocytosis. The capacity to synthesize melatonin presented by immune cells is a well known phenomenon and now we demonstrate that the NFKB pathway is also responsible for the melatonin synthesis in colostral mononuclear phagocytes. The activation of NFKB pathway inhibits the melatonin synthesis in pineal gland but, in leukocytes, the activation of this pathway is necessary to achieved melatonin synthesis. A possible explanation for this difference is the presence of c-Rel in the phagocytes, which presents transactivation domains, allowing the supposition that this subunit is the responsible for melatonin synthesis in these cells. Since, melatonin synthesis is dependent on the activation of a factor involved with an inflammatory response, this study opens the perspective that the melatonin could participate as a modulator of this process. The phagocytosis induced by melatonin discloses a significant role of this indolamine during an infection, promoting the fast elimination of pathogen in the extracellular medium. The data shows that immune cells not only produces this indolamine, but also use the melatonin to modulate the immune responses.

A síntese de melatonina por fagócitos mononucleares do colostro humano é iniciada após a indução com a partícula zimosan, com ou sem opsonização por IgA. Esta produção é dependente da ativação da via NFKB, o que foi observado após o bloqueio farmacológico da via com PDTC ou ALLN levando a diminuição da concentração de melatonina nas culturas. A localização do NFKB varia temporalmente após o estímulo inicial e as subunidades do NFKB são diferentes no núcleo de células ativadas. A subunidade p50 está presente em todas as condições experimentais (controle, zimosan e zimosan opsonizado), mas as subunidades Rel A e c-Rel apenas nas células tratadas. A melatonina apresenta atividade sobre células imunocompetentes em diversos modelos experimentais, mas o modelo de fagocitose ainda não havia sido relatado na literatura. Observamos que a melatonina é capaz de potenciar a fagocitose de zimosan não opsonizado. A capacidade de síntese de melatonina apresentada por células imunocompetentes é um fenômeno conhecido e agora pudemos demonstrar que a via NFKB é responsável também pela síntese de melatonina em fagócitos mononucleares do colostro. Ao contrário do que ocorre na glândula pineal onde a ativação da via do NFKB bloqueia a síntese de melatonina, nos leucócitos, a ativação desta via se faz necessária para o inicio da síntese. Uma possível justificativa para esta diferença é a presença da subunidade c-Rel apenas nos fagócitos, permitindo supor que esta subunidade seja responsável pela síntese de melatonina nestas células. Hipoteticamente, a síntese de melatonina dependente da ativação de um fator envolvido com a resposta inflamatória, abre a perspectiva de que a melatonina estaria participando deste processo. O aumento na taxa de fagocitose induzida pela melatonina mostra uma participação importante dessa indolamina durante uma infecção, diminuindo o tempo em que um possível patógeno se encontraria no meio extracelular auxiliando na sua rápida eliminação. Os dados apresentados no presente trabalho demonstram que as células imunocompetentes não apenas produzem esta indolamina, como também se utilizam dela para modular processos nos quais estas células participam. / The melatonin synthesis by human mononuclear phagocytes starts after the induction by IgA opsonized or not zymosan. This production is dependent on the activation of NFKB pathway since the pharmacological block of the pathway by PDTC or ALLN reduces the melatonin concentration in culture supernatants. The NFKB localization temporally varies after initial stimulus and the presence of specific subunits in the cell nucleus is different in activated cells when compared with control cells. We observed the presence of p50 subunit in all experimental conditions (control, zymosan, opsonized zymosan), but the Rel A and c-Rel subunits were only detected in treated cells. Melatonin shows activity over immune cells in many experimental models, but the phagocytosis model was not yet reported in literature. We observed that melatonin (1 nM) is able to potentiate the non opsonized zymosan phagocytosis. The capacity to synthesize melatonin presented by immune cells is a well known phenomenon and now we demonstrate that the NFKB pathway is also responsible for the melatonin synthesis in colostral mononuclear phagocytes. The activation of NFKB pathway inhibits the melatonin synthesis in pineal gland but, in leukocytes, the activation of this pathway is necessary to achieved melatonin synthesis. A possible explanation for this difference is the presence of c-Rel in the phagocytes, which presents transactivation domains, allowing the supposition that this subunit is the responsible for melatonin synthesis in these cells. Since, melatonin synthesis is dependent on the activation of a factor involved with an inflammatory response, this study opens the perspective that the melatonin could participate as a modulator of this process. The phagocytosis induced by melatonin discloses a significant role of this indolamine during an infection, promoting the fast elimination of pathogen in the extracellular medium. The data shows that immune cells not only produces this indolamine, but also use the melatonin to modulate the immune responses.

A glândula pineal é um órgão neuroendócrino que tranduz a informação fótica ambiental em sinal humoral pela produção noturna do hormônio melatonina. Recentemente, trabalhos de nosso grupo apontam para a existência de um eixo imunepineal, que considera não só a influência que a melatonina exerce sobre células imunocompetentes, mas também o efeito de mediadores da inflamação sobre a atividade biossintética da glândula. Foi demonstrado que a síntese de melatonina pode ser inibida por agentes pró-inflamatórios e potenciada por substâncias antiinflamatórias. Ambos os efeitos são dependentes da via do fator de transcrição NFKB, sendo que seu conteúdo nuclear nos pinealócitos está inversamente relacionado à produção de melatonina. Esta via de sinalização do NFKB foi inicialmente relacionada somente aos processos de resposta imunológica. Entretanto, seu envolvimento em processos fisiológicos tem sido cada vez relatado. A detecção desta via em glândulas pineais e da sua potencialidade em modular a síntese de melatonina induziu à pesquisa do possível papel fisiológico de NFKB neste órgão, objetivo da presente dissertação. Glândulas pineais obtidas de animais hígidos apresentam a via NFKB constitutivamente ativada, sendo que o conteúdo nuclear deste fator apresenta-se de forma rítmica ao longo do dia. Na fase de claro ambiental há um acúmulo nuclear gradativo, mas assim que inicia a fase de escuro os níveis nucleares de NFKB são bruscamente reduzidos e mantidos baixos durante toda a fase de escuro. Essa dependência do ritmo de NFKB com relação à informação fótica ambiental é, na verdade, consequência do efeito de ritmos hormonais atuantes sobre a essa via. A corticosterona induz a queda abrupta nos níveis nucleares deste fator no início do escuro, enquanto que a própria melatonina produzida pela pineal mantém essa inibição sobre a translocação nuclear de NFKB durante o restante da noite. Assim, postula-se que a regulação deste fator garanta a funcionalidade fisiológica da glândula, uma vez em que alterações no seu conteúdo nuclear resultam em alterações na produção de melatonina. Além disso, tais dados abrem novas perspectivas quanto aos mecanismos regulatórios da atividade da pineal por agentes que atuam via NFKB / The pineal gland is a neuroendocrine organ that transduces the environmental photic information into humoral signals through the nocturnal production of melatonin. Recently, our group have showed the existence of a Immune-pineal axis, that consider not only the melatonin effects on immunocompetent cells, but also the effect of inflammatory mediators on the biosynthetic activity of the pineal gland. It was shown that the melatonin production can be inhibited by pro-inflammatory agents and potenciated by the anti-inflammatory ones. Both effects rely on the NFKB nuclear factor pathway, since its nuclear content in pinealocytes is inversely related to melatonin production. The NFKB pathway was firstly related only to the immune response processes. However, its role in several physiological functions is well documented nowadays. The detection of this pathway in pineal glands and the detection of its modulatory effects on melatonin production lead to the investigation of the putative physiologic role of NFKB in the gland, which was the aim of this project. Pineal glands from healthy animals show NFKB pathway constitutively activated and its nuclear contents show a rhythm through out the 24h of the day. During the light phase, the amount of NFKB increases continuously and a sharp drop occurrs when lights are turned off and there is low level of nuclear NFKB all night long. Actually, the relation between the NFKB rhythm and the light/dark cycle is dependent on endogenous hormonal rhythms. Corticosterone induces the abrupt drop in nuclear NFKB at the beginning of the dark phase, while the pineal melatonin keeps this inhibitory effect through the night. Therefore, it is suggested that the control of NFKB nuclear translocation is required to the physiological function of pineal gland, since any alteration on its nuclear content results in alteration on melatonin production. In addition, these data opens new perspectives on the regulatory mechanisms of the pineal biosynthetic activity by agents that act through the NFKB pathway

A glândula pineal é um órgão neuroendócrino que tranduz a informação fótica ambiental em sinal humoral pela produção noturna do hormônio melatonina. Recentemente, trabalhos de nosso grupo apontam para a existência de um eixo imunepineal, que considera não só a influência que a melatonina exerce sobre células imunocompetentes, mas também o efeito de mediadores da inflamação sobre a atividade biossintética da glândula. Foi demonstrado que a síntese de melatonina pode ser inibida por agentes pró-inflamatórios e potenciada por substâncias antiinflamatórias. Ambos os efeitos são dependentes da via do fator de transcrição NFKB, sendo que seu conteúdo nuclear nos pinealócitos está inversamente relacionado à produção de melatonina. Esta via de sinalização do NFKB foi inicialmente relacionada somente aos processos de resposta imunológica. Entretanto, seu envolvimento em processos fisiológicos tem sido cada vez relatado. A detecção desta via em glândulas pineais e da sua potencialidade em modular a síntese de melatonina induziu à pesquisa do possível papel fisiológico de NFKB neste órgão, objetivo da presente dissertação. Glândulas pineais obtidas de animais hígidos apresentam a via NFKB constitutivamente ativada, sendo que o conteúdo nuclear deste fator apresenta-se de forma rítmica ao longo do dia. Na fase de claro ambiental há um acúmulo nuclear gradativo, mas assim que inicia a fase de escuro os níveis nucleares de NFKB são bruscamente reduzidos e mantidos baixos durante toda a fase de escuro. Essa dependência do ritmo de NFKB com relação à informação fótica ambiental é, na verdade, consequência do efeito de ritmos hormonais atuantes sobre a essa via. A corticosterona induz a queda abrupta nos níveis nucleares deste fator no início do escuro, enquanto que a própria melatonina produzida pela pineal mantém essa inibição sobre a translocação nuclear de NFKB durante o restante da noite. Assim, postula-se que a regulação deste fator garanta a funcionalidade fisiológica da glândula, uma vez em que alterações no seu conteúdo nuclear resultam em alterações na produção de melatonina. Além disso, tais dados abrem novas perspectivas quanto aos mecanismos regulatórios da atividade da pineal por agentes que atuam via NFKB / The pineal gland is a neuroendocrine organ that transduces the environmental photic information into humoral signals through the nocturnal production of melatonin. Recently, our group have showed the existence of a Immune-pineal axis, that consider not only the melatonin effects on immunocompetent cells, but also the effect of inflammatory mediators on the biosynthetic activity of the pineal gland. It was shown that the melatonin production can be inhibited by pro-inflammatory agents and potenciated by the anti-inflammatory ones. Both effects rely on the NFKB nuclear factor pathway, since its nuclear content in pinealocytes is inversely related to melatonin production. The NFKB pathway was firstly related only to the immune response processes. However, its role in several physiological functions is well documented nowadays. The detection of this pathway in pineal glands and the detection of its modulatory effects on melatonin production lead to the investigation of the putative physiologic role of NFKB in the gland, which was the aim of this project. Pineal glands from healthy animals show NFKB pathway constitutively activated and its nuclear contents show a rhythm through out the 24h of the day. During the light phase, the amount of NFKB increases continuously and a sharp drop occurrs when lights are turned off and there is low level of nuclear NFKB all night long. Actually, the relation between the NFKB rhythm and the light/dark cycle is dependent on endogenous hormonal rhythms. Corticosterone induces the abrupt drop in nuclear NFKB at the beginning of the dark phase, while the pineal melatonin keeps this inhibitory effect through the night. Therefore, it is suggested that the control of NFKB nuclear translocation is required to the physiological function of pineal gland, since any alteration on its nuclear content results in alteration on melatonin production. In addition, these data opens new perspectives on the regulatory mechanisms of the pineal biosynthetic activity by agents that act through the NFKB pathway

Physical stress such as the surface roughness of the implants may activate the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. This activation is intimately related to the mechanism(s) by which the macrophage interacts with the surface through serum proteins and/or the formation of membrane rafts. This thesis examines the role of surface topography on activation of the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. We examined the effect of implant surface topography on activating the NFkB signalling pathway in the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. We also examined the effect surface roughness had on the adhesion of the macrophages using the different media. To finish, we observed the effect the different media and the surface roughness had on the morphology of the macrophages by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Activation of the NFkB pathway was surface topography dependent. The Smooth surface showed the highest level of activation followed by the Etched then the SLA. Addition of suboptimal concentrations of LPS mildly enhanced the response by signalling through the Toll receptor. Activation of NFKB occurred in the absence of fetal calf sera, although to a lesser extent. All three surfaces had very few cells with nuclear translocation at the 5 minutes time point with no significant statistical differences between the surfaces. After 30 minutes, translocation reached comparable levels to those surfaces tested with complete medium. Disruption of the lipid rafts affected the triggering and signalling of the NFkB pathway. This inhibitory effect was concentration and time dependent. Smooth surfaces bound more macrophages in the 30 minutes assay. Fetal calf serum appeared to be very critical for adhesion and spreading of the macrophages on the various surfaces examined. Removal of cholesterol did not affect adhesion or spreading on their respective surfaces. We have clearly demonstrated that the lipid rafts along with surface topography play a role in the activation on NFKB. This in-vitro study has demonstrated that surface topography modulated activation of the NFKB signalling pathway in a time-dependent manner. However, at present, it is unclear through which receptor(s) / surface structure the signal pathway is initiated.

Physical stress such as the surface roughness of the implants may activate the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. This activation is intimately related to the mechanism(s) by which the macrophage interacts with the surface through serum proteins and/or the formation of membrane rafts. This thesis examines the role of surface topography on activation of the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. We examined the effect of implant surface topography on activating the NFkB signalling pathway in the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. We also examined the effect surface roughness had on the adhesion of the macrophages using the different media. To finish, we observed the effect the different media and the surface roughness had on the morphology of the macrophages by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Activation of the NFkB pathway was surface topography dependent. The Smooth surface showed the highest level of activation followed by the Etched then the SLA. Addition of suboptimal concentrations of LPS mildly enhanced the response by signalling through the Toll receptor. Activation of NFKB occurred in the absence of fetal calf sera, although to a lesser extent. All three surfaces had very few cells with nuclear translocation at the 5 minutes time point with no significant statistical differences between the surfaces. After 30 minutes, translocation reached comparable levels to those surfaces tested with complete medium. Disruption of the lipid rafts affected the triggering and signalling of the NFkB pathway. This inhibitory effect was concentration and time dependent. Smooth surfaces bound more macrophages in the 30 minutes assay. Fetal calf serum appeared to be very critical for adhesion and spreading of the macrophages on the various surfaces examined. Removal of cholesterol did not affect adhesion or spreading on their respective surfaces. We have clearly demonstrated that the lipid rafts along with surface topography play a role in the activation on NFKB. This in-vitro study has demonstrated that surface topography modulated activation of the NFKB signalling pathway in a time-dependent manner. However, at present, it is unclear through which receptor(s) / surface structure the signal pathway is initiated.

Physical stress such as the surface roughness of the implants may activate the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. This activation is intimately related to the mechanism(s) by which the macrophage interacts with the surface through serum proteins and/or the formation of membrane rafts. This thesis examines the role of surface topography on activation of the NFkB signalling pathway in macrophages. We examined the effect of implant surface topography on activating the NFkB signalling pathway in the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. We also examined the effect surface roughness had on the adhesion of the macrophages using the different media. To finish, we observed the effect the different media and the surface roughness had on the morphology of the macrophages by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Activation of the NFkB pathway was surface topography dependent. The Smooth surface showed the highest level of activation followed by the Etched then the SLA. Addition of suboptimal concentrations of LPS mildly enhanced the response by signalling through the Toll receptor. Activation of NFKB occurred in the absence of fetal calf sera, although to a lesser extent. All three surfaces had very few cells with nuclear translocation at the 5 minutes time point with no significant statistical differences between the surfaces. After 30 minutes, translocation reached comparable levels to those surfaces tested with complete medium. Disruption of the lipid rafts affected the triggering and signalling of the NFkB pathway. This inhibitory effect was concentration and time dependent. Smooth surfaces bound more macrophages in the 30 minutes assay. Fetal calf serum appeared to be very critical for adhesion and spreading of the macrophages on the various surfaces examined. Removal of cholesterol did not affect adhesion or spreading on their respective surfaces. We have clearly demonstrated that the lipid rafts along with surface topography play a role in the activation on NFKB. This in-vitro study has demonstrated that surface topography modulated activation of the NFKB signalling pathway in a time-dependent manner. However, at present, it is unclear through which receptor(s) / surface structure the signal pathway is initiated. / Dentistry, Faculty of / Graduate

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