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-induced single-cell apoptosis

* Institute of Clinical Physiology,
Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
1Correspondence: Institut für Klinische Physiologie, UK Benjamin Franklin, FU Berlin, 12200 Berlin, Germany. E-mail gitter{at}medizin.fu-berlin.de
| ABSTRACT |
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(TNF-
) the apoptotic leaks were
dramatically enhanced: not only was the frequency increased by
threefold, but the mean conductance also increased by 12-fold (597±98
nS). Thus, apoptosis accounted for about half (56%) of the
TNF-
-induced permeability increase whereas the other half was caused
by degradation of tight junctions in nonapoptotic areas. Hence,
spontaneous and induced apoptosis hollow out the intestinal barrier and
may facilitate loss of solutes and uptake of noxious agents.Gitter,
A. H., Bendfeldt, K., Schulzke, J.-D., Fromm, M. Leaks in the
epithelial barrier caused by spontaneous and TNF-
-induced
single-cell apoptosis.
Key Words: cell death conductance scanning intestine tight junction permeability
| INTRODUCTION |
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(TNF-
), which is released in high
concentration at sites of inflammation by cytokine-secreting
macrophages (12)
We therefore addressed the questions of whether a disconnection of
intercellular junctions increases local epithelial permeability during
spontaneous apoptosis and whether induced apoptosis takes part in
TNF-
-induced increase in epithelial ion permeability. The
measurements were performed by means of a novel conductance scanning
technique (13)
. It is a refinement of the voltage scanning
method introduced by Frömter and Diamond (14)
that
had been used to detect barrier defects caused by experimental removal
of single cells from Necturus gallbladder epithelium
(15)
. This allowed us for the first time to sense the
local conductances of single apoptoses in a living epithelial tissue.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Solutions and drugs
To provoke induced apoptosis, the serosal side of HT-29/B6 cells
was incubated in culture medium containing 100 ng/ml of TNF-
for
7 h. Recombinant human TNF-
(107
units/mg) was provided by Schering (Berlin, Germany). In the
conductance scanning apparatus, mucosal and serosal surfaces of the
epithelium were superfused with (concentrations in mmol/l) 113.6 NaCl,
2.4 Na2HPO4, 0.6
NaH2PO4, 21
NaHCO3, 5.4 KCl, 1.2 CaCl2,
1.2 MgCl2, 10 D(+)-glucose, 10 D(+)-mannose, 2.5
L-glutamine, 0.5 ß-hydroxybutyric acid, pH 7.4, set in when the
solution was gassed with carbogen (95% O2, 5%
CO2). The temperature was kept at 37°C.
Conductance scanning
Confluent monolayers were mounted horizontally between the two
half-chambers of the conductance scanning apparatus described
previously (13)
. The optical resolution of the setup was
improved by introduction of a 40x water-immersion object lens (Zeiss,
Oberkochen, Germany) and redesign of the experimental chamber to adjust
it to the 2 mm working distance of the objective. The electric field,
generated by sinusoidal transepithelial current (AC, 0.3 mA ·
cm-2, 24 Hz) in the bath solution on the mucosal
side of the epithelium, was detected with a mobile probe that was
positioned 25 µm above the epithelial surface by means of a
micromanipulator. The conductance probe consisted of a pair of
microelectrodes (Fig. 1
) that were connected to a differential amplifier and an AC bridge
system with synchronous demodulation. Control experiments, as described
previously (13)
, excluded the possibility that the
recordings were affected by amplitude or frequency of the current
applied. Two measurements were made at each position. The current
density was calculated by multiplication of the field strength measured
locally and the specific resistivity of the bath solution. In
nonapoptotic areas, the distribution of transepithelial current was
homogeneous and the conductivity equaled the ratio of current density
to transepithelial voltage. Near apoptotic rosettes, the
transepithelial current was inhomogeneously elevated. Here the current
associated with a single rosette was computed by numerical integration
of the current density exceeding the current density of nonapoptotic
areas. From rosette current and transepithelial voltage, the
conductance of a single rosette was derived. All values are given as
mean ± SE for 20 apoptotic rosettes in 9 control
monolayers or 21 apoptoses in 11 monolayers treated with TNF-
.
|
Histochemistry
Monolayers were fixed in formaldehyde and embedded in paraffin.
Serial sections (3 µm) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin or
dewaxed for (immuno)fluorescence localization of apoptoses. Cellular
DNA was either stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-2-HCl (DAPI)
or a TUNEL (TdT-mediated X-dUTP nick end labeling) assay (Boehringer
Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany). In the latter, blunt ends of
double-stranded DNA exposed by strand breaks were visualized by means
of enzymatic labeling of the free 3'-OH termini with fluorescein-dUTP.
Ultrathin sections for transmission electron microscopy were prepared
following standard procedures.
| RESULTS |
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(100 ng/ml), the density of
rosettes increased to 11,100 cm-2 (Table 1
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To demonstrate that in the present case the rosettes were indeed
characteristic of apoptosis, cellular DNA was inspected after staining
with hematoxylin and eosin, DAPI, or a TUNEL assay. Thus, apoptotic
bodies were seen in the center of rosettes (Fig. 2)
. Necrotic cells
were not observed and lactate dehydrogenase activity, an indicator of
cytolysis (18)
, was not increased after TNF-
treatment.
Thus, like in LLC-PK1 renal epithelial cells (19)
, TNF-
does not produce necrosis in HT-29/B6 cells. In transmission electron
micrographs, apoptotic bodies were observed in the center of rosettes
and apoptotic fragments were engulfed by adjacent cells (Fig. 2)
.
Epithelial ion permeability
Total transepithelial ion permeability was evaluated by
measurement of transepithelial conductivity, which refers to the gross
tissue area. In controls, the total epithelial conductivity (see Fig. 5
, dark bars) was 3.24 ± 0.07 mS/cm2; after
TNF-
treatment it increased to 14.65 ± 0.31
mS/cm2. In the presence of 50 µM of the
broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor
N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl-ketone
(Z-VAD-FMK) (20)
, TNF-
treatment had no significant
effect on epithelial conductivity.
|
How does one decide whether tight junctional degradation or apoptosis
gives rise to the increased conductivity? Conventional assessment of
transepithelial ion permeability, either with tracer molecules (e.g.,
radioactively labeled) or by measurement of the transepithelial
conductivity in conventional Ussing chambers, cannot discriminate an
increased conductivity caused by single apoptotic cells from an
increased conductivity caused by a general alteration in transcellular
permeability (21)
or degradation of the tight junctions
(18)
.
Nonapoptotic conductivity
The conductance scanning technique allowed for direct conductance
measurements at microscopically identified epithelial structures with
high spatial resolution (Fig. 1)
. The spatial distribution of
epithelial conductivity away from apoptotic rosettes was even, but the
conductivity rose to peaks of different magnitude in the rosettes
centers (Fig. 3
). The basic epithelial conductivity measured in the homogeneous,
nonapoptotic areas (see Fig. 5
, light bars) was 3.06 ± 0.07
mS/cm2 and increased with TNF-
treatment to
8.08 ± 0.05 mS/cm2.
|
Apoptotic conductivity
The conductance associated with single apoptoses was determined by
measurement of the current density along a line between the rosettes
center and the area with homogeneous conductivity (Fig. 3)
, integration
over the area, division by the transepithelial voltage, and subtraction
of basic epithelial conductivity. The histogram (Fig. 4
) shows that under control conditions, most apoptotic rosettes exhibited
conductances below 200 nS. The mean conductance of single apoptoses was
48 nS (range 0280 nS). With TNF-
, however, most apoptoses showed
conductances between 200 and 600 nS, and the mean conductance of single
apoptoses had increased to 597 nS (range 671542 nS).
|
The contribution of apoptoses to the total epithelial conductivity
(Fig. 5
, shaded bars) was 0.18 mS/cm2 or 5.5% under
control conditions. With TNF-
, it increased to 6.57
mS/cm2 or 45% of the total epithelial
conductivity (Table 1)
. Thus, the TNF-
-induced conductance increase
was based by 44% on degradation of tight junctions in nonapoptotic
areas and by 56% on apoptosis-related conductivity changes, the latter
indicating pronounced local barrier defects.
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
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-induced apoptosis. Yet
spontaneous apoptosis created individual leaks with a conductance up to
1000 times higher than that of large ion channels, e.g.,
Maxi-K+-channels.
With TNF-
, density and conductance of apoptoses were higher than
under control conditions. Thus, with induced apoptosis, the total
conductivity of leaks caused by apoptosis was 37-fold higher than with
spontaneous apoptosis. The higher frequency and magnitude of
apoptosis-related gates in TNF-
-treated epithelia may be related to
TNF-
-mediated alterations of tight junctions (18)
,
because cellcell contacts can be involved in the control of apoptosis
(11)
.
An increase in the tight junctional ion permeability is probably
responsible for the increase in the basic epithelial conductivity,
because the Cl secretion induced by TNF-
via
prostaglandins is short-lived and not accompanied by significant
decrease in the transepithelial resistance (22
, 23)
. The
caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK prevented not only apoptosis, but also the
rise of basic epithelial conductivity caused by TNF-
. Hence, a
common signaling pathway must be assumed for both effects.
Although TNF-
does not disturb the morphologically visible
epithelial integrity (11)
, it decreases the number of
strands that form the tight junctions and dramatically increases total
epithelial ion conductance as well as the passive flux of paracellular
markers (18
, 19
, 24
, 25)
. Thus, the permeabilizing effect
of TNF-
has been attributed to the observed alteration of the tight
junction meshwork (18
, 26)
. On the other hand, TNF-
also induces apoptosis (11
, 27)
, particularly after
induction of TNF-
receptors by interferon-
or blockade of protein
synthesis controlled through transcription factors (28
, 29)
. The present work determined quantitatively the contribution
of apoptosis and nonapoptotic effects, i.e., degradation of tight
junctions, to the increase of epithelial permeability induced by
TNF-
. It turned out that both mechanisms contributed almost equally
(56 and 44%, respectively) to that increase.
The results are important for understanding the mechanisms of
inflammatory processesfor instance, inflammatory bowel diseases
(30
31
32)
or HIV-associated enteropathy (33)
where the concentration of TNF-
rises within intestinal tissues and
the mucosal barrier function is impaired. The concentration of TNF-
used (100 ng/ml) may reflect the local level at the site of TNF-
release (34)
and was only 10-fold higher than that found
after distribution in the circulation of patients with ulcerative
colitis (25)
or Crohns disease (12)
. Thus,
our findings suggest that epithelial integrity may be compromised
during TNF-
-mediated inflammatory processes, causing a clinical
manifestation of leakiness in the intestinal wall, e.g., diarrhea
(28)
. Invasion of bacterial enterotoxins could then start
the vicious circle proposed earlier (35
, 36)
.
In conclusion, apoptosis can increase the epithelial permeability.
Hence, our results supersede a major dogma of apoptotic function
(4)
. During regular cell renewal, spontaneous apoptosis
constitutes a significant paracellular shunt, but TNF-
-induced
apoptosis causes much larger leaks. In pathophysiological situations
with increased cytokine levels, apoptosis may create distinct barrier
defects.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
Received for publication December 1, 1999.
Revision received March 17, 2000.
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