Anti-pan Cytokeratin Anticorps [C-11] (APC) (A86441)

Interleukin 6 (IL-6), acting via the IL-6 receptor (IL6R) and signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3), limits neutrophil recruitment once bacterial infections are resolved. Bovine endometritis is an exemplar mucosal disease, characterized by sustained neutrophil infiltration and elevated IL-6 and IL-8, a neutrophil chemoattractant, following postpartum Gram-negative bacterial infection. The present study examined the impact of the IL6R/STAT3 signaling pathway on IL-8 production by primary endometrial cells in response to short- or long-term exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria. Tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 is required for DNA binding and expression of specific targets genes. Immunoblotting indicated constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 in endometrial cells was impeded by acute exposure to LPS. After 24 h exposure to LPS, STAT3 returned to a tyrosine phosphorylated state, indicating cross-talk between the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and the IL6R/STAT3 signaling pathways. This was confirmed by short interfering RNA targeting the IL6R, which abrogated the accumulation of IL-6 and IL-8, induced by LPS. Furthermore, there was a differential endometrial cell response, as the accumulation of IL-6 and IL-8 was dependent on STAT3, suppressor of cytokine signaling 3, and Src kinase signaling in stromal cells, but not epithelial cells. In conclusion, positive feedback through the IL6R amplifies LPS-induced IL-6 and IL-8 production in the endometrium. These findings provide a mechanistic insight into how elevated IL-6 concentrations in the postpartum endometrium during bacterial infection leads to marked and sustained neutrophil infiltration.

Bacteria often infect the endometrium of cattle to cause endometritis, uterine disease, and infertility. Lipopeptides are commonly found among bacteria and are detected by the Toll-like receptor (TLR) cell surface receptor TLR2 on immune cells. Heterodimers of TLR2 with TLR1 or TLR6 activate MAPK and nuclear factor-?B intracellular signaling pathways to stimulate inflammatory responses. In the endometrium, epithelial and stromal cells are the first to encounter invading bacteria, so the present study explored whether endometrial cells can also mount inflammatory responses to bacterial lipopeptides via TLRs. The supernatants of pure populations of primary bovine endometrial epithelial and stromal cells accumulated the cytokine IL-6 and the chemokine IL-8 in response to triacylated or diacylated bacterial lipopeptides. The accumulation of IL-6 and IL-8 in response to triacylated lipopeptides was reduced by small interfering RNA targeting TLR2 or TLR1 but not TLR6, whereas cellular responses to diacylated lipopeptide were reduced by small interfering RNA targeting TLR2, TLR1, or TLR6. Both lipopeptides induced rapid phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, and nuclear factor-?B in endometrial cells, and inhibitors of ERK1/2 or p38 limited the accumulation of IL-6. The ovarian steroids estradiol and progesterone had little impact on inflammatory responses to lipopeptides. The endometrial epithelial and stromal cell responses to lipopeptides via TLR2, TLR1, and TLR6 provide a mechanism linking a wide range of bacterial infections to inflammation of the endometrium.