The Toll-Like Receptor 9 Ligand, CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide, Attenuates Cardiac Dysfunction in Polymicrobial Sepsis, Involving Activation of Both Phosphoinositide 3 Kinase/AKT and Extracellular-Signal-Related Kinase Signaling
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2013
Description
Background. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a role in the pathophysiology of sepsis and multiple organ failure. This study examined the effect of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN), the TLR9 ligand, on polymicrobial sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction.Methods. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with CpG-ODN, control CpG-ODN (control-ODN), or inhibitory CpG-ODN (iCpG-ODN) 1 hour prior to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis. Mice that underwent sham surgery served as sham controls. Cardiac function was examined by echocardiography before and 6 hours after CLP.Results. Cardiac function was significantly decreased 6 hours after CLP. CpG-ODN prevented CLP-induced cardiac dysfunction, as evidenced by maintenance of the ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Control-ODN or iCpG-ODN did not alter CLP-induced cardiac dysfunction. CpG-ODN significantly attenuated CLP-induced myocardial apoptosis and increased myocardial Akt and extracellular-signal-related kinase (ERK) phosphorylation levels following CLP. In vitro experiments demonstrated that CpG-ODN promotes an association between TLR9 and Ras, resulting in Akt and ERK phosphorylation. Inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) by Ly294002 or inhibition of ERK by U0126 in vivo abolished CpG-ODN attenuation of CLP-induced cardiac dysfunction.Conclusions. CpG-ODN prevents CLP-induced cardiac dysfunction, in part through activation of PI3K/Akt and ERK signaling. Modulation of TLR9 could be an effective approach for treatment of cardiovascular dysfunction in patients with sepsis or septic shock.
Citation Information
Gao, Ming; Ha, Tuanzhu; Zhang, Xia; Wang, Xiaohui; Liu, Li; Kalbfleisch, John; Singh, Krishna; Williams, David; and Li, Chuanfu. 2013. The Toll-Like Receptor 9 Ligand, CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide, Attenuates Cardiac Dysfunction in Polymicrobial Sepsis, Involving Activation of Both Phosphoinositide 3 Kinase/AKT and Extracellular-Signal-Related Kinase Signaling. Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol.207(9). 1471-1479. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jit036 PMID: 23359590 ISSN: 0022-1899