Thromb Haemost 2016; 116(02): 317-327
DOI: 10.1160/TH15-12-0917
Endothelium and Angiogenesis
Schattauer GmbH

Interleukin-33 stimulates GM-CSF and M-CSF production by human endothelial cells

Eliana Montanari
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Stefan Stojkovic
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
2   Ludwig Boltzmann Cluster for Cardiovascular Research, Vienna, Austria
,
Christoph Kaun
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Christof E. Lemberger
3   Department of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Rainer de Martin
3   Department of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Sabine Rauscher
4   Core Facilities, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
5   Department of Dermatology, Skin and Endothelium Research Division (SERD), Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Marion Gröger
4   Core Facilities, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
5   Department of Dermatology, Skin and Endothelium Research Division (SERD), Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Gerald Maurer
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Christoph Neumayer
6   Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Ihor Huk
6   Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Kurt Huber
7   3rd Medical Department, Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Wilhelminenhospital, Vienna, Austria
,
Svitlana Demyanets
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
8   Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
,
Johann Wojta
1   Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
2   Ludwig Boltzmann Cluster for Cardiovascular Research, Vienna, Austria
4   Core Facilities, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
› Author Affiliations

Financial support: The research was funded by a grant of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to Svitlana Demyanets: FWF-Project number T445-B11. Furthermore, the work was supported by the Association for the Promotion of Research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and by the Ludwig Boltzmann Society.
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 02 December 2015

Accepted after major revision: 24 April 2016

Publication Date:
09 March 2018 (online)

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Summary

Interleukin (IL)-33, a member of the IL-1 family of cytokines, is involved in various inflammatory conditions targeting amongst other cells the endothelium. Besides regulating the maturation and functions of myeloid cells, granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and macrophage-CSF (M-CSF) have been shown to play a role in such pathologies too. It was the aim of our study to investigate a possible influence of IL-33 on GM-CSF and M–CSF production by human endothelial cells. IL-33, but not IL-18 or IL-37, stimulated GM-CSF and M-CSF mRNA expression and protein production by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human coronary artery ECs (HCAECs) through the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway in an IL–1-independent way. This effect was inhibited by the soluble form of ST2 (sST2), which is known to act as a decoy receptor for IL-33. The 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor fluvastatin could also be shown to moderately reduce the IL-33-mediated effect on M-CSF, but not on GM-CSF expression. In addition, IL–33, IL-1β, GM-CSF and M-CSF were detected in endothelial cells of human carotid atherosclerotic plaques using immunofluorescence. Upregulation of GM-CSF and M–CSF production by human endothelial cells, an effect that appears to be mediated by NF–κB and to be independent of IL-1, may be an additional mechanism through which IL-33 contributes to inflammatory activation of the vessel wall.

Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.